The forest was teeming with beasts. Mortals could only cower within their walled fortresses.
And Caliban was dominated by forest. Apart from the oceans, the entire world was covered in primeval, shadow-haunted woodlands.
Most Calibanites would never see an open horizon in their entire lives.
Without the protection of fortresses, mortals could not survive in the forest.
But Lion had survived there for ten years.
From infancy, he had been fighting beasts, learning how to hunt them.
So.
"You don't need to teach me!"
Lion's roar tore through the forest's brief silence. He shot forward like lightning, charging towards a distorted beast. It resembled a leopard, but with a bird's beak and tentacles on its face.
Lion admitted Caelan was a good teacher, but he didn't need Caelan to teach him how to fight!
He was a born warrior. Caelan only suppressed him with psychic power; he was hardly a true warrior.
He had fought in the forest for ten years. No one knew how to hunt beasts better than him!
The beast's vertical pupils contracted slightly. Its hunting instincts warned it that the prey before it was dangerous. But it remained fearless, making a sound combining a bird's cry and a roar as it pounced on Lion.
Lion slid, evading the beast's lunge, and used a sharpened stone dagger to carve a crimson gash in its soft underbelly.
The searing pain made the monster spin around instantly upon landing. The tentacles on its face lashed out at Lion like whips.
In a nanosecond, Lion assessed the best combat strategy. He met the beast head-on, precisely weaving through the gaps in the tentacle strikes, and plunged the stone dagger into its murky yellow eyeball.
Warm, wet blood splattered onto his handsome yet wild face.
As the monster roared in agony, Lion clamped his hand around its neck and pulled apart with force, like snapping an apple.
"HAA!"
Lion let out a war cry. His seemingly slender body unleashed terrifying strength at that moment.
Crack!
Amidst the crisp sound of a snapping spine, the misshapen head was ripped clean off!
The youth stood atop the carcass, letting the gushing blood wash over him. His blonde hair was dyed crimson.
He still held the beast's head tightly in his hands. The beast's pupils were slowly losing focus, its tentacles curling spasmodically.
Lion could have killed the beast more efficiently. He didn't particularly relish this kind of brutal, bloody slaughter.
But something inside him told him he had to prove his strength!
Only this most primal, savage form of combat would make Caelan understand that he was a warrior, not a child in need of protection!
Lion, holding his dripping trophy, looked up towards Caelan with the pride of a victor.
But that one look made his pupils contract sharply.
Because he saw another beast hidden in a tree to Caelan's right, creeping up behind him!
"Watch out!"
He wanted to warn him, but it was too late.
The beast's sharp claws were already raised high, swinging down towards the unsuspecting Caelan's head.
Thud!
With a dull thud, Lion watched helplessly as Caelan flew into a bush like a broken puppet, his fate unknown.
Lion's eyes instantly turned red.
The beast, however, was confused. It couldn't understand why its claw strike hadn't crushed the prey's skull.
"You... deserve... to... die, AH!"
Lion spat out the furious syllables between his teeth. The beast answered with an equally defiant roar.
But perhaps the beast was the lord of the forest. Lion, however, did not belong to this forest.
Even unarmed, he was still a Primarch.
Lion slammed into the beast like a cannonball, caving in its ribcage with a howl, instantly removing all doubt about the fight's outcome.
Amidst the sickening crunch of breaking bones, the three-meter-tall beast was thrown to the ground.
With a dull thud, the beast's back slammed into the mud. It tried to claw its way out of the mire, but saw Lion walking towards it, expressionless, still clutching the dripping head.
Thud!
As the two heads met, the beast's skull made a cracking sound.
Thud!
Its right eye socket collapsed completely. Vitreous humour mixed with blood burst from the eye, splattering onto Lion's grimacing face.
Thud!
Lion pounded relentlessly, flattening the beast's facial bones from three-dimensional to two-dimensional.
Bone fragments pierced deep into its brain, mixing with bloody brain matter oozing from the sticky, pulpy flesh.
When Lion stopped, he was covered in blood, completely drenched.
The beast's head was like a walnut crushed in a door hinge. Shattered bone fragments were deeply embedded in the mushy flesh. It was utterly lifeless.
Lion sat on the beast's corpse, his blood-soaked hands trembling slightly.
He was about to wipe the gore from his face when he suddenly heard crisp applause.
"You..." Lion spun around, eyes wide, looking at the completely unharmed Caelan.
"I'm a psyker. Of course, I use my powers to protect myself at all times. I don't want to be caught off guard."
"Your fighting style is refreshing. It seems you really don't need me to teach you how to fight."
Caelan's praise, however, made Lion feel ashamed and humiliated. He lowered his head, clenching his fists. "Why aren't you angry with me?"
"Why should I be angry?" Caelan asked calmly.
"My negligence put you in danger. I failed to protect you."
Caelan looked at him, his voice gentle. "Then why did you want to protect me?"
Lion's voice caught. Why did he feel the need to protect Caelan? What was their relationship now?
Lion thought for a moment before answering hesitantly, "We are teacher and student. A student has a duty to protect the teacher."
"Then as the teacher, I also have a duty to protect the student."
"But I failed to protect you. That's my fault."
Caelan said, "It's good that you realise you were wrong. At least you're willing to admit it."
"I won't blame you. Blame doesn't solve the difficulties we face. It only creates conflict and disputes."
"Since you were wrong, face it squarely, learn from it, correct it, and make sure you don't make the same mistake again."
"Tell me, what was your mistake?"
Lion's emotions were still churning. He opened his mouth to answer, but Caelan raised a hand to stop him.
"Go take a bath first, then answer me. You need to calmly think about what you did wrong, not rush to give me an answer."
Lion wanted to protest that he never gave superficial or perfunctory answers, but silently turned and walked towards the stream.
He immersed himself in the cold water. The dried blood softened in the flowing water, just like his tense nerves slowly relaxing.
Lion stared at his reflection in the water. As the blood washed away, his face gradually became clear, and his chaotic thoughts slowly sorted themselves out.
"I was too impulsive."
He had originally thought the reason was his carelessness, failing to spot the other beast in time, giving it the chance to ambush Caelan.
But now he suddenly understood: carelessness wasn't the reason. The real reason lay in his character.
He was too eager to prove himself, too anxious to show Caelan his strength.
The stream gurgled. Lion remembered the '12-second effect' Caelan had taught him. He hadn't followed it.
Otherwise, he would have had more time to think, should have been calmer in his planning.
If he had waited 12 seconds, perhaps none of this would have happened.
But he hadn't waited. He would only regret it once the dust had settled.
Caelan was safe. Everything could be redeemed.
But what if Caelan wasn't so lucky next time?
"Then remember today's shame, remember the price of impulsiveness, and remind yourself inwardly that you must learn restraint."
"Next time, whatever you want to do, think thrice before acting."
"For example, if you want to kill someone, you must ask yourself three questions: Do you dare to kill? Should you kill? Can you kill?"
"If you decide to kill, then further questions: How to kill? How many to kill? How to deal with the aftermath?"
"I need a plan."
That wasn't a wrong way to understand it. Lion did need a plan.
"'Act after planning, succeed after stopping.' I hope one day you will understand the true meaning of that."
"Who said that?"
"A sage from ancient Terra. The exact origin is unknown, but perhaps it's from The Art of War."
Although the technology of ancient Terra was far inferior to the 30K era, its philosophical wisdom was by no means backward.
"I want to try again." Lion stared at the sword in the stone, then slowly turned to look at Caelan.
Why ask me?"
"No reason. I ask because I want to."
"Then pull it out. It belongs to you."
"Why are you so sure?"
"Intuition."
"But you taught me to think thrice before acting."
"Thinking thrice tells me to trust my intuition."
Lion fell silent. He walked towards the boulder with steady steps.
But he still couldn't pull it out.
If he could pull this sword, it should come out easily.
If he couldn't, exhausting himself wouldn't help.
So he just tried briefly, then let go. He didn't stubbornly persevere. He gave up decisively.
"I'm still not worthy."
He couldn't be impatient.
Caelan said it belonged to him, so it must belong to him. But the current him was not yet worthy to pull it out.
He still lacked something. Not strength, but something intangible.
Maybe it was conviction, maybe something else.
Those things were not inherent to him; he couldn't realise them alone. Someone had to teach him.
So Caelan came.
He didn't need to rush. Caelan would teach him eventually.
When he truly understood, he would pull it out, naturally.
Until then, he had to learn patiently.
Lion said, "Teach me."
"I've been teaching you all along."
"Teach me The Art of War."
This was his first explicit request to Caelan, and Caelan certainly wouldn't refuse.
"The Art of War has thirteen chapters. I'll start with the chapter on 'Waging War' first."
"Why?"
Caelan replied, "Because I personally feel this chapter is more suitable for you."
"'The highest form of warfare is to attack the enemy's strategy; next is to attack their alliances; next is to attack their army; the lowest is to attack their fortified cities.'"
"'To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.'"
"'Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy; next best is to disrupt their alliances; the next best is to attack their army; the worst policy is to attack cities.'"
"'Therefore, those skilled in war subdue the enemy's army without battle, capture their cities without assaulting them, and destroy their state without prolonged operations. They must strive to contend for supremacy without losing resources, thus achieving complete victory. This is the method of strategic attack.'"
Although The Art of War is in classical Chinese, it's not hard to understand.
Even a university student could grasp it, and it certainly wouldn't pose an obstacle to Lion.
But precisely because he understood it, he frowned.
Why did Caelan think this chapter was most suitable for him?
Caelan taught him language because he couldn't speak.
Caelan taught him restraint because he lacked it.
Now Caelan wanted to teach him 'subduing the enemy without fighting'. Did he think Lion only knew how to subdue through fighting?
Lion argued, "I think you're wrong!"
Caelan said, "The Art of War is for reference. Analyse each case specifically. A three-thousand-year-old military treatise that is still worthy of reference is a classic. Sun Wu wrote it in the age of cold weapons."
"This is the age of interstellar war. Of course, it has flaws. So you must learn to think, adapt it to the times, not recite it by rote."
"For example, 'If you outnumber the enemy ten to one, surround them; five to one, attack them; two to one, divide them.'"
"But warfare in the interstellar age emphasises defeating the enemy with asymmetrical advantages, not solely relying on numbers."
"Even in the cold weapon age, the premise for this principle to hold true was that the individual soldier quality, equipment, and general's commanding ability were roughly similar. Otherwise, even in the cold weapon age, a thousand well-trained, fully armoured infantry could easily slaughter ten thousand unarmoured militia. That is also an asymmetrical advantage."
In ancient times, privately owning armour was considered treason, because with armour, it was harder for enemy swords to kill you, while you could kill with just a kitchen knife.
At that time, the significance of the shield outweighed the spear.
In the M3 era, privately owning firearms was illegal, but body armour could be bought freely.
Because body armour only protected the torso and couldn't fully stop bullets, and cold weapons couldn't compare with firearms.
At that time, the significance of the spear outweighed the shield.
In different eras, the spear and shield change.
If someone insists on clinging to the old ways, they will eventually be eliminated by the times, left to be exploited.
"Times change. People's thinking changes. Tactics change constantly."
"The ancients never witnessed the interstellar age. That's not their fault."
"If we cling to The Art of War and try to use it mechanically, the fault is ours."
Lion's brow was deeply furrowed. He wasn't saying The Art of War was wrong; he was saying Caelan was wrong!
He wasn't that kind of person!
But Lion didn't immediately refute him. He calmly thought for twelve seconds.
Then he suddenly felt that Caelan's misunderstanding of him might not be without reason.
He was born in the jungle, grew up in the jungle, revered the law of the jungle, and believed that might is right.
When facing difficulties, he habitually used his fists to solve them, cleanly and efficiently.
Subduing the enemy without fighting was too troublesome. If one punch could solve it, why bother with indirect schemes and plots?
The strong make the rules. The weak obey or die.
Scheming is the way the weak resist the strong.
But he was strong. There was no reason to abandon the more efficient fist in favour of using his brain.
Even if he thought, his superhuman intelligence would tell him to use his superhuman strength!
What was wrong with that?
There was nothing wrong with it. That's why Caelan was trying to teach him to subdue without fighting.
Lion stubbornly turned his head away, his voice dry. "I'll remember it."
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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