After this issue was resolved, Shang told George about the last decade.
He remained mostly truthful throughout his retelling, even telling him about the Blackshadow Kingdom and the Spirit Spring Kingdom.
Of course, George realized that things weren't adding up. After all, Shang had just returned from the Grandmountain Kingdom. The Spirit Spring Kingdom was on the other side of the world.
However, he also knew that this was probably related to the political thing Shang had referred to earlier. So, he didn't ask.
Naturally, Shang didn't tell George about his control over the Abominations. This was a secret Shang couldn't tell anyone in the world, lest he was viewed as the enemy of the entire world, which he kind of was.
After hearing everything about the last decade from Shang's mouth, George could see how Shang had changed so much.
He definitely hadn't had it easy.
George had a look of nostalgia in his eyes while listening to Shang. Hearing of Shang's problems, he was reminded of the time he had been hunted.
He hadn't always had Duke Whirlwind as his backer, and there had been no Warrior Academy back then.
The Mages realized that George was very talented and powerful, which made them fear him.
George had been on the run from an angry noble of the Mages more than once.
That was until the young Duke Whirlwind saw his potential and recruited him.
All of this happened around 80 years ago.
George also told Shang a bit about his past. Shang was no longer the young boy that didn't know how important some secrets were.
Additionally, it felt good to tell someone else about the things he had gone through.
After listening to George, Shang also finally learned what happened to the person that came from Earth that had come before George.
"That's when I killed him," George said after telling Shang about his teacher.
Shang nodded. "Understandable."
George's predecessor was someone that acted kind and acted like he wanted to help everyone, but he had actually used George as a guinea pig for his experiments.
In a way, George's predecessor was similar to that researcher in the Grandmountain Kingdom that had experimented on Shang for a couple of months.
George knew that his predecessor would get rid of him if he ever managed to become a threat to him, which was why he had fled one day.
And when he gained the power to kill him, he did just that.
Several years later, George found a young boy that had been banished into the wilderness by his village due to something his parents had done.
George saw the willpower in his eyes and accepted him as his disciple.
That was Soran.
A couple more years later, Soran and George were traveling somewhere when they saw a young girl cowering in front of a beast that had just killed her family.
George sent Soran to fight the beast since it was just the right power for Soran, and he won.
The girl looked with shiny eyes at Soran and swore that she wanted to follow them.
George and Soran declined and left.
However, the girl kept following them, thinking keeping up with them was some sort of examination she had to pass.
George just wanted to keep going, but Soran kept holding him back since he felt bad for the girl.
When she collapsed in the middle of the road, Soran pleaded with George to accept her, and he eventually relented.
That was when Viera, George's second disciple, joined the group.
Viera kept clinging to Soran all the time, and Soran quickly learned to regret his decision to accept her.
Several more years later, Soran convinced George to start an academy. He had unjustly lost his home in the past, and he didn't want the same thing to happen to others. He wanted to create a place for the people that wanted to become powerful but couldn't become Mages.
George was not a fan of it. Sadly, Soran went to Duke Whirlwind and told him about the idea. After all, Soran wanted to create the academy. This was his thing, not his teacher's.
And after that day, Duke Whirlwind kept pestering George with that idea.
One had to say that Duke Whirlwind was far better at convincing George than Soran.
And with that, the Warrior Academy was born.
About twenty years later, George reached the True Path Stage, and the Warrior Academy reached global fame.
About 40 years have passed since that day.
Shang was quite interested in George's past. He also definitely had it quite rough.
After George told his story, he remained silent for some time.
It seemed like he was contemplating something.
Shang noticed it and didn't say anything.
"Tell me the truth of what happened," George suddenly said.
Shang raised an eyebrow. "That's something of political interest, and it would be better if you didn't know about it."
George could only sigh. "We are about to tell Jerald the truth about our existence. We are in this together now. Remaining neutral while we are asking him for such a gigantic favor would be unfair to him."
Shang's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Does that mean…?"
"I might as well join Jerald's camp," George said with a bit of defeat in his voice. "However, I can't speak for the academy or the warriors. With the Star Map published, Mervin will soon advance to the True Path Stage, and I want everything as it is right now for him."
"I've become too old, and my perspective is skewed by years of laziness and comfort. If he wants the Warrior Academy to remain neutral, fine. If he wants it to join Jerald, fine."
"In the end, it's his choice."
"But I, as an individual, will join Jerald's camp."
Shang nodded. "And Ranos?"
"Forget it," George answered directly. "Duke Whirlwind is a Mage. In Ranos' eyes, Duke Whirlwind is just like the Council, the enemy."
"What do you think Mervin will decide?" Shang asked.
"I don't know," George answered. "Mervin is very wise. He says things and makes choices that seem naïve or stupid when you hear them but always work out perfectly in the long run. I've long since given up predicting what he thinks."
Shang had to laugh a bit at George's helplessness.
George had always seemed like a cold and unfeeling colossus in Shang's eyes, but as soon as he got to know him a bit more, Shang realized that he was actually a bit sentimental.
George was also just a human.
"So, tell me. What really happened?" George asked.
Shang only smiled. "Well, everything was true. I only kept out the last part."
Then, Shang told George everything he had told Duke Whirlwind and how he had a deterring effect on the Abominations.
"So, you've actually been back for over six months," George said. "Honestly, I should have known. I couldn't think of another person that could have done that to Jera Orvis' son."
At that point, Shang and George heard the voices of people coming from outside.
Morning had arrived.
And just a bit later, George took out his Communication Crystal.
Duke Whirlwind was calling.
After talking with Duke Whirlwind for a bit, George put the Communication Crystal away.
"He will be here within 30 minutes," he said.
Shang nodded. "And we're going to tell him," he said.
George nodded.
"We will."
