Chapter 10 - Improvement

Back at the backyard of Jun's house, Julius had managed to get himself physically ready for the upcoming training which would take place very soon.

"Have this," said Jun as he gave Julius a wooden blade which he had brought along with him before he went outside.

"Will I be fighting you master Jun?" Julius asked.

"No no, if I were to engage in battle with you, I might accidentally kill you," said Jun. While it was an attempt at bragging about his strength, he wasn't lying. The physical power gap between him and Julius was much too large.

"I gave you that blade to see what you're made of. So Julius, show me what you've got. How about swinging that sword forward as hard and fast as you can?" Jun requested of his student.

With determination filled in his eyes, Julius did as he was told. However, right as his blade reached its fastest point of movement, it slipped out of Julius' hand and landed on the ground just perfectly enough for it to bounce back and to hit Julius' head with its hilt.

....

Seeing as what had just happened, Julius just looked back as his master frozen in place as if he had done nothing but also everything wrong.

"YOU DAMN FOOL! HOW COULD YOU LET THAT HAPPEN?" Jun yelled at his student.

"Calm down Jun, maybe it was just a one time accident. After all, he's a genius when it comes to one type of cultivation so he would be at least average at the other one," Jun told himself in an attempt to calm himself down.

"Julius, how about you pick up your blade and try that one more time.." said Jun as he encouraged his student. Even though Julius was a bit nervous, he was more determined than ever to show his master that his student would be the greatest at everything.

After taking a deep breath, Julius stared at his blade before bringing it high in the air then bringing it down as hard as he could. However... Just like the previous time he tried, he had lost possession over the blade and it slipped out of his palm only to deflect and hit his head with the hilt once more.

...

"I swear I can explain," said Julius as he stood in the same frozen position as he had when this incident had taken place the first time.

"You can explain it to whoever you see when you die!" said Jun as he began to chase Julius with a brick he found laying on the ground.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" said Julius as he begged for mercy as the brick hit his head.

"You managed to fool me. I thought you were a prodigy amongst prodigies. But no! For what you excel in one method of cultivation, you lack the very basic skills in the other. Boy, you better count yourself lucky! I would've killed you by now if I wasn't so interested to see how powerful you would grow. Nevertheless, if I can't kill you by my own hands, I'll make sure that my training does the job for me. Now, give me 20 laps around the back yard!" Jun yelled out.

"20....?" asked Julius as he feared what would become of him if he actually ran across the area only 5 times let alone 20. The backyard itself was the size of around 2 football fields not that anyone from that world would know what football was. However, seeing Julius was less than the average person when it came to physical aspects, he would surely die if he attempted the task his master had given him.

"Don't make me repeat myself," said Jun with an angry look which quickly changed Julius' mind. He would rather die from running than have to face whatever monster his master was. So, Julius began to run around the backyard.

Even before finishing the first lap, Julius wanted to puke. He didn't know how much longer he could go before he would pass out from exhaustion. However, every time he felt the urge to give up, he looked at Jun who stared back at him with death in his eyes which pushed Julius to continue.

"What's his deal anyway? He was so nice to me just a minute ago. Was me not being able to meet his expectation of me worth this type of harsh punishment?" Julius asked himself as he continued to run.

"I wonder how father and mother are. I hope everything back home is going. I wouldn't want my return to be greeted with sad faces. Oh right, for the first time in my life, Liz won't be reading me a bedtime story either... not that I care! I'm finally becoming a real man," Julius continued. to have random thoughts as he spoke to himself as he tried to find a way for him to distract himself from running.

"You can stop," said Jun but was ignored by Julius as he was absorbed in his own thoughts.

"I said you can stop!" Jun yelled out which caught Julius' attention.

"But you said I had to run 20 laps. Why are you making me stop earlier?" Julius asked.

"Oh Henry, you really did pass on to me a monster," Jun said to himself before replying to Julius.

"You've already run 32 laps. I don't know how you were able to do so without passing out a couple hundred times but you've done it," said Jun as he looked at his disciple with a smile once more.

"I get it... he's only happy when I meet his expectations. To him, I'm just a plant. The more I grow, the more he treats me better," Julius said to himself, which made him quite disappointed in his teacher.

Jun once again flicked Julius' forehead.

"Ow! What did you do that for?" Julius asked.

"Anyway, I want to see something. There should be a second gear like icon in the top middle of your vision area. Click on it to see all your status points. Tell me what your speed status is now," Jun requested.

[Speed: 50]