It took a bit of convincing, but Lash eventually charged at Shang.
Just like before, Lash charged at Shang with both of his arms extended.
Just before Lash reached Shang, Shang lifted his leg and kicked Lash in the abdomen.
Lash flew away and rolled a couple of times on the ground.
Then, he looked at Shang with furrowed brows.
"This is not a fight," Lash said.
"How is it not a fight?" Shang asked.
"We are supposed to compare our strength!"
"We are," Shang said. "However, strength is not just how strong your body is."
Lash tried his best to understand the concept.
"Isn't experience also part of your strength?" Shang asked.
Lash nodded.
"When an old leader that has defended himself from challenges hundreds of times fights someone that has a slightly stronger body, will he win or lose?" Shang asked.
Lash thought about Shang's words for a while.
"He will win," Lash said. "He knows how to fight."
Shang nodded with a grin. "Correct. So, experience is also part of your strength."
"I would advise you to differentiate between strength and power to make it clearer."
"When you or I use the word strength from now on, we mean the strength of your body. That includes your speed and how much strength you can exert, okay?" Shang asked.
Lash nodded after a couple of seconds.
"When we talk about power, we refer to everything. That includes experience, originality, flexibility, and many other things."
"Strength determines who wins in a direct comparison of strength between two barbarians."
"Power determines who will kill the other one when there are no rules or customs."
"Right now, my strength is lower than yours, but my power is far above yours."
"If you are not convinced, try again."
Lash tried to understand these concepts, and he eventually charged at Shang again.
He got kicked away again.
And again.
And again.
Several injuries accumulated on Lash's body.
"I am weaker in strength, but you are the one getting injured," Shang said.
"Think of a powerful barbarian."
"Now, think of an invisible, weak human with a very sharp spike."
Lash was trying his best to imagine the scene.
"Now, imagine that weak human sneaking up on the powerful barbarian and attacking his head with his sharp spike. What happens?"
Lash's brows furrowed.
"The barbarian dies."
Shang smiled a bit. Lash had learned to imagine a scene that was not real. He was making progress.
"Is the barbarian stronger?" Shang asked.
"Yes," Lash said.
"Is the barbarian more powerful?"
"Yes," Lash said.
"Then why is he dead?"
Silence.
"If the barbarian is more powerful, why is he dead?" Shang repeated.
"Unfair," Lash said.
"Might be," Shang said. "Yet, he is dead, and the weak human is still alive."
"Who would you rather be?"
Silence.
In Lash's mind, a conflict between honorable battle and survival took place.
"The weak human," Lash said.
"Why?" Shang asked.
Lash didn't answer for a while.
"I don't want to die," Lash said with shame.
Shang nodded. "It's not a shame to admit that. We all want to live. Isn't that why we train? Isn't that why we want to become more powerful?"
"We don't want to die. This is why we train and fight."
"Honesty in battle is making you weaker."
"Your enemy will use poisons."
"Your enemy will use sneak attacks."
"Your enemy will use manipulation."
"Your enemy will flee and attack from far away."
"Your enemy will claw your eyes out."
"This is the extent of their power, and by not taking advantage of these aspects, you are limiting your own power."
"Your strength might be great, but your power will never be great while being honorable in a fight."
Some seconds of silence passed.
"Now, try to take me down again. Use anything you can think of. There is nothing dishonorable. Just attack."
Lash opened his eyes and focused on Shang.
Then, he charged forward.
And when he reached Shang, he lifted his leg to kick Shang.
However, that kick was pathetic.
Lash had to stop to use it. It was slow. It was very telegraphed. It was clumsy.
Shang simply lifted his right leg and pushed Lash's kick to the side with his knee.
Then, Shang extended his leg in a kick.
BANG!
Lash was thrown away again.
However, Lash's mind was going wild at this moment.
He was stronger than Shang in his current position.
However, he lost again.
And finally, he understood.
'He is not as strong right now, but he is more powerful,' Lash thought.
Lash slowly stood up and looked into Shang's eye.
"Leader Zero," he said respectfully. "Please teach me how to become powerful."
Shang smirked.
'No wonder the barbarians fear the warriors. Even though their bodies are more powerful, they only know how to fight in a very direct manner.'
Shang remembered the short fight between the Dean and King Skythunder.
BOOM!
Shang threw his sword to the side and cracked his neck.
"Approach me," Shang said.
Lash did so and stopped in front of Shang.
"Lift your arms like this," Shang said as he entered a fighting stance.
Lash copied Shang's stance.
"I will punch you very slowly now," Shang said. "You are faster than this punch, and you should be able to deal with it. Okay?"
Lash nodded.
Then, Shang clenched his right fist and punched forward.
Sure enough, the punch wasn't very fast.
BANG!
But it still hit Lash's face, and he was thrown back.
The punch had gone for Lash's face, but he didn't know how to deal with it. His muscles and shoulders tensed, and he moved his arms in front of him to block.
Shang simply changed the trajectory of his punch by a bit and hit him.
"My punch was slower than you, but you still got hit," Shang said.
Lash stood up again and approached Shang.
"You must know how to deal with it. Try to punch my face," Shang said.
Lash nodded and tried to hit Shang's face.
Shang's right arm simply slapped Lash's arm to the side, making him miss.
"Again."
Lash punched again, but this time, Shang pushed Lash's fist the other way.
"Again."
The same thing repeated itself many times, and Shang showed various ways of dealing with a punch.
"There are many ways to counter a punch," Shang said. "Let's get you familiar with the simplest one."
"I will move my fist very slowly towards your face. You will shove my fist to the side with your forearm," Shang said as he showed what Lash had to do.
Lash nodded.
Shang's fist moved forward, and Lash did what Shang said, but he was very unused to moving his arm like this.
Shang nodded. "Again. I will go a bit faster this time."
And from that moment on, Lash's longest training session ever happened.
Shang made Lash repeat the same block over and over again. He was forcing him to do it hundreds of times, and Lash got hit occasionally since Shang sped up quite a bit.
A day later, Shang said that Lash could relax.
Lash relaxed.
But then, Shang released a punch at Lash's face, exactly the same way he had done over the last day.
Lash's eyes widened, and his arm shot up by itself.
CLAP!
Shang's fist was pushed to the side, and he missed.
Lash looked with shock at his own arm.
Shang smirked.
'Having a strengthened mind sure is useful. Not needing to sleep also helps a lot.'
'The block is already ingrained in his reflexes.'
"Next lesson, a different kind of block."
For the next couple of days, Shang taught Lash about all kinds of methods to defend from a punch. Depending on the angle of the attack, different methods of blocking showed different results, and Shang was methodically going through all the possible angles.
Right now, Lash was undergoing a terrifying growth in terms of power.
He had an incredibly powerful body, and now, he was finally learning how to use it effectively.
This was Shang's first student.
And he wouldn't be the last.
