Dalam sepuluh tahun ke depan, dampak Peta Bintang mulai terasa. Kerajaan Skythunder telah menerima lebih dari 30 High Mage baru—lebih banyak dibanding yang mereka khawtiri. Banyak Late dan Peak True Mage yang sempat terhalang dalam memahami konsep unik yang mereka butuhkan untuk melompat tingkat, akhirnya menemukan solusinya setelah Peta Bintang muncul. Kini, Kerajaan Skythunder memiliki sekitar 60 High Mage—baiknya yang mengejutkan. Setiap kampung di garis depan kini dilengapi High Mage, sesuatu yang hanya mimpi dalam sepuluh tahun terakhir. Tentu saja, Kerajaan Grandmountain dan Kerajaan Magic Purity juga mendapat kejutan serupa High Mage baru. Seiring waktu, pentingnya True Mage dan warrior Commander Stage perlahan berkurang, namun tetap krusial. High Mage yang menyerang, soldier yang saling bertarung; bila satu sisi menang, mereka bisa membantu High Mage mereka. Satu True Mage tak menjadi masalah bagi High Mage, tetapi jika 20 True Mage tiba-tiba membelah High Mage yang masih malem dengan High Mage lain, keadaan bisa berubah buruk dalam sekejap. Membelah dengan Mana Step membuat mereka tidak bisa membuat Spell ofensif lain untuk menghadapi High Mage, sedangkan bila tidak meluncur, Spell mereka akan menghabiskan Mana karena menabrak Mana Shield. Menyerang tentu memerlukan konsentrasi, waktu, dan Mana—semua yang bisa menjadi fatal bila High Mage lain menyerang mereka. Secara kasat mata, dukungan pasukan meningkatkan kekuatan High Mage sekitar 30%. Namun bila satu High Mage jelas lebih kuat, 30% itu tidak berarti apa-apa, sehingga pentingnya True Mage menurun. Mereka hanya bisa membantu, bukan memenangi. Namun tidak ada juga hanya High Mage baru. Dalam sepuluh tahun terakhir, sekitar 15 warrior True Path Stage muncul. Seperti High Mage, mereka pun dulu adalah warrior Commander Stage yang terhenti di tahap-tahap akhir. Pengaruh True Path Stage warrior di medan tempat bukan setara High Mage, tapi tak canggung. Kalau True Path Stage warrior berhasil melewali barisan deras musuh, mereka akan menciptakan kekacauan. Musuh harus menugaskan beberapa Mage Tower untuk menghadapi warrior itu, mengurangi tekanan pada tentara mereka, atau menghadapi warrior yang membelah tiap Mage yang tidak berada di Mage Tower saat itu. Dan kalau True Path Stage warrior ikut membantu High Mage, keadaan buruk. High Mage lebih kuat, tapi tidak berarti mereka bisa membunuh dengan sepucuk jari. Spell sederhana tak cukup karena resilientitas dan kecepatan mereka, jadi High Mage harus menebus tiga Spell serius untuk mengatasi mereka—tiga Spell yang tak akan menyerang High Mage lain, yang brutal. Sayangnya, semua True Path Stage warrior baru belum pernah menjalani Bloodline Infusion. Mereka sudah membuat versi sederhana Path-nya ketika Bloodline Infusion di temukan, sehingga tidak dapat menemukan beast yang cocok untuk prosedur. Jadi, walaupun masih lemah sekali, True Path Stage warrior tak rela. Mereka seperti anjing yang membantu High Mage: lebih baik daripada tidak ada, tapi tak setara seorang tentara lain. Dalam sepuluh tahun terakhir, Kerajaan Grandmountain kehilangan empat Zone lagi, meski baru menambah dua Zone dari Kerajaan Blackshadow—artinya wilayah mereka menyusut. Kerajaan Skythunder tidak lagi berbentuk lingkaran di ujung selatan dunia, melainkanoval. Dengan Zone baru, mereka bahkan harus menciptakan tiga Duke lagi, menaikkan jumlah Duke menjadi 15. Perang mencapai fase baru setelah bertahun-tahun damai. Terutama Kerajaan Magic Purity mulai menyerang Skythunder dengan kekuatan lebih tinggi, sambil menjaga tekanan di Blackshadow Kingdom. Sedangkan kabar dari utara menakutkan. Banyak High Mage baru di Magic Purity, dan Skythunder kini tengah tekanan lebih dari biasa. Dunia berubah cepat. Namun Shang tidak peduli. Sepuluh tahun terakhir, Shang hanya melatih di dalam gua, terpencil dalam dalam. Setiap beberapa minggu, ia dengar perkembangan baru dari George dan Jerald, tapi hal-hal itu tak menarik perhatiannya. Jerald selalu mengingatkan Shang untuk fokus melatih jangan terpikir dunia luar, namun Shang mengetahui Jeraldada tekanan besar. Dewan menuntut lebih banyak warrior kuat dikirim ke depan, dan hampir setengah True Path Stage warrior datang dari Zone Storm Eagle yang kecil. Namun mereka tetap menuntut lebih. Tujuannya jelas: ingin Jerald mengirim Shang, George, dan Mervin ke depan—cara memecah aliansi terdekat Jerald. Namun Jerald selalu berhasil membuat mereka jauh dari depan. Shang memahami tekanan yang menghamppu Jerald, yang menambahtekannya semakin semangat melatih. 'Lama sudah,' pikir Shang sambil menurunkan lebih dalam ke dalam gua. Mesiap armor Jerald sudah tua dan kusut setelah lebih dari sepuluh tahun. Walaupun berusia 47 tahun, Shang tetap terlihat sekolah dua puluh. 'Aku telah berada di dunia ini selama tiga puluh tiga tahun, dan Bumi terasa sangat jauh dan tidak penting.' 'Aku telah melatih terus di gua.' 'Tapi setelah tiga puluh tiga tahun, akhirnya waktunya.' Shang menurunkan terus hingga gua menjadi lebih luas. Ia tet ingat Exploding Mountain Turtle dari Hari Kekacauan. 'Setelah tiga puluh tiga tahun, akhirnya di sini.' Shang mengingat betapa tidakdayanya ia dulu. George berlatih menghadapi Exploding Mountain Turtle dengan jarak beberapa kilometer, sedangkan Shang hanya bisa menyaksikan. 'Hari ini,aku akan bertarung pertama melawan beast True Path Stage!'
Babak 426 – Dasa Tahun
Chapter 426 – Ten Years
In the next ten years, the effects of the Star Maps started to show results.
The Skythunder Kingdom had received over 30 new High Mages, which was more than they had anticipated.
There had been so many Late and Peak True Mages that had been stuck at comprehending the unique Concept they needed to advance, and when the Star Map appeared, many of these people finally managed to do the jump.
At this moment, the Skythunder Kingdom had around 60 High Mages, which was a shocking number.
Every single encampment near the frontlines was now defended by a High Mage, which had been merely a dream just ten years ago.
Of course, the Grandmountain Kingdom and the Magic Purity Kingdom also had received a burst of new High Mages.
As time passed, the importance of True Mages and Commander Stage warriors only shrunk, but they were still important.
While the High Mages fought, the soldiers fought each other, and if one side won, they could assist their High Mage in the battle.
One True Mage wasn't an issue for a High Mage, but if 20 True Mages suddenly started throwing Spells at the High Mage while they were still dealing with another High Mage, things could turn bad very quickly.
If they evaded with Mana Step, they couldn't create another offensive Spell to deal with the High Mage, and if they didn't evade, the Spells would consume their Mana since they would hit the Mana Shield.
Attacking the forces would also require concentration, time, and Mana, which could prove fatal when another High Mage was attacking them.
One could say that having the support of an army increased the High Mage's power by about 30%.
Of course, if one of the High Mages was clearly stronger than the other, even these 30% wouldn't make a difference, which was why the importance of the True Mages had fallen. They could only help, not win.
But there weren't only new High Mages.
In the last ten years, about 15 new True Path Stage warriors also appeared. Just like with the High Mages, these True Path Stage warriors had been Commander Stage warriors that had been stuck at the later levels of the Commander Stage.
The impact a True Path Stage warrior brought to the battlefield wasn't as great as a High Mage, but it was definitely not little.
If a True Path Stage warrior managed to slip past the enemy's frontlines, they would create a bloodbath.
The enemy either needed to dedicate several Mage Towers to dealing with the True Path Stage warrior, significantly reducing the pressure on the enemy's army, or look at the True Path Stage warrior cutting through every Mage that wasn't located in a Mage Tower right now.
And if a True Path Stage warrior could go and support their High Mage, things would go bad.
A High Mage was definitely more powerful than a True Path Stage warrior, but it wasn't to such a degree that they could kill them with a flip of their hand.
A simple Spell thrown their way wouldn't be enough to kill them due to their resilience and speed, which meant that the High Mage needed to dedicate around three serious Spells to deal with them.
That were three Spells that wouldn't attack the other High Mage, which was devastating.
Sadly, all the new True Path Stage warriors hadn't undergone the Bloodline Infusion. They had already created simplified versions of their Paths when the Bloodline Infusion was invented, making it impossible to find a fitting beast for the procedure.
So, while the True Path Stage warriors were still helplessly inferior to the High Mages, they definitely weren't useless. If one thought of High Mages as a soldier, True Path Stage warriors would be their dogs. Having a dog helping them was definitely better than not having one, but it was not worth as much as another soldier.
In the past ten years, the Grandmountain Kingdom lost another four Zones while it had only gained two more Zones from the Blackshadow Kingdom, which meant that the Grandmountain Kingdom was shrinking.
The Skythunder Kingdom was no longer in the shape of a circle at the southern end of the world. Instead, it had transformed into an oval.
Due to the new Zones, the Skythunder Kingdom even had to create three new Dukes, raising the number of Dukes to 15.
The war was reaching a new level of intensity after years of peace.
Especially the Magic Purity Kingdom had started to assault the Skythunder Kingdom with more power while still keeping the pressure on the Blackshadow Kingdom.
While the war with the Grandmountain Kingdom went great, the news coming from the north was worrisome.
There were a lot of new High Mages in the Magic Purity Kingdom, and the Skythunder Kingdom was now under more pressure than ever before.
The world was rapidly changing.
But Shang saw none of that.
For the past ten years, Shang had only been training in seclusion, deep in the Caves.
Every couple of weeks, he heard some new developments from George and Jerald, but none of these things actually concerned him.
Jerald always told Shang that he should concentrate on training and that he shouldn't think about the outside world, but Shang knew that Jerald was under a lot of pressure.
The Council demanded more and more powerful warriors to be sent to the frontlines, and nearly half of all the True Path Stage warriors came from the little Storm Eagle Zone. Yet, they still demanded more.
Their goal was obvious.
They wanted Jerald to send Shang, George, and Mervin to the frontlines.
They wanted to deal with Jerald's closest allies since that would weaken Jerald's hold over the warriors.
Yet, Jerald always managed to keep those three away from the frontlines.
Shang knew that Jerald was under a lot of pressure, which only strengthened his resolve in training.
'It's been so long,' Shang thought as he descended further into the Caves.
He was still wearing Jerald's armor, but it looked old and ragged after over ten years.
Shang still looked to be in his early twenties, even though he was 47 years old now.
'I've been in this world for around 33 years now, and Earth seems so distant and unimportant.'
'I've trained for so long in the Caves.'
Shang continued descending more.
'But after 33 years, it's finally time.'
'I'm now at the Peak Commander Stage, and my body is just as powerful as the body of a Peak Commander Stage beast.'
'My Path has been around 30% completed.'
'And now, it's time.'
Shang descended more and more until the caves became bigger and bigger.
Shang still remembered the Exploding Mountain Turtle from the Day of Chaos.
'After 33 years, I'm finally there.'
Shang remembered how helpless he had been.
George had fought the Exploding Mountain Turtle several kilometers away, and Shang had only been able to watch.
'Today, I will fight my first True Path Stage beast!'
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