Teaching

When the sky was just beginning to brighten, Chen Jinyang woke the two little ones who were sleeping soundly: "Up you get! Alos! Mishaer! Wake up, quickly!"

"Ugh—! William! I'm so sleepy! Ah—! Let me sleep a little longer!"

"Ah—! *%... Mmm—!" The two sleepyheads, eyes hazy with slumber, mumbled as they rolled over to continue their deep sleep.

Looking at the two thin children sleeping so soundly, Chen Jinyang's heart softened. He decided to let them sleep a bit longer; there would be plenty of hardship in their future. He turned back to heat up breakfast, then went out into the snow to skin the Black Wolf he had hunted yesterday, using pine branches meant for firewood to stretch the hide out to dry. As for the wolf meat, he had left it for the Trolls last night. After washing up by the well, he carried half a bucket of clear water back into the cellar.

With a mischievous smirk on his face, Chen Jinyang suddenly thrust his hands into the clothes of Alos and Mishaer. "Ahhh—!" Accompanied by shrill screams, the two little ones sprang up instantly like frogs jumping into boiling water, glaring angrily at the "culprit" who was squatting to the side feigning innocence.

Chen Jinyang clapped his hands with a smile and said, "Alright! You two little lazybones! If you want to learn martial arts from me, you have to be prepared to suffer! Go wash your faces! We're going out to train in a moment." He turned to Phinia, who had been startled awake by the screaming, and said apologetically, "You keep sleeping! I'll call you when I get back." Last night, Chen Jinyang, this "beast," had been too rough on the half-giantess; Phinia, who had been reduced to a puddle of soft mud, had fallen asleep the moment he carried her back.

"William is so mean! Using such cold hands to freeze me!"

"That's right, that's right! Big Brother William is so bad!"

Chen Jinyang put on a stern face and said, "Enough talk! Wash your faces quickly, don't dawdle." The two disgruntled little ones walked to the bucket and reluctantly splashed water on their faces. "Ah! It's so cold!" Stung by the icy water, Alos and Mishaer were wide awake.

Chen Jinyang ladled two bowls of chicken soup from the pot. Seeing the two children finish their washing with a hasty dab, he didn't point it out and handed them the bowls, saying, "Come! Drink the soup before we go out!" He then turned and ladled a bowl for himself, drinking it in large gulps. A warm current rose from the bottom of his stomach and instantly spread throughout his entire body.

The two little ones held their wooden bowls, sipping the chicken soup slowly with "slurps," their eyes squinting into thin slits of delight. The food their big brother made was getting better and better.

After finishing the soup, Chen Jinyang led Alos and Mishaer into the courtyard. He carried a giant pole in his hand and two thick hemp ropes on his back, while the two little ones each shouldered a short javelin, following closely behind him along the perimeter wall toward yesterday's Troll battlefield. Chen Jinyang had already considered what to teach the two children. First, internal martial arts were out of the question; the genetic bloodline of this family had serious issues. Whenever they practiced, their bloodline power would go berserk. He could only control it by relying on his past experience, and the two little ones didn't have that capability. Furthermore, the issue of excessive desire was a major problem; he couldn't let them be corrupted! The children's physiques were also too weak, and practicing external hard qigong was too early. For now, he could only train their bodies, teach them evasion and survival techniques and footwork, and perhaps some simpler free-fighting techniques similar to Sanda, Taekwondo, or Karate. As for what to teach later, he would see how things went.

When the three of them reached their destination, they saw two monsters, much thinner and smaller than yesterday's Troll, frantically devouring the half-carcass of the wild wolf he had specifically left for them last night. Most of the carcass had already been eaten, and as the two small Trolls consumed it, their bodies were slowly growing. It was estimated that it wouldn't be long before they returned to the size of yesterday's Troll.

Seeing that the two monsters were only focused on their meal, Chen Jinyang ignored them. He set down his equipment and took his two apprentices to a spot further away to teach them chest expansions and leg stretches to loosen up their bodies.

While doing leg stretches, Alos asked with a puzzled look, "William, what are we doing? Can we learn this in a while?" As he spoke, he stopped stretching and began to mimic some of the flashier moves he had seen Chen Jinyang perform during his own training, gesturing in a clumsy, half-baked way.

Chen Jinyang slapped the back of the restless boy's head: "Get back to your stretches! Don't be so fidgety! And! From now on, when you are practicing, you must call me 'Master,' do you understand?"

"What is a 'Master'?" Mishaer, who was doing the same stretching exercises in her own little way, asked upon hearing this.

"A Master is... oh!" Chen Jinyang actually didn't know how to say the word "teacher" in the common tongue. At first, he could only guess, and over time he had learned some simpler conversational terms, but formal titles like this were a bit difficult for him, leaving him momentarily speechless.

"Forget it! Call me whatever you like! First, we must train your bodies and strengthen your stamina!" As he spoke, he reached out and pinched the thin little arms of the two children who had finished their warm-ups. Because of malnutrition, both children were quite short, looking a year or two younger than their actual age. Oh! They were getting a bit fleshy. After months of Chen Jinyang's specialized nutritional supplements, their bodies were noticeably plumper.

Chen Jinyang rolled up his wide fur robe and flexed his elbow to show off his biceps, which, though smoother than before, were still more terrifying than solid rock. Although Alos and Mishaer knew William was strong, this was the first time they had seen their big brother show off up close. Both of them let out a simultaneous "Wow—!" in admiration. Little Alos would bet that even the powerful adventurers he had seen in the tavern before couldn't compare to his big brother's physical strength.

"I wonder when I'll be as strong as Big Brother William!" The little girl looked at Chen Jinyang's sturdy arms with admiration, murmuring hopefully to herself.

Hearing the little one's whisper, Chen Jinyang imagined the petite, cute girl turning into a burly, muscular person. He shuddered involuntarily and quickly shook his head to clear the thought. He gave a few "ahem"s to divert their attention and dispel Mishaer's misguided ideas, saying, "You need to train your bodies to be sturdy, and then you can learn some more powerful techniques. Like this!" Chen Jinyang turned and let out a shout like a thunderclap, delivering a side kick to a tree trunk about half a person's girth. "Boom! Crack—!" The trunk snapped in response, and the snow covering the tree fell like a waterfall. The two little ones stared, dumbfounded, at the broken, thick tree trunk, running over to touch the fractured edge in disbelief.

"So scary! It's thicker than me! Amazing! You kicked it down in one go. William is so strong!" The two children circled the ruined trunk, exclaiming in wonder.

Damn it! Used too much force! The impact of Chen Jinyang's display was comparable to a street performance of breaking a stone on one's chest, but he, covered in white snow, stood on one leg, gritting his teeth and shivering as his right leg went numb. He had wanted to make a loud noise, but in his haste to show off, he had overdone it. Chen Jinyang's current physical strength couldn't keep up with his power growth; in other words, his strength and constitution were unbalanced. If he exerted too much force, he would injure himself.

Chen Jinyang shivered as he brushed the fallen snow off his body, looking at the two wide-eyed, curious babies with a blush. This is bad, he thought, today's training session is likely going to be cut short. To think that I, a grandmaster-level expert, would make such a low-level mistake—how embarrassing! I have to fool the two little ones for now. He stood on one leg like a golden rooster, clapped his hands to regain the siblings' attention, and said, "Alright, don't just stand there! What I am going to teach you is called 'Martial Arts,' a special skill that combines strength and technique. Right now, what you need is to increase your strength and stamina; do you see those two trees ahead?" Chen Jinyang pointed to two large trees about twenty or thirty meters away, and the little ones nodded repeatedly.

"Run back and forth between those two trees until I say stop. Understand? Go on, quickly!" The two little blind worshippers responded and trotted off to do as they were told.

Chen Jinyang sat leaning against the broken tree, rubbing his injured right foot with both hands, watching the little ones stumbling and running hard in the snow, their relatively large fur robes dragging behind them looking quite comical. Since obtaining the Winter Wolf hides, he had managed to cut up the furs he first got from the Ogre to make two robes for the little ones. According to Phinia, it was the hide of a juvenile Snowfield Lion. Now the little ones were fully armed: wearing deerskin caps, deerskin jackets and trousers, deerskin boots he had remade, and covered in lion-skin robes—though the little girl preferred to wear her Horn of Kor over her deerskin cap.

"Faster! Faster! Mishaer, keep it up! Alos is catching up to you! Oh! Alos has passed you! Quick, quick, quick! Alos! Alos! Alos fell! Mishaer, here's your chance! Oh! Mishaer fell too! Mishaer's helmet fell off! Oh, oh, oh! Alos has passed you again." Chen Jinyang's mouth kept creating a tense, competitive atmosphere for the two little ones, keeping them immersed in hope so they wouldn't get bored with the monotonous running.

It wasn't until the two children were truly unable to run anymore, their little faces flushed red as they collapsed into the soft snow, gasping for air, that Chen Jinyang finally called a stop and summoned them over. He moved his right foot, which had recovered slightly. Not bad! The damage isn't too severe, though I shouldn't exert too much force for the next two days. Chen Jinyang said with a smile, "How does it feel? Not bad, right?"

"Al—Al—Alos ran—ran too fast! I—I couldn't—couldn't catch up to him!" The little girl couldn't even speak clearly as she gasped, her small hands constantly adjusting the horned helmet that kept sliding over her eyes. Little Alos was even more exhausted, sitting on the ground and panting like an ox, unwilling to say a word.

"Stand up! Stand up! We're moving on to the next training!" Chen Jinyang pulled Alos up and said, "Hands behind your head! Feet slightly apart! Mishaer, stand up straight! Come! Squat down! Stand up! Whoa! Squat down! Stand up! Just like that!" Chen Jinyang had Alos and Mishaer familiarize themselves with the squatting motion.

A few angry roars drifted over. Chen Jinyang turned his head with a smile to look; not far away, the two newborn Trolls were finishing off the wolf carcass, snarling and fighting over the final scraps. He said to the two little ones, "Alright, you two practice this movement right here. Wait for me to come back!" With that, Chen Jinyang left them to practice on their own, turned to pick up the hemp rope from the ground, and dragged the giant pole, limping toward the Trolls, who were gradually turning their attention in his direction.