In the next ten years, the effects of the Star Maps started to show results.
The Skythunder Kingdom had received over 30 new High Mages, which was more than they had anticipated.
There had been so many Late and Peak True Mages that had been stuck at comprehending the unique Concept they needed to advance, and when the Star Map appeared, many of these people finally managed to do the jump.
At this moment, the Skythunder Kingdom had around 60 High Mages, which was a shocking number.
Every single encampment near the frontlines was now defended by a High Mage, which had been merely a dream just ten years ago.
Of course, the Grandmountain Kingdom and the Magic Purity Kingdom also had received a burst of new High Mages.
As time passed, the importance of True Mages and Commander Stage warriors only shrunk, but they were still important.
While the High Mages fought, the soldiers fought each other, and if one side won, they could assist their High Mage in the battle.
One True Mage wasn't an issue for a High Mage, but if 20 True Mages suddenly started throwing Spells at the High Mage while they were still dealing with another High Mage, things could turn bad very quickly.
If they evaded with Mana Step, they couldn't create another offensive Spell to deal with the High Mage, and if they didn't evade, the Spells would consume their Mana since they would hit the Mana Shield.
Attacking the forces would also require concentration, time, and Mana, which could prove fatal when another High Mage was attacking them.
One could say that having the support of an army increased the High Mage's power by about 30%.
Of course, if one of the High Mages was clearly stronger than the other, even these 30% wouldn't make a difference, which was why the importance of the True Mages had fallen. They could only help, not win.
But there weren't only new High Mages.
In the last ten years, about 15 new True Path Stage warriors also appeared. Just like with the High Mages, these True Path Stage warriors had been Commander Stage warriors that had been stuck at the later levels of the Commander Stage.
The impact a True Path Stage warrior brought to the battlefield wasn't as great as a High Mage, but it was definitely not little.
If a True Path Stage warrior managed to slip past the enemy's frontlines, they would create a bloodbath.
The enemy either needed to dedicate several Mage Towers to dealing with the True Path Stage warrior, significantly reducing the pressure on the enemy's army, or look at the True Path Stage warrior cutting through every Mage that wasn't located in a Mage Tower right now.
And if a True Path Stage warrior could go and support their High Mage, things would go bad.
A High Mage was definitely more powerful than a True Path Stage warrior, but it wasn't to such a degree that they could kill them with a flip of their hand.
A simple Spell thrown their way wouldn't be enough to kill them due to their resilience and speed, which meant that the High Mage needed to dedicate around three serious Spells to deal with them.
That were three Spells that wouldn't attack the other High Mage, which was devastating.
Sadly, all the new True Path Stage warriors hadn't undergone the Bloodline Infusion. They had already created simplified versions of their Paths when the Bloodline Infusion was invented, making it impossible to find a fitting beast for the procedure.
So, while the True Path Stage warriors were still helplessly inferior to the High Mages, they definitely weren't useless. If one thought of High Mages as a soldier, True Path Stage warriors would be their dogs. Having a dog helping them was definitely better than not having one, but it was not worth as much as another soldier.
In the past ten years, the Grandmountain Kingdom lost another four Zones while it had only gained two more Zones from the Blackshadow Kingdom, which meant that the Grandmountain Kingdom was shrinking.
The Skythunder Kingdom was no longer in the shape of a circle at the southern end of the world. Instead, it had transformed into an oval.
Due to the new Zones, the Skythunder Kingdom even had to create three new Dukes, raising the number of Dukes to 15.
The war was reaching a new level of intensity after years of peace.
Especially the Magic Purity Kingdom had started to assault the Skythunder Kingdom with more power while still keeping the pressure on the Blackshadow Kingdom.
While the war with the Grandmountain Kingdom went great, the news coming from the north was worrisome.
There were a lot of new High Mages in the Magic Purity Kingdom, and the Skythunder Kingdom was now under more pressure than ever before.
The world was rapidly changing.
But Shang saw none of that.
For the past ten years, Shang had only been training in seclusion, deep in the Caves.
Every couple of weeks, he heard some new developments from George and Jerald, but none of these things actually concerned him.
Jerald always told Shang that he should concentrate on training and that he shouldn't think about the outside world, but Shang knew that Jerald was under a lot of pressure.
The Council demanded more and more powerful warriors to be sent to the frontlines, and nearly half of all the True Path Stage warriors came from the little Storm Eagle Zone. Yet, they still demanded more.
Their goal was obvious.
They wanted Jerald to send Shang, George, and Mervin to the frontlines.
They wanted to deal with Jerald's closest allies since that would weaken Jerald's hold over the warriors.
Yet, Jerald always managed to keep those three away from the frontlines.
Shang knew that Jerald was under a lot of pressure, which only strengthened his resolve in training.
'It's been so long,' Shang thought as he descended further into the Caves.
He was still wearing Jerald's armor, but it looked old and ragged after over ten years.
Shang still looked to be in his early twenties, even though he was 47 years old now.
'I've been in this world for around 33 years now, and Earth seems so distant and unimportant.'
'I've trained for so long in the Caves.'
Shang continued descending more.
'But after 33 years, it's finally time.'
'I'm now at the Peak Commander Stage, and my body is just as powerful as the body of a Peak Commander Stage beast.'
'My Path has been around 30% completed.'
'And now, it's time.'
Shang descended more and more until the caves became bigger and bigger.
Shang still remembered the Exploding Mountain Turtle from the Day of Chaos.
'After 33 years, I'm finally there.'
Shang remembered how helpless he had been.
George had fought the Exploding Mountain Turtle several kilometers away, and Shang had only been able to watch.
'Today, I will fight my first True Path Stage beast!'
