It wasn't completely as Shang expected, but it had been one of the options.
A Thunder.
Someone that controlled 10% of one Department.
Someone that directly worked beneath a Mage King.
Shang knew that he couldn't possibly ask to meet a Mage King, which meant that a Thunder was his next best option.
"Is that enough for you?" Lucin asked with a slight chuckle.
Shang remained silent for a while.
Based on Lucin's Aura, Shang believed that Lucin truly was a Thunder.
Shang had seen a couple of people working for an Empire before, and none of them had even come close to the grandness of Lucin's Aura.
A Thunder was probably the very person that people on Shang's level were raised to be since there could only be one true King Contender.
"You are planning on accepting me into the Lightning Manor, correct?" Shang asked.
"Of course," Lucin said with a chuckle.
"Then, there's no reason to kill me, correct?" Shang asked.
"As long as you don't actively go against the Lightning Manor, no," Lucin confirmed. "You're quite paranoid. You must really think that your secret is extremely important," he added with some humor.
Shang took a deep breath.
It was difficult to make Shang nervous, but not impossible.
At the moment, Shang was readying himself to do something he hated.
He was about to put his trust in someone more powerful than him.
Shang wanted to get the best kind of nurturing possible from the Lightning Manor, and for that, he needed to unveil a lot of his secrets, especially the true extent of his power.
If he kept all of that secret, Shang would most likely get fewer resources than everyone else, just based on the fact that he was a warrior and not a Mage.
From what Shang had guessed, the Lightning Manor was probably only putting Shang into this Department for show.
He was more of an oddity to them.
They probably didn't expect Shang to ever reach the power of a Thunder in the future.
They would give him more resources than a Boltling, which was why they were putting Shang into Lucin's Unit, but they probably wouldn't grant him the full benefits that someone from Lucin's Unit would receive.
That was why Shang was essentially forced to hand his life over again.
"The Abominations have consumed so much Mana that only a limited number of Mage Kings can exist at a time," Shang said.
"Oh? Interesting theory. How did you come up with that one?" Lucin asked nonchalantly.
"Mage Kings live for 100,000 years, and there are about a hundred of them. Every thousand years, a tournament is being held amongst all the Empires to decide on who gets to become the next Mage King."
"The people taking part in this tournament are called King Contenders," Shang said.
Silence.
For the first time, Lucin didn't immediately answer.
"Who told you?" Lucin asked. His voice still sounded polite, but there was also something serious and sinister inside it.
"The same person that gave me the Star Map," Shang said.
Lucin remained silent for a while.
"Who else knows?" he asked.
"I told no one," Shang said.
"No one?" Lucin repeated.
"Yes."
"No one stronger than you?"
"No one."
"No one weaker than you?"
"No one."
"Did you tell anyone that is now dead?"
"I told no one."
Silence.
More silence.
"Do you understand now?" Shang asked. "That's why I was so careful."
Silence.
"It seems like we have to hold an internal investigation," Lucin said with a sigh. "Stuff like that isn't allowed to get out."
"I don't think it was anyone from the Lightning Manor," Shang said.
"Are you certain?" Lucin asked.
"He didn't seem like someone that would fit the Lightning Manor," Shang answered.
Silence.
"Alright," Lucin said. "I'm going to inform my superior. Such a leak isn't something minor. You were smart not to tell anyone."
"However," Lucin added, and Shang felt Lucin's Spirit Sense intensify. It was like Lucin was paying far more attention to Shang than before. "Such a secret doesn't feel like something you would just tell someone without reason."
"Sure, you know about this special thing, but that special thing won't increase your power or sway within the Lightning Manor. There is no gain with a lot of risk."
"So, might there be another secret that you want to tell me?" Lucin asked.
"Correct," Shang added. "I told you this secret so that you take me seriously. Additionally, the following things I say will put me under a lot of scrutiny, and if I kept something like this secret, it would appear suspicious."
"I've decided to go all-in with the Lightning Manor."
Silence.
"Okay," Lucin said after a while, "after knowing about something as sensitive as the King Contenders, you are basically forced to ride or die if you get my meaning."
"So, telling us more about yourself won't change your fate for the worse."
Shang nodded.
Then, he took a deep breath.
"How much do you know about the True Path Stage and Impose Stage?" he asked.
"I've received Mistra's report via voice transmission, and I read through it. So, yes, I know about them. She was also quite angry about your reluctance to tell her more, but in hindsight, that was the smart choice," Lucin said. "She asked me about what you said about the world, but she didn't take you very seriously. I just told her the same lie I told you earlier, and she believed it."
Shang nodded again. "A strong Path is the equivalent of a level one Concept. A True Path Stage warrior with a solid Path can fight a High Mage with a level one Concept. Do you agree?"
"Sounds about right," Lucin said. "Mistra said something very similar."
"Before I reached the True Path Stage, I comprehended four very powerful Paths," Shang said.
"Yep," Lucin added. "That's why you're in my unit. The requirement to get into my unit is to have a fourfold Spirit Sense. I think you can guess what that means."
Shang nodded. "When I was inside the True Path Stage, I was searching for a way to advance. The concept of a Fifth Stage of warriors didn't exist yet, and I had to come up with a way to get there."
"I found out about Imposes when I ate something that improved my perception for one of my four Paths. I theorized that I needed two things to create an Impose. My Mana needs to flow perfectly, and my technique has to be perfect."
"I've heard," Lucin said.
"But my problem was that I had four different Paths and that my fighting style was evolving. This meant that I needed to change my Mana Pathways."
"Huh, that was probably quite difficult since you had four different Paths," Lucin added.
Shang nodded. "I found a way. I simply created more Mana Pathways. I created separate Mana Pathways for nearly every attack. Near the end, it increased the number of my Mana Pathways by a magnitude."
"Is that where your Beast Core comes in?" Lucin asked.
"Correct," Shang said. "Due to the additional volume my Mana Pathways can hold, there wasn't enough pressure, which was why I needed a Beast Core. But there was a problem."
"Your Mana Pathways were too weak," Lucin said.
"Yes," Shang said, "but I found a way to deal with this."
"I used the small breakthroughs."
Silence.
"I would comprehend one Impose per small breakthrough, and I used the momentum of these Imposes to add more Mana into the walls of my Mana Pathways."
"That's a problem," Lucin said with a more serious voice.
Shang didn't say anything.
"You need momentum to get through the barrier between Realms. By using your Imposes on each minor breakthrough, you are using that momentum."
"Without comprehending something else at the Peak True Path Stage, you can't advance," Lucin said.
Shang remained silent for a while.
"I didn't know that."
"Wait, what?" Lucin suddenly asked. "How didn't you know?"
"I never planned on breaking through with just that," Shang said.
"I presume you also know about the World Connection?"
Silence.
"If a Path is a level one Concept, an Impose is a level two Concept. That would also make World Connection a level three Concept," Shang said.
"When I was around 310 years old, I finally managed to comprehend World Connection, and I broke through by using this."
"Right now, my Spirit Sense is 250 kilometers big."
Silence.
