"Is everything really alright?" Amanda asked worried Aatrox in the car as they drove home.
"Yes, Mom. It's going to be friendly." Aatrox answered to lessen her concern.
"But son, he was an army lieutenant and now has one of the largest security companies in the state." Amanda said worriedly.
"My brother is super strong, Mom." Bryan said as he propped his little head on one of Aatrox's thighs.
Seeing her brother lying on his older brother's leg, Bruna also wanted to and took Aatrox's other thigh.
Stroking the twins' heads, Aatrox answered Amanda. "Mom, since I got to their house I also felt like having a spar with him, so why not?"
"Because you just woke up from the accident, son. I don't want anything bad to happen to you again." Amanda said sadly.
Feeling bad to see his mother like that, Aatrox gives up and agrees. "Alright mom, you can come and if anything happens you can stop it, okay?"
Eyes shining, Amanda responds. "Ok son! You will hear your mother."
Over dinner, Anthony had suggested that he give Aatrox some self - defense lessons, but before that, they would need to have a spar for Anthony to test Aatrox's level.
Aatrox knew the aura that he was sending when they arrived, it was just an excuse. At first, Aatrox wanted to reject the idea, but in thinking that he might get in touch with someone who might be one, or know about cultivators, Aatrox accepted the invitation and scheduled the class for next Saturday.
Amanda had been very worried to see her son at risk of injury, insisted Aatrox let her go to the spar. Aatrox didn't want to let her know about the cultivating world anytime soon, so by then, he will have to find some way forward.
Arriving home, Aatrox took the sleepy twins and led them to their bedroom. Since they were still very young, Amanda and Alex thought it best to let them sleep together, to keep each other company at night.
When Aatrox put Bruna to bed, he felt a twinge of fear coming from his younger sister's gaze. "Is everything okay, my princess?" Aatrox asked.
"Can you stay here with us, brother? We are afraid that some monsters will appear when we go to sleep too late. "Bruna said in a fearful and worried voice.
"Are you afraid of some monster scaring you?" Aatrox asked with a raised eyebrow. Since he had begun to cultivate with the cursed blade, Aatrox had never been afraid of anything, but seeing his sister's gaze and looking to the side, seeing his brother's gaze, Aatrox couldn't help but worry.
"Yeah, every once in a while we hear some noises and think it's some monster." Bryan responds a little shy about being scared, even though he's a little man.
"Alright, I can stay with you or teach you my secret to never be afraid of monsters again. What do you want? "Aatrox asks with a plan forming in his mind.
"Never?? We want to know the secret, brother! "Bruna said excitedly.
"My secret never to be afraid of monsters is to be the monster!" Aatrox said with a proud smile.
"What do you mean?" Bryan said with a confused look. Seeing the cute look of confusion in the children's eyes, Aatrox had to hold back not to squeeze their fluffy cheeks.
"Remember the technique I taught you? So I didn't say that you can become very strong practicing that technique? That is the secret, you will practice just before bedtime and the more you practice, the stronger you will become. If you get too strong, the monsters will be afraid of you instead of you being afraid of them. "Aatrox said with a warm smile on his face.
Bryan and Bruna turned to face each other and saw stars in each other's eyes. If what their brother said was true (which they would never doubt), they could become super strong and hit any monster that comes at night. "We'll do it, brother! Let's get too strong to hit any monster and not let any of them hurt either mommy or daddy! "Bruna said with a resolute look.
"Fine, I'm proud of you." Aatrox said as he gave a slight smile on his face and kissed the twins' foreheads.
The next day, the classes were quiet. After realizing that he knew all the content the teachers were explaining, Aatrox began to get bored in class and stop to think about other things. Some teachers caught him off guard to ask questions, but none of them were answered with an incorrect answer. So the teachers were pleased and went back to teaching.
After class, instead of going to the drama club, Aatrox left after saying goodbye to Annie. Arriving home, Aatrox played with the kids and asked the question he wanted Amanda. "Mom, I'm wanting to learn to play some instrument. Where can I get one? "
Hearing her son's question, Amanda began to think and remembered Alex. "Your father had a guitar when we started dating, I think it's somewhere in the basement. Come on, let's see if we can find it. "She said with a smile as she headed toward the basement.
The children, curious to know what was there, went together. Amanda never let them in there alone and when Alex came in to get something they never saw so they could go together.
Bruna held one hand of Aatrox while Bryan held the other. Seeing the reaction of the children, Aatrox felt curious. As they descended the stairs, some noises could be heard. To Aatrox it was just a random noise of something old, but feeling the pair of grips in his hands, Aatrox felt the children were getting scared.
Taking advantage that the children had already begun to cultivate the stellar lung technique, Aatrox spent some of his energy on the little hands he was holding.
The children who were afraid, feeling the warm, comfortable energy coming from their older brother's hand, felt much safer. The determination that they had to become strong to give pride to Aatrox now become one the determination to become strong enough to manage to protect and move safely to other people, such as older brother was doing.
Bryan and Bruna stared at each other for a second and nodded at each other. Simultaneously the twins let go of Aatrox's hands and became determined to pass through this frightening place with their own strength and courage.
Observing this development, Aatrox was surprised but very happy at the same time. He protected his siblings because he knew they were still very young and he could not see them suffer. But he knew very well that to become a powerful cultivator, one had to be independent and self-assured. So that the inner demons would not take over their body and mind during some difficult stage of cultivation.
Seeing all this, Aatrox knew that the cultivation session last night had been worth it.