The Dean narrowed his eyes.
Obviously, he was not a fan of that suggestion.
"You will do no such thing," he said with a threatening voice.
"Why not?" Shang asked. "What speaks against it?"
"This is about our origin and source of our power! He will also realize how we can remotely control our weapons! If the information gets out, we will attract the attention of the truly powerful Mages of this world! This goes beyond this little place where we are in. This pertains to the dark past and the fate of the Mage Emperor!"
"If they believe us, we will be branded as followers of the person that killed the person they view as a God! If they don't believe us, they will kill us for disrespecting the Mage Emperor's image!"
"Jerald doesn't even need to betray us for that to happen. A powerful Mage might come from the outside and simply read his mind. What then?"
"You can't possibly think about doing that. You are putting our lives on the line!" the Dean shouted with anger.
Shang had never seen the Dean get angry, but this time, he was genuinely angry.
However, Shang only narrowed his eye as he looked at the Dean. "We are constantly putting our lives on the line. We are constantly fighting against powerful enemies, and we can die whenever. What makes this so different from all the other times?"
"The difference, Shang," the Dean said with a threatening tone, "is that our power won't increase. You and I can use the technique just fine. When we find a solution in the future, we can still disperse it amongst the crowd, but for now, only us two can use it."
"And how is that good in any way?" Shang asked. "You are getting older, and at some point, you won't have the time to create a new Path anymore. You will die with your current power. Is that what you want?"
At that moment, the room became colder.
"My power is not for you to judge, boy," the Dean said with a dark tone. "I know my power the best, and even though you are powerful, you are still a child in front of me. I'm over 150 years old, while you are barely 30. Do you think your bit of hard training can overcome 120 years of battle experience?"
Surprisingly, Shang only sneered. "120 years of battle experience? Excluding that sparring match against King Skythunder and your trampling by the Mountain Exploding Turtle, who have you actually fought ever since you reached the True Path Stage?"
BANG!
The Dean stood up with an explosive sound, his spear appearing inside his right hand. He looked at Shang with a gaze that spoke of coldness and rage.
Shang also stood up, but in comparison to the Dean, he slowly stood up and summoned his sword leisurely.
At that moment, the pressure of the two warriors clouded the room. If a third person were in here, they would think that the end of the world had arrived.
As they continued looking at each other, the air seemed to warp slightly under their pressure.
The Dean's presence and Shang's presence had an invisible fight in the atmosphere between them.
This was a battle of willpower and determination.
Suddenly, Shang's arm moved just a little bit and his right eye widened.
SHING!
The Dean put his spear in front of him in a blocking motion.
At that moment, the Dean's breathing slightly increased, but it wasn't very visible from the outside.
Shang only looked deep into the Dean's eyes.
They only looked at each other for several seconds.
Then, the Dean slowly put his spear down and looked at the floor.
A look of bitter realization could be seen on his face.
"Have I become complacent?" he asked quietly.
"You have become complacent," Shang answered calmly as he also put his sword away. "You've been the Dean of this academy for decades. Due to the weakness of your Path and body, you have avoided fighting anyone else for too long."
"You see the overwhelming power of your enemies and think that fighting back is futile, which is why you avoid fighting."
"You say there's nothing to gain for you? As I see it, there is nothing to gain for you as things stand right now."
"If there were other True Path Stage warriors, you would count as below average, even if their Paths are just as weak and fragile as yours."
"You've lost your edge."
"You've lost your will to fight."
"You've lost your courage to put your life on the line."
Silence.
Earlier, when their presences had clashed, they had been equal.
However, the longer the clash continued, the more uncertain the Dean felt.
The Dean had realized what he had been feeling.
It was fear.
It wasn't fear for his life or fear of Shang.
No, it was fear of fighting.
He didn't want to fight.
Why?
Because he felt like he would lose, and he couldn't take another loss.
The room remained silent for several seconds.
"What about him?" the Dean asked absentmindedly.
"If he didn't want us to tell others, he would have told us," Shang answered.
"What if he doesn't want it, and he simply didn't tell us to lay a trap for us for entertainment?"
"I doubt it," Shang answered. "I can imagine the trap part, but I don't think that he would kill us. We are his toys, and he knows that if he destroys his toys, he can't play with them anymore."
"Additionally, I think he really doesn't care about if the world knows about him or not."
"He represents the absolute peak of the world. He is to the world what King Skythunder is to the Skythunder Kingdom. Everything the people below him do has no effect on him."
"It makes no difference if people know of him or not."
"They can't change anything regardless."
Shang sighed.
"And lastly, I don't think that anyone of significance would even believe us. In this world, both of us are nothing but children in a separate playground while all our parents are watching. There are Mages that have lived for thousands if not tens of thousands of years."
"What could such weak and isolated people from the world actually know of the greater cosmos?"
"If I were to shout the truth to the entire Kingdom, everyone would simply think of me as an insane person, especially the powerful Mages."
"They would think that I couldn't handle that warriors are so inferior to Mages. So, I made up some God and some distant past that didn't exist where warriors were actually powerful."
"In the end, telling him won't put us into danger, and it gives us an opportunity to bring the technique to the warriors."
"Don't forget, he wants us to increase the power of the warriors, and the rewards are this power we have to bring to them. Keeping it for only us two might be fine for us, but he might view it as breaking our agreement."
"I don't know about you, but I'd rather take the risk than maybe anger him," Shang said.
The Dean thought about Shang's words for a while.
Then, he sighed.
"Fine," he said. "When Jerald arrives to welcome you back, we will tell him."
Shang nodded. "Thanks, Teacher."
"Don't call me that," the Dean said.
Shang raised an eyebrow.
"You are stronger than me, and even if you are not, in a decade, you will be."
"Call me George."
Shang smiled a bit.
"Okay, George."
