The next couple of years were rough for the mortal district.
With the Mage Guards gone, many more beasts with more power arrived.
Many hunters died during the defense, but the encounters where hunters died during the defense were not the worst ones.
Just a couple of weeks after the Mage Guards left, a beast slowly closed in on the town.
It was a Late General Stage beast.
The most powerful warrior was at the Early General Stage.
Their bodies were weak.
Their weapons were weak.
Their experience was little.
There was no way they could win against such a beast.
That meant that this beast could do whatever it wanted.
Like a tyrant, it stepped into the mortal district.
It didn't feel any threat coming from the people, and it just leisurely walked around while gobbling up humans.
Whenever such a powerful beast arrived, the people were forced to run back to the town. The mortal district outside the walls wasn't defended by Mage Guards, but the mortal district inside the walls was.
Of course, many people still died. A General Stage that was leisurely walking around was still faster than a normal person.
And then, everyone had to wait until the beast left of its own accord.
Many times, the beast would destroy several buildings and streets while just exploring.
Even more, the beast's presence made watering and maintaining the farms impossible.
For every day the people couldn't leave the town, the chance of famine occurring increased.
It was frustrating!
It was horrible!
They were completely at the mercy of these powerful beasts!
They hated it!
Of course, this strengthened everyone's thirst for power even more.
They didn't want this suppression to continue!
Eventually, the General Stage warriors became rather powerful.
When the mortal district had just expanded, six Peak Soldier Stage wolves had been a problem.
During the first year, the warriors could band together and kill a single Initial General Stage beast.
During the second year, they were confident enough to try their hands on an Early General Stage beast, and it worked out pretty well.
But then, it became problematic.
The strongest hunter was at the Early General Stage, and he wasn't allowed to reach the next level since the teachers wanted him to work on his shaky foundation more.
The teachers demanded that the hunters worked on their Battle-Strength more than on their levels.
After two years, the first two hunters finally managed to defeat beasts on their level one-on-one. Of course, without the Bloodline Pills, this would have been impossible.
Then, when the next Mid General Stage beast arrived, they banded together.
All nine General Stage warriors had attacked the beast.
One of the Early General Stage warriors died, but the others managed to take down the beast.
This was an amazing accomplishment!
Sure, they had lost a powerful hunter, but from now on, they didn't need to retreat into the town when anything below the Late General Stage attacked them.
Of course, there had also been some Commander Stage beasts during these years, but they hadn't been a problem.
The Commander Stage warriors from the other town were used to hitting a beast on their level with a team of four, and with the addition of the Bloodline Pills and the barbarian strengthening technique, they could easily win against a beast on their level one-on-one.
The Commander Stage beasts were not an issue at all.
As for True Path Stage beasts, those were killed by the Mage Guards and Adventurers from the town.
Six years after the establishment of the outer mortal district, even Late General Stage beasts stopped being an issue.
And finally, ten years after the establishment, there were no problems with any beasts anymore.
After ten years, the mortal district had transformed significantly.
There were over a hundred General Stage warriors now, and their foundation was incredible. Even the worst General Stage warrior could beat a beast on their level one-on-one.
Finally, everything was stable.
People no longer needed to fear, and the warriors focused more and more on excursions. Instead of focusing on defense, they traveled further and further to find interesting things and fight strong beasts.
Twelve years after the establishment, the first Commander Stage warrior appeared in the mortal district that hadn't been part of the teachers.
With that, the gap between teachers and the actual mortal district had basically vanished.
After these twelve years, the mortal district had transformed significantly.
The warriors had created their own walls with ballistae, and they had also created their own little town.
It was now a genuine little town that would be able to live on its own in a place like Area 23.
Sadly, they were still reliant on the actual town since they were still helpless against True Path Stage beasts and stronger.
The difficult and dark days of the past were gone.
The people that had lived in the old mortal district under the gangs as beggars had now become true citizens.
They no longer needed to scrounge for Mana Scraps.
The birthrate increased, and the number of children visiting the Warrior Academy increased.
On top of that, the number of talented Apprentices also increased since they now had access to books and actual people that knew how to become Mages. Additionally, one shouldn't forget that there was also a Mage Academy in the mortal district.
The mortal district was flourishing.
And then, it finally happened.
A bit more than 20 years after the establishment of the new mortal district, the first teacher managed to reach the True Path Stage.
It was a monumental occasion and proof that the Star Map actually worked.
The Path of the first True Path Stage warrior was about average. It was definitely stronger than George's Path had been back then, but it wasn't as strong as Mervin's Path had been.
The Warrior Academy held a grand festival, and everyone was invited.
After the festival, the True Path Stage warrior was visited by someone.
It was the Town Lord, Shang.
This person would be Shang's first student.
