After those words, the bullies left the place, running toward the inner area of the fortress. With the attackers gone, Xan stood up and cleaned the dust from his clothes.

Because they had focused on his stomach, he didn't have many visible wounds, and only a few bruised on his arms and legs were visible.

Seeing that the old man was nearing him, Xan straightened before making a reverence.

"Thanks for your aid, senior Rad," Xan said.

Xan didn't know the details, but he knew that Rad had been a mighty warrior in his youth, being one of the few chosen to participate in one of Heaven's missions to travel to another world.

Sadly, age forgives no one, and the years and the exposition to corruption had caused irreparable damage to his brain that caused him to do weird things sometimes. But as the Guburg valued strength, he was still treated nicely in the Yellow Blood Fortress because of his past.

Not hearing any reply from Rad, Xan looked up to see what the old man was doing, only to see a cane traveling directly to his head.

"Why the hell didn't you fight back? If you show your weakness to your enemies, they will exploit it to their advantage."Rad growled while shaking his head.

Massaging his head, Xan looked at Rad incredulously.

'How I'm supposed to fight back if they win in numbers and individual strength?' Xan thought.

Before he could do anything, Rad hit him with his cane again.

"Why are you hitting me?" Xan complained.

As he finished saying that, the old man swung his cane toward the boy again. Seeing what was about to happen, Xan grabbed the stick with both hands so Rad couldn't continue hitting him.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Oh, so now you have learned to defend yourself." Rad said while faking surprise."You should do the same next time those kids try to hit you."

"I can't defend myself. Those kids are stronger and are always in a group." Xan complained.

As he said that, the veins on the man's forehead began to bulge before he raised his cane toward the air, with Xan still attached to it, which caused him to release a small scream.

"I'm stronger than you, and you still fought back. The number of people isn't a problem either. If you were to take down their leader, the others would run with their tails between their legs." Rad explained as he put the kid back on the ground.

"What? Are you suggesting that I attack Blorg? Are you crazy? He is the son of the Yellow Blood family's head. If I dared to touch even one of his hairs, I would end up buried before I realized what happened." Xan replied while looking down and clenching his fists.

"Has anyone told you that?" Rad asked while raising an eyebrow.

"No, no one had told me that. But I mean, it is obvious, isn't it?" Xan asked.

Before he received an answer, the cane hit his head again.

"With this kind of youth, the Guburg tribe's fate is to disappear." Rad said while massaging his temples." What is it the only thing that Gubug values above all things?"

"Strength?" Xan asked before seeing how Rad was raising his cane again. "Strength, it is strength!"

"Exactly, it is strength. So, if we value power, why would anyone punish you for defending yourself from those bullies? If you failed, your punishment for being weak would be the beating, and if you succeeded, you would have shown everyone that you were stronger than them, so it is their fault for letting you grow above them." Rad explained.

A bitter smile appeared on Xan's face after hearing those words.

"Even if you say that they had already started cultivating. They would only become stronger while I remain as weak as I'm. Commoners don't stand a chance against cultivators." Xan said while lowering his head.

"If regular people don't stand a chance against cultivators, start cultivating. Cultivate, learn techniques and spells, grow stronger and stomp on the heads of your enemies until they don't rise again."

"I'm a resident of the second area. Even if I asked, I would never get my hands on any cultivation technique."

"You only know how to excuse yourself? If you don't give your all, you will never stop being a weakling. You have all the possibilities of the world in front of you. You decide whenever you extend your arm and take them by force or to stay as a practice dummy for the rest of your life."