"I...I want to learn combat," Ivan said, coughing a little as it took him by surprise.
'Combat, huh? Does he want to learn combat so that he won't be powerless like he was when his parents were killed?' Mr. Hawthorne thought, remembering Ivan's background.
'Oh wait, it might actually be quite good for him. It'll allow him to learn combat as well as be disciplined.'
"Sure. Which combat do you want to learn? There are a lot of styles," Mr. Hawthorne said, agreeing to his request as it would be quite beneficial to Ivan.
"I... I want to learn military combat," Ivan said with a small pause.
'Military combat?'
"Military combat, huh? Why that out of all the martial arts you could choose? Like jiu-jitsu, boxing, Muay Thai?" Mr. Hawthorne said, surprised, as most kids would want to learn these since they're popular among aspiring people.
"Because... they are the most useful in real-life situations. Outside of the ring, they are trained to kill, not just to defeat, and they incorporate almost every martial art," Ivan said, clenching his small hand.
"And I... I want to protect myself in all situations," Ivan said, remembering the situation where his mother was killed. At this point, he had almost forgotten that he ever had a father, as he was too much of a coward, a gambling addict, and an abusive alcoholic bastard.
'Haha, let's just go along with him. I know he'll give up after a week or so after seeing the discipline and hardship he'll face.' Mr. Hawthorne thought, not realizing the deep fire burning inside Ivan to avenge his mother, the only person who truly cared for him and loved him.
"Haha, alright, brat! I'll hire an ex-military commander to train you. I hope to see that much excitement from you after a week of starting," Mr. Hawthorne said, laughing a little.
"I'll get you one in three days," he said before returning to his newspaper while taking a sip of black coffee.
"Oh, and you'll be joining school from June 1st," he said, taking another sip of his coffee.
"Okay," Ivan said before heading back to his room.
His room was something he didn't expect. It was a spacious area with a king-sized bed, an interconnected bathroom, a wardrobe room, a full-body mirror, some paintings, and a desk near his bed with an alarm clock.
"So I'll be getting a personal mentor within three days, huh?"
"Well, I should do some basic exercises for now," he muttered before starting to do push-ups and some squats.
###
[2 days later...]
In front of the Hawthorne family's mansion, a Porsche 911 drove up slowly to just outside the mansion.
The Porsche 911 had a sleek, low-profile body with smooth, rounded curves. It featured a distinctive, wide front end with large, round headlights and a sloping rear roofline. The rear was marked by a broad, integrated rear spoiler and wide, aggressive rear fenders.
As the car stopped in front of the mansion, the door opened, and a man in his forties stepped out. He was a muscular man with a small beard, wearing a white suit and black sunglasses, with his hair slicked back.
As soon as he stepped out of the Porsche 911, the double doors of the mansion swung open, and two men came out. One was a kid with blonde hair, wearing black shorts and a white t-shirt, and the other was an old man with white hair wearing the same expensive black suit and holding a cane.
"Greetings, Alex. It's been quite a while, hasn't it?" Mr. Hawthorne said as he walked toward him, laughing a bit and patting him on the back.
"Ahaha, yeah, it has been a decade, I guess! Mr. Hawthorne," the man named Alex said, laughing heartily as if they had known each other for years, which was true.
"You should already know why I called you here, but I'll tell you once again," Mr. Hawthorne said, then called out to Ivan.
"Ivan?" he said as Ivan came toward them.
"This is Alex. He used to be a military commander five years ago..." Mr. Hawthorne said, explaining Alex's position. Alex scratched the back of his hand, clearly not used to being held in high regard.
"And Alex, this is my new son, Ivan Hawthorne," Mr. Hawthorne said, ruffling Ivan's hair.
"So this is the kid who I need to train, huh?" Alex thought. 'He seems like someone who has never trained his body or even exercised. I guess it'll be easy money... Boy, you should've chosen another martial art. I'll show you how hard military training really is.'
"And Alex is going to be your trainer," Mr. Hawthorne said as Alex smiled and said, "Hello there, Ivan! I'm Alex, and I'm going to be your trainer. Though don't take this lightly because I'm going to teach you seriously. So you better be ready."
"I know..." Ivan said, his expression cold and expressionless.
"Your training will start from tomorrow. I'll come at 4 AM in the morning. You better be ready since I'm not going to go easy on you," Alex said, grinning hard.
"I would like you to just do that," Ivan said, his expression serious.
'I need to learn everything that this man—no, my trainer—is going to teach me. I can't back off even if it's extremely hard,' Ivan thought, remembering the incident. His expression turned cold.
"Then I'll excuse myself. I have somewhere to be now," Alex said, bowing slightly to show respect to Mr. Hawthorne before getting into his Porsche 911.
'Let's see how long you can hold on, Ivan,' Alex thought as he drove away.
###
[Next Day]
[3:55 AM]
"Ti..ti..ti...tii..tiii...tiii" The alarm clock rang...
'Ugh...' Ivan thought as the alarm clock rang, making him annoyed as he heavily slapped the alarm clock, silencing it.
For the next few minutes, he stayed like that, peacefully sleeping.
...
But unfortunately for Ivan, it didn't stay like that because as soon as the time reached 4:00, a loud bang was heard as the door to his room was swung open, followed by a shout.
"Wake the hell up, soldier! This isn't nap time!" Alex said as he entered, his expression that of a serious commander, not like yesterday at all. He was also wearing a Russian soldier's uniform.
"Y-yes!!" Hearing the loud shout, Ivan woke up and hurriedly stood up.
"Get your ass dressed in four minutes. I should see you in the gym downstairs by 4:05 AM," he said, his voice loud and clear with a serious expression that left no room for excuses.
"Yes, Sir!!" In response, Ivan said, his tone loud and clear as well.
"Good! I like your energy," Alex said before heading outside, giving Ivan time to change into clothes.
...
[Home Gym]
In the home gym inside the huge mansion of the Hawthorne family, there were two people: Alex and Ivan.
"You're late by two whole minutes. Your punishment for that is to run on that treadmill at 10 mph for 20 minutes straight. If I see you slacking off even a little, I'll increase the duration of the punishment," Alex said in his loud tone before sitting on a chair behind him with a coffee in one hand and his phone in the other.
Ivan did as he was told, getting on the treadmill and adjusting the speed to 10 mph before starting to run.
...
[5 minutes later...]
"Ha...ha...ha...ha..." Ivan breathed heavily as he sprinted on the treadmill.
"How is a... ha... child... ha... supposed to run for 20 minutes... ha... at such speed... ha... ha..." he said, breathing heavily.
"No complaining! Is that all you got? With such endurance, you won't even last a minute! Are you willing to do that in a long fight where one wrong move can kill you?" Alex said, his tone serious and loud.
"Yeah... why am I complaining? Aren't I the one who decided to eradicate my mother's killer's whole bloodline? Am I supposed to do that with my weak self? Kukhh, I'm too soft on myself. Just because I have a new family that is good, it doesn't mean that I should forget the one who birthed me, my mother, who was killed. How can I face her later in the afterlife if I couldn't even avenge her?"
"I'll be strong... I'll be so strong no matter what! Throw whatever you have, trainer! I won't back off!" Ivan thought, gritting his teeth as he continued without complaint for the next 20 minutes.