Mistra continued summoning one warrior after the other, and eventually, she reached the Mid Impose Stage warriors.
Those were the ones that taught nearly everyone else. In total, there were seven, but only three of them had apparently taken up the mantle of teacher.
When she asked the Mid Impose Stage warriors questions, Mistra became a bit surprised.
Their answers were different.
They were far more detailed.
The other warriors had explained what they were doing and why they were doing it, but they didn't explain why the stuff they were doing actually worked.
Yet, these Mid Impose Stage warriors were also explaining why the things they were doing actually produced results.
This time, Mistra took longer to ask the Impose Stage warriors about their thoughts, and she also started to jot down a lot of new things in her booklet.
"And where did you learn all of these things?" she asked near the end.
"Master taught me," the warrior explained, gesturing to Shang.
"Oh?" Mistra muttered. This had been the first time anyone had directly been in contact with this mysterious white warrior. Everyone else had only talked about him in a very distant way like they had never actually met.
"I've noticed that you and two other warriors were referred to as teacher by many warriors. How come your disciples are calling you teacher, but you call your teacher master?" Mistra asked.
"There are many teachers but only one Master," the warrior said. "We chose not to use the title master out of our respect for our Master."
"We are teachers, not masters," he said.
"Mhm," Mistra uttered. "And your master is not a teacher?"
Surprisingly, the warrior didn't answer for two seconds.
"No," he said.
"What's the difference?" Mistra asked.
The warrior remained silent for a bit.
Then, he looked over at Shang for a while and looked back.
"Because we care about our students," he said.
The reactions of the remaining warriors were very mixed.
Some of them frowned at the warrior, while others looked uncomfortably to the side, while others seemed to silently agree.
Of course, Mistra noticed all of these reactions, which piqued her interest.
"Why are you saying something like that?" Mistra asked.
The man took a deep breath and sighed. "I believe in being honest. Yes, Master has done incredible things for us, and he taught us things we could have never comprehended on our own. Even after all these years, I feel like my teaching ability is still far below his."
"I do respect him deeply for that, but from a more emotional standpoint, I wish that I wasn't just some number to him."
"I'm not sure what he got out of it, but I know that he only taught us because of some monetary gain. I don't know who offered him the reward, but I know that's the only reason why he even taught us."
"He doesn't care about our power. He doesn't care about our happiness. He doesn't care about our Battle-Strength."
"He just wanted as many Impose Stage warriors as possible, and he didn't care who advanced."
Silence.
The reactions of the present warriors were mixed again.
"Very interesting," Mistra said. "So, to summarize, you've had a very competent and knowledgeable teacher, but he has been very cold and indifferent to you."
"Correct," the warrior said.
Mistra jotted down a couple of things and sent the warrior on his way.
When she talked to the next warrior, Shang came up again.
Mistra asked about Shang again, and the warrior basically said the same thing as the previous one.
This time, the reactions were neutral or negative. The remaining four Mid Impose Stage warriors didn't have as many problems with Shang as the first two.
Mistra called the next one.
"Please, don't believe everything the previous two have said," the warrior said immediately before Mistra could ask her questions.
"Let me get through the questions first," Mistra said with a slight chuckle. "You will get your chance."
"Okay," the warrior said.
Later, the topic of Shang came up, and the warrior had something to say about it.
"Being a teacher or a master is not about building a relationship. We have parents, friends, and family to build relationships. Having a master or a teacher means learning something. It is a transaction."
"You teach me, and I will repay you in the future. That's the relationship between teacher and student. Anyone that believes that a master or a teacher has to coddle you like a child is naïve."
"Master has done just that. He taught us, and he taught us very well. That is what I wanted to say," the warrior said.
"Interesting," Mistra answered. "The first two have quite a lot of students under them, just like you. You three seem to be the most popular teachers amongst the Mid Impose Stage warriors. That's correct?"
The warrior nodded.
"Why is your ideology so different from theirs?" Mistra asked.
"They've always been like this," the warrior answered. "Initially, they tried to gain Master's favoritism, but as soon as they were under him for a while, they only complained. They cried all the time that they wanted more free time and that Master was supposed to help us achieve our goals by becoming stronger."
"Master quickly told them that he wasn't forcing them to stay and that they could leave whenever they wanted."
"But they didn't."
"In my opinion, they simply were lazy and are harboring resentment since Master didn't allow them to. They don't seem thankful at all to him, and I despise them for it."
Mistra nodded a couple of times. "Why have you become a teacher?"
"I've once lived in mediocrity, thinking that there was no way forward. I was a Commander Stage warrior in a different city, and I felt like I had reached the peak of my power."
"Eventually, Master saved me by bringing me to his town, and when I reached the True Path Stage, he took me under his wing."
"I never wanted to feel this hopelessness in my life again, and that's why I want to teach people. I don't want them to die an early death."
"Many warriors have talent far greater than what they have realized. They just need a teacher to help them unlock their talent."
Mistra nodded. "Earlier, you said being a teacher and a student is transactional, but now, you're talking about an altruistic motive. How come?"
"Well, I also work on myself, and if a student reaches the Impose Stage, I want them to repay me with 200 Grade Five Mana Crystals."
Mistra chuckled a bit. "Understood."
Then, she called in the next warrior.
His answer regarding his relationship with Shang was rather neutral.
"I was the first warrior beside Master that reached the Impose Stage. He asked me to take over his job of teaching for a while, and I did. I repaid my debt, and we have no relationship anymore. That's it. I'm not really a teacher, which was why I tried to find a way to further my power by accepting a job in some organization. Of course, since I don't have the SKP anymore, I don't know what happened there."
Mistra nodded and called the next warrior.
The next warrior was very respectful of Shang. He was the one that gave them the opportunity to become as powerful as they now were, and he would be eternally grateful for that.
Mistra called in the second-to-last Mid Impose Stage warrior, and his relationship with Shang was… confusing? It was hard to find the right word.
"I don't know what to think of him," he said. "He taught me a lot, but his methods also kept me from my wife, and she died when I wasn't even there. Up until the very end, I felt estranged from my own family."
"I feel regret whenever I look at some of my distant children, but I can't deny that Master's methods are very effective."
"He has given me what I wanted, power."
"It just came at a price I wasn't ready to pay."
"But I don't know if I can fault him for that. I could have also just left. No one was forcing me to stay."
"In the end, I don't know."
Mistra nodded and sent the warrior away.
He only had two friends follow him with their families.
He wasn't bringing any family himself.
Then, it was time for the last Mid Impose Stage warrior.
It was the woman with silver hair, the one that had taken part in the grand tournament a bit more than 20 years ago.
She was very respectful, and she spoke of Shang with a lot of respect.
When she left, she didn't bring any friends or family with her but compared to the last warrior, she didn't seem as sad and lonely.
Now, only Shang and Mistra were left.
