Sword God in a World of Magic

A couple of minutes after Shang left the Wild Forest, Mervin caught up to him. Shang didn't ask Mervin how it went since there was no point to the question.

"Are you planning to sell the corpse or give it to the academy?" Mervin asked.

"Academy," Shang answered.

"What's your choice based on?"

"I have enough gold," Shang said. "Speaking of gold, I haven't paid the fee for the exam yet."

"You don't have to," Mervin said.

Shang's eyebrows rose in surprise. "What do you mean? I thought I needed to pay five gold."

"The fee is only there to stop weak warriors from wasting our time," Mervin explained. "Weak warriors have issues with getting so much gold. Of course, we still get some requests from some rich kids. That can't be helped."

"But when they inevitably fail, they will at least reimburse us for the time wasted. In short, you only need to pay if you fail the exam. You obviously didn't."

Shang thought about Mervin's words, and he realized that Mervin's words made a lot of sense, but there was still something that irked him.

"But why are you not accepting the gold from the ones that manage to succeed in the exam?" Shang asked. "Doesn't the academy need gold?"

"No, it doesn't," Mervin said. "95% of our spending goes to the support of the teachers. You have to remember that the teachers in the academy are still interested in becoming more powerful, and the academy gives them resources to support them in this endeavor. Of course, they have to teach the students in exchange."

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why you don't need money," Shang said. "After all, you have to pay the teachers."

"Warriors at the Commander Stage are the most elite warriors you can find," Mervin explained. "Nearly all the teachers belong to some kind of organization or power. The academy isn't directly paying them but giving them access to valuable resources. The only thing the teachers get is the ability to purchase these resources. We are essentially spending zero money on them."

the teachers are only working in exchange for some kind of membership for

he explained. "There are expensive and rare pills and tonics from all across the world. There are weapons and techniques that

most importantly, there are materials from beasts

Stage?" Shang

said. "It's the equivalent of a High Mage. The name comes from our dean. Since he is the first warrior that reached the True Path Stage, he

are mostly soldiers. Warriors in the General Stage are mostly officers. Warriors in the Commander

highest a warrior can

nobles or leaders of

Then, Mervin smirked.

mold. He was the first that managed to step out of

mind imagined the power and prestige

person that managed to

brows furrowed

after every major breakthrough,' Shang thought. 'I am in the First Realm, and I have gotten the answer to my

nine

Realm above the High Mage

interested in Mages?"

there is an after. However, the Mages should know if there is

a bit, Mervin

said. "Yes, there is a Realm after the High Mage Realm. It's called the Archmage Realm, and it's the most powerful

Duke Whirlwind before. Duke Whirlwind is a High Mage, and he is the ruler over three Zones, the Ice Wyvern Zone, the Storm Eagle Zone, and the Empress

belongs to the Skythunder Kingdom. The King of the Skythunder Kingdom is

went to the most logical question. "Are there also Emperors?" he

order to be crowned an Emperor, someone would need to reach an even higher Realm. For the past thousands of years, the goal of

has succeeded up

entered Warrior's Paradise again, and

ask any further questions, but