At the same time, Martin stopped fighting and looked at the boy lying on the ground, his eyes almost popping out from the surprise. He knew that everyone here except for George had a lot more fighting experience, all of them were only one step away from reaching the spirit stage. But he had to concentrate on his own fight and continued attacking John when he saw the girl try to kill George, but now the girl had to choose between helping her master or taking out George. Martin was a lot stronger and if she didn’t help her master it wouldn’t take long before he would lose the fight and not knowing what Martin would do to him she decided to help her master.

The boy slowly opened his eyes and started to look for his weapon, but George had picked it up and was using it as support to stand. It would take a normal human at least a couple of hours to get up after a hit like that but the boy had put all his points on vitality so he could take a lot more damage.

But being conscious and being able to stand up were two different things, he couldn’t control his body and every time he tried to stand up his body wouldn’t listen to him. When he saw George walking towards him the boy got scared, George was looking at him with bloodshot eyes and he could even feel killing intent coming from him.

George didn’t know how long the boy would stay down and he knew that if he stood up the chance of him doing something like this again would be nonexistent. He felt a strong hate and a part of him even wanted to kill him, but he was a noble and the only chance he had to get out of this situation alive was to get out of here without causing any permanent damage. So, he decided to make sure the boy wasn't able to move and use the chance to get away. He hated these people, they talked like they were nobles and more civilized, but every time he met one they would act like wild animals and attack without even being provoked.

George didn’t know how long it would take before the boy could stand up again and decided not to take any chances, but when he tried to hit the boy unconscious something unexpected happened. George couldn’t explain what it was but in a split second the world around him got completely dark and he felt a sharp pain before he passed out.

Martin turned around and saw Solomon standing there looking over George’s body with a cold look in his eyes. He had hit George’s head against the ground so hard that even his skin had started to come off.

At the same time an old man in blue exited the mansion and walked towards them, everyone including Solomon got a little nervous seeing the man walk towards them like he didn’t have a care in the word.

This man was one of the clan lord’s oldest friends and held a high position in the clan, even though he wasn’t the village leader in name everyone knew that he was the one that had the final say on important matters, even the generals couldn’t disrespect the man let alone kids like Martin or John.

Nobody knew how such a strong member of the clan was killed and was forced to spend two years working as a city worker but it had to be a powerful opponent.

The old man walked towards the boy on the ground and pointed his finger at him, the golden light started to heal the boy. In a couple of seconds, the wound on the boy disappeared and the boy could stand back up again. He still felt a little dizzy but the damage was not extensive and he was able to gain full control of his body after a couple of seconds.

“Thank… thank you, elder!” Said the boy bowing down as far as he could, this was not someone he could be disrespectful to and he was a little ashamed of what had happened.

The old man patted the boy on the shoulder with a kind smile on his face that gave someone the sense of security. The old man helped him to stand up straight and from one second to the other slapped him so hard that the boy turned two times before he hit the ground.

“The Hooper clan has invested a lot of time and resources in you and this is the result? Swinging your weapon around and laughing like a retard, don’t expect to stay in the clan if this is all you're capable of. I can’t even sense any elemental power inside him, to think you lose against someone who isn’t even a cultivator yet, do you want to make us the laughing stock of the whole village?” Said the old man to the boy while looking at John, his expression had not changed and he was walking towards him with the same pace as before.

The boy felt pain but for some reason, his body wasn’t damaged, the hit was multiple times stronger than the hit he got from George but it didn't even make him lose consciousness. He could even stand up but didn’t want to anger the elder and decided to stay still.

John seeing the man walk towards him got a little nervous and didn’t say anything, there were not a lot of people that were higher than him in rank in Wine village, but this old man was not someone he could offend.

The old man stopped when he was next to him and slapped him even harder than he had hit the boy. John was sent into the air and fell on the ground after a couple of turns.

“I don’t know what you were plotting but at least fight your own fights instead of letting a woman do your fighting for you. The things you want can’t be obtained with blood alone, you must work hard and show everyone that you’re not just a useless fool with some background.” Said the elder still walking around like he was taking a stroll around the park.

John was not injured in any way but he still felt the pain and was humiliated in front of everyone, he was the grandson of a general and this was the first time someone had hit him. But he couldn’t say anything, this man was not someone he could trifle with and knew that if he wanted he could have done much worse.

The elder gave the girl a quick glance and shook his head while walking towards Martin. His expression changed for the first time from a smile to curiosity and before Martin had the chance to say anything he started to ask a question. “I’m going to ask you a question not as an elder but as someone who is a cleric himself, are you just stupid or do you think that the cleric class is not worthy of you?”

Martin didn’t know how to answer the question without offending the elder, it wasn’t that he looked down on the cleric class but It wasn't a class that could fulfill his dreams. “I…”.

But before he could go on the elder slapped him even harder than the others and he was sent flying.

“You were given the chance that millions would give their lives for and still this is what you do with it. I had even agreed to take you as a temporary student and teach you the basics, I even agreed to take you as a personal student if you showed any real promise. You have everything given to you and you just threw it away like it was nothing, you work hard and even have the background to become one of the greatest but this is the end result of your actions. If you want to be part of a clan you need to think about the clan first and yourself second, we don’t need anyone so selfish that he would throw his own future away for some temporary strength. Leave this place and never put on the colors of the Hooper clan again, the next time I see you wearing blue il break both your legs.” Said the elder clearly disappointed in Martin, he had high hopes for him and thought that he would come back to his senses after playing around a little but it looked like he was just too stupid to understand his situation.

The elder turned around and looked at George lying on the ground in a pile of blood. He had seen how George had taken the boy out without even having any martial arts training and he showed a lot of promise. He would even think about letting him join the clan if he hadn’t come here and dared to hit a noble, but it was too late to think about that and the boy had to be punished, even the elder couldn’t ignore the clan rules and the punishment for something like this was working in the mines for five session years.

“Il take care of the boy elder, please leave it to me.” Said Solomon taking George by the hair and pulling him up like an animal. He still had the cold look on his face and started to drag George away.

“How times change, when I was their age the world was so simple, but the world has changed and there are people who are against us and even try to hurt or deceive us. Put him in the mines for five session years, that will make an example out of him and show everyone what happens when you cross us.” Said the old man turning around and walking towards the mansion with the same pace he had exited.

But before he could go away he heard something and turned around to see Martin tearing his blue clothes right there in front of him. The elder was impressed by Martins resolve and courage, his smile turned into an evil grin, most people would beg him to not punish them but the boy had not only not begged him but even tore down the clothes that represented the one thing that was even more important to him than even his own life, the clan! But to him, it was just a child making a statement and not something he should worry about.

‘Let’s see if you still have the same arrogance when you learn how the world works when you’re not wearing the blue.’