A moment after Shang killed Cindy, all the ice in the surroundings vanished as Lucin turned it back into Ice Mana.
"Winner: Cloud Shang," Lucin announced.
At the same time, the audience looked with shock at the picture in front of them.
The warrior held a dried-up corpse up with his sword.
He seemed uninjured.
After the battle had started, everyone had already realized that this warrior might really have the ability to rival the real Clouds, but when they saw Shang actually win, it confirmed it.
For the first time, the Mages felt a certain emotion.
Nervousness, but not just any nervousness.
The nervousness of seeing someone fundamentally belonging to a completely different class reaching one's level.
Yes, it was only one warrior, but all the Clouds were also "only one Mage".
Such incredible freaks with such insane talents were always seen separately from the masses. They were unique.
Yet, even though every Cloud was special, there was now someone else.
A warrior that was just as special.
Before Shang had arrived in the Hibye, the Mages were generally a bit interested in warriors.
Warriors were something interesting and unique. It was fun to watch them.
But now, this interesting thing had actually managed to reach a level where it could become a threat to them.
For the first time, this entertaining thing actually felt dangerous.
Of course, the Clouds reacted very differently to Shang.
Some of them were genuinely impressed by Shang's power and were interested in learning more about him. They weren't even truly thinking of him as just a warrior but just another Cloud.
Some of them saw Shang as a danger to their future positions, just like any other Cloud. Everyone here wanted to become a Mage King, and with this warrior, there was now one more contender.
Some of them feared Shang. Over half of the Clouds had unknown levels of Battle-Strength since they had never fought publicly. Because of that, no one knew how strong they actually were.
But now, Shang had shown his power, and by killing two Clouds, he had shown that he definitely didn't belong to the weaker half.
He was one of the more powerful Clouds, and by seeing him fighting, some of the weaker Clouds realized that their chances of winning against him in a fight were slim.
This made them fear and resent Shang.
He was standing between them and their goal.
And then, there were just a couple of Mages that saw themselves as Mages and Shang as a mere warrior. Warriors were trash, and it was a Mage's duty to put these warriors back into their place!
So, while there were a lot of different reactions, one thing had become clear.
Shang had become a target for a couple of Clouds.
But he had already expected that.
Now, what about the Domain of Entropy that Shang had used to pass by the white border?
What did the Clouds think about that?
Nothing.
Every Cloud had strange powers that nearly no one could explain. All the Clouds were innovators, creating completely new kinds of Spells and ways to use Mana. All their powers were extraordinary.
So, Shang's Domain of Entropy seemed just like any other extraordinary power.
As the strongest person watching, Lucin felt something strange from Shang's Domain of Entropy, but that feeling wasn't very strong.
Even more, Shang's identity as a warrior made the Domain of Entropy even less suspicious.
Nobody knew how warriors worked since they had essentially never come into contact with them. Because of that, they didn't have a reference as to what was normal for a warrior to do and what not.
Maybe every talented warrior could do that?
"Shang, how long do you need to recover?" Lucin asked.
"I need five minutes," Shang said. Cindy's life energy had healed Shang, but his life energy still needed to recover a bit.
Lucin nodded. "Then, the duel between Cloud Shang and Cloud Rowan will com-"
"Stop!"
Lucin furrowed his brows, and everyone looked over to someone in the audience.
It was Rowan, Shang's next opponent.
"Yes?" Lucin asked with a bit of annoyance.
Rowan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I know when I am outmatched," Rowan said, his voice sounding surprisingly calm and accepting of the circumstances.
Some of the Clouds raised an eyebrow while some of them sneered in disgust.
"You're leaving?" Lucin asked.
Rowan nodded. "Yes, I'm leaving."
"Are you sure about this? Once you've gone through with it, the only way to undo it is to get a fivefold Spirit Sense," Lucin said.
Rowan nodded again. "It's better than dying."
"Fine," Lucin said. "Then, your Focus, please."
Rowan summoned his Focus, and it slowly floated over to Lucin.
"Your Communication Crystal," Lucin said.
Rowan summoned his Communication Crystal, which also floated over to Lucin.
Lucin inspected everything and nodded. "The duels for today are over," he said.
The Clouds threw a couple more glances at Shang, but most of them started to leave.
A moment later, Rowan floated up towards Lucin, and Lucin looked over at Shang.
Then, he threw over a small piece of paper with insanely tiny writing.
Shang read through it.
"Convert everything," he said.
Lucin nodded. "You will get your prize in two days."
Shang also nodded and flew away.
"Follow me," Lucin said to Rowan.
Rowan threw one last glance at the leaving Clouds with longing.
He released one last sigh and flew after Lucin.
So, what exactly had happened just now?
Well, a Cloud had the ability to give up their status as a Cloud and become a Boltling.
Naturally, something like that wasn't something easy to do.
First of all, the Cloud had to hand over 100% of their belongings, including their Focus. The only thing they would get to keep was their clothes, and also only if they were worth less than a Grade Five Mana Crystal.
Second, they would need to get an SKP as a Boltling, making it a bit more difficult to train.
Third, since they were now a Boltling, they were not supposed to train forever before reaching the next Realm. They were supposed to become Mage Lords. This meant that the Cloud would be forced to reach the next Realm in a timely manner, no matter how much they comprehended.
Lastly, as Boltlings, they wouldn't even receive a tenth of the resources they had received as a Cloud.
In short, this meant that a Cloud would give up any ambition.
As for the way to become a Cloud again by getting a fivefold Spirit Sense?
If they couldn't do that as a Cloud, it would be impossible as a Boltling.
Naturally, Shang would receive everything Rowan had owned. It would be just like if Shang had killed him, just with him not dying.
To Shang and the other Clouds, Rowan leaving was akin to him dying.
They wouldn't see him again, and he wouldn't be a rival anymore.
Today, Shang had gotten rid of three Archmage Clouds, which represented around 3% of all Archmage Clouds.
And he also gained the wealth of three Clouds.
As a new Cloud, Shang had been the poorest since he had only received his one Grade Seven Mana Crystal.
People like Erel, Cindy, and Rowan had been Clouds for much longer, and they had earned a lot more resources.
And these resources belonged to Shang now.
