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.
