Shang walked back to the defensive line. Even though the fight hadn't been ended by him, he had still gained some knowledge.

Now, he truly knew how annoying the Trash Birds were.

Shang now knew exactly why every single hunter avoided fighting Trash Birds.

They were worth nothing.

They mainly focused on running away.

And their defensive weapons were at the peak of being annoying and painful.

It was like that species specifically evolved to be as unappealing to humans as possible.

It was ugly, useless, annoying, loud, and worthless.

An animal from Earth with equivalent status and worth would probably be a rat.

Of course, a Trash Bird was still much stronger than a rat.

'I would have only needed to resist two more attacks. I should have been able to avoid the next attack with another Blast of mine. The last attack would have been up in the air, but even if it hit me, its feet had already been injured quite badly. Even if it hit me, I would have probably survived.'

'I think I had a good chance at victory.'

'That's one step closer to fighting an actually powerful Initial General Stage beast.'

Shang's brows furrowed.

'However, there is only so much I can improve on. I have already reached the greatest speed possible, and my body has also reached its peak. There are only two ways to increase my power without advancing in my Realm or undergoing the procedure.'

'First, specific knowledge and experience regarding my target. I'm already very experienced in fighting beasts in general, but I don't have a specialized fighting tactic for every single beast I can fight.'

'After today, I learned a lot about the Trash Bird, and the next time, it will be even easier. At that point, I will have created a specific technique to deal with it.'

'That's one way to increase my power.'

'The other way is to work on my Affinity. At the moment, I can use my Affinity for speed and flexibility, but I don't have a good way to turn it into a direct weapon.'

Shang looked at his left arm.

'I've been training on my Affinity for a while now, and I can feel that I'm getting close to being able to concentrate it. If I manage to achieve that, I can increase my offensive power by a lot.'

'However, the price of my Affinity will make it harder for me to increase my speed if I also use it offensively. The attack with my Affinity could only be used as a finishing blow, and if the opponent manages to evade that, I will be in trouble since I can't increase my speed anymore for quite some time.'

'But that's about it.'

Shang snorted.

'It's actually funny. Training in my Affinity and releasing it in a more sophisticated way is literally what a Mage does. So, to increase my power even more, I have to essentially teach myself Magic.'

'I can get why so many warriors give up on the warrior's path and learn Magic. Even I can see how much a proper control of my Affinity can help me.'

Eventually, Shang reached the defensive line again. Sure enough, everyone was still fighting the horde of beasts.

By now, the Peak and Late General Stage beasts had joined, and most of the teams were embroiled in a battle.

The teams on the sidelines had either already finished their fights or were waiting for their first one.

As Shang returned, one particular hunter smirked. "Boy, we heard that Trash Bird from here. So, how was it? How was your first Trash Bird?" the hunter asked.

"Annoying," Shang grumbled.

The hunters laughed loudly. "That's what I thought!" the hunter shouted with laughter. "Anyway, you should know that the Trash Bird's excrement can increase potency. Not many people know about this, but the ones that know will pay a lot for a bit of its excrement."

Shang looked at the hunter, unamused.

The hunter only smirked. "You should go grab some. You will earn a lot of gold."

Shang only looked at the hunter.

"Is this another Spire Mire thing?" he asked.

The hunter, Chuck McGuiness, tried to keep his laughter in check. "No," he said with barely contained laughter.

Shang only looked at Chuck McGuiness.

"Chuck, seems like he won't fall for your shit anymore," a hunter beside Chuck shouted with a loud laugh.

The other hunters in the team also laughed loudly.

"Anyway, you're really talented," the other hunter said. "Your name's Shang, right? Would you be interested in joining our team?"

Shang looked at the other hunters and noticed that none of them seemed to have a complaint about that.

One had to know that this was a team filled with Early General Stage hunters. They exclusively hunted Early General Stage beasts, which was still above Shang's level.

The fact that they were willing to let him join meant that they valued his future power very highly.

"Thanks, but I'll have to decline," Shang said politely.

"Aw, rejected," the leader of the team shouted with a loud laugh.

The other hunters only sighed, but they had expected something like that. They hadn't asked Shang previously, but Shang seemed like someone that wasn't interested in being in company.

"Do you really think that's a good idea, Shang?" Chuck asked from the side.

Shang looked at Chuck.

"You know, it's already amazing that you can kill a weak Initial General Stage beast on your own, but that won't keep working forever," Chuck said. "You should know that their bodies become more and more powerful than ours the stronger everyone gets."

"If your strength keeps increasing at its current pace, you might still be able to kill a Mid General Stage beast while being at the Early General Stage, but as soon as you fight a Late General Stage beast, you have to be at the Late General Stage as well."

"And when you reach the Commander Stage, you would already count as one of the strongest hunters in the entire world if you can take out a beast on your own level without any help."

"And it becomes completely impossible at the Early Commander Stage," Chuck explained.

Shang could see that Chuck genuinely worried for him.

Ever since Chuck had played that joke on Shang, he had given Shang advice several times. It was like he was trying to repay Shang for the joke he played on him.

"We are physical fighters. We're physis," Chuck said with a bitter smile. "We are fighting with the very thing the beasts have the advantage in. Our intelligence and tactics can only achieve so much. At some point, the gap in power is just too vast."

"You saw the Exploding Mountain Turtle a year ago, right?" Chuck asked.

Shang nodded.

"The Commander doesn't keep his level a secret. He is at the Early True Path Stage, just like the Exploding Mountain Turtle," Chuck said with a sigh.

"You saw the fight with your own eyes."

Shang nodded again.

Yes, the Dean and the Exploding Mountain Turtle had been on equal levels.

Yet, the Dean had been absolutely helpless.

The best he had managed was to cut some stone off the turtle's legs.

He hadn't even drawn any blood.

And in comparison, the Dean had nearly died.

Was the Dean weak?

Did the Dean have a low Battle-Strength?

Probably not.

Even though the way to the True Path Realm had been public for over 30 years, no other warrior had managed to reach it yet.

This meant that talent was also something very important when it came to reaching this Realm.

The Dean definitely wasn't an average warrior.

Yet, he had still been helpless.

"Just think about it, okay?" Chuck said with an awkward smile.

Shang didn't answer.

Under normal circumstances, he might have accepted Chuck's proposal.

However, there was still something waiting for Shang.

The procedure.

With the procedure, Shang could potentially reach the same Battle-Strength as Mages.

"Oi, Chuck!" the leader of the team shouted. "Duty calls!"

Chuck quickly turned around and saw a beast running towards them.

"Talk to you later," Chuck said before he shot forward.

"Later," Shang said.

Soon, Chuck's team was embroiled in a fight, which Shang watched.

There was still a lot Shang could learn by watching others fight.

SCREEEE!

And then, Shang saw a beast pass Chuck's team.

When Shang saw the beast, his face transformed into a grimace again.

It was another fucking Trash Bird!