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.

the warrior that was filled with their own will and Mana. It essentially allowed

of their attacks by a factor of two, making the Mana one used effectively

warrior to reach such mastery

that level

managed to reach that level in their thirties, but they

for the entire world

had to remember where Shang

the strongest academy for

for

Paradise managed

the obvious

was Shang's level of

had the required level of mastery to

boosted his level of mastery to

reward of

warrior needed to have a mastery over

them to unleash

meant that Shang could exhibit

over one's own Mana to become a

Shang learned

now

the Dean, Duke Whirlwind,

would think that this was

would you want

The reason was experience.

the effects of the procedure, Shang could win

But what about later?

warrior at this moment, he might actually fall to be slightly

ignoring the

Shang needed more time to

now, which was nothing in comparison to the warriors

their late twenties or

a decade more experience in

meant increasing one's overall power, but decreasing

and Stage were

Battle-Strength was quality.

were a lot of General Stage warriors that didn't have

Stage warriors that

a great Battle-Strength, even if there were thousands instead