In a way, Shang didn't like hearing that, but he also knew that she was right. At the moment, he was an embarrassment to the class. He had the highest level out of everyone, but he wasn't even close to being the strongest. There were at least two people in this class that could jump levels against him.

Losing to someone of a lower level was always a shameful affair. Sadly, Shang just hadn't had enough time to train.

But hey, that was why he was in the academy.

He specifically came to this academy because he knew that he wasn't experienced when it came to fighting against humans.

Teacher Loran called out the next two pairs, who began to fight pretty quickly. From what Shang saw, teacher Loran was going from strong to weak.

"I will start now. Don't disappoint me," Sarah said with a dark voice.

Shang narrowed his eyes and readied his weapon.

BANG!

And Shang shot forward. He had already learned that taking it easy against these people was a bad idea. They were all warriors, and they had a lot of experience.

Shang closed in on Sarah with incredible speed. However, instead of releasing a strike, he only held his sword in a flexible position. He was using the advantage of his speed by forcing Sarah to act first. With his superior speed, he could react very well against any of her attacks.

Sarah's expression didn't change. Her right hand pulled the huge hammer back, readying it for an attack.

However, her left hand was moving towards Shang and his sword.

Only now did Shang realize that Sarah was wearing gauntlets. Usually, the students only wore their uniforms and their weapons. They didn't wear additional armor. Yet, Sarah did just that.

Why?

For what purpose?

Shang quickly slashed at Sarah's hand. Since she had already offered her arm to him, he might as well accept.

However, just before Shang's sword cut Sarah's arm, Shang felt a feeling of fear and terror come from his sword.

The feeling was nearly as powerful as when Astor was about to hit it with his sword.

Shang very quickly realized what was happening.

Shang knew the nine Affinities, and he also knew that hair color was very often an indicator of one's Affinity.

Shang hadn't seen grey hair before, but he could imagine what Affinity it represented.

Metal.

If Shang could absorb Ice Mana with his left arm, could Sarah absorb Metal Mana with her left arm?

Then, if Shang's sword hit her hand…

Shang immediately pulled back his sword.

Sarah's eyes narrowed even further when she saw that Shang had pulled back his sword. She had thought that Shang had no experience in fighting with humans, but this action of his had proven otherwise.

Sadly, what Sarah didn't know was that Shang truly had no experience in fighting with humans. His ability to make the correct choice came from the voice of his sword and his honed instincts.

When Shang pulled back his sword, Sarah unleashed a strike with her huge hammer.

Shang felt an aura of destruction approach. It was almost like Sarah's hammer had some kind of additional power that he hadn't felt before. It didn't feel as dangerous as Astor's attack, but it had a unique feeling of danger to it. It simply felt different.

BANG!

Sarah's eyes widened.

Shang had just kicked the underside of her hammer!

The sound of cracking bone could be heard, but thanks to Shang's power, he managed to divert the hammer. Its trajectory changed, barely missing Shang's lowered head.

Then, Shang slashed towards Sarah's extended arm, the one holding the hammer. As long as he could get rid of that, he would win.

However, Shang had to stop his attack again. Sarah had managed to put her other hand in the way again, and Shang couldn't afford to lose his weapon.

When Sarah saw that Shang had stopped his attack, she followed the swing of her hammer and put more power into it, pulling it around again to attack Shang.

BANG!

Shang kicked the side of the hammer again, breaking more of his bones. Luckily, thanks to his warrior's body, he regenerated the injuries rather quickly.

However, bones needed a lot of Mana to regenerate, and Shang's Mana was close to being depleted. If he made that move again, he would have to fight with broken bones.

BANG!

Sarah's hammer landed on the ground beside Shang, shaking the earth.

At this moment, Shang's mind was going wild.

'Her left arm is still free. I can't attack her hammer since my sword keeps telling me that it will be destroyed as soon as it touches it. I can't attack her right arm because her left arm is threatening my sword. As long as her left arm is free, I can't attack her with my sword.'

'Her entire fighting style is about countering weapons. Her right arm unleashes devastating and long-reaching attacks. That makes it nearly impossible to evade the normal way. I have to use something to divert the force, which will slowly exhaust me.'

'At the same time, her left arm is a perfect defense, keeping all weapons away from her.'

And then, Shang got an idea.

Shang slashed towards Sarah's right arm again, and just as predicted, her left arm quickly extended towards Shang's sword.

And then, Shang flicked his sword to the side.

The eyes of the watching students widened in surprise. Shang was throwing his weapon away?

Astor, who had just finished his second fight, also looked with surprise at Shang.

Teacher Loran frowned.

Shang grabbed Sarah's left hand and pulled her forward with all of his power.

Sarah lost her balance, and Shang stepped to the side until he was behind her.

Then, Shang jumped up. He put his legs around her torso and his arms around her head from behind.

BANG!

At least, he wanted to. However, before he could, Shang felt a force push him to the side, throwing him several meters away.

Sarah's eyes remained open in surprise. She knew what would happen, but for some reason, Shang's attack never came.

After a bit of confusion, she turned around to see Shang on the ground a couple of meters away.

Right now, teacher Loran was standing behind her.

"Are you stupid?!" teacher Loran shouted with annoyance at Shang. "This is a lesson, not a competition! You are supposed to learn from each other, not do everything in your ability to win!"

"What's the point of winning when you don't learn anything?! You can do that stuff when you have to win no matter what, but you're here to learn!"

Shang only now managed to stand up, and a look of annoyance was on his face. "Well, what am I supposed to do? Her left arm destroys my weapon. Her weapon destroys my weapon. By forcing me to only use my sword, you are forcing me to fight with a handicap."

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ "That is a handicap of your own making," teacher Loran said with a snort. "Our weapons are just as important as our bodies and techniques. All of you have enough power to earn enough money to increase the power of your weapons. If you have a weak weapon, that's your own fault."

"Great, but I haven't had any time to upgrade my weapon yet!" Shang said with frustration. "How am I supposed to gain experience when I can't even use my weapon? All of my attacks and defenses are unusable since my weapon will be destroyed in one exchange!"

"So? You don't have to sacrifice your weapon," teacher Loran said. "This is about learning, not winning. If you have such a problem, use the fights to train your defensive capabilities. So what if you can't win? Being able to live longer under a barrage can be a viable way to win since the opponent might become exhausted before you, giving you an opening."

Shang gritted his teeth in frustration.

He definitely didn't like it, but there was some truth to teacher Loran's words. This fight was not about winning but about gaining experience.

What had Shang learned during that fight?

Not much.

How much had he learned during Astor's fight?

A lot!

"Teacher, I think you're treating Shang unjustly."

Teacher Loran frowned and turned to Sarah.

Sarah had been the one that had said that just now.

Shang looked over with a raised eyebrow.

"He might not have learned much, but I have," she said as she looked at the ground with furrowed brows. "I thought that my defense was perfect, but Shang has shown me a huge flaw. With all my experience, I should be the one to win. However, I didn't."

"That's because he counters my fighting style. My fighting style revolves all around dealing with the weapons and armor of my enemies. However, if the enemy has no weapons or armor and is still a threat, I'm fumbling around blindly."

When teacher Loran heard that, he scratched the side of his chin in thought.

"Like a beast?" he asked.

Sarah furrowed her brows. "Yes, like a beast. I haven't fought many beasts before. I nearly almost only fight humans."

Teacher Loran hummed to himself for a bit.

Then, he turned to Shang. "You know what? I might have judged too early," he said. "Sure, you didn't learn anything, but you allowed Sarah to learn from you. So, the fight still hasn't been useless."

Shang looked at Sarah with surprise. He had expected her to complain, but that wasn't the case. Instead of thinking that Shang had won with unfair methods, she had accepted it. In her mind, she had just lost the battle.

That was an admirable quality.

"Alright, if you're both fine with it, you can continue," teacher Loran said before turning to the class again.

Shang and Sarah looked at each other.

One had nearly no experience in fighting with humans.

The other had nearly no experience in fighting with beasts.

One had fought many humans.

One had fought many beasts.

They could definitely benefit from each other's knowledge.