“What request?” Zhu’s brows furrowed. A bad premonition filled his heart.

“I want to continue the training from yesterday.” Zack said, giving life to Zhu’s premonition. “Yesterday, I fainted halfway and didn’t finish—”

“But look at your condition…” Zhu firmly rejected.

“But—”

“No buts. I’m here to train you, not to beat you till you have half your life remaining.”

“But teacher, I remember reading somewhere that the more you suffer early, the less you have to suffer later. Although I can’t recall where, I did read it. And I believe it is true. If I suffered enough earlier, then I would’ve either died beforehand or gotten stronger to live through that suffering. And if I was strong enough…” Zack grit his teeth. His fingers clenched.

“Damned Archives of Arkhan. Tch! And who’s free enough to teach you how to talk like old people?” Zhu cursed. Meeting the boy’s eyes, he couldn’t bear to argue. Heaving a sigh, he turned his head up to look at the sky, deep in thought.

A brief silence later, Zhu said, “Back in the day, my master once asked me, ‘Why do you want to get stronger?’ As for me, I couldn’t reply to him back then. I had no answer. And by the time I found the answer, I had no one to give it to. But it doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is why he asked the question.” Turning to face Zack, he asked, “Do you know why you want to get stronger? If you do, good. Keep it to yourself and never forget it. As for hearing it, it doesn’t matter as long as you realise why I asked this.”

Zack pondered over the question and, in no time at all, a scene flashed through his mind — his recurring nightmare. The dream had not left him alone ever since he woke up, playing over and over every time he went to sleep. Each day he would wake up the same — with cold sweat lining his body and a moist eye dripping through the side, as if he were crying.

By now, he had long since concluded the nightmare to be a manifestation of his hatred from deep within his bones, carrying the tattered scenes from his lost memories of the day his mother sacrificed her life to save his, only to be stabbed in the back when vulnerable.

Why do I want to get stronger? Zack muttered in his heart. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. To kill that man and everyone present. Make sure they feel the pain that they inflicted—

“Alright. Since you said so, let’s start. But you can’t curse me for being harsh. You were the one who asked for it.” Looking at the boy’s solemn expression, Zhu broke him out of his train of thought before it grew dangerous.

Taking a deep breath, Zack suppressed his emotions before nodding and closing his eye. While his eyelid was closing, he barely managed to catch the scene of the world spinning before a faint force rippled up his leg. A large impact followed from his side as he struck the ground.

As soon as he felt the impact, his arms moved, lifting him up. However, a kick from his side flung him backwards.

*Thud*

*Thud*

*Thud*

The training from yesterday continued.

Meanwhile, somewhere else, Samuel gasped for breath, using a metre-long wooden sword in his hand as a support. His eye caught a shoe inching closer towards his face. As if the ground was on fire, he immediately reacted.

Tilting the sword to the side, he fell towards the ground. However, while falling, he adjusted his balance and used the momentum of the fall to roll to the side and taking a stance. Like a cheetah eyeing its prey, he charged towards the owner of the shoe, making full use of the moment she pulled back her strength after the attack.

As if prepared, Shi Mei swung an arched wooden blade behind her, blocking the incoming blow.

*Tak*

Sound of wood striking against wood echoed through the air. A recoil travelled through Samuel’s sword, forcing his blade back. At the same time, to his dismay, Shi Mei borrowed the blow’s recoil to sweep her leg down, accurately hitting Samuel’s shin.

A feint! Samuel thought as he fell towards the ground. Just as he used his hands to break the fall, he felt a smooth yet cold feeling through the side of his neck and jaw. A slight weight pressed down on his shoulder, as if using it as a leverage. Looking to the side, he saw Shi Mei’s curved wooden blade touching his neck, proclaiming her victory.

If this was an actual battle, she probably could’ve ripped my head off like this. A shiver ran down Samuel’s spine. He couldn’t help but ask, “Were you holding back when we fought a few days back? Why?”

Shi Mei nodded. “Grandpa said to not beat you too badly or you’ll lose confidence. So I held back. But near the end, maybe because I was enjoying the fight, I lost control and… But grandpa stopped it on time.”

Samuel chuckled. “So, are you still holding back?”

Hearing the question, Shi Mei’s expression turned hesitant as she looked to the side to see Yuan Mo shaking his head.

Her actions were all the response Samuel needed. However, instead of being discouraged, his spirits roused up as he said, “Don’t worry, I’ll force out all your strength one day and defeat you fair and square.”

Shi Mei’s brows furrowed, but she didn’t respond. Instead, she returned to Yuan Mo’s side, fulfilling her role as a teaching assistant.

Looking at Samuel gasping for breath, Yuan Mo said, “Now do you understand what yesterday’s training was all about?”

“To not fall,” Samuel replied. Feeling his reply to be insufficient, he continued, “I mean, in a fight, if you really fall down flat on your back, you don’t really have a way to use any power. So to prevent that, we—”

“That’s alright. You understand. But it doesn’t mean you did well.” Yuan Mo shook his head. “Follow me.”

Finishing his words, Yuan Mo turned to leave. Shi Mei followed closely behind. Looking at the two leaving, Samuel didn’t dilly dally either. He closely followed behind while maintaining a respectful distance.

After a long walk, the trio arrived at the foot of a mountain. Looking straight up, Samuel saw a mountain with its peak hidden amongst the clouds. Unlike the other mountains in the distance, this mountain was green from the bottom till where the eye could see, lacking any speck of visible snow.

At the base of the mountain, a sparse forest decorated the land.

Yuan Mo explained: “This is the mountain of trials. Our founder, Lord Yuan Long Hao, had a friend proficient in the arts of mechanisms and puppets. To settle a bet between him and our founder, he built this mountain.

“The mountain has a rune formation to suppress any and all Ki Arts and Magic, making sure you can only rely on your instincts and can’t use brute force. If you pass through here without stopping to rest and observe, finishing your task in one go, I’ll treat your training as sufficient.”

Yuan Mo waved his hand. A shadow skidded through the air before landing on a tree-branch a hundred metres away. After the shadow stopped, Samuel saw it was a small yellow flag, eye-catching enough that he wouldn’t lose sight of it in the forest.

Looking at the flag, Samuel thought, Can’t I just walk up to it and pick it? What’s the difficulty?

Without thinking much, Samuel walked into the forest. His steps were light as he walked in a straight line towards the flag.

Looking at the boy’s back, Yuan Mo shook his head. To his side, Shi Mei turned her head away.

An instant later, a scream filled the air, followed by a shadow shooting out of the forest like a cannon-ball, cutting a parabola through the air before raising a cloud of dust as it smashed into the ground.