Chapter 156 Protection

Shang and Astor talked for quite a while. Since Astor now viewed Shang as someone on his level, he had many questions about how Shang managed to hunt so many powerful beasts.

The same thing was true for Shang. He was interested in how Astor was able to be so powerful while having a Water Affinity.

Water Affinities were only good for healing. That was how everyone viewed them.

They had nearly no offensive capabilities.

They had nearly no defensive capabilities.

A Water Affinity was essentially only good for healing.

However, Astor managed to make his Water Affinity work. Even more, there were advantages to Astor's Water Affinity that he couldn't even show in training.

For example, Astor could gather his Water Mana to a part of his body and rapidly heal that part. During class, this power was useless since no one got injured very often.

Having a Water Affinity wasn't as useful as having a warrior's body when it came to healing, but it definitely was better than having any other Affinity.

A warrior's body healed the body automatically by directly converting Mana. A Water Affinity would need to actively be manipulated to heal the correct place, which would take time, concentration, and more Mana in total.

Of course, the tradeoff was that a warrior's body basically made it impossible to have much control over one's Affinity, to begin with.

Advantages and disadvantages.

"Is Mattheo also here?" Shang asked.

"No," Astor answered. "Mattheo is with the Mage Academy."

"The one north of the northeastern forest?" Shang asked. He had learned a lot during the last two weeks.

"Yes, that one," Astor answered.

"That's also where Duke Whirlwind lives, right?"

"Correct," Astor said. "Duke Whirlwind wouldn't want his son to be here during the Day of Chaos. After all, it isn't only the Storm Eagle Zone that goes through it."

Shang nodded. "The Empress Cobra also leaves on this day, right?"

For the last couple of days, basically all the lessons revolved around the upcoming Day of Chaos, which was why Shang knew so much about it now.

Shang had learned an incredible amount of information in the last two weeks.

For example, Shang had always wondered where Duke Whirlwind actually was. Warrior's Paradise didn't have any kind of fancy palace or something. There also weren't many Apprentices or Adepts here. Sure, there were some, but definitely not enough to create an academy.

Shang had learned that there was a big Mage Academy to the north of the northeastern forest. It was close to the border of the Empress Cobra Zone.

The Farm Line also sent their food to that Mage Academy.

However, compared to Warrior's Paradise, the Mage Academy wasn't inside a city.

The Mage Academy itself was basically its own town.

It had been built at that place because of the access to lots of natural Mana. Warrior's Paradise had a gigantic Mana Austerum in the middle, throwing the balance of Mana inside the city off.

Apprentices and Adepts needed lots of Mana around them to learn.

And that place was perfect.

They had Wind Mana from the Storm Eagle Zone, and if they traveled a bit to the east, they had access to Water and Poison Mana. There were also a couple of Ice Apprentices in the school, but they lived more towards the northwest, near the Ice Wyvern Zone.

Earth Mana was also present since the Ice Wyvern Zone had a lot of mountains.

However, Fire, Lightning, and Metal Mana were rare there.

Because of that, the Mage Academy didn't accept students with Fire, Lightning, or Metal Affinities.

But wait, didn't Mattheo have a Fire Affinity?

That's correct. However, he was also the only Fire Apprentice in the entire school.

Duke Whirlwind hired a Fire Mage living in Warrior's Paradise as Mattheo's teacher. Of course, the Fire Mage only taught Mattheo about Fire Mage-specific things.

For general things, Mattheo had the Mage Academy.

So, how good was the Mage Academy?

It was average. It wasn't amazing, but it definitely also wasn't bad.

Plenty of students graduated as True Mages.

But wait, then how was the Warrior's Academy so amazing? After all, a True Mage was on the same level as a Commander Stage warrior, and the Warrior's Academy was famous for its ability to produce Commander Stage warriors.

Well, in the end, this world was ruled by Mages.

Becoming a Commander Stage warrior was amazing.

Becoming a True Mage was also amazing, but not as much.

When compared to Earth, one could say that, for a warrior, reaching the Commander Stage was the equivalent of being a multi-millionaire. It was essentially the goal for 99% of all people.

For Mages, it would be equivalent to getting one's Ph.D. It was definitely amazing, but one still needed to find a great job and still prove themselves in their actual field.

After a while of talking, teacher Loran appeared and called Astor over.

Teacher Loran also noticed Shang, and his brows furrowed, but he didn't say anything.

He could guess how Shang had managed to get a quota.

Astor left with teacher Loran. After all, the teachers were responsible for protecting their students on this day. If a student died under their supervision, it would be the teacher's fault.

In a way, taking a student with them showed a teacher's confidence in their power. If they wanted, they could probably increase their quota, but it would be up to their confidence and power.

The Vice-Dean, obviously, had a lot of power and a lot of confidence, which was why he took a whole 15 students with him.

"Shang."

Shang looked over when he heard his name, and he saw teacher Niria.

Another student was beside her, and Shang was surprised when he saw the familiar face.

It was that one General Stage student that had told Shang about the Vanishing Snakes.

His name was Yiral.

Yiral nodded at Shang as a greeting, and Shang nodded back.

"What about the Preparation Grade?" Shang asked teacher Niria.

"You are the only one," teacher Niria said.

Shang looked with confusion at Yiral.

"He's there to protect you. I trust in his judgment and ability," teacher Niria said.

Yiral nodded again. "If I tell you to do something, you will do it. Understood?" he asked.

Shang nodded. "I will."

"Good," Yiral said.

Shang looked over at teacher Niria. "What about you?"

"I'm in the defensive team," teacher Niria said. "Today, we will be attacked by many Commander Stage beasts. As a hunter, it is my duty to protect this city."

"The other teachers are not hunters, which is why they are only marginally of help."

Shang realized that teacher Niria's words made a lot of sense, but that also threw up another question.

"Then, if they are not of much help, who's going to defend Warrior's Paradise?" Shang asked.

"The soldiers with their ballista and a couple of outstanding teams of hunters."

"However, the bulk of the work will be handled by the Mages."

"Enough talking. Let's go," teacher Niria said as she led Shang and Yiral away.

Yiral stepped behind Shang and followed him quietly as everyone made their way to the city walls.

The Day of Chaos was about to begin.