It was impossible for Solweran to know what was happening in the Moonrise Forest, and at this time, he was slowly opening his heavy and abnormal eyes, and his whole head was hot and his headache was splitting. The last image in his mind was that stormy night, and he only remembered that the thunder that tore through the sky was getting louder and louder, and the half-elves standing in the rain were roaring wildly, and they were becoming more and more hideous. In the end, he spurted out a mouthful of blood in a fit of rage and fainted.

Shifting his head with difficulty, he found himself lying on his back on a low bunk, covered in bandages. Not far away, a cold light shone in through the dusty windows, and judging by the slightly pale color, it should be early morning before dawn.

By the dim light, Sovereign's gaze looked around. It was a small, old room, with some rough benzene utensils hanging from the faded wooden siding, layers of neatly stacked dry wood in the corners, and some iron objects of unknown origin, such as unfinished semi-finished products, or scraps after failure. Intuitively, this room seems to be more like a utility room than a decent bedroom.

Soveland's gaze shifted until it landed on the hidden door, and through the crack in the door that clung to the floor, he saw a bright orange red flickering like a fierce fire. At the same time, the sound of heavy blows and the crunch of hammers rushed into his ears.

Soon, however, the voices stopped, and with the sound of muffled footsteps, the door was pushed open, and the bright light of the fire burst into Sovereign's view. Squinting slightly, he saw a half-elf in an iron apron and thick leather gloves standing in the doorway against a fiery red background, holding a pitch-black wooden bowl in his hand.

His body smelled like smoky fire, and there was a strong smell of sweat, and the apron tied in front of him was embellished with a few burnt marks, and large areas of oil. Sovereign recognized the other almost immediately, it was Cadius.

The half-elf looked at Sovereign on the bed and grinned. "Are you awake, little one?" and walked over. He placed the wooden bowl on the small table at the head of the bed. He took off his gloves and pressed his palm to Soveland's forehead, "Well, the fever is almost gone." I have to say, your recovery ability is still good. After saying that, he dragged a chair and sat down.

"This is my storage room, and after a simple tidying up, it's still no problem to live in. As he spoke, he pulled a bottle of wine out of his pocket and took a sip. "But you don't have a choice......" he said as if to himself. He doesn't care if the listener is able to give him an answer.

Soweran twisted his head, a tingling pain in his swollen throat. "Why?" he asked stubbornly.

"Why? What happened to the tavern?" the half-elf burped bitterly, "I remember you said you were going to get stronger, didn't you?" he continued with a glance at Soveran, "I always want to see what kind of guy Soram sent! If I can't even kill the two Erif brothers, I might as well die in Treasure Bay, I don't want to waste my time on waste." ”

Sovereign frowned and said, "I'm not a waste......"

The half-elf spread his hands indifferently. "Ha, it's not waste, your basic skills are good. But it's a little bit better than waste. He left a gap between his thumb and forefinger, "I mean, that's it." He gestured and continued, "In other words, you're just a high-level waste cultivated by the Knight Academy, and that's it. ”

"You ......" Before Solveland could finish speaking, the half-elf interrupted him. "Don't be in a hurry to refute, you'll find out sooner or later," he said, "when I'm dealing with the cavalry regiments of Orem." I'm afraid your father hasn't been born yet, little one. Cadius said as he took another sip of wine, a look of nostalgia flashing across his face, "Anyway." Didn't you say you wanted to get stronger? I'll leave you with a question for our first lesson......

Soviran was stunned for a moment, endured the severe pain, twisted his whole body, and looked at the half-elf seriously. To this, Cadius laughed. "You can't move right now anyway. It's better to use your brain more. He wiped the wine stains from his beard, put the bottle back in his pocket, and casually asked, "From your point of view, what do you think is the difference between the weak and the strong?" he said.

"Where?" he repeated, just as he was about to answer, but was stopped by the raised palm of the half-elf, "don't rush to tell me, think it through, we have time......" he said, picking up the wooden bowl at the head of the bed and handing it to Soveland's mouth. "Now, drink it. ”

Looking down at the steaming, emerald green goo in the bowl, Soveland's stomach churned. "What is this?" he asked.

"You don't need to know...... "The half-elf laughed, pouring all the juice into Solveland's mouth.

"Ahem, ahem......" Sovereign coughed violently, the stinging pain from the torn wound and the rancid smell in his mouth almost making him faint. "What the hell is this?"

"Hahaha, trust me, you won't want to know. The half-elf replied, but quickly remembered something else, "By the way, little one, think of a name for yourself, a new name......" he paused, "here, no one has a past, no one wants to mention their real name, you need a name to bury everything that was before......" His voice gradually lowered.

Sovereign listened as he seemed to think of something, and nodded with a somewhat blank gaze. The half-elf let out a tired breath and put the sheet that had fallen next to him back on Sovereign's body. "Sleep, rest as much as you can," he said, "Now, you need this ......"

The green liquid he drank into his stomach seemed to take effect, and Sovereign felt his eyelids sink more and more, as if a cloud of smoke had enveloped his brain, pulling himself away from the whole world. His gaze at the half-elf grew blurred, and he struggled to ask one last question. "You, what the hell are you and Soram...... What's the relationship...... He's, he's been to Wind Cliff before, yes, right?......"

Before the darkness could fall, a twisted voice came from above. "In a sense, I'm his, Mentor ......" Sovereign was shocked, but soon fell asleep.

......

The days are flowing rapidly between half asleep and half awake like this. Sovereign didn't even remember how long he had been in Wind Cliffs, he could only look at the alternating black and white outside the window, hoping as much as possible that he would recover as soon as possible. Such an anxious mood is not only driven crazy by the life trapped in the bed, but also because. He desperately wanted to hear the answers given by the half-elves about strength and weakness.

But Cadius's anticipation of Sovereign showed an almost unconscious reaction. Every time he appeared at the bedside of Essaoweran, he always told interesting things about what happened in the city, such as who was killed by whom. Another example is who wanted to kill whom, but it didn't happen...... Well, half-elf news, only to kill and be killed.

As for the green slime, Sovelan was able to swallow it without changing his face, and of course, this potion, which he didn't know what it was, did play a crucial role in Sovelan's injuries. In this way, time passed imperceptibly through his fingertips, when Essauvilland actually stared at Cadius. By the time that question was answered, it had already been more than ten days later.

Well, it was a sunny afternoon, in the small courtyard of Cadius.

The half-elf lazily sank into his chair, looked at Sovereign, who was still wrapped in a bandage on his head, and asked, "Come on, have you figured it out, what is the difference between the weak and the strong?"

Sovereign thought about it and subconsciously scratched his scalp, not thinking, but because the wound that was gradually healing was a little itchy. On the other hand, after spending a lot of time on this issue. It suddenly became clear that there seemed to be too much to say about this question if it were to be answered completely - there were so many answers.

Intuitively, Sovereign didn't think the real answer would be so complicated. But he pulled out everything he could think of. "Skill, strength, experience, learning, vision......" Sovereign said faster and faster, and more and more, like a jumping bean.

"Stop, stop...... For Gorintia's sake, this is the answer you've come up with?" the half-elf quickly interrupted Sovereign's words, "These are all things wrapped outside of the essence, and with enough diligence, these things can be slowly accumulated over time. But that's not the point of ......the problem," he said. He looked around, then picked up a stick and asked Sauverais again. "Tell me, what would you do if I hit you in the shoulder with it?"

Sovereign looked at the wooden stick in the half-elf's hand, hesitating and not knowing how to answer, it seemed that there were still many, many answers.

"Just tell me the answer you thought of first. The half-elf said.

"My shoulder will hurt. Sovereign looked up at the other and gave the most obvious answer.

The half-elf's expression was serious. "That's right, but that's the result. He nodded. "However, my problem is not the result. Again, what would you do if I hit you in the shoulder with it?",

Sovereign frowned, his whole brain was running at high speed, he knew very well that the half-elf's question was not sophistry, or word games, the other party must have an answer waiting for him, but he hadn't found it yet. "If you don't want results, then my answer is defense. ”

As soon as Soveland's words fell, the wooden stick in the half-elf's hand swung at Soveland's shoulder. After a muffled sound, it was blocked by Sovilan's raised left arm.

"That's right, but that's the way to deal with it, the safest way to deal with it. The half-elf paused, he was going to change the way he guided. Sweeping his gaze across the yard again, he found a feral cat that was tearing at food. The half-elf picked up two stones from the ground and threw one out of the ground in front of the wildcat.

"Smack!"

The sudden sound startled the yellow wildcat, and it took a few quick steps backwards, turned in the direction of the half-elf and roared, baring its fangs, its arched back full of erect short hairs. But then, the second stone of the half-elf arrived, and the wildcat made a soft thud on its forehead, and then it screamed and sprang out of the courtyard wall.

"What do you see?" the half-elf's voice floated slowly, listening to Sovereign's ears, it seemed to make him think of something, and it seemed to make no sense at all. "I'll look at it another way," said Cadius, "if I'm a cat, and if the stone thrown is my claw, what will happen to the wild cat?

Sovereign suddenly turned his head to look at Cadius, at the same time. The wooden stick in the half-elf's hand swung again, but this time, Sovereign snapped and raised his right hand. Hold the stick. Looking down slowly, Sovereign stared at the wooden stick in his hand, a little aware in his heart, and a little dazed, he was thinking.

The half-elf on the opposite side had already released his palm holding the wooden stick. Leaned back into the chair. "Tell me...... All living beings, innate, skills that don't need to be learned, what do we call them?"

"Instinct ......," Sovereign replied, looking up.

"Yes, that's right, instinct. "There was once a great prophet of mankind who said that there are two kinds of basic instincts of living beings: one is the instinct of life, and the other is the instinct of death......," he said. "All desires for happiness are instincts of life, such as creation, love, order, temperance, and so on...... It has only one goal, to maintain its own existence, to play a more important role in its group or ethnic group. ”

The half-elf tried to conclude. "Obviously, the instinct of birth is more suitable for our society, and with the development and inheritance of civilization, the instinct of birth has become an almost law-like existence in our blood, or rather. That's a moralized instinct. "But what about the instinct to die? The primary characteristic of any living being is that it inevitably leads to death, and this instinct manifests itself in two different ways: one is inward, such as self-condemnation, self-punishment, self-destruction, suicidal tendencies, ......etc."

Cadius's eyes flashed with a blade-like light. "As for the other, it no longer seeks self-destruction. Rather, it is an attempt to destroy everything...... Destruction, aggression, fighting, war, etc., are all manifestations of it......"

Sovereign was stunned, he almost understood what the half-elf meant. But Cadius's words did not end there. "Civilization and dogma suppress our death instincts, and in training over and over again, you only remember what I ought to do, not what I can do. "Here's the problem." Are we any different from the wild cat? No, it's just that we've forgotten half of our instincts, and it's not...... For example, the ...... opposite the highest heaven"

Sovereign suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. "Burning Hell ......"

"That's right!" the half-elf laughed, not thinking that there was anything wrong with the analogy, "The demons in the Burning Hell are the best examples, the death instinct directs all the actions of the demons, and they have no training or attended any knight academy......"

Sovereign looked silently at the stick in his hand. "Is this the essential difference between the weak and the strong?" he asked softly.

"Yes. The half-elf stood up and stretched his waist hard, "Some people, who spend their entire lives without knowing what the problem is, because they spend all their time and energy on moves, skills, and strength, but forget that your own body is the best teacher...... The instinct to fight is the essence that determines strength and weakness......"

He smiled contemptuously. "There are also those who have survived in the land of mortality, crawling out of the mountains of corpses and the sea of blood...... They, with the most primitive instincts, have learned everything about battle, and everything about the strong......" he said, turned to look at Soveland, and said word by word: "I want you to unconditionally engrave the following words in your heart and seam them into your soul, even the day you die, you can't forget it!"

Sovereign also stood up, looked directly at the half-elf, and only heard the other party say: "The purpose of the battle is always to kill the other party! I want you to believe, and you must believe, that in the face of an attack, your body will fight back!"

"Yes! I swear I will always remember it......," Salvin bowed, whispering.

The half-elf smiled with satisfaction and took a long sip of his drink. "Alright, you can bask in the sun by yourself, don't think too much, you'll have a lot of time to understand......" he said and waved his hand, turning and walking towards the cabin, "By the way, your name, can you think of it? If you really can't think of it, I can help you, hahaha......" Kadius said with a laugh, but didn't look back.

By this time, Sovereign had straightened his waist again, and his blue eyes were extremely bright. He remembered Beorn Zar Savalandi, who died in the King's Hall, and the words he had said as he lay dying: Live, my brother.

"Zal, from now on, call me ...... Zal" (To be continued.) )