Ch. 311..320
Chapter 311 – Barbarian Customs
The group of barbarians walked into the camp with uncertainty.
Shang very quickly noticed that their group was the only one wearing collars. The other barbarians didn't wear any collars whatsoever.
Of course, this resulted in the other barbarians throwing disgusted glances at the new arrivals.
Most of the barbarians stopped training as they gathered into a group to look at the new arrivals.
Subconsciously, this made the barbarians with the collars also gather into one group, and in no time at all the two groups stood opposite of each other.
A tense moment of silence passed.
"Criminals," the tallest barbarian of the other group said with disgust as he stepped forward.
He was over two meters tall, and he carried a gigantic and wide club.
Shang noticed that he was at the Peak General Stage.
'There are no barbarians at the Commander Stage present. I guess this is a standard outpost.'
"You will keep to yourselves," the huge barbarian said. "Criminals stay with criminals."
Most of the barbarians were intimidated by the huge barbarian, but some others grew angry.
"I don't accept orders from you!" a barbarian with a collar shouted as he stepped forward.
He was also at the Peak General Stage.
"Criminals have no right to speak," the tall barbarian said with his deep voice.
But the other barbarian didn't back down. "Weaklings also have no right to speak."
Outrage swept through the gathered group of barbarians.
This criminal had called their leader weak!
The tall barbarian narrowed his eyes at the other barbarian.
Then, he took out his gigantic club and put it to the side.
BOOOM!
The sound of the club hitting the ground reverberated throughout the entire camp.
Its weight was insane!
Then, he stepped forward to look at the other barbarian, who was smaller than him by a bit.
The other barbarian also walked forward, and in no time at all, they were looking into each other's eyes from very close.
"I challenge you for your position," the smaller barbarian said slowly with narrowed eyes.
The taller barbarian only looked back.
"You are overestimating your power. Shameful," he said.
Then, the two of them took a couple of steps back.
Shang watched as the other barbarians moved away from those two.
'I guess such duels are normal in barbarian society.'
Both barbarians lowered their stances as they prepared for combat.
Then, they exploded forward.
They were both very fast, and they reached each other in a moment.
BANG!
The two locked arms, but it became clear which one was more powerful very quickly.
The taller barbarian pushed the other one back, leaving a crevice of dirt behind.
The center of equilibrium of the other barbarian was pushed back, and the taller barbarian towered over him.
Then, the taller barbarian pushed down, and the other one fell to the ground.
At that moment, the group of collarless barbarians cheered loudly.
Their leader had won!
The smaller barbarian on the ground quickly stood up, but his posture was not straight. Like a beaten dog, his back curled, and he walked away from all the other barbarians.
Shang noticed that even his own group was looking at the barbarian with disdain.
'That's interesting,' Shang thought. 'Even though he lost, he is probably still amongst the top three in this group. Most barbarians looking at him with disdain would lose to him.'
'Yet, it seems to be normal to look down on the ones that lost in such a duel. Even though he technically belongs to our group, our group is now also shunning him.'
'This seems to be some sort of social tradition or something with rules attached to it.'
The other group kept shouting and punching their chests like a group of gorillas, and the collared group of barbarians didn't dare to say anything anymore.
"Your strongest man lost," the tall barbarian said to the group of collared barbarians.
The group of collared barbarians didn't answer.
'When did that guy become the strongest of our group?' Shang thought. 'I don't remember any form of competition. Yet, no one in this group is protesting. It's almost like they really accepted him as the strongest.'
"You will remain outside the camp," the tallest barbarian decreed. "Criminals are not welcome here."
Surprisingly, the group of collared barbarians looked fearfully and helplessly at each other.
And then, they left.
They turned around one by one and walked out of the camp.
None of the Mages stopped them. After all, the barbarians were allowed to roam around the Zone. They were only forbidden from leaving the Zone.
Shang watched everyone leave with interest.
"Leave!"
Shang turned around and noticed that he was the last one and that the group of barbarians looked with hostile gazes at him.
Shang calmly looked into the eyes of the tallest barbarian, who looked back.
While the other barbarians were shouting for Shang to leave, the two of them shared a look.
Two seconds passed.
Then, Shang turned around and left the camp as well.
The taller barbarian furrowed his brows, and there was a frown on his face, but the other barbarians kept shouting for them to leave.
Eventually, Shang also left the camp and saw the gathered group of collared barbarians.
Surprisingly, they were currently gathered in a circle, and Shang heard the telltale sounds of kicks.
With Shang's sensitivity to Mana, he could see what was going on.
The gathered group of barbarians was kicking the barbarian that had just lost the duel without mercy.
The barbarian was lying on the ground in the fetal position as the other barbarians kept kicking him.
"Disrespectful!"
"Outsider!"
Several insults were thrown at the barbarian, but there was one word that was spoken the most.
"Ruiner!"
The barbarian on the ground was called Ruiner the most.
'I'm not familiar with that word,' Shang thought.
Shang kept watching the spectacle.
After nearly two minutes, the barbarians stopped kicking the downed barbarian but changed to spitting on him.
Finally, the barbarians walked away from the severely beaten and heavily injured barbarian.
He was bleeding all over, and his body was convulsing.
Surprisingly, he never shouted for help.
He didn't even try to defend himself.
He definitely wasn't weak, and Shang was certain that he could have taken down several other barbarians with him if he wanted.
Yet, he took everything without resistance.
The group of collared barbarians gathered together and began to argue with each other.
Three barbarians were proclaiming that they were the strongest while other barbarians stepped to the side and remained silent.
These three barbarians were all at the Peak General Stage.
A couple of minutes of boasting later, the two of them began to wrestle each other.
They entered into a one-on-one duel and fought the same way the other two barbarians had just fought.
One of the two lost, and the group of barbarians pounced on him and treated him the same way the other barbarian had just been treated.
He was severely beaten and insulted.
Just like the first barbarian, this one didn't resist.
Then, the winner of the duel looked at the barbarian that had also proclaimed to be the strongest.
However, that barbarian only lowered his head.
"I am weaker," he said with a quiet voice.
Surprisingly, Shang didn't see the group of barbarians pounce on that one.
Instead, they remained quiet and looked at the now-officially strongest barbarian.
They were waiting for his judgment.
The new leader looked at the barbarian with his lowered head.
"You can remain," he said.
The other barbarian lowered his head even more and walked back to the group of barbarians, who didn't shun him.
He seamlessly entered the group. It was almost like he had not been the center of attention just now.
After that, the new leader proclaimed that they would be building a village.
Finally, the group of barbarians left the area to search for a good spot for a village.
Shang silently remained on his spot and watched everything with interest while scratching his chin.
'Interesting. I thought they only respected strength, but that isn't entirely the case. Sure, the strongest barbarian gets the most respect, but if someone is second place and tries to usurp the strongest barbarian, they get shunned.'
'The second place is still stronger than everyone else, but they are still attacked by the group.'
Shang glanced at the two heavily injured and spit-riddled men on the ground.
They didn't even have the power to stand up right now.
Shang continued scratching his chin.
Chapter 312 – Ruiner
After a while, Shang walked over to the first barbarian that had been beaten up by the group and squatted down.
The barbarian's body was slowly recovering. He didn't have a warrior's body, but as someone at the Peak General Stage, he could still recover with quite some speed.
Right now, the barbarian wasn't moving as he kept lying on the ground in a fetal position.
Blood and dried spit were all over him.
"Why didn't you resist?" Shang asked.
For a while, the barbarian said nothing.
"I'm a Ruiner," the barbarian eventually answered.
Some more seconds of silence.
"Ruiners get beaten."
"Says who?" Shang asked.
This made the barbarian move his head and look at Shang warily.
"It is normal," he said.
"So?" Shang asked. "Does it mean that it's the right thing to do just because it's normal?"
The barbarian looked with confusion at Shang.
"It is known and normal," he said.
"It is how things are."
"This is what life is."
The barbarian turned away from Shang again while saying these things.
"It is your life," Shang said. "You decide what to do with your life."
The barbarian didn't look at Shang, but Shang could see with his Mana Vision that a confused expression appeared on his face.
Apparently, this barbarian had never heard of such a concept.
"I am a Ruiner, and Ruiners get punished," the barbarian repeated.
"What's a Ruiner?" Shang asked.
This piqued the barbarian's interest, and he looked at Shang again.
"You don't know what a Ruiner is?" he asked in shock.
Shang noted the barbarian's reaction. 'The word Ruiner seems to be common knowledge, but instead of doubting my words, he believed me and only asked for confirmation.'
'A normal human would think that I am mocking them. After all, who doesn't know what a Ruiner is?'
'But he believed me.'
'Sadly, it makes sense. The barbarians are raised to follow orders like slaves. The Mages don't want them to think for themselves.'
"I don't know what a Ruiner is," Shang said. "I left my home long ago, and I've been living in the wilderness ever since. I don't know much about how normal barbarians live."
The barbarian's expression became shocked and confused.
"But you are a barbarian," he said.
"How do you not know how a barbarian lives?"
"You are a barbarian. You must know how barbarians live. You are living as a barbarian," he reasoned.
Shang frowned. "How can I know what a barbarian looks like when I have never seen other barbarians live?"
The barbarian didn't say much as he only looked at Shang with confusion.
For several seconds, he tried to understand what Shang had just said.
Shang was speaking of things that didn't happen, and that confused the barbarian.
"But you are a barbarian," the man said. "You know how barbarians live. You are one."
Shang frowned. 'Does he truly lack the ability to understand something that is even remotely abnormal? What's so hard to understand about this?'
"I don't know what a Ruiner is," Shang repeated.
"But you-"
"Yes, but I still don't know what a Ruiner is," Shang interrupted him.
"Please, tell me what a Ruiner is."
The barbarian looked at Shang for a bit longer in confusion, but eventually, he looked away again.
"A Ruiner is someone weak that tries to challenge the Tribe's strongest," the barbarian explained.
"Why are they called Ruiners?" Shang asked.
"A strong leader makes a strong Tribe," the barbarian explained. "A weak leader makes a weak Tribe."
"A weak Tribe dies."
"A weak Tribe will turn to ruins."
"A weak barbarian trying to become the strongest is someone that brings ruin."
"He is trying to destroy the Tribe."
After that, the barbarian turned silent again as Shang scratched his chin in thought.
'Interesting,' Shang thought. 'So, proclaiming yourself to be the most powerful while not being the most powerful is akin to threatening the entire Tribe. Because of that, the Ruiner gets severely punished.'
"What if the leader loses? Will he become a Ruiner?" Shang asked.
"Yes," the barbarian answered.
'Wow, that means that as soon as you are on the top, it's all or nothing unless you step down yourself.'
"What if the leader steps down?" Shang asked. He assumed that it was fine for a leader to step down, but he wanted confirmation.
The barbarian looked at Shang with confusion.
"What is step down?" he asked.
"It's when you are still the strongest, but you don't want to lead anymore and give the position to someone else," Shang said.
Surprisingly, after hearing these words, the eyes of the barbarian became filled with rage.
"Weakling!" he said with an angry voice.
Shang noted the reaction with interest. "Is a weakling worse than a Ruiner?"
"A Ruiner has power."
"A Ruiner can go back and help."
"A weakling is worthless!"
.
"A weakling eats food but doesn't bring food."
"A weakling brings enemies but doesn't fight enemies."
"Weaklings must leave or die!"
Shang watched the angry barbarian with interest.
"You called the other barbarian weakling," Shang said.
This took the wind out of his sails, and the barbarian looked away again as he continued lying on the ground.
"Why?" Shang asked.
"I thought I was stronger," the barbarian said.
"And if you were, would the other barbarian be a weakling?" Shang asked.
The barbarian looked at Shang again in confusion.
"I am not stronger," he said.
"Yes, but if you were," Shang said.
"I am not stronger," the barbarian answered with furrowed brows.
Shang sighed. "I know that you are not. What I am asking is, theoretically, if you had somehow won. I know that you didn't, but what if? What if you won?"
The barbarian looked at Shang with furrowed brows for a while.
"I didn't win!"
For the first time in a long while, Shang actually got angry.
'Does this guy not understand the principle of a hypothetical?!' he thought with frustration. 'It's not even that complicated!'
"Fine," Shang said as he stood up.
"I know that you are not stronger than him."
"But do you want to become stronger than him?"
The barbarian looked at Shang with furrowed brows, and Shang could even see some anger and disdain in his eyes.
"Are you saying you can teach me?" he asked.
"Yes," Shang answered.
The barbarian narrowed his eyes, and he slowly stood up from his lying position. He was still injured, but he had healed enough to stand up.
After standing up, he was quite a bit taller than Shang, and he looked down on him.
"You say you are stronger than me?" he asked in a dark tone.
Shang scratched his chin in interest.
'Even though he was severely beaten and disrespected, as soon as I even slightly challenged his power, he got angry.'
'That means that, even though he accepted the humiliation, he still has pride in his power.'
"Yes, I am saying that," Shang said calmly.
The barbarian narrowed his eyes, and he took a strong breath through his nose.
Then, he stepped back and lowered his stance.
Obviously, he intended on charging at Shang.
"Wait!" Shang said.
"You say you are stronger!" the barbarian shouted with anger. "We will fight!"
"You are still injured," Shang said.
"I am still stronger," the barbarian answered.
"Just wait for a bit," Shang said as he lifted his gigantic sword with both of his hands.
When the barbarian saw Shang move his sword, he became a bit nervous.
That sword looked very heavy.
"Look, we can determine who is stronger without fighting," Shang said.
"Impossible," the barbarian said.
"It's not impossible. The one who wins is the one that has more strength, right?" Shang asked.
"Yes," the barbarian answered.
"Stronger people can lift heavier stuff, right?" Shang asked.
"Yes," the barbarian answered.
"So, if I can lift something that you can't, it means I am stronger, right?" Shang asked.
The barbarian didn't answer.
His mind tried to comprehend Shang's words, but it wasn't that easy.
Yet, somehow, he managed to understand what Shang was trying to say.
"Fight without fighting?" the barbarian asked.
Shang smirked. "It's not a fight. It's a competition."
"Com-pe-ti-tion?" the barbarian slowly repeated.
"Right, a competition," Shang answered. "We are comparing our strength without fighting."
The barbarian was trying his best to understand this foreign concept.
"How?" he asked.
"Watch," Shang said.
Then, he lifted his sword and performed a chop.
The chop was quite fast, and Shang even managed to stop it before it hit the ground.
"The one who can swing this weapon more times is stronger," Shang said.
BOOOOM!
Then, he threw his gigantic sword to the ground in front of him.
The barbarian looked with shock at the sword.
That sounded very heavy.
"Lift it and swing," Shang said.
For a while, the barbarian only looked at the sword.
Then, he stepped forward and grabbed its handle.
Chapter 313 – First Lesson
The barbarian grabbed Sword’s hilt and tried to lift it.
As soon as he tried, his eyes opened in shock.
This sword was very heavy!
He widened his stance and pulled even harder.
At that point, Sword began to lift slowly, and a couple of seconds later, the barbarian managed to put Sword’s hilt onto his shoulders.
The barbarian grabbed Sword’s hilt and stepped backward, trying to lift it.
Shang saw the barbarian’s muscles bulge, and he even managed to lift Sword’s tip off the ground.
For just a bit, he managed to actually lift Sword.
BANG!
But he eventually ran out of stamina, and Sword’s tip hit the ground again.
“Convinced?” Shang asked.
The barbarian looked at the sword for a bit and then at Shang.
He dropped Sword, and he lowered his stance as he readied himself to charge at Shang.
“Prove that this isn’t a trick!” he said with narrowed eyes.
Shang could only sigh.
“Come,” Shang said as he extended his right arm.
The barbarian saw that Shang didn’t take him seriously and became enraged.
Then, he charged at Shang.
He charged with outstretched arms at Shang, and Shang only watched.
Clap!
Shang’s arms moved with incredible speed between the barbarian’s two arms and slapped them outward, throwing the barbarian’s arms to the side.
Then, Shang took a quick step forward in an even lower position.
BANG!
Shang’s shoulder hit the barbarian’s abdomen in a spear tackle.
Shang lifted the barbarian a bit until he was above him.
And then, he threw the barbarian to the ground with all of his power!
BOOOOOM!
The barbarian’s back hit the ground, a quake traveling across the ground around them.
Blood came out of the barbarian’s mouth, and a couple of his bones broke in the process.
Shang only slapped his hands together to clean them of dust. “Convinced?” he asked.
The barbarian couldn’t answer for a while, but eventually, he looked at Shang in shock.
When he had fought that tall barbarian, he had been able to resist, but when he had fought Shang, he had been as helpless as a child.
“You are stronger,” he said.
Shang nodded. “Good. So, are you interested in becoming even more powerful than that big barbarian in the camp?”
The barbarian had no idea how that was possible. After all, the tall barbarian in the camp was stronger than him.
Someone weaker couldn’t win against someone stronger. That made no sense.
“Yes, please teach me,” the barbarian said.
Yet, even though the barbarian couldn’t imagine a way to win against the tall barbarian, he didn’t question Shang.
Shang was stronger, and therefore, everything he said was the truth.
Even though he thought that it was impossible, if Shang said he could do it, it must be the truth.
‘That went easier than expected,’ Shang thought.
Then, he looked at the second barbarian, who had mostly finished recovering by now.
He was the one that had lost against the new leader of the criminals.
“Do you also want to learn?” Shang asked.
The second barbarian looked over at Shang.
He thought for a bit, and eventually, he stood up.
“I will not leave my Tribe,” he said.
And with that said, he walked towards the direction where the Criminals had gone to.
Shang scratched his chin. ‘Interesting. Even though his Tribe has just given him the heaviest humiliation, he wants to go back and rejoin without any honor.’
‘He will probably go through several more rounds, but I think he will eventually get accepted back.’
‘However, the path to acceptance is long and arduous.’
After the second barbarian left, Shang looked at the first one. “By following me, are you leaving your Tribe?” he asked.
“Yes,” the barbarian said. “But you are stronger. Following the strongest is right.”
‘Interesting,’ Shang thought as he looked at the barbarian. ‘Normal humans wouldn’t leave their Tribe, group, organization, or whatever for a single person, but he doesn’t seem to care much about that. He sees that I’m more powerful than their leader, which means that following me is the correct choice.’
“What’s your name?” Shang asked.
“Lash,” he said.
‘Quite an interesting and unusual name,’ Shang thought.
“You can call me Zero,” Shang answered.
.
Shang didn’t want to use his real name since it was associated with the Procedure, and if the powerful Mages suddenly saw an incredibly powerful barbarian with the same name as one of the few warriors that underwent the Procedure, it might raise some eyebrows.
“I will follow your command, Leader Zero,” Lash said with respect.
Shang nodded. “From now on, I will teach you how to fight another barbarian barehanded,” he said.
“Leader Zero, I am weaker than other barbarians,” Lash said. “How will I win like this?”
“You don’t need to be stronger to win,” Shang said.
Lash wanted to immediately say that this didn’t make any sense, but since Shang was stronger, he accepted his words.
“Please, teach me,” he said.
“I will show you,” Shang said.
Then, Shang took hold of Sword and lifted it over his shoulders.
Eventually, Shang put Sword lengthwise across his shoulders like a huge log and put his arms around it.
This was an ancient punishment position for prisoners. They would have to carry a heavy log and would be unable to move properly due to its weight.
“The weight of my weapon is high. You know that,” Shang said.
Lash nodded.
“With my weapon on my shoulder, I am slower, and I can’t move quickly, or I will fall over. Additionally, in this position, I can’t use my arms. Correct?” Shang asked.
Lash looked at Shang and nodded.
“Do you think I can win against you in this position?” Shang asked.
Lash thought about this for a bit.
“Yes, because you are stronger,” he answered.
Shang frowned.
“In this position, I am slower than you, right?” Shang asked.
“Yes,” Lash answered.
“In this position, I can’t use as much strength as you, right?”
“Yes.”
“So, since I am slower and weaker in this position, I am weaker than you overall, and if we were to fight, I would lose, right?” Shang asked.
Lash remained silent for a while as he tried to wrap his mind around these complex concepts.
Shang was stronger.
Yet, with that heavy weapon on his shoulders, he is slower and weaker.
But Shang was stronger.
But Shang was also weaker?
p、and a-n、o、vel Shang was stronger and weaker at the same time?
It took Lash several seconds, but eventually, he managed to understand it.
‘He is weaker with his sword. He is stronger without his sword,’ Lash thought.
“I understand, Leader Zero,” Lash said.
Shang nodded. “Good.”
“But Leader Zero, I have a question,” Lash said quickly after that.
“What question?”
“Why are you carrying a weapon with you if it makes you weaker?” Lash asked.
Now, it took Shang a bit to understand these words.
“When I use it properly, it makes me a lot stronger,” Shang explained. “It makes me slower, but I have a greater reach and more power behind my attacks with it.”
“However, if I don’t attack with it, it only makes me slower. My sword has advantages and disadvantages. When I am not using its advantages, I only have the disadvantages.”
Lash tried to understand this concept, but it was very difficult for him.
Shang spent the next ten minutes explaining the concept of disadvantages and advantages to Lash, who was trying his best to understand.
Lash’s mind had never been used this much in his entire life.
Luckily, even though Lash knew nearly no complex concepts, since his mind was strengthened by his body, he made quick advancements in complex thinking.
Wisdom and intelligence were two very different things.
Wisdom was the amount of applicable knowledge inside someone’s head.
Intelligence was the ability to make sense of complex patterns and to quickly learn new things.
If an intelligent person and a wise person had to solve an equation and both of them knew the way to solve it, the intelligent person would solve it faster.
However, a wise person most likely knew how to solve it, while an intelligent person without wisdom didn’t.
An intelligent person could maybe figure out how to build a house with a lot of trial and error and by using a lot of logic, but a wise person already knew how to build a house.
Right now, Lash had no wisdom. He knew nearly nothing.
However, since his mind had been strengthened, he was very intelligent by normal human standards.
This meant that he would learn very quickly.
Eventually, Shang managed to teach Lash the concepts of advantages and disadvantages, and he finally understood how Shang could be stronger and weaker at the same time.
“So, while carrying my weapon like this, I am weaker, right?” Shang asked again.
Lash nodded. “Yes.”
“So, you should win in a fight, correct?” Shang asked.
“Yes,” Lash said.
“Then, let’s fight. I will win against you, even though I am weaker right now.”
Chapter 314 – Basics
It took a bit of convincing, but Lash eventually charged at Shang.
Just like before, Lash charged at Shang with both of his arms extended.
Just before Lash reached Shang, Shang lifted his leg and kicked Lash in the abdomen.
Lash flew away and rolled a couple of times on the ground.
Then, he looked at Shang with furrowed brows.
“This is not a fight,” Lash said.
“How is it not a fight?” Shang asked.
“We are supposed to compare our strength!”
“We are,” Shang said. “However, strength is not just how strong your body is.”
Lash tried his best to understand the concept.
“Isn’t experience also part of your strength?” Shang asked.
Lash nodded.
“When an old leader that has defended himself from challenges hundreds of times fights someone that has a slightly stronger body, will he win or lose?” Shang asked.
Lash thought about Shang’s words for a while.
“He will win,” Lash said. “He knows how to fight.”
Shang nodded with a grin. “Correct. So, experience is also part of your strength.”
“I would advise you to differentiate between strength and power to make it clearer.”
“When you or I use the word strength from now on, we mean the strength of your body. That includes your speed and how much strength you can exert, okay?” Shang asked.
Lash nodded after a couple of seconds.
“When we talk about power, we refer to everything. That includes experience, originality, flexibility, and many other things.”
“Strength determines who wins in a direct comparison of strength between two barbarians.”
“Power determines who will kill the other one when there are no rules or customs.”
“Right now, my strength is lower than yours, but my power is far above yours.”
“If you are not convinced, try again.”
Lash tried to understand these concepts, and he eventually charged at Shang again.
He got kicked away again.
And again.
And again.
Several injuries accumulated on Lash’s body.
“I am weaker in strength, but you are the one getting injured,” Shang said.
“Think of a powerful barbarian.”
“Now, think of an invisible, weak human with a very sharp spike.”
Lash was trying his best to imagine the scene.
“Now, imagine that weak human sneaking up on the powerful barbarian and attacking his head with his sharp spike. What happens?”
Lash’s brows furrowed.
“The barbarian dies.”
Shang smiled a bit. Lash had learned to imagine a scene that was not real. He was making progress.
“Is the barbarian stronger?” Shang asked.
“Yes,” Lash said.
“Is the barbarian more powerful?”
“Yes,” Lash said.
“Then why is he dead?”
Silence.
“If the barbarian is more powerful, why is he dead?” Shang repeated.
“Unfair,” Lash said.
“Might be,” Shang said. “Yet, he is dead, and the weak human is still alive.”
“Who would you rather be?”
Silence.
In Lash’s mind, a conflict between honorable battle and survival took place.
“The weak human,” Lash said.
“Why?” Shang asked.
Lash didn’t answer for a while.
“I don’t want to die,” Lash said with shame.
Shang nodded. “It’s not a shame to admit that. We all want to live. Isn’t that why we train? Isn’t that why we want to become more powerful?”
“We don’t want to die. This is why we train and fight.”
“Honesty in battle is making you weaker.”
“Your enemy will use poisons.”
“Your enemy will use sneak attacks.”
“Your enemy will use manipulation.”
“Your enemy will flee and attack from far away.”
“Your enemy will claw your eyes out.”
“This is the extent of their power, and by not taking advantage of these aspects, you are limiting your own power.”
“Your strength might be great, but your power will never be great while being honorable in a fight.”
Some seconds of silence passed.
“Now, try to take me down again. Use anything you can think of. There is nothing dishonorable. Just attack.”
Lash opened his eyes and focused on Shang.
Then, he charged forward.
And when he reached Shang, he lifted his leg to kick Shang.
However, that kick was pathetic.
Lash had to stop to use it. It was slow. It was very telegraphed. It was clumsy.
Shang simply lifted his right leg and pushed Lash’s kick to the side with his knee.
Then, Shang extended his leg in a kick.
BANG!
Lash was thrown away again.
However, Lash’s mind was going wild at this moment.
He was stronger than Shang in his current position.
However, he lost again.
And finally, he understood.
‘He is not as strong right now, but he is more powerful,’ Lash thought.
Lash slowly stood up and looked into Shang’s eye.
“Leader Zero,” he said respectfully. “Please teach me how to become powerful.”
Shang smirked.
‘No wonder the barbarians fear the warriors. Even though their bodies are more powerful, they only know how to fight in a very direct manner.’
Shang remembered the short fight between the Dean and King Skythunder.
BOOM!
Shang threw his sword to the side and cracked his neck.
“Approach me,” Shang said.
Lash did so and stopped in front of Shang.
“Lift your arms like this,” Shang said as he entered a fighting stance.
Lash copied Shang’s stance.
“I will punch you very slowly now,” Shang said. “You are faster than this punch, and you should be able to deal with it. Okay?”
Lash nodded.
Then, Shang clenched his right fist and punched forward.
Sure enough, the punch wasn’t very fast.
BANG!
But it still hit Lash’s face, and he was thrown back.
The punch had gone for Lash’s face, but he didn’t know how to deal with it. His muscles and shoulders tensed, and he moved his arms in front of him to block.
Shang simply changed the trajectory of his punch by a bit and hit him.
“My punch was slower than you, but you still got hit,” Shang said.
Lash stood up again and approached Shang.
“You must know how to deal with it. Try to punch my face,” Shang said.
Lash nodded and tried to hit Shang’s face.
Shang’s right arm simply slapped Lash’s arm to the side, making him miss.
“Again.”
Lash punched again, but this time, Shang pushed Lash’s fist the other way.
“Again.”
The same thing repeated itself many times, and Shang showed various ways of dealing with a punch.
“There are many ways to counter a punch,” Shang said. “Let’s get you familiar with the simplest one.”
“I will move my fist very slowly towards your face. You will shove my fist to the side with your forearm,” Shang said as he showed what Lash had to do.
Lash nodded.
Shang’s fist moved forward, and Lash did what Shang said, but he was very unused to moving his arm like this.
Shang nodded. “Again. I will go a bit faster this time.”
And from that moment on, Lash’s longest training session ever happened.
Shang made Lash repeat the same block over and over again. He was forcing him to do it hundreds of times, and Lash got hit occasionally since Shang sped up quite a bit.
A day later, Shang said that Lash could relax.
Lash relaxed.
But then, Shang released a punch at Lash’s face, exactly the same way he had done over the last day.
Lash’s eyes widened, and his arm shot up by itself.
CLAP!
Shang’s fist was pushed to the side, and he missed.
Lash looked with shock at his own arm.
Shang smirked.
‘Having a strengthened mind sure is useful. Not needing to sleep also helps a lot.’
‘The block is already ingrained in his reflexes.’
“Next lesson, a different kind of block.”
For the next couple of days, Shang taught Lash about all kinds of methods to defend from a punch. Depending on the angle of the attack, different methods of blocking showed different results, and Shang was methodically going through all the possible angles.
Right now, Lash was undergoing a terrifying growth in terms of power.
He had an incredibly powerful body, and now, he was finally learning how to use it effectively.
This was Shang’s first student.
And he wouldn’t be the last.
Chapter 315 – Solo Performance
Lash took a deep breath.
He was very nervous right now.
Shang had been training him for two weeks without stopping, and now, it was time to prove that he had grown more powerful.
After encouraging himself, Lash stepped forward…
Into the camp.
As soon as he stepped inside, several barbarians without collars noticed him, and they sneered.
They all stopped training and fighting and threateningly walked toward him.
This time, things were different from two weeks ago.
Two weeks ago, boundaries had been established, but now, they were already in place.
Because of that, Lash was treated as an outsider invading their territory instead of someone from their Tribe.
Three barbarians quickly approached Lash, anger and disdain in their eyes.
Lash's nervousness rose, but he tried to keep calm.
BANG!
A quick jab was thrown at one of them, hitting their face.
The other two looked with shock as one of them was halted by a light punch.
BANG!
A straight hit another barbarian, throwing him into the distance and breaking his nose.
BANG!
The third one got an elbow to his temple, and he collapsed to the ground.
BANG!
The first one had only been stunned by the jab, and Lash finished it with a kick to the chest.
In just a single second, all three barbarians fell to the ground, unable to continue fighting.
Silence.
At that moment, Lash's nervousness vanished and was replaced by shock.
He had only been fighting Shang for two weeks, and he felt like he had made no progress. Whenever Shang actually tried fighting, Lash was helpless.
However, when Lash saw these three barbarians, it was like he was looking at inexperienced children.
They were essentially begging to be punched.
And they all went down without a problem.
The other barbarians grew enraged and charged at Lash. Now, they were not slowly and threateningly walking towards him but directly charging at him.
At that moment, Lash thought back to Shang's lessons.
'When you are fighting multiple people, the only way to win is to not get surrounded and force them into very short one-on-one fights.'
Lash took a quick step forward and kicked one of them in the abdomen. At the same time, he used his own kick to gain some distance.
The barbarian was thrown into the distance, and Lash retreated as the others approached.
Lash went to the outermost barbarian and kicked him too before retreating.
An experienced group of soldiers or warriors would not brainlessly charge at such a powerful enemy. Instead, they would encircle him from a great distance and slowly close in.
If the strong enemy went to attack one of them, the two to their side would strike from the side, and the others would quickly encircle the enemy.
However, these barbarians had never been in such a fight.
They had only fought other barbarians very directly via wrestling or fought solitary beasts in a very direct manner.
Because of that, Lash managed to take out every single one of them.
Eventually, the tall leader of the barbarians arrived, and he looked at Lash with narrowed eyes.
Lash was conducting himself shamefully!
He wasn't allowing any of the barbarians to show their strength!
However, he still charged at Lash.
In his mind, he was stronger than Lash. Therefore, Lash couldn't possibly win.
He was very confident.
Lash saw the barbarian that had defeated him previously approach, but he wasn't nervous.
The tall barbarian was only slightly more threatening than the others, which still counted as harmless to the current him.
Lash hadn't planned on it, but at this moment, he decided to show off a bit.
He had seen Shang perform this attack only once, but he hadn't used it himself.
Shang had shown this attack as an example of something that's extremely effective if the enemy doesn't know it or see it coming, but absolutely horrible if they knew what was coming.
Shang had called it a "fancy newbie killer".
This attack could be likened to a scholar's mate in chess, useless against anyone that knew the basics, but very effective against inexperienced people.
As the tall barbarian approached, Lash changed his stance to stand sideways to his opponent.
Then, he jumped and spun so that the leg showing away from the opponent spun around his back to hit them in the chest.
It was a jump spinning back kick.
Any experienced fighter could simply throw the leg to the side, which would result in the enemy having their back turned to him, which would be devastating to them.
But the tall barbarian wasn't experienced.
BANG!
The kick hit the tall barbarian's head, and he flew into the distance.
The barbarians lying on the ground watched with shock as their leader was thrown into the distance.
BANG!
The leader hit the ground hard, and he didn't move.
This kick completely knocked him out.
There were also a couple of other barbarians near the edge of the camp who were watching in shock.
Obviously, not every single barbarian had gotten involved.
However, Lash had still taken care of around ten barbarians on his own, which was quite impressive.
The barbarian that had lost against their leader had returned two weeks later, and he had been invincible amongst the entire Tribe.
Now, Lash stood alone in the middle of the camp.
"Strength is only a part of power," Lash said to the camp. "Your leader is strong, but he is not powerful."
"He might be stronger, but right now, he is unconsciously lying on the ground while I stand here."
"If I wanted to, I could kill him right now."
"If I wanted to, I could kill all of you."
"You might think my conduct is disrespectful…"
"But when you are dead and I stand above your corpse, will you be happy?"
"When I get to survive and you die, will you be happy?"
Silence.
"Shameful!"
"Shameful!"
"Shameful!"
Nearly all the barbarians began to shout in unison.
"Disrespect!"
"Coward!"
"Cheater!"
This went against all barbarian traditions!
Such a person was no barbarian!
Lash was not a barbarian!
BANG!
Lash went to one of them and kicked their head, knocking them out.
Several others gritted their teeth in anger and charged at Lash.
This time, everyone got involved.
The following fight was not easy for Lash, but thanks to Shang's training, he still managed to take care of every single one of them.
And eventually, silence returned.
No one was shouting anything anymore.
"Think what you want," Lash announced to the silent camp. "I might be shameful. I might be disrespectful."
"And yet, you are on the ground, helpless, and I am standing victorious."
"You are dead."
"I am alive."
This time, nobody answered.
"If anyone desires power, you can find me outside."
"I don't follow a strong leader."
"I follow a powerful leader."
And with that said, Lash left the camp.
For a while, none of the barbarians said anything.
But after a while, outrage and arguing erupted in the camp.
Most of the barbarians didn't believe in Lash's words and denounced him.
Others remained silent, not sure what they should think.
And a few of them argued for Lash.
The arguing continued for a long while.
Chapter 316 – First Goal Achieved
Lash returned to Shang, and Shang looked at Lash with a smile.
"Did you succeed?" he asked.
"Yes, leader Zero," Lash said respectfully. "I won against everyone."
Lash was quite excited.
Something like this had been unimaginable to him.
Winning against an entire Tribe was the stuff of dreams!
But that dream had become reality!
"Well done," Shang said. "Now, we only have to wait."
Lash nodded.
And then, the two of them waited.
Sure enough, an hour later, about five barbarians left the camp, and when they saw Lash, they slowly approached in respect.
The five of them stopped in front of Lash without saying a word.
"Have you understood?" Lash asked.
None of them spoke for a while.
"You are the strongest," one of them said.
"Wrong," Lash answered.
"I am not the strongest."
"Out of your group, I am the most powerful, not the strongest."
"Your leader has more strength in his body, but I still won. That means that I am more powerful, not stronger."
These concepts were alien to these barbarians, but they tried their best to understand.
"Also, even though I am more powerful than anyone in the camp, I am not the most powerful out of everyone."
"He is," Lash said, gesturing to Shang.
The group looked at Shang with shock.
"He taught me everything about strength and power."
"It was easy for me to win against you, but I can't even resist him."
"He is the most powerful, but he is also the strongest."
But surprisingly, the barbarians were unconvinced.
Shang noticed this and smirked.
"I can demonstrate my strength and power to all of you," Shang said.
"You can come at me, and I will defeat you. You will not become a Ruiner," Shang said.
The barbarians looked at each other, and one of them stepped forward.
Then, he charged at Shang.
Shang only lifted his hands, and their hands interlocked.
The other barbarian was trying his best to push Shang away, but Shang simply stood there. It was almost like he was not exerting any power.
The barbarians watched in shock.
BANG!
Shang threw the barbarian to the side with ease.
"This proves that I am the strongest."
"Now, I will prove that I am the most powerful."
Shang slowly stepped forward and stopped in front of the five barbarians.
"You can surround me and attack at the same time."
When Lash heard that, his eyebrows lifted.
Shang had taught him that being surrounded was bad.
How could he win in this situation?
The barbarians looked with nervousness at each other, but they eventually surrounded Shang.
"You can start whenever you want," Shang said.
And then, Shang closed his remaining eye and focused on his Mana Sense.
It was currently in the middle of the day, and the Light Mana was thick in the surroundings.
Eventually, one of the barbarians from behind Shang moved forward, and the other three followed immediately.
BANG!
Shang evaded to the left, avoiding one of the barbarians and making him collide with the one in the front.
BANG!
At the same time, Shang punched to his left, hitting the sole barbarian there and throwing him away.
The barbarian on the right couldn't reach Shang since the two other barbarians were in the way.
BANG! BANG!
Shang quickly dispatched the other two barbarians, leaving only one standing.
The last barbarian only looked with shock at Shang.
Lash also looked with shock at Shang.
Lash couldn't do that!
It was almost like Leader Zero was invincible!
"Convinced?" Shang asked with a smile.
The other barbarians looked at each other in surprise.
"Leader!" one of them shouted in respect.
"Leader!"
The other ones quickly followed his example and proclaimed their loyalty.
"My name is Zero," Shang said, "and I am willing to teach you all how to become powerful."
"Strength is only one aspect of power. Being strong increases your power, but it isn't nearly enough."
"You need to train in all aspects of power to truly become powerful."
The barbarians listened intently to Shang's words.
"However, my Tribe is different from other Tribes."
"In fact, this is not a Tribe."
This surprised the barbarians.
Not a Tribe?
"This is a group," Shang said.
"I don't need your loyalty. If you want to leave, you are allowed to leave."
"If you want to join a Tribe, you are allowed to."
"Your life is in your hands, and you can do whatever you want with it."
"I won't interfere, and I won't give you orders."
This confused the barbarians since this was a completely new concept.
"I will teach you to become powerful, but I also want repayment."
"If you want something from me, I want something in return," Shang said.
"I am only teaching you to become powerful. Whatever you do with that power is up to you, but for that privilege, I want something."
The barbarians looked at each other with nervousness.
"What do you want, Leader?" one of them asked.
Shang smirked.
"I want to learn all the techniques you use to strengthen your bodies."
Silence.
'The moment of truth,' Shang thought.
The barbarians looked at each other in disbelief.
"Is that everything?" one of them asked.
"That's everything," Shang said.
"I agree!" one of them said.
"I also agree!" another one said.
Sure enough, everyone agreed.
They had all traded years of their lives to gain these techniques, and now, they were passing them on for training from Shang.
Shang looked at Lash. "You are the first one. Tell it to everyone."
Lash looked with surprise at Shang and then looked at the others. "To everyone?"
Shang nodded. "We are a group. We do not contribute with our own power, but with the power we can bring to the whole group."
It wasn't easy for Lash to understand this concept, but he complied.
Over the next couple of minutes, Lash explained what he was doing to become more powerful.
And Shang finally managed to achieve his first goal.
He now knew how barbarians strengthened their bodies.
And Shang was quite sure that he could use it with the Procedure.
'Sure enough, there is a way to increase the strength of my body even more.'
Chapter 317 – Three Techniques, One Technique
Lash quickly explained how he managed to make his body so powerful.
"First, I need the heart of a beast on my level," Lash explained.
Shang lifted an eyebrow, but he noted that everyone else nodded.
Apparently, they also needed that.
"After getting the heart, I have to sit down and exhaust myself," Lash said.
At that point, some of the barbarians furrowed their brows.
'Interesting. That part seems to be a bit different from what most barbarians do, but that's understandable. After all, Lash's body is more powerful than the average barbarian on his level, which means that his technique is probably different.'
"Can you show us?" Shang asked.
Lash looked at Shang and nodded.
Then, he sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.
He took several deep breaths and exhaled.
At that point, Lash's body began to release steam, and it was becoming warmer.
Most of the other barbarians watched with wonder as Lash's body became red and released steam. They had never seen anything like it before.
After around five minutes, Lash opened his eyes and took a deep breath.
He looked thoroughly exhausted.
The other barbarians had no idea what Lash had done or how he had become exhausted, but Shang saw what it was.
"You are burning the Mana inside your body," Shang said. "Right now, your body has been emptied of Mana."
The barbarians were confused when Shang talked about Mana.
Wasn't that what the Mages used?
How could barbarians have Mana?
Even Lash didn't know what he had been doing. He had simply followed the techniques the Mages had taught him without knowing what it does.
"After that, I consume the heart of the beast," Lash said.
The other barbarians nodded.
"Then, I have to train my body for an hour," Lash continued.
"Please show us," Shang said. "We have to know what you do."
Lash looked at Shang for a bit, but he eventually complied and started to train his body.
Interestingly enough, Lash wasn't doing muscle strengthening but movements akin to yoga. He assumed several positions for a long time while taking deep breaths.
The barbarians watched with interest for the entire hour.
Eventually, Lash finished his performance. "That's it," he said. "After performing the strengthening, I have to wait for one month. The Mages said that if I don't wait for a month, I will be contaminated by the beast I have eaten."
Shang nodded.
'So, there are three parts to his strengthening process. First, he empties his body of Mana. Second, he consumes the heart. Third, he basically does yoga for an hour.'
"Thank you," Shang said before looking at another barbarian. "Now you."
The barbarian frowned but complied. "I have to consume the heart of a beast on my level."
"I don't need to exhaust myself before doing so."
The other barbarians nodded.
Apparently, they also didn't need to exhaust their Mana beforehand.
"After consuming the heart, I have to train with all of my power. It is very exhausting and difficult," the barbarian said.
"Can you demonstrate, please?" Shang asked. "You have seen Lash show his technique, and I also need to see what you have to do."
The barbarian took a deep breath, but he complied.
He stood up and took a deep breath.
And then, he exploded into the distance.
Everyone looked at the barbarian running at his absolutely full speed. They knew about how powerful his body was, and reaching such speed was probably his absolute limit.
It was equivalent to him running for his life.
After some minutes, he ran back to everyone and stopped, his face incredibly red.
Then, he jumped to the ground and violently performed one push-up after the next. He didn't stop until his elbows started to creak.
After that, he performed several more strengthening techniques, and he pushed them all to the limit.
It probably hurt quite a bit.
And after two hours, he collapsed to the ground, not being able to move.
Everyone waited for him to recover.
"That's it," the barbarian said eventually as he slowly returned.
Shang was scratching his chin in thought at the moment.
Then, he looked at the next barbarian. "What about you?"
The barbarian frowned. "I need a heart of a beast, and I have to train with all of my power, just like him," he said, gesturing to the other barbarian.
"Do you do the same exercises?" Shang asked.
"They are similar, but they are not very different," the barbarian said. "The Mages only told me that I have to train as hard as I can. The more pain and exhaustion I feel, the greater the effect."
That made a gleam appear in Shang's eye. "The Mages did not tell you exactly how to move?"
Both barbarians nodded.
Shang looked at Lash. "Did the Mages teach you how to train?"
Lash nodded.
Shang looked back at the barbarian. "And you also don't need to exert yourself before you consume the heart?"
The barbarian nodded.
"Is that everything that's different?" Shang asked.
"No, there's one more thing," the barbarian said.
"I have to wait for two months to consume another heart."
'Interesting,' Shang thought. By now, he had some guesses as to why the techniques differed.
"How much did you have to pay for your technique?" Shang asked.
"I have to serve in the army for five years," the barbarian said.
Shang looked at the other barbarian.
"Five years," he said.
Then, he looked at Lash.
"Fifty years."
The other barbarians were shocked when they heard that.
"You took the second best technique?" one of them asked in shock.
Lash nodded.
At that moment, the barbarians felt a bit guilty.
They had heard how to use this incredibly expensive technique for nothing in return.
"I will repay you in the future," one of the barbarians said to Lash.
"Give the group more strength," Lash said. "Leader Zero said that the strength we bring to the group is more important than our strength."
But the barbarian wasn't sure if he could accept that. He still felt guilty for receiving something so valuable for free.
"I paid twenty years."
Everyone looked over at another barbarian in their group.
From the ones that had left the camp, he was the strongest.
"How do you train?" Shang asked.
"I have to exhaust my body first," he said, glancing at Lash.
"Then, I eat the heart."
After that, the barbarian frowned.
"And I train like the others. The Mages have never taught me how to train precisely."
Now, the picture became clear, and even the barbarians realized what had happened.
The different techniques that the Mages offered to the barbarians for different lengths of servitude were actually the same technique!
They simply didn't teach the barbarians the entire thing!
And with the very steep price for the techniques, no barbarian would want to tell their technique to others. After all, they paid years of their lives for their technique.
Of course, there were still some selfless people out there, and they had no problem teaching their techniques to others.
But if that got out and the Mages heard of it, they would require some payment from whoever had been taught that technique by another barbarian.
When Shang asked everyone to share their techniques, the present barbarians knew what that meant.
If it got out that they learned Lash's technique, they would have to serve longer.
But they had accepted.
"But that isn't the complete technique, right?" Shang asked as he looked at one specific barbarian.
The barbarian nodded. "There is one more expensive one, and it means that you will forever serve the Mages. But if you become strong enough, you can have many wives and children, and you don't need to risk your life. That's why some barbarians choose that technique."
"Our previous leader trains in that technique."
Shang looked at the camp.
"The tall barbarian in the camp?"
The barbarian nodded.
Shang only scratched his chin.
'There should be one more part to that technique, and the barbarian in the camp has to know about it.'
Chapter 318 – Deciphering the Technique
Over the next couple of days, Shang trained the gathered barbarians. Since they were now more people, Shang could create pairs. That slowed individual growth, but it allowed Shang to teach more people at once.
Shang mostly only walked around and corrected the movements of the group like an instructor.
'To think that I actually got my own gym now,' Shang thought as he looked at the barbarians training with each other.
From time to time, Shang also trained with Lash since he was too powerful for everyone else at the moment.
However, most of the time, Shang focused on the technique.
He was trying to devise the last component of the technique on his own.
'By now, I'm pretty sure about how the technique works.'
'First, the barbarian has to empty their Mana to make space for the beast's Mana.'
'After that, they consume a huge chunk of the beast's Mana by consuming their heart.'
'The beast's Mana washes over their body unhindered and influences their bodies. It is a powerful force, but the body won't just absorb something foreign like that. Because of that, the barbarian has to exert their body.'
'The basic training forces the body to absorb Mana for energy and fuel. However, a lot of external Mana will also be absorbed this way, lowering the density of the beast's Mana.'
'But by using the specific movements, the barbarians are unknowingly fully concentrating on the Mana that's already available inside their bodies, which is the heart of the beast.'
'However, since the heart of the beast has to be on their level, and since a beast's body is far stronger than the barbarian's body, the beast has far more Mana. They have more foreign Mana in their body than their body can handle.'
'That's where the different cooldown periods come into play. For some reason, the beast's Mana probably becomes dangerous or unusable after the strengthening, and the more Mana remains, the longer it takes to naturally vanish.'
'By absorbing more during strengthening, the barbarian has to wait less time to train again.'
'So, the end-goal would be to make the training even more efficient. The last part of the technique should reduce the cooldown period even more and increase the efficiency of training.'
'The body is already emptied of Mana, and the body already absorbs absolutely everything it can from the beast heart by only using it as fuel. These two aspects can't be improved.'
'How can someone absorb more Mana than their body can take in without endangering them?'
This was the part that Shang had trouble with.
The training and efficiency just couldn't be improved anymore.
It was already as good as it could get.
One could only fit so much liquid into a bottle.
After a couple of days of training, Shang asked the barbarians about how they could reach the Commander Stage.
That was when Shang also learned about the names of the barbarians' Stages.
The first Stage was the Youngling Stage, and it was equivalent to the Soldier Stage for warriors.
The second Stage was the Fighter Stage, and it was equivalent to the General Stage for warriors.
And the third Stage was called the Champion Stage, and it was equivalent to the Commander Stage for warriors.
The True Path Stage didn't exist for barbarians.
The barbarians explained to Shang how it worked to transition Stages.
And what Shang learned told him a lot about the Mages in the Grandmountain Kingdom, surprisingly.
It was impossible for a barbarian to reach a new Stage without the help of a Mage.
If a Youngling wanted to become a Fighter, they needed a Mage.
When a Youngling was ready to become a Fighter, they had to request an Ascension from the Mages.
If the Ascension were granted, the Youngling would follow a Water Adept into a strange building.
There, the Youngling would go through something horrifying.
Huge parts of their skin would be cut off and replaced by beast skin!
It was insanely painful, and a lot of barbarians died during their first Ascensions.
Of course, the barbarians could request anesthesia, but they would have to spend a couple more years in the military.
The Water Adept was responsible for keeping the Youngling alive during the Ascension.
If the Youngling managed to survive, they became a Fighter.
But things were a bit different when it came to reaching the Champion Stage.
First of all, anesthesia was mandatory.
The Mages wouldn't do the operation without anesthesia.
There would also be far more Mages present.
Of course, due to the anesthesia, no barbarian actually knew what happened during the Ascension.
The only things they knew was that they woke up with a feeling of unfamiliarity regarding their own body and with a lot more blood and gore around them.
'The Mages have full control over the barbarians since they are the only ones with healing capabilities. If the barbarians tried these Ascensions on their own, they would die unless they have a warrior's body.'
'But the Ascension process sounds very similar to the Procedure. The first Ascension is probably the replacing of the skin, and the second Ascension probably replaces the muscles and partially the blood.'
'That also explains why the Mages haven't been able to create a True Path Stage barbarian yet. They know that only the bones and organs are left, but how do they replace these parts without killing the barbarian? There's only so much trauma their body can handle.'
'The organs of the beasts are also different, and they can't be transplanted one by one without killing the barbarian. Even more, while the muscles and skin are flexible and moldable, things aren't as easy for the bones. On top of that, digging out every bone one by one and replacing them will definitely kill the barbarian.'
'But if they somehow manage to do that…'
'Wouldn't they have simply recreated teacher's Procedure?'
'Sadly or luckily, the Mages aren't from Earth, and they don't know a human's body as well as teacher.'
'Even more, while they probably have some inklings as to how to transplant the organs and bones, they probably have no idea about how to replace the mind.'
'How do you transplant a beast brain into a barbarian brain without killing the barbarian?'
'Also, since the Ascensions are done with different beasts on different occasions, the body is already not one whole being. It's a being made of parts of different beings.'
'It's obvious that the Procedure is many, many times better than the Ascensions.'
At that moment, Shang had to smirk.
'And that probably also means that, if I were to train as a barbarian, I could probably easily reach their equivalent of the True Path Stage.'
'Of course, I would be missing the powers that the warrior's True Path Stage would give me.'
'But nothing says that I can't do both, right?'
'Maybe this was how ancient warriors trained? They fused with beasts to increase their strength and increased their physical power even more by absorbing more beasts.'
'The strengthening process for barbarians doesn't take that long. A couple of hours once every two weeks is not something that takes up all of their time.'
'For the remainder of their time, they could probably focus on the warrior path.'
'I could see how the warriors have reached the Mages' level.'
'Of course, there are probably even better methods for Mages to become more powerful in the future. After all, Adepts also undergo Mana Tranquility when they become True Mages, which increases their power even more.'
'However, there have probably also been even more methods in the past to close the gap.'
Shang excused himself from the barbarians after hearing about the Ascensions.
He was onto something!
'Alright, so, to become a truly powerful barbarian, they eventually have to undergo the Procedure.'
'Teacher obviously knows far better what to do than the Mages of the Grandmountain Kingdom.'
'What were the things that teacher had to look out for during the Procedure?'
'What's missing?'
'What did teacher do that the barbarians don't?'
And at that moment, Shang's right eye widened.
'Affinity!'
'The barbarians just need a beast heart on their level, but none of them even talked about the Affinity.'
'They probably don't even know what an Affinity is!'
'If the Affinity of the beast is the same as the Affinity of the barbarian, it is easier to integrate!'
'So, that's the full technique, huh?'
'That's how barbarians train!'
Chapter 319 – Blackshadow Kingdom
Shang had finally deciphered the full technique.
Exhaust all your Mana, eat the heart of a beast on your level with your Affinity, isolate the Mana from outside and strengthen your body.
'This should be the full technique.'
However, that brought on another problem.
'But if I want to make full use of that technique, I need an Abomination,' Shang thought with a frown, 'and those are not really common.'
'That's a problem.'
Shang tried to think of a solution to this problem, but there was none.
The Abominations would be killed by the Zone Beasts as soon as they saw them, and if Shang appeared beside them, the Zone Beasts might decide to also kill him. The Thunder Horse's mark was only a suggestion to the Zone Beasts, and on top of that, the beasts here probably didn't even know the Thunder Horse.
'I can't just call an Abomination, right?'
Shang knew that he and the Abominations had some kind of connection. Every time Shang came in contact with one, they could feel each other. Additionally, Shang had never felt any kind of animosity from an Abomination.
It was almost like the Abominations saw Shang as one of their own.
Shang sighed. 'Even if I could call one, it would be impossible for me to absorb it.'
'First of all, while the Mages don't get involved in barbarian business, if they suddenly see an Abomination, they will attack it and take it back to analyze it. Even if I killed it, they would just confiscate it.'
'On top of that, it would attract at least one Zone Beast, and it would turn the Abomination into dust. At the same time, the Zone Beast would notice me and might even decide to kill me.'
'So, even if there were a vending machine of Abominations right beside me, I couldn't use it.'
'It seems like I have to use other beasts for now. Luckily, the type of technique I use will only dictate my current power, and it will make no difference if I switch later.'
'For now, the full potential of my body can't be realized, but I can still strengthen my body by quite a bit.'
'Anyway, I should ask about the local fauna from the barbarians.'
Shang returned to the group and gathered them.
After that, he asked them about every single beast they knew.
The barbarians were a bit surprised, but Shang was the most powerful of them. They fully trusted Shang.
Many hours later, Shang had learned about hundreds of beasts. Luckily, with his Peak Apprentice Realm mind, Shang could keep track of the beasts and their attributes.
After everyone had told Shang about the beasts, Shang explained the concept of Affinities to them by using the beasts as examples.
Many Tribes had created their own classifications for beasts, but they didn't generally know about how the Mages classified them.
Then, Shang told them that he was pretty sure that the last part of the technique was what kind of beast one absorbed.
The barbarians were quite surprised when Shang told them that they also had Affinities.
Shang taught every barbarian a way to release their Mana. This technique had no power, but it allowed the barbarians to put a bit of their Mana out of their bodies, which gave Shang the opportunity to gauge its element.
There weren't any surprises. The barbarians simply had normal Affinities.
Shang told them their Affinities and told them what kind of beasts they should look out for. If they had a beast of a different element, they could maybe even trade it for one that was useful to them.
Of course, the trade had to be finished within a day. If the corpse weren't preserved by a Spell, it would lose all its Mana in 24 hours.
The barbarians were ecstatic when they realized that they now knew the best technique available, and they wanted to get to strengthening.
"Should we wait for the attack?" one of the barbarians asked Shang.
"Attack?" Shang asked. "What attack."
The barbarians were confused that Shang didn't know about the attack, but then they realized that Shang had only arrived recently.l
"We are waiting for the Mages' command to attack the Plague Rat Zone," one of the barbarians told Shang.
"The Plague Rat Zone?" Shang asked.
"We are currently in the Deepcore Turtle Zone. The Deepcore Turtle Zone belongs to the Grandmountain Kingdom, but we have only been here for about three months."
"We were part of the battle that won us the Deepcore Turtle Zone."
"The next Zone is the Plague Rat Zone, and we are waiting for the order to attack," the barbarian explained.
Shang scratched his chin. 'That means that we are currently in territory that belonged to the enemy just three months ago, and now, the Grandmountain Kingdom wants even more.'
"Why would we wait for the attack?" Shang asked.
The barbarians looked at each other in confusion.
Then, they looked at Shang. "Because of the Summoners."
Shang's eyebrows rose. "Summoners? What's that?"
This shocked the barbarians even more.
Leader Zero didn't even know about the enemy he would fight?
Shang saw their skepticism and quickly explained. "The reason why I am here and why I am treated as a criminal is because I lived in the wilderness. The Mages say that I have to repay them with my life, and I didn't believe so."
"That's why I don't know anything about our enemies."
The barbarians remembered that Shang was a criminal, and they looked at his collar.
They had completely forgotten about that.
"Being a criminal is bad and wrong," one of the barbarians said with a frown.
"But you are the strongest. We will follow," he added.
Shang nodded. "So, what are Summoners?"
"The Grandmountain Kingdom has barbarians," the barbarian said.
"The Blackshadow Kingdom has Summoners."
Shang lifted one of his eyebrows. "The Blackshadow Kingdom doesn't have barbarians?"
"We haven't seen any," the barbarian answered. "We have heard that there are people similar to barbarians, but they are all very weak, and we have never seen one fight. We heard that they hunt weak beasts and grow food."
'So, the warriors in the Blackshadow Kingdom are even weaker than barbarians. In fact, they are so weak that they aren't even powerful enough to properly fight,' Shang thought.
At that point, Shang furrowed his brows. 'But that doesn't make much sense. The path of a physical fighter is the most straightforward, and a lot of people can probably find a way forward. They don't have to be as powerful as the barbarians, but they should, at least, be powerful enough to join the war.'
"Why are their fighters so weak?" Shang asked.
At that point, the barbarians all frowned.
"From what we heard, Summoners can summon a Companion Beast from somewhere," the barbarian said.
Shang lifted an eyebrow. 'I asked about fighters, but okay.'
"That Companion Beast is their lifelong partner, and the Companion Beast can control other beasts. The strength of the Companion Beast also makes the Summoner stronger and allows them to control more beasts."
"The Mages always tell us to kill the Companion Beasts when we see them. The Summoner becomes weak and worthless when we kill the Companion Beast."
At that moment, the barbarian frowned.
"Beasts become more powerful by eating other beasts or humans."
At that moment, Shang's right eye widened.
He knew what the barbarian meant.
"We have heard that there are no strong fighters because the strong ones all get fed to the Companion Beasts."
Chapter 320 – Summoners
Shang and the barbarians frowned. None of them liked the idea of warriors being fed to beasts.
'As sad as I am to say it, it makes sense. Beasts need to eat beasts or humans to become more powerful, and humans can become more powerful by simply training, eating medicine, or meditating.'
'To the Blackshadow Kingdom, normal humans might as well be herbivores, which are fed to the useful carnivores.'
"How powerful are these Summoners?" Shang asked.
"They are not that powerful," one of the barbarians said.
"Not that powerful?" Shang asked with a lifted brow. "But they can control several beasts, right? That sounds about as powerful as a Mage."
The barbarian shook his head. "The beasts Summoners control are much weaker than wild beasts."
"How so?" Shang asked.
"We don't exactly know," the barbarian said. "We think that the normal beasts are probably too powerful."
"In what sense are they more powerful?" Shang asked.
"The beasts are just weaker," the barbarian said. "The Companion Beast has a far weaker body than a normal beast, and the other beasts the Summoner controls are at least a level weaker than the Companion Beast."
"So," Shang said. "To summarize, a Summoner on the same level as a Peak Fighter has a Companion Beast on the same level as a Peak Fighter, and they have several beasts equal to a Late Fighter, right?"
The barbarians nodded. "The Companion Beast is about as strong as our previous Leader in the camp, but they fight far better than wild beasts. The Summoner controls them. The other beasts are also under the Summoner's control, but they don't fight as well as the Companion Beast."
Shang scratched his chin. 'Interesting. That means that a Companion Beast is about as powerful as a very strong barbarian on its level. Their bodies are about equal, and the beast can also fight really well.'
'The other beasts are a level weaker, but they don't seem to be weaker than wild beasts, which could mean that they are about as powerful as the Companion Beast.'
"How many beasts can a Summoner control?" Shang asked.
"Most Summoners have their Companion Beast and two wild beasts, but some even have three additional beasts. We have even heard rumors about Summoners with four additional beasts, but we have never seen one."
'So, the average Summoner can summon three beasts in total, including the Companion Beast. I think, on average, a Summoner is more powerful than a warrior, but their potential might not be as high.'
'An average warrior will be swarmed by three beasts with a more powerful body, but a really powerful warrior can probably take on five.'
Shang looked at the barbarians. 'But as for barbarians, probably not. One barbarian can probably take on a Companion Beast on their level and maybe a second one if they are really good.'
'But the problem is that the barbarians don't seem to have any truly outstanding talents. The power of their body decides everything.'
"Should we wait for the attack?" one of the barbarians asked.
Shang remembered what had started this topic.
They wanted to know if they should go out and hunt beasts now or wait for the attack to hunt more fitting beasts there.
"When is the attack?" Shang asked.
"We don't know," one of the barbarians said. "The Mages tell us one day before we go, and they haven't told us yet."
"Alright," Shang said. "I think it would be better to hunt for beasts now."
The barbarians nodded without questions.
They didn't know why Shang was telling them to strengthen their body now, but they trusted him since he was more powerful.
"If we delay our strengthening, the Mages will suspect that we all know the full technique," Shang said, explaining his reasoning anyway. "Because of that, I would advise you to strengthen yourself normally, and if you find an opportunity to get the right beast, take it."
The barbarians nodded.
"Where can we find beasts?" Shang asked.
He had seen only very few beasts in this Zone. He wasn't surprised that he hadn't seen any humans since this was war-torn land, but he was surprised that he didn't find any beasts.
"They are in the tunnels deep below us," one of the barbarians said. "You can find caves in the mountains, and most of them lead to the tunnels below us."
'So, it's like the Caves,' Shang thought.
"Alright, anyone that can't strengthen themselves right now?" Shang asked.
All the barbarians frowned. "None of us can," one of them said. "Our previous Leader took us out to strengthen ourselves about a month ago. Most of us have to wait one more month or two weeks."
Shang nodded and looked at Lash. "How about you?"
"I can," Lash answered.
Shang had already expected that. After all, the two of them had been imprisoned for two weeks, had traveled to the Deepcore Turtle Zone, and then had trained here for about three weeks in total.
"Then, let's go. We'll strengthen ourselves right now," Shang said as he stood up. "You are truly lucky to be sent here."
Why was Lash lucky?
Because he had an Earth Affinity, and the Deepcore Turtle also had an Earth Affinity.
The underground was brimming with beasts with Earth Affinities and Darkness Affinities since the Earth Mana and Darkness Mana were abundant underground.
The other barbarians also stood up, ready to follow.
"You don't need to come with us," Shang said to them.
The barbarians were a bit surprised.
They didn't have to follow the two of them?
They were a bit doubtful. After all, Shang and Lash needed to kill a beast on their level, and Peak Fighter Stage beasts were very powerful. Two barbarians couldn't kill them on their own. Even their previous Leader needed five other barbarians to help him.
However, they trusted Shang. Shang was more powerful, and if he said that he would do something impossible, they would believe him.
This was simply how barbarians were.
"We will wait for you," the most powerful of them said.
Shang nodded and led Lash away.
Killing a Peak General Stage beast?
That wasn't very difficult for Shang.