Sword God in a World of Magic

Shang and Astor talked for several hours inside the bar.

Shang very vaguely told Astor about what he had done, taking care not to unveil any of the confidential secrets.

In Shang's story, all his opponents were also a level weaker than they actually were to hide the powers of the procedure.

"You won against a Mid General Stage warrior?" Astor asked in surprise.

Shang nodded as he drank another mouthful of beer. He had just told Astor about his fight with the officer.

"Is that so surprising?" Shang asked.

"It is!" Astor said. "Mid General Stage warriors can release their Affinity in close proximity to their own bodies. It makes getting close to them very dangerous."

Shang nodded.

Advancing at the General Stage was different from advancing at the Soldier Stage.

Warriors at the Soldier Stage only needed to strengthen their entire body, while warriors at the General Stage also had to gain a certain mastery over their Mana.

Back when Shang "lost" against the average Mid General Stage warrior during the trial, Shang had become a victim of that power.

Back then, the warrior had unleashed a small fireball, which had been the reason for Shang's loss.

This was the exact ability Astor was talking about.

Reaching the Early General Stage wasn't difficult. Basically everyone could reach that easily, but as soon as a warrior tried to reach the Mid General Stage, it would become more difficult.

Strengthening the body was still necessary, but one also had to be able to move the Mana through their bodies with a certain level of mastery. Without that mastery, the strengthening of the body would fail.

This was the first bottleneck or barrier, depending on what word one liked more, that warriors encountered on their journey.

Gaining a certain level of mastery over one's Mana also gave one the ability to unleash a Pseudo Spell.

Pseudo Spells were called as such because they didn't need any incantations. Of course, in exchange for that, they were also far weaker than actual Spells.

For example, when Shang had been hit by the Pseudo-Spell of that Mid General Stage warrior during the trial, Shang hadn't really been injured, even though the warrior's body was essentially a level above Shang.

Of course, if Shang's body had actually been hit, a big part of his chest would have burned away, but he wouldn't have died from that.

To reach the Late and Peak General Stage, one only needed to increase the mastery over their Mana and then strengthen their body the old-fashioned way. One wouldn't gain new abilities, but all the previous abilities one had would become a bit stronger and would use less Mana.

In order to reach the Commander Stage, a warrior needed to create their own Domain.

was an area around the warrior that was filled with their own will and Mana. It essentially allowed a warrior to manipulate the Mana around them by spending a bit of Mana to control

allowed a warrior to increase the power of their attacks by a factor of two,

incredibly difficult for a warrior to reach such mastery regarding their own Mana, and it took years

only reached that

reach that level in their thirties, but they were truly

only counted for the entire world as

had to remember where Shang

strongest academy for warriors in

the name suggested, Warrior's Paradise was a paradise for warriors, and there were a great

Paradise managed to reach

obvious

was Shang's level

only had the required

happened that boosted his level

of the

have a

only allow them to unleash a

completely, which meant that Shang could exhibit

do that, one needed to have a mastery over one's own Mana to become a Peak General

learned all

a Peak General Stage warrior right now as long as he consumed enough resources

Dean, Duke Whirlwind, nor

would think

want to

The reason was experience.

ignored the effects of the procedure, Shang could win against

But what about later?

Peak General Stage warrior at this moment, he might actually fall to

the procedure, would definitely win against

short, Shang needed more

nothing in comparison to the warriors at the Late or Peak

their late

decade more experience in fighting than

a level always meant increasing one's overall power, but decreasing one's relative power,

and Stage were

Battle-Strength was quality.

General Stage warriors that didn't

Stage warriors

a great Battle-Strength, even if there