"What do you know?!" Elver shouted in frustration.

"You never had to starve!"

"You never had to go out and risk your life to kill a Pest Cat because it keeps threatening your family!"

"You never needed to fear that your entire family is gone after just a single excursion into the wild! Every time I went out to train in the wilderness, I feared that I would find my family dead upon my return!"

"So, don't speak about hardship!" Elver shouted with a venomous tone.

The entire atmosphere turned hostile.

Elver had essentially insulted every student present.

Mattheo only looked at Elver with a polite smile.

"Elver, when was the last time you slept?" he asked.

"What does that have to do with anything?" he asked with an aggressive tone.

"Just humor me," Mattheo answered.

"About three days ago," Elver answered unwillingly.

Mattheo sighed. "Ah, a good night's sleep. How I miss that."

"Do you know when I last had a good night's sleep?"

Silence.

"Seven years ago."

Elver's expression transformed into shock and then disbelief. "How would that even be possible? You couldn't survive without sleeping."

"Mind Magic," Mattheo said. "A Mage that focuses on Mind Magic can put a Magic Circle into your mind that deals with memories."

"The Magic Circle distinguishes important information from unimportant information and transports it from my short-term memory to my long-term memory while I am still awake."

"My body can only rest during meditation while my mind is always active."

"Of course, such an intrusive procedure has plenty of disadvantages."

"For example, I can't sleep, even if I want to. I can't remember things that the Magic Circle deems unimportant."

"Have you ever been interested in someone, and you wanted to build a connection with them?"

"What if you were to forget their existence after the conversation finishes because the Magic Circle doesn't deem that person as important?"

"Do you know how many people came up to me and spoke about our previous conversations, and I had no idea who they were?"

Silence.

"What do you think it feels like to not be able to choose your own friends and associates?"

"What do you think it feels like to work every single waking hour of your life?"

"You can focus on your studies in the Warrior's Academy."

"I have to focus on the Warrior's Academy and the Mage Academy."

"Additionally, I have to learn about etiquette, politics, history, and law."

"Father would never allow me to only pursue the path of a warrior, no matter how much I want to. I have to learn Magic and practice Magic primarily."

"I am only here because I am at the top of my class in the Mage Academy. If I only were second place, father would forbid me from coming here."

"My entire life is micromanaged to the finest of details."

"I last went out with friends three years ago."

"So, please, Elver, don't compare our different situations. They are incomparable," Mattheo said with a kind smile.

Elver gritted his teeth. "At least you have a family," he said with a venomous tone before walking away.

Shang was quite shocked after hearing Mattheo speak.

Mattheo had to do so much?

Also, what did he say?

Did he say that he was at the top of his class in the Mage Academy?

Shang remembered Mattheo's fight with Astor, and he remembered that Mattheo hadn't used any spells.

Yet, Mattheo obviously knew how to cast spells. After all, he was outstanding in the Mage Academy.

'So, Mattheo managed to become the second strongest in the Caterpillar Class without relying on his abilities as a Mage?'

Mattheo's entire image had changed in Shang's mind.

Earlier, Shang had seen Mattheo as only the second strongest in the Caterpillar Class.

Yet, Shang had never known that Mattheo had such an insane handicap.

Earlier, Shang had thought that Astor was a monster.

But no, Mattheo was a true monster!

"I hope you don't think lesser of me after my short outburst, Shang," Mattheo said with a smile.

Shang was taken out of his thoughts as he looked at Mattheo. "No, it's fine. It wasn't even a real outburst."

"Then, everything's fine," Mattheo said.

"Did your father really force such a cruel Magic Circle upon you?" Shang asked.

Mattheo looked back.

"Oh, sorry!" Shang said quickly. "That was a personal question. I was only curious."

Mattheo chuckled a bit.

"It's fine."

"In truth, I was the one that requested the Mind Mage," Mattheo said.

Shang looked with shock at Mattheo.

"Why?"

"Well, I always wanted to be a warrior," Mattheo said with a distant look in his eyes. "I always thought that they were very valiant. In comparison to Mages, warriors meet danger head-on. They throw their bodies at the enemies so that everyone else can live in safety."

"Of course, even though father owns the Warrior's Academy, he didn't want his own son to focus on the path. He said that it's too early."

"But I wanted to become a warrior, you know," Mattheo said with a smile. "So, I simply decided to do both. As long as my studies are progressing greatly in the Magic Academy, my father can't stop me from pursuing the path of a warrior as well."

Shang's mind had already frozen.

Mattheo's father had founded the Warrior's Academy?

"Alright! Everyone, be quiet! The lesson will start shortly!"

Everyone looked over as teacher Loran had just arrived.

Shang wanted to speak more with Mattheo, but that had to wait now.

"Astor, you and Mattheo, as always. Sarah-"

"I want to fight Astor," Shang suddenly said as he interrupted teacher Loran.

Teacher Loran looked at Shang. "What? You? You obviously…"

Teacher Loran was just about to rebuke Shang, but after a moment, he began to furrow his brows.

He was inspecting Shang very closely.

This was the main reason why Shang was here.

He wanted to have a rematch with Astor.

Yes, Elver and Mattheo had distracted him, but his rematch with Astor was why he was here, to begin with.

For a while, the training field was silent as teacher Loran looked at Shang.

"Alright. You get one match," teacher Loran said.

At the side, Astor looked at Shang with burning eyes.

He felt Shang's power.

It was like Shang had transformed into a different person from before.

Everyone else was a bit interested.

Normal people would think that the fight would just go down like before. After all, only a week had passed, and Astor had been far more powerful than Shang back then.

But these students were seasoned warriors. Even though they didn't want to believe it, they could feel Shang's power themselves.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ They knew that Shang had undergone a transformation.

Because of that, they became very interested in the fight.

Shang looked at Astor from a distance as he readied his sword.

Astor smirked as he took out his gigantic sword. "Show me how much you have grown in the last week," he shouted.

"I will," Shang said quietly.

This time, Shang wouldn't lose that quickly.

He had his new upgraded sword, and he would finally show his Ice Affinity in public.

This fight would not go like the last one.