"We did, but only because it panicked. If it had any sort of combat experience, it would have focused on getting rid of me instead of continuously healing. We only won because I managed to take advantage of its inexperience," Shang said.
"But we won," Sword said.
Silence.
"Yes, we won," Shang said with a sigh.
Shang looked at the vanishing corpse. "Dogs aren't famed for their defensive capabilities, but it was still incredibly hard to break its defenses. The physical bodies of beasts truly can't be underestimated."
Shang noticed that a leaflet had appeared, and he looked through it.
"Companion," Shang read.
That was the name of the dog's species.
Shang sighed once again.
He didn't regret killing it. After all, it was necessary.
But it still left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"Apparently, they are being bred in the Skythunder Kingdom's capital," Shang said to Sword. "They mainly work for the King's army."
The kingdom's capital was north of Duke Mithril's territories. Duke Whirlwind was the ruler over the southernmost Zones, and Duke Mithril was responsible for the central-southern territories. There were several more Dukes that dealt with the other directions for a total of twelve Dukes.
One at the outer parts of each cardinal direction.
One at the inner parts of each cardinal direction.
And one for each of the corners.
Since the corners weren't that wide, the Dukes responsible for the corners ruled over the outer and inner parts, making their territories resemble a line or a triangle more than a square or a circle.
Then, Shang saw the God's quote.
"Who would want to punch a puppy? A monster!"
Shang took a deep breath and threw the leaflet to the side.
At that point, the wheel returned.
"Level eight: Average Middle General Stage beast."
The wheel began to spin, and Shang looked at it with an intense expression.
'I only won because my opponent was inexperienced. This won't happen with the next one.'
Shang watched the wheel spin.
'The only way I can win against the next one is if I perfectly counter it.'
The wheel slowed down.
'Preferably, I need something with a weak defense.'
The wheel was close to stopping.
'It's all up to luck now!'
And then, the wheel stopped.
Shang saw his next opponent.
The image depicted a pig-like man with a lot of needles coming down his back. He was wearing sunglasses and looked like an intimidating bodyguard.
A moment later, Shang's opponent appeared.
Shang took a deep breath.
It was a brown porcupine with an obvious Affinity for Earth.
It was over five meters high, and its needles looked like they were made of granite.
Its head was meaty and muscular.
'I guess that's it,' Shang thought.
'No way I'm winning against that one.'
The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell.
The porcupine noticed the distant Shang and sniffed.
Shang didn't move.
He didn't even take out his sword.
After some curiosity, the porcupine snorted and ran towards Shang.
It definitely didn't like him.
The gigantic body of the porcupine destroyed parts of the earth with every step, and it was like a wall of doom was trampling towards Shang.
When it came within ten meters of Shang, it opened its mouth.
Saliva dropped from its gigantic teeth, and it opened its mouth, which was as big as Shang's entire body.
Its speed was around equal to the dog's speed.
On top of that, it had a terrifying defense, and it definitely wasn't inexperienced.
Shang wouldn't be surprised if it could even use its needles as a ranged attack if it felt threatened.
Shang already had trouble evading the dog's attack. What would he be able to do against a wave of needles that shot at him with even more speed?
Shang sighed.
'If it had been something like a cheetah or a bird, I could have won,' he thought.
'Well, I guess that's it for the beast category of the trial.'
'Seems like I will only get eight points.'
Shang pointed his left arm at the porcupine's head.