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?
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."
