Combat Wisdom

Lumian focused all his attention. Now that the moment had arrived, he was not as terrified as he had been a moment ago. His body still trembled faintly, but at least he no longer felt on the verge of collapse. *I should have died five years ago. I only lived this long thanks to Aurore. I've already gained five extra years—what is there to be afraid of?* Lumian gritted his teeth, bolstering his courage. A second later, he saw the already dim light over the loose soil of the first trap grow even darker. A figure had arrived beside it, cutting off the meager light filtering through the thick, high fog. It was indeed the half-man, half-beast monster carrying the hunting rifle. Its blood-red eyes swept over the ground, and its forward-bending knees bent slightly. A single breath later, clad in a dark jacket and muddy trousers, it took down its hunting rifle and leaped. Controlling its height, it cleared the trap in one bound and landed on the firm, cracked ground beyond. Almost at the same time, it turned its head—draped in greasy black hair—toward the origin of a faint rustle. There, it spotted Lumian: panic written across his face, scrambling to his feet, trying to dive behind a wall. With a low growl, the monster leaped high again and lunged toward its target. It aimed slightly outward from Lumian's original position, preventing him from turning around and dealing a fatal blow before it could find its footing. Meanwhile, Lumian tumbled and scrambled out of sight beside the wall. The instant the monster touched down, the ground beneath its feet gave way under its weight. Finding no purchase, it plunged into the sudden pit along with the dirt and rope netting. *Thud!* The sound of a heavy impact echoed out, mingled with a shriek like that of a dying rat. Having darted behind the wall, Lumian felt an uncontrollable surge of fierce delight at the sight. Step one was a success! Most of his remaining fear vanished instantly. Snatching up the steel fork beside him, he rushed to the edge of the pit. The skinless monster's tenacious vitality had left a deep impression on him, and this target still had a hunting rifle, so he did not expose his body directly over the pit. Instead, he stopped a short distance away and thrust the steel fork wildly into the opening. Suddenly, the fork grew heavy and caught fast. Immediately after, immense strength surged along the shaft into Lumian, violently yanking him toward the trap. Caught completely off guard, Lumian slid forward a step. Without time to check the bottom of the pit, he let go of the steel fork, spun around, and threw himself to the side of the standing wall. *Bang!* A heavy blow struck his back, like a violent slam from a giant hammer. A sweet taste rose in Lumian's throat, accompanied by the distinct tang of iron. With a thud, he hit the ground and lost his balance, rolling several times before regaining control of his body and scrambling up. Almost simultaneously, he saw the half-man, half-beast monster leap out of the pit. It held the single-barreled hunting rifle in its hands. The jacket over its chest and abdomen was shredded, exposing several gruesome wounds that went clean through its body. Dark red blood mingled with a pale yellow fluid poured out continuously, faintly revealing various internal organs within. Clearly, Lumian's trap had inflicted severe injuries, but not enough to rob the monster of its ability to fight. As it plunged into the pit, it must have adjusted its posture in time to protect vital spots like its head and chest, keeping its limbs from suffering debilitating harm. Otherwise, it likely would not have been able to leap out of the pit at all. The moment Lumian saw its condition, he darted into the ruined house beside him without hesitation. This was no spur-of-the-moment decision; it was part of his plan from the start. After all, he had never been certain whether the trap would ensnare the creature, nor whether it would incapacitate it outright. If it only left the beast heavily injured, Lumian's next move was to play a game of hide-and-seek. In other words, he would use the terrain to buy as much time as possible, dragging the fight out until the monster could no longer suppress its wounds and its strength and reflexes deteriorated noticeably. When that time came, his opportunity would arrive. *Bang!* Another gunshot rang out. Lead pellets peppered the spot where Lumian had just stood, kicking up sprays of dirt. Crouching behind a half-collapsed wall, Lumian did not linger. On hands and knees, he scrambled through a gap in the rubble to the other side. Before he could stand, the whistling of wind sliced through the air above. The monster leaped over. Lumian immediately reversed direction, crawling back through the same gap behind the crumbling wall. In this manner, utilizing the maze of collapsed structures, he ducked, hid, and circled around, avoiding direct confrontation and merely dodging attacks. Hide-and-seek had always been Lumian's specialty. Many times in the past, after pulling a practical joke, this was the skill that had saved him from a beating on the spot. Amid the pursuit, evasion, strikes, and dodges, time slipped by rapidly. Lumian was gradually growing winded, but the monster's running speed, leaping height, strength, and reflexes had all clearly degraded. *A little longer, wait a little longer. Even as it is now, I'm still no match for it...* Lumian ducked back to his previous hiding spot, leaning against the half-collapsed wall, forcibly holding back the urge to counterattack. *Crash!* Pain flared across his back once more, and he flew forward. The half-collapsed wall behind him shattered into flying stones and came crashing down completely. This time, the monster had abandoned circling around to pursue him. It had thrown its body sideways, ramming directly into the barrier. Under its full force, the already precarious wall naturally could not hold. Yet the impact caused the beast to bleed even more heavily, staining the ground dark red. Although Lumian had not anticipated being sent flying this way, his injuries were light. Reacting quickly enough, he rolled with the momentum and hid behind another pile of stone rubble from a ruined house. *Bang!* The trailing shotgun blast arrived a beat too late. After crashing through the wall, the monster had taken noticeably longer to readjust its posture. It felt at the cloth pouch at its waist. Finding it empty of ammunition, it discarded the hunting rifle and hurled its entire body toward Lumian's position. Lumian had already shifted positions, resuming the game of hide-and-seek. Naturally, he did not dare keep this up indefinitely until the creature collapsed from its injuries. For one, he worried that once its condition worsened beyond a certain point, it would simply flee; for another, he feared that dragging things out would draw other monsters to the noise. After several more loops, Lumian's sharp eyes caught signs that the monster was struggling to move. *Now's the time!* His mind raced. Feigning an escape toward the side of a collapsed building, he came to a sudden halt, drew the axe from behind his back, and regulated his breathing. In the blink of an eye, the monster rounded the corner, bursting into Lumian's view. Deciding in an instant before the beast could register the situation, Lumian raised his axe and charged forward without hesitation. He stepped forward, turned sideways, and dropped his shoulder, intending to use the shoulder check his sister had taught him to knock the monster back, followed by a sweeping chop to its neck. *Thud!* Lumian slipped between the monster's arms and slammed heavily against its chest. Yet the impact defied all his expectations. The creature stood like a solid stone wall, utterly immovable! *What—?* Lumian's heart seized. Using the rebound, he moved to throw himself to the ground to break away from its reach. At that very instant, one of the monster's hands darted out like lightning and clamped around his throat. Where was the slightest hint of mobility trouble in that movement? *Damn it, I was tricked!* Pain tore through Lumian's neck as the monster lifted him straight into the air, leaving him dangling. A sickening creak sounded from his throat, and dizziness swiftly engulfed his mind. The axe he swung in desperation not only missed its mark, but was swatted aside, clattering away. Lumian finally understood that he had fallen for the monster's ruse. The creature truly was near its limit, yet it still possessed the strength for one last struggle. It had feigned weakness to lure him into attacking instead of hiding. Having underestimated its combat wisdom, he had walked straight into this lethal trap, left with nothing but dying struggles. The monster was indeed near exhaustion; it failed to snap Lumian's neck outright. Yet that changed nothing about the overall outcome—it merely bought a little more time. Amid the agony of a crushing throat and failing breath, Lumian's mind grew numb, fading toward a complete blank. A blank. On the brink of death, Lumian suddenly remembered the mysterious lady's words: She had told him to make use of his own special trait in this dream. *My special trait...* Taking advantage of his nearly blank, uncluttered mind, Lumian rapidly entered meditation. The crimson sun flared into prominence within his mind. Unlike before, when he had used meditation merely to calm his emotions and dismissed the sun the moment it took shape, he now exerted every ounce of effort to keep it present. Soon, a sound that seemed to come from an infinite height yet echoed right beside his ear pierced into Lumian's brain. Excruciating agony erupted alongside the terrifying sensation that his heart was about to leap out of his chest. The sheer torment made Lumian forget that the monster's hand was still clamped around his neck, ready to crush his bones; he forgot his inability to breathe, and the oxygen starvation starving his brain. *Thud.* He crashed to the ground. His meditation broke, and the indescribable, bizarre sound vanished. Yet Lumian remained in agonizing pain, entirely unable to check his physical state or take in his surroundings. After who knew how long, he finally recovered from that brush with death. Without bothering to check his neck, Lumian pushed off the ground with both hands, lifted his head, and looked forward. The half-man, half-beast monster crouched not far away, propping its arms on the ground, head hanging low. Blood mixed with pale yellow fluid still dripped from the puncture wounds across its torso, and its entire body trembled violently, uncontrollably. *What happened to it? Did the "special trait" I showed terrify it out of its wits?* Gathering his scattered wits, Lumian picked up the axe lying nearby and stepped forward. Giving the monster no chance to recover, he gripped the axe with both hands and chopped fiercely down at the back of its neck. With a wet thwack, the axe bit deep into the flesh, stopped by the bone. Ruthlessness flared within Lumian. He yanked the sharp blade free and hacked down again. Once, twice, three times. With a spray of fluid, the monster's head hit the ground with a thud and rolled to the side. Its body held for another second before collapsing in a heap. Throughout the entire ordeal, it had mounted no resistance, trembling from start to finish. A moment later, Lumian bent forward, his arms hanging limp as blood dripped steadily from the axe. *Huff, huff, huff...* He could finally breathe a sigh of relief.