After coming forward a distance which I deeded sufficient, I ran ahead while gesturing to the boy to follow behind. Twisting and turning through the forests, I couldn’t help but remember the battlefields and my miserable past-future life.

Honestly, those days weren’t half bad. If anything, I’d say I got a much-needed growth from them. In many different aspects as well. Wait a second, why does that sound old? I am not old. I am eight.

My pointless concern over sounding older than I should occupied most of my attention as I walked forward.

Meanwhile, beneath the soles of my feet, the twigs and leaves made a constant crushing noise. The vague sense of lethargy from returning to becoming a child once more was gradually being eroded through each step I took.

The wind carried my arctic hair as I ran ahead with a steady pace while maintaining my breathing.

This is harder than I expected.

I nodded to myself, realising the reliance of my past-future-self on Ki Arts. I heaved a sigh, my expression an unchanging mask of indifference.

Behind me, Zack ran while panting, having tired himself out.

Although he has the will and attitude, he lacks the physical capability. But well, he hasn’t trained a lot from what I remember. So, it is normal for his age, I think.

Despite thinking so, I shook my head in disappointment as I said, “Don’t breathe in from your mouth. Breathe in from your nose and use your mouth to let it out. Form a full cycle of actions and repeat it over and over.”

Either as if he hadn’t heard or was tired enough to not notice, he kept on doing what he was doing—trying his best to catch up.

My previous excitement and pleasure at toying with the kid had already vanished. Boredom filled my head instead. Thus, I didn’t bother to pay the kid any more heed than necessary.

Instead, I focused on myself and the lacking aspects I found during this short time running. My sluggish movements and the lack of control over my body irked me to no end. I couldn’t help but think, Should I also follow my big brother to Baldy Zhu’s monastery? But then again, it would cause a big change in the history and can affect a lot of things. Sigh…

In the end, I couldn’t help but let out a resigned sigh.

I already changed it enough due to my careless mistake. Although it shouldn’t change much, it’s still a red flag. The subconscious influence of my current child-self is something I can’t afford to ignore. I should be more careful.

Inevitably, my head turned slightly, my gaze landing on the boy running behind me.

By now, as per my instructions, he had changed the way he breathed. Although there were occasional mistakes, he inhaled through his nose while exhaling from his mouth. There were a few issues with his running posture, which I decided to point out later.

After a few more minutes of the run back to the cottage, I slowed down before stopping near the lakeside.

While using my hand to check the perspiration on my forehead, I couldn’t help but think that I was sweating and how uncomfortable it was. A wry smile couldn’t help but surface on my face.

Back at the battlefield, we would be covered with all sorts of dirt and mud for days. And my hair was rough, not as smooth as these. As for bathing, It was a luxury. Only once in a blue moon would someone get a chance for that.

While recollecting, I played around with my hair, feeling their silky smoothness with a sweet smile.

Next, I looked back at the boy following not-so-closely behind. He was still a good amount of distance away, his clothes damp with sweat, but was running without stopping regardless. I couldn’t help but admire his perseverance.

I looked for a nearby rock before using my hands to clean the surface. Taking a seat, I waited for Zack. While waiting, I excused myself into a relaxing posture to better think of what flaws to point out and which ones not. However, I was well aware that in reality; Lethargy grabbed a hold of me once again.

Not too good, but workable enough. I rated myself.

A yawn escaped my mouth as I gazed up at the sky, chuckling to myself. Blissful people, unaware of the true nature of this world. If not for that, mommy and daddy wouldn’t be forced to… tch!

I clicked my tongue as an unpleasant aftertaste filled my mouth.

Hearing panting sounds getting closer, I turned to see Zack huffing profusely. His face showed signs of haggardness, his shoulders slumped.

However, what drew my attention the most was his clear eye.

He walked up to where I sat before bowing.

“Thanks a lot for your help today! I learnt a lot and improved in many areas.”

His voice was sincere, with no hidden meaning. It gave me a foreign yet fresh feeling, which I couldn’t quite understand. However, it didn’t feel bad in the slightest.

A slight smile tugged at the corner of my lips as I waved my hand in dismissal while remarking, “It was nothing.”

After a slight pause, I continued with renewed interest, “Now, do you understand why these small things are important?”

Zack nodded as he said: “Earlier when I was running, after a while, my chest and throat had pain due to huffing a lot. But after changing the manner of breathing, it was a—”

“Okay, enough. I know already. Now let’s come to your posture. While running, you…” I pointed out certain flaws which were relatively easy to figure out while leaving the not-so-obvious ones for him to figure out on his own, keeping my end of the bargain.

“… and that’s about it. As to how much you understand and work on is up to you. Now, I’ll be leaving. I’m sweaty and I want to clean.”

With a light clap, I finished giving pointers.

When I turned to leave, Zack asked, “Umm… What about Samuel?”

About time you asked that. I heaved an inward sigh before replying, “He is being tutored by Mom. Stuff happened in the morning and he got himself caught up. As of right now, he probably is firing spells up in the sky with no rest. That aside, anything else I may help with?”

Zack scratched his cheek before asking, “There is, actually.”

My brow twitched at his reply, but I managed to rope in my expression.

Do you not understand that I did that sheerly out of courtesy and that you were supposed to reply with ‘nothing more’ or something along those lines? Well, on account of his situation, I’ll let it slide this once. And what problem could he have that I can’t solve? On account of daddy and mommy, consider yourself lucky just this once.

Expressing displeasure through my eyes, I waved my hand, gesturing to him to continue.

However, his question made me sit there quietly while knitting my brows, leaving me at a loss for words. The displeasure within my eyes faded, turning into a wry smile, which surfaced on my face.