"Man, I'm so excited about the matches today."
"What's there to be excited about? This warrior will get destroyed in less than a minute."
"Yeah, I know, but I still want to know how he fights. I mean, he got accepted into the Contender Department, right? This means that he has a fourfold Spirit Sense like everyone else. Even if he is a warrior, there must be something special about him, right?"
"Sure, but he's still a warrior. He's probably extremely powerful compared to normal Mages, but we are not normal Mages, are we?"
"Who knows? Maybe he will hold out for a couple of seconds. I want to see what a warrior can do."
"What are you two talking about? You honestly think we will get to see the warrior's power? Pfft, as if! I think he will explode before he can even show his power. Did you guys forget who his opponent is?"
"It's Erel, right? Do you know what Erel can actually do? I've never seen him fight, but I've heard he has a Dual Affinity of Time and Light."
"Nope, no idea. No one ever saw him fight. He is getting all his resources from all the smaller trials, and due to his Affinity, no one has challenged him to a duel yet. Also, I heard that he isn't the biggest fan of killing, which is why he never challenged anyone."
"Huh, but then why did he challenge the warrior?"
"Wouldn't you? I mean, I feel kind of insulted that a warrior is in the Hibye. I have like three friends that are nearly as powerful as me, but they still weren't accepted into the Hibye. Yet, some random warrior got accepted?"
"Also, maybe Erel just thinks that this warrior represents some easy resources. Wouldn't you?"
"Sure, but it still feels weird. I mean, is Erel truly as powerful as everyone thinks? No one ever saw him fight, after all."
"No idea, could be, couldn't be."
Several members of the Hibye were slowly arriving at the central arena. Whenever there was a life-and-death duel, everyone would be informed, and they were allowed to watch.
This had several reasons.
First of all, by making this a public event, no one could accuse the Lightning Manor of choosing their favorites and having them win the duel.
Second, this was a learning opportunity for everyone.
Third, it would remind everyone that the path to power was dangerous and that they could die any day.
And lastly, it was to dissuade people from challenging others.
Sure, the Lightning Manor offered these life-and-death duels for everyone, but they still didn't want the students to die to each other as much. The trials were less dangerous and more efficient in increasing someone's power.
By making this a public event, everyone would see what powers the winner had, allowing people to create counters for these powers. Additionally, people that were at a disadvantage against that winner would get an opportunity to see these powers and avoid falling victim to them.
The duels would start in ten minutes, but there were already over 400 Clouds here. There were around 50 Ancestral Mages, 90 Archmages, and nearly 300 High Mages.
Usually, duels only had around 50 people watching, and these people would be of the combatants' levels.
But due to Shang, far more people were interested.
They wanted to see what a powerful warrior could do, but even more, they wanted to see a Mage dominate and destroy that warrior.
Mages were the most powerful, and since everyone here was a Mage, they wanted to see their own kind win.
Sure, the other Paths are not worthless, but they couldn't be compared to actual Mages that actually knew what they were doing. Over 99% of Mages were aimlessly creating and copying shit without knowing what the hell they were doing, at least, according to the Clouds.
And, in a way, they were right. Compared to the Clouds, every other Mage truly didn't know what they were doing.
In their minds, even a pig could comprehend a level one Concept before becoming a High Mage. There was nothing special about comprehending only one Concept before a breakthrough, while two Concepts were the bare minimum to be considered human.
Only three Concepts were good in their mind, but only people that comprehended four Concepts before becoming a High Mage were truly amazing Mages.
This was the level of the Hibye.
Back then, Jerald had comprehended two level one Concepts before becoming a High Mage, and he had comprehended two level two Concepts as a High Mage. Maybe, with a lot of luck, he could have comprehended a third one, but that would still have been difficult.
And with these accomplishments, Jerald had been the most powerful normal Mage in Area 23, and he would have been a bit above average outside.
Agon, King Skythunder, was more talented.
He had comprehended two level one Concepts before becoming a High Mage, nearly three Concepts before becoming an Archmage, and during his stay as an Assistant Supervisor, he had gotten enough resources to push to three Concepts.
With three level three Concepts as an Archmage, Agon had a good shot at becoming a Boltling, someone that would be cultivated into a future Bolt.
Someone that was powerful enough for an Empire to invest in them was someone truly outstanding.
Agon would become someone on the same level as that Dawn Seedling Shang had met near the Eternal Maw.
Agon could order Sparks around, who were powerful Peak Ancestral Mages.
This was what it meant to be chosen.
This was what it meant to be a future Mage Lord.
Mage Lords were the most powerful and illustrious people outside the headquarters of any Empire.
No one ever saw any Mage Kings or any of the Mage Emperors. Nearly every single human died before ever having seen one.
Even over half the Mage Lords would never see a Mage King.
Mage Kings were legends!
This meant that Mage Lords were essentially the rulers of the world.
Mage Lords represented the peak of power since Mage Kings basically didn't really actually exist in the real world.
And Agon had worked so long and so hard for his position as Boltling.
And then, there was the Contender Department.
…
And the Clouds thought that the Boltlings were okay.
Some of them were not bad.
Some of them were even good.
But that was about it.
It wasn't really anything special or impressive.
It was just a bit better than average.
The Clouds were so powerful that they transcended the powers of the normal world.
People with a fourfold Spirit Sense were legends.
They were myths.
No one knew if they even existed.
This was not a level that anyone could realistically reach.
Each Cloud represented the most talented person that had been born in the last 500 years for an area nearly 100,000 kilometers wide.
Every Cloud was a once-in-a-trillion genius.
If this were Earth, one Cloud represented the most outstanding person that had lived in the last 2,000 or so years on the entire planet.
One Cloud represented the most powerful person in Earth's history.
This was the Contender Department.
And today, Shang would fight his first Cloud.
