"You still have the gall to joke about this? Do you even realize how strong you are?"
"I don't, Dad."
"This plank I'm holding is used to create training dummies, right? This plank has almost the same hardness and durability as leather armor. The fact that you can damage it to this extent shows how monstrous your body strength is."
"Wow! Am I that strong, Dad? Really?"
"Yes. I don't really know how you managed to train yourself to this level, but color me impressed. The fact that I didn't sense any mana from your attack means you relied purely on your body strength. Well, it's not like I expected you to already know how to manipulate mana inside your body, but if you really learned how to do it by any chance and applied it with your punch, I'm sure you could do damage much more serious than this."
"Really? Then I really should improve my mana core then. So, Dad, can you train me now?"
If it were before, Charles would definitely not allow it and tell Zeke to just focus on his mana core. But now, seeing his son's strength, Charles couldn't help but want to teach his child now. He felt guilty about rejecting it since it could be considered him hindering his child's growth.
"*Sigh*... Alright, son. I can teach you but only for a year, alright? You'll need to go to school after this and I'll also need to go to work. I'll only be teaching you techniques you could utilize during combat and it's up to you how you improve your own skill. I'll spar with you once in a while, but just know that I'll only do it once or twice a week. I'll agree to all of this but I also have my own conditions."
"Yay! What do you want then, Dad?"
Zeke felt he already won half of the battle. He just needed to know his father's condition so he could finally train out in the open!
"First, I don't want you lurking around inside our house all day long. I want you to have fun with my brother's daughter. I don't care what kind of fun you'll do, I just want you not to train all day. I don't want my son to grow up only thinking about training while neglecting people around you."
"Yes, Dad!"
"Second, after this year, before we go back to work and you go to school, you need to tell me what you did to have the strength you have now. Don't even tell me about doing workouts everyday because I sure know one can't achieve your strength with just ordinary morning routines. For all I know, only evil or demonic techniques can give you strength like that in a short period of time. I don't want my only son to succumb to the darkness, you understand me?"
"... Yes, Dad!" after a moment of hesitation, Zeke finally agreed.
Charles noticed all of this, and he could help but narrow his eyes. His son really held some sort of secret that he can't even say to his own parents.
"Third, I want you to report to me your progress every week. I want a detailed explanation about your training. This is to ensure that you're in the right path. I also don't want you to overexert yourself, alright?"
"Got it, Dad. So I am not allowed to stay all day in the house, I need to tell you about how I train, and I need to tell you about my progress. Is that all, Dad?"
"Yes, son. Do you agree to all of it?"
"It's not hard, Dad, of course I agree. But can I request something, Dad?"
"Sure. What do you want?"
"Can you build a training room for me? The one where there's training dummies and a comfortable place to meditate? I'd like to make that place my overall training grounds both in my physical training and mana core."
"Can't you just train here and meditate in your room? Why need a separate room?"
"I want a place to train wholeheartedly, Dad. Besides, wouldn't it be troublesome for our future spars if we always do it here? What if your brothers' families see us?"
"..... I understand. I'll have it constructed at the back."
Charles thought about it and he felt his son's reasoning made sense. Besides, it was also for the sake of him. What would his sworn brothers say if they saw him fighting against his son this young?
When he thought about Zeke's choice of words, he couldn't help but be surprised. Zeke's way of thinking is very meticulous! He might not have mentioned it, but Charles knew Zeke's reason wasn't all that. Perhaps he doesn't want others to know of his strength? Perhaps he wants to impress his childhood friends with his fighting prowess in the future?
Charles didn't know that although it was all possible motives, it wasn't Zeke's main focus. His focus was to hide his future training not only to the other families but also to his parents. He thought about buying skill tomes in the system's shop and it wasn't appropriate for his parents to find out this early. What would his parents say when they found out Zeke had learned new moves? They'd even wonder where the hell their son got it, making his secret stand out. Although he promised to tell them the truth a year later, he didn't plan on disclosing ALL of it.
Now that Zeke got his parents' permission, Zeke felt relieved. He expected his father to handle things with his mother since he knows his mother would also not dare obstruct her son's improvement. Besides, she wouldn't get mad at all since Zeke had technically decreased his training time due to Charles' conditions.
"When will it be built, Dad?"
"Less than a month tops, 1 month if it gets delayed for a bit. Let's start then, son. For now, just focus on meditation and your mana core." Charles said. He was thinking about how to convince his wife about their son since Catherine might not have seen his punch earlier.
After a while, a question appeared in Charles' mind.
"I forgot to ask you about this, son. How do you like to fight?"
"What do you mean, Dad?"
"Well, like I've told you before, everyone fights differently. I fight in close quarters as a spearman while your mother fights in long-range barrage spells as a mage. Before I start to train you, I need to know how you want to fight."
"Dad, what are other ways of fighting besides yours and mom?"
"Well, there's not a lot of commonly known fighting styles so I can explain a bit. The melee fighters consist of two categories, the damage dealers and the shield-bearers. The shield-bearers take the brunt of the damage while the damage dealer is as its name suggests, deals damage to the shield-bearer's attacker if it's melee. Usually, the damage dealer and the shield-bearer are near each other in the front line to assist each other."
"Dad, you said you fight in melee. What are you from the two then?"
"I'm naturally a damage dealer, son. It's just that I don't usually fight with others so I'm a solo damage dealer."
"I see!"
"Then comes the ranged attackers. There are those like your mother who uses long-range offensive magic while there are also those who use weapons that don't use mana like bows. There are also some that are a mix of both, such as an archer who uses mana to enhance his arrows."
'.. so it's just like what I know, huh.'
"There are also those who are not suited for combat. These are the so-called supports who help their allies by either buffing allies, or debuff and distract enemies."
'Yep, just like I thought.'
Seeing his son stay silent for a while, Charles asked.
"So, what do you think, son?"
"I don't know, Dad. Can I practice both first?"
"That's what I'm thinking too, considering that you have a mana core and you're also practicing punches. I guess you could practice both for a bit and see what fits you best."
"Yay! Thanks Dad!"
"No problem, son. As long as my conditions are fulfilled, I'll permit you to train and I'll also make sure to convince Catherine. Remember what I said earlier, alright? stop practicing for a while and bond with your three friends. Tell you what, why don't you invite them and go explore the city?