After the group of five left, Star City crowned the champion of the tournament to find the strongest warrior.
Contestant 1, Elver!
Undeniably, Elver was the strongest warrior in the world. Sure, there might be that one Mage that had also learned how to be a warrior, but that couldn't be counted. If any Mage could just take part in the tournament, any Mage Lord could win the tournament just with their insanely strong bodies.
Only pure warriors counted, and Elver was definitely the strongest among them!
The watching Mages applauded as the strongest warrior in the world received his prize, a humongous spear.
This spear symbolized the creation of a path. The owner of the spear was at the forefront of warriorkind, and it was their duty to blaze a new path.
In essence, they were the head of the spear.
However, while the Mages watched with interest, some of the warriors felt like this entire ceremony was a farce.
Oliver and Elver knew Shang.
They were certain that the person in front of them earlier definitely had been Shang.
Shang, a Mage?
They knew that he had a warrior's body, and even if he didn't, they couldn't imagine him following the Magic Path.
Ever since Shang had been at the Commander Stage, he had done things that warriors believed to be impossible.
His power had always been a level above every other warrior.
And things hadn't changed.
Just when they had expected that they knew what they could expect from Shang, he surprised them yet again.
Elver would have expected to be able to fight Shang, at least. He didn't expect that he would win, but he had expected that he would be able to attack him.
Yet, when Shang had moved his fingers, everything became clear.
Elver hadn't been the target of that attack, but he could feel its power.
By just moving his fingers, Shang had summoned powers of the Sixth Realm.
He hadn't even drawn his weapon.
Fighting him would have been no different from fighting an Ancestral Mage.
Fighting him would have been no different from fighting a Zone Beast.
Elver, the strongest warrior in the world?
No.
All the warriors that had taken part in the tournament were the first warriors that reached the Fifth Realm.
They were newbies in the Fifth Realm, and they still needed to become familiar with it.
It was difficult to accept, but everyone in the Diamond Body Stage knew that they wouldn't reach the Sixth Realm ever.
In fact, the stronger and more introspective warriors even realized that the Diamond Body Stage wasn't truly a real Fifth Realm.
At most, it could be counted as a prototype for an actual Fifth Realm.
It needed a lot of refining to become strong enough to act as a foundation for reaching the Sixth Realm.
Elver, as the creator of the Diamond Body Stage, could see a possible way forward, but it would be difficult to create something like that.
First, they needed to find a way to create a Beast Core.
Then, they needed to find a way to fix the control issues of the Mana. Maybe something like different Mana Pathways would work.
Lastly, after thinking about the Barbarians, Elver thought about a way to exchange control over power for more power.
Something like using one's rage to amplify one's power.
Create a Beast Core, change the Mana Pathways, create techniques to push the Mana even further…
Then, when all of that was present, this might become a Fifth Realm that was powerful enough to act as a foundation to reach the Sixth Realm.
But would they still be warriors at that point?
If all of that became reality, these physical fighters could reach speeds several times faster than beasts while having bodies several times stronger than beasts.
For a Mage fighting such a warrior, it would be like fighting a beast two levels above them.
Very difficult but not impossible.
These physical fighters would be just as powerful as Mages.
'Barbarians, huh?' Elver thought as he looked at the sky. He had just received his spear earlier.
After a while, he sighed.
'Maybe I was never supposed to be a warrior.'
'My body has already been ruined by my incomplete Diamond Body. I won't be part of the future.'
At that moment, all the deceased teachers of the warrior academy under which Elver had learned shot through his mind, especially the old Dean.
The old Dean had created the True Path Stage, but he also had the weakest Path out of every warrior in existence.
It had been pathetic.
Yet, his sacrifice allowed people like Mervin and Shang to become as powerful as they had.
When Elver thought of his Diamond Body Stage, he felt something similar.
'I might not be part of the future, but my research will influence the future.'
Elver wasn't sure what he felt.
Regret, frustration, anger, acceptance, melancholy, nostalgia…
His path had come to an end.
This was as far as he would go.
From now on, he would focus on refining his Diamond Body further and further.
His goal was to create real Barbarians.
Barbarians that weren't weaker than Mages or Shang's warriors.
While Elver was accepting his role, Oliver gritted his teeth in frustration.
When Oliver had lost to contestant 31, he had felt quite melancholic and had gone on about his lack of talent.
He had said that his path might have also reached its end.
Yet, when he had seen Shang, he had forgotten all of that.
His desire for vengeance had completely consumed all his doubts.
It was him!
He was his teacher's killer!
He was King Storm's killer!
He ruined everything!
He had brought the apocalypse onto warriorkind!
And he was still alive!
He needed to pay!
He needed to die!
Die!
Die!
However, while Oliver's mind was nearly blinded with rage, he hadn't lost all of his rationality.
All of his destroyed weapons were a strong reminder of reality.
He was too weak.
If Oliver wanted to take revenge, he would need to work much harder than before.
He already had a good starting point for his Weapon Variance Stage. With enough Paths, it would definitely grow strong enough to support a breakthrough into the Sixth Realm.
However, Oliver would need to find a way to reach the Sixth Realm first.
Impose?
Sure, Impose would work with these multiple Paths, but it would mean that Oliver's form of warriors would always lack behind Shang's warriors.
They would comprehend Impose in the Fifth Realm, while Shang's warriors would comprehend Impose in the Fourth Realm.
If Oliver's warriors just kept following the warrior's Path, they would always be one step behind.
Because of that, Oliver needed to create something new.
There had to be something he could do to push the power of his weapons even further.
Just comprehending more and more Paths wouldn't lead to an end, but it would definitely help.
Comprehending a Path was like comprehending a level one Concept. It might not be super useful, but it definitely increased someone's power.
'Weapon Masters, huh?' Oliver thought with narrowed eyes. 'Fine, you've always been the strongest warrior!'
'Might as well take the title!'
'I'll show you that Weapon Masters are the most powerful physical fighters under the sun!'
700 years ago, there had been only a single path a physical fighter could take that had any sort of potential or power.
The warrior path.
Now, 700 years later, there were three.
Warriors, Barbarians, and Weapon Masters.
And the differences between these three paths would grow more and more as time progressed.
