Reed was walking out of his school when a basketball suddenly hit behind his head. There was laughter from the kids behind him. He stopped moving for a moment, then continued walking away.

A chubby boy put his hands on his mouth and shouted,"Yeah, that's right, Maxwell! Rush home! Your dumb brother is waiting for you!"

The chubby boy laughed as well as the other four boys.

Reed stopped walking.

"Why did you stop Maxwell?! Go home and prepare your brother's milk!"

Reed put down his bag. He turned around and rushed to the five boys.

Ava saw the commotion and called for a teacher.

***

 

Dylan chuckled at Reed, who went home with a black eye.

Ruth was talking with someone on the phone as she looked at Reed with concern. She put down the phone and looked at Dylan."His teacher called. The parents of the kids involved need to go to school tomorrow."

Dylan smiled. "I will go with him."

In the morning, Reed's teacher met with the children and their parents.

The children had black eyes or an injured nose. The chubby boy even had a missing tooth.

The chubby boy's father, named Robert, looked fat and had a huge body. He was staring at Dylan.

Dylan nodded and smiled at Robert. After the meeting, he moved to the parking lot. He saw Robert as he walked to their car. He nodded at Robert, who was standing beside a chopper model motorcycle. Then a hand grabbed his left shoulder from behind and stopped him from walking.

"You should teach your kid well, buddy. How could he keep starting a fight over a joke? It will be a problem if he can't keep his anger as he grows older, right?" asked Robert as he strengthened his grip.

Dylan laughed."They're just kids. They will be fin-"

"It's not even a joke. My boy was just telling the truth. You should tell your kid to learn how to accept it."

The smile on Dylan's face disappeared as his eyes turned sharper. His right hand grabbed the hand on his shoulder. He twisted the fingers as he turned around to his left side.

"Ahhh!" Robert screamed. He gritted his teeth and swung his right arm.

Dylan turned around as he pulled Robert's hand.

Robert's face hit Dylan's shoulder, then a quick uppercut hit his chin, causing his knee to feel like jelly. A hand grabbed his shirt and prevented him from falling.

Dylan moved his face closer to Robert while his left hand was holding the man's shirt."We both know who is at fault. They are kids, so I can tolerate that, but you are crossing the line. My kids are like my landmine. If you step on them, I will explode and destroy you."

Robert looked at Dylan with fear.

Dylan smiled when Robert seemed to have understood what he said. He helped the man stand up straight."Can you walk?"

"Y-Yeah."

Dylan tapped Robert's shoulder."See you later, Buddy."

"But I don't want to meet you again, buddy," thought Robert as he looked at Dylan's back.

After school, Ava caught up with Reed, who was walking away."Hey, I was the one who called the teacher yesterday. Your face should be black and blue again if not for me."

"Hmpf! I could have handled it even without a teacher."

"Hmpf! I helped you, but you did not thank me!"

"Thank you."

"Thank you is not enough."

"What do you want?"

"It's the weekend tomorrow. Let's ride a bike together. Don't forget to prepare my favorite sandwich."

"But I have my training."

"Don't you know that relaxation must accompany training?!"

"How did you know that?!"

"Hmpf! It was said by a famous master!"

"Who?"

"Master Zifu."

"W-Who is that?"

"He is a martial arts master from a movie."

"What?! Are you toying with me?!"

"Hmpf! Don't you know that there are many quotes in movies that are based in real life? A wealthy businessman himself said that he got up again after falling hard because of what a character said in a movie!"

"R-Really?"

Ava crossed her arms and looked at Reed."Now, do you understand?"

Reed had a look of hesitation on his face."We'll go after I have my routine morning exercise."

"Okay, deal," said Ava as she stretched her hand.

In the morning, they rode their bikes with laughter along the side of a river. There were trees, grass and different colors of flowers on both sides of the road.

In the following weeks, Reed kept training and played every weekend. They played in a river with clear shallow water while Wenston and Macy were playing with small stones on the riverbank. 

 

His family had a picnic under a tree on top of a hill.

 

Reed and Ava roamed around the forest and saw a twenty-meter-tall tree with a wide trunk and long, hanging vines. They looked at the tree with awe, then looked each other in the eyes.

A few moments later, Reed was looking at a vine as he prepared himself to run. He suddenly dashed, then jumped toward the vine. His right hand held the vine. He stretched down his left hand while the vine was swinging.

Ava ran and jumped. Her left hand held Reed's hand, and then they swung together in the air. They were laughing as the vine moved around the huge tree.

"Let go!" shouted Ava.

Reed let go of both of his hands, then they landed on the ground. They looked at each other and giggled.

Dylan was sitting cross-legged on a huge stone that had some moss. There were arrows on his back while his hand was holding a bow."We already warned them, but these kids are too courageous to roam deeper into the forest, making my job harder. Should I teach them a lesson? No, I will just consider it a reward for the hard work of the kid to his training, but I must make him work harder to make my job worth it."

Below the huge stone, there was the corpse of a gray wolf that was more than one meter tall. It was killed by an arrow in its eye. Dylan was secretly acting as a bodyguard for the children.

The next day, Dylan started teaching Reed archery. They sparred, and Reed was repeatedly kicked to the ground. They were sparring every day. Reed tried to make his father use his hands, but he failed.

It was Friday afternoon. Reed was walking toward Ava after school.

Ava was waving her hand with a smile on her face, but her smile disappeared when she saw what was behind Reed.

Pang! A basketball hit Reed's head. He turned his head and looked behind him.

The chubby boy was crossing his arms as he looked at Reed. There were nine boys around him looking at Reed with unkind eyes.

Reed put down his bag, then rushed to the ten boys.

Ava ran and called a teacher.

In the morning, all the boys involved and their parents had a meeting with their teacher. The ten boys had black eyes or a broken nose and lips. The chubby boy had another missing tooth. Reed had another black eye.

A black man named Marvin, who had a huge body, was staring at Dylan. He was the father of one of the boys injured by Reed.

Dylan smiled and nodded at Marvin.

Robert looked at Marvin and rubbed his eyebrows."Hey, bud, stop staring at him."

"Don't worry, bud, I will not be in trouble. I just want to remind him to teach his son well. The kids are just saying the truth anyway. His son should learn how to accept it."

Robert sighed.

***

 

Reed did not stop his training. The number of times that he fell on the ground during sparring and while running in the forest was getting less as the months flew by.

Three years later, Reed was quickly running through a forest. He jumped on top of a big rock, then jumped toward a tree with a thin trunk. He held the trunk, and then it rapidly bent downward with Reed. He kicked the trunk of another tree. The tree he was holding swung to his back. He let go of his hand as he made a somersault in the air, then his feet landed on a branch. He ran on the branch and jumped. His feet landed on a thin tree. The tree bent down, then he jumped forward. His hands held a branch. He swung and did a somersault in the air. His feet landed safely on the ground.

Reed turned around and looked at a particular tree."Dad, you can come out. You no longer need to secretly guard me in the forest. I can take care of myself now."

Dylan chuckled as he came out from behind a tree."Kid, that will not be determined by you, but by me."

"Then, I'll make you approve it."Reed dashed toward his father. He jumped forward and turned around in mid-air. He made a round kick in the air.

Boom! Dylan turned around and struck his son with his elbow.

Reed crossed his arms and blocked the attack, but he was pushed back. He turned around and dodged the front kick that was moving toward his body, then kicked with his left leg.

Dylan caught his son's foot. He quickly spun and threw Reed.

Reed put his hands on the ground and somersaulted. He jumped back and put his feet on the trunk, then jumped toward his father, who was moving closer.

Dylan turned around and dodged the flying knee to his face, then he grabbed Reed's back and pulled him down toward the ground.

Reed made a somersault in the air and was able to land on his feet, then struck his right fist on his father's belly.

Dylan's left hand catched his son's fist, then his right arm lifted Reed to the air. He pushed him down as he struck with his knee.

"Oh sh*t!" screamed Reed when his head was about to hit his father's right knee. His eyes were wide open, while his face was in front of the knee.

Dylan laughed, then he let go of Reed's shirt. He nodded his head."With your current skill, there are only a few that can threaten you in this forest."

"I thought my head was going to crush."

Dylan laughed, then patted Reed's shoulder."Kids your age and even adults are not capable of what you did. You know that, right?"

Reed nodded his head.

"You will keep getting stronger and will even surpass me. Use appropriate strength based on your enemy because you might accidentally kill them. Don't show beyond the limit of a human being to others you don't trust. You are special, Reed, but you are still you, our son. You are just more capable than the others, and it's in your hands how to use it. I will not force you where to use it. If you use it to harm the innocent, then it only means that we failed as parents."

"I understand, dad."

Dylan smiled and put his arm around Reed's shoulder."Let's go."

When they arrived home, they saw Ava, Macy, and Lora.

"What's that for?" asked Reed when he saw his mother extracting blood from Ava.

Dylan was silent. Ruth looked at him for a second.

"Aunt said that it's for the screening of a biotech company," said Ava.

Ruth nodded."Ava is right. Greycorp, a biotech company, has a youth program. Children from different schools will be screened. The most fit children will be put in a youth camp. Ambassadors and scholarships will be given to chosen children in the camp. The aim of the program is to encourage health fitness in children. It fits their theme and products. The screening in the school will happen after a week. I was checking Ava's blood in advance so she can prepare."

"How about me?"asked Reed.

"I will also take your blood."

"Do you think they can be selected? They are as energetic and strong as a bull."

"Mom!" shouted Ava to Lora, causing Macy to laugh.

Ruth also took Reed's blood. She put it in a test tube, then kept it in a cold chain box. Later, she put the box in her car.

"See you all later," said Ruth as she kissed her children and husband.

Wenston took out one of his favorite toys from his pocket.

Ruth looked at the toy."Do you want to give it to me so I won't be lonely?"

Wenston nodded his head, causing Ruth's eyes to turn teary.

Ruth took the toy and kissed Wenston's head. "I will only be gone for a week."

Dylan rubbed Wenston's head."Be careful."

"It will be quite a journey. Make sure to rest," said Lora.

"Goodbye, aunt," said Ava and Macy as they waved their hands. Ruth smiled and waved at them.

Reed stared at the back of his mother's car, then looked at Ava."Hey, it's the weekend. Let's go somewhere else."

Ava had a look of hesitation on her face."But I don't have my bike."

"Is that even a problem?"

Ava smiled.

Lora sighed."Don't be late for lunch."

Dylan shook his head as he looked at Reed and Ava, who were laughing. "I feel bad for the kids because they will be separated, but it has to be done."