BANG!
The door closed behind Shang after he left the room. The end of the conversation still felt a bit abrupt for him, but he guessed that the dean simply didn't want to waste more time.
Nevertheless, Shang had learned an incredible amount of information from the dean.
Shang now knew what to do with his Affinity, and he knew his next goal.
Become more powerful in the next 18 months without reaching the General Stage.
Shang couldn't allow himself to reach the General Stage yet. Not only wouldn't he be able to truly grasp his Affinity, but he would also miss out on the dean's procedure.
Could the procedure fail?
Under normal circumstances, Shang would believe the procedure to be incredibly risky. After all, he would undergo a procedure that had never succeeded before.
However, Shang trusted in the God, or more precisely, he trusted in the God's desire for entertainment.
The God had suggested Shang to come here during a specific time, and the God wanted the warriors to become powerful again to bring variety back into his world.
It might be entertaining to gamble on a risky procedure for the God, but it was probably even more entertaining to see a warrior, an underdog in this world, go all the way.
"You talked for quite a while," Soran commented from the side.
Shang was pulled out of his thoughts and glanced at Soran. "I had a lot of questions," he said.
"About the procedure?" Soran asked.
Shang nodded. "Have you already been informed?" he asked.
"No, but it's obvious that Master would pick someone like you as his next subject," Soran said with a sigh. "I still think it's a bit too early for actual tests on humans, but Master is confident in his theory."
"Have there been failures before?" Shang asked.
Soran nodded. "Four failures in the last ten years," he answered.
"Four in ten years?" Shang asked in surprise. "I was expecting more like four failures in the last couple of months."
"The issue is the lack of robust test subjects," Soran explained. "First of all, the subject must have a warrior's body. An increased rate of passive recovery is mandatory for survival since your body has to passively resist the destruction the new parts cause to it until everything finally fits together."
"For a while, it will be a war between your body and the beast parts. There can't be much outside influence during that period, or it will put the compatibility at risk."
"Another important part is being able to deal with pain. If you can't stay conscious during the procedure, your body will automatically enter a defensive state and will block everything from coming close."
"Then, you need to be in the First Realm, which limits a lot of candidates since they don't feel like they need such an invasive procedure yet. They lack the desperation that older warriors have."
"Lastly, they need to agree. Forcing this procedure on someone will most likely kill them since they won't comply, and due to the lack of trust, they would also believe that we were simply torturing them to death."
"Finding one of these things isn't difficult, but finding all of them is," Soran said with a sigh. "Especially since a lot of them are rare together."
"Rare together? Why?" Shang asked.
"Family status," Soran explained. "This is the most prestigious warrior's academy in the world, and our standards are high. Contrary to what many might believe, a majority of our students are from rich and high-ranking families."
"How come?" Shang asked. "Wouldn't these families just become Mages anyway?"
Soran nodded. "They would. If there is a way for their progeny to become Mages, they certainly won't send them here. Because of that, we only get the progeny with nearly no magical talent or those who aren't as important."
"But since we are the most prestigious academy in the world, that's still a lot of families that have their eyes on us for one of their progeny. That's where the first issue comes from. Those high-ranking families are high-ranking families precisely due to their bloodline and their talent for Magic. Warrior's bodies are very rare in their ranks."
"Then comes the pain part. Their progeny are sent here to learn how to be warriors, and being able to deal with pain is part of being a warrior. They only teach their children the basics before sending them here. Many of them have only fought a couple of captured beasts in a safe environment, and when they got injured, a Water Mage immediately arrived."
"Because of that, three of the four previous subjects came from low-ranking households," Soran said, but then, he sighed. "However, the problem with the low-ranking households is that they have so few outstanding warriors. These households are common and weak for a reason. If they could create a powerful warrior, they wouldn't be a low-ranking household."
"A warrior on the Commander Stage can already become a minor noble without much issue."
pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ "Because of that, the few students from a poorer background that we have are either geniuses that managed to reach this step on their own or had amazing parents."
"All of this makes it very difficult to find subjects for the procedure."
Shang nodded. "Makes sense."
For some seconds, no one said anything.
"I presume you are planning to go through with it?" Soran asked.
Shang nodded. "I can deal with pain, and I want to become more powerful. I know that the procedure is risky, but it's worth the risk for me," Shang said coldly as he looked forward.
Soran saw Shang's eyes from the side and sighed. "I knew from the very beginning that you are similar to Master. I shouldn't have expected otherwise."
For some reason, when Shang heard that he was similar to the dean, he felt himself become a bit angry.
He didn't like being compared to the dean.
Soran was very experienced, and he could tell a lot of things from Shang's subtle reactions to his words.
"You shouldn't immediately think that Master is some sort of monster," Soran said. "His words make him appear colder, more brutal, and more bloodthirsty than most people, but that's because you are used to how other people talk."
Shang threw Soran a glance from the side.
"Many people are polite and nice, but as soon as you step too close, they will try to keep you away," Soran said with a sigh. "Even worse, if they ever believe you to be in their way in whatever way they can perceive, they suddenly stick a dagger into your back."
"That won't happen with Master, and if he ever decides to go against you, you will never be surprised about it. If he doesn't like you, he will ensure that you know."
"For example, he once had a friend, but that friend stole a technique of Master's to win against him in a competition. The friend came back with an embarrassed laugh and simply said that it was too important for him to win. Additionally, it was a competition."
Soran smiled helplessly. "Master then said that his friend should prepare himself because he will take his head when night comes. Obviously, his friend was stunned, and he shouted back at him that he was insane."
"In the end, the friend didn't leave or run away and simply went home. Well, just as promised, he died that night."
"So, in a way, Master can be very coldhearted and brutal, but he is very honest. He won't ever call you a friend if he isn't your friend. Of course, he also puts a lot of importance on honesty from others. If you don't want to end on his bad side, you should avoid lying," Soran said.
Shang remembered how the dean had reacted when Shang had played dumb. Sure enough, the dean had become very angry back then.
If Soran's words were correct, this also explained why the dean was willing to protect Duke Whirlwind. Shang knew the dean's deepest secret, which was his past as another person from Earth. Yet, even under such circumstances, the dean still refused to betray one of Duke Whirlwind's secrets.
Shang could respect something like that, but for some reason, he still didn't like the dean.
In Shang's mind, the dean seemed a bit similar to him, and he had several qualities Shang appreciated.
But why was exactly that thought so uncomfortable to him?
"I presume you will join the Caterpillar Class?" Soran asked.
Shang nodded.