Chapter 6: Training

Waking up the same time I did yesterday, I get up to get ready myself this time, with minimal help from maids.

I take a quick bath, and the helpers apply some weak smelling perfume on my body.

They help me put on an outfit that just screams 'Young Master'. I appreciate some fashion, but this just makes me look like some asshole wuxia character.

I can't wait till I'm free of this bullcrap.

I make my way to the dining hall, and my parents are already there, looking excited.

Looks like Lao accepted my suggestion.

"Father, Mother, good morning."

"Good morning, son. I hope you rested well?"

"Yes, I feel full of energy today."

"Good, good. I have some good news."

Dad stops there and gets a read on my face.

I look at him, fidgeting like a little boy would when getting a present.

"Lao Bei Fong has given you permission to train with Toph... and permission to spend time with her even in days where there is no training."

I just sat there, surprised.

I only suggested to train with Toph, but now I can hang out with her whenever? That's fantastic!

Toph must've used her Dad's doting to her advantage and convinced him to allow me inside his residence without prior notice.

Good work, Toph! Your the best girl!

"Thank you, for asking Father! I'll be sure to properly give my thanks to Mr. Bei Fong when I meet him!"

I must look like the happiest 12 year old in the world right now.

"Haha, it's nice to see you so excited again. Just so you know, Toph's training begins at midday, so you'd best get ready now, in order to participate."

"Yes, Father!"

Mom doesn't say much but she looks extremely happy that I'm going to get along with my fiancee.

Or she's just glad she's gonna get a daughter.

Same thing, really.

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Changing my clothes into the training outfit I wore during Earth Rumble V, I hop on the carriage taking me to the Beifong residence.

I arrive after about 10 minutes and stand outside the gate to the wall.

My driver knocks on the door and announces my presence.

A guard comes up and says that he's been informed of my arrival and let's me inside.

I can see Toph already outside in her usual outfit with a smile in her face.

I smile at her as well. She can't see my face, but it's the thought that counts.

"Hi Toph. How you doing?"

Toph comes up and we greet each other with fist bumps.

"Sup, Little Lu. Were you bored without me yesterday?"

Toph has a teasing smile on her face.

Too bad her teasing doesn't work on me.

And fortunately for me, mine does.

"Yeah, it was pretty boring. I wished I could spend time with you yesterday."

Toph, probably not expecting me to be so straightforward, looked away and blushed.

"Yeah, well your here now, so no complaining."

I can practically hear her smiling.

"I also heard that I can come over whenever I want to visit you. Did you have anything to do with that?"

Toph turns her blushing head to me in fake fury, and punches me in the arm again.

Ouch, she really doesn't hold back.

"N-no! That's just my Dad being annoying again. It's not like I wanted you to come over more often!"

Saying the most typical tsundere thing, Toph denies my claim.

I'm gonna tease her some more.

"Don't worry Toph, we'll spend alot more time together in the future! We're gonna get married after all!"

I wrap my arm around her neck in a friendly manner, and Toph just stands there with her head down, red in the face.

"Yeah..."

I feel like I just reminded her that we're engaged. She's suddenly all timid, like she realized something very embarrassing.

She can't be falling for me already?

I guess girls do get interested in love quite early.

As we sat on a bench in the garden talking, with my arm still on her neck, I hear there gate open and a guard announced to us the arrival of the earthbending teacher.

I quickly take my arm off of Toph, not forgetting to gauge her reaction as I did.

She looked a little disappointed when I removed my arm, but only for a second.

We both stand up and greet the teacher, Master Yu, if I remember correctly, with a bow as he approaches us, then he stops to do the same.

"Greetings, Toph. I've heard from your Father that you wanted me to teach you earthbending along with your fiancé?"

"Y-yes."

"Hoho! Isn't that nice! Toph seems much happier now that she's been engaged!"

This guy must be socially awkward.

"Can we just get on with the lesson?"

Toph seems embarrassed from people pointing out that she's happy to have me.

I'm happy to have you too, Toph.

I won't say that to her now though, since it's not the right time.

Today's lesson was just basic earthbending forms and techniques. I learned a decent amount, since the teacher hired by my family wasn't as good as this guy.

Toph wasn't enjoying the lesson very much, so I decided to mess with Master Yu.

Any time he show us a move, I would hit his toes on 'accident', then pass it off as me being an inexperienced bender, not knowing how to control the earth very well.

"Very good, Toph. Your control is getting better every day- Ouch!"

"Sorry, Master Yu, I tried copying your moves, but it looks like I still need more practice."

I kept doing this throughout the training, and each time I would say the same excuse, while Master Yu looks at me with a strained smile. Toph just stood there to the side, trying hard to contain her laughter.

He can't do anything to Toph's future husband and the heir to the Chen Family.

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After Master Yu left for the day, me and Toph just hung out and talked for a little while.

I wanted a more effective training regimen, so I asked Toph to teach me.

"You... you want me to teach you earthbending?"

"Yeah! I feel like you'll make a better teacher than that moustached doofus."

Toph smiled at my compliment and nodded her head.

"Okay, fine. I'll teach you my style of earthbending, but you better be ready! I won't go soft just because you're my fiancé!"

She pointed at me and grinned wide.

"Oh? So you finally said I'm your fiancé with your own mouth. It's pretty nice to hear."

Toph quickly punches me in the arm.

She's punching my arm more often these days. At this rate, my arm will cease to exist.

"Let's just get into teaching you, Little Lu!"

Since I know the basics of earthbending already, Toph decided to teach me her way of bending.

"Let's start with 'listening to the earth'. Take off your shoes."

I'm not wearing shoes, but I remove the bandages covering the soles of my feet.

"Take your stance, and try to listen to the earth. Once you think you've got it, we'll move on to Neutral Jing training."

I think due to my [Limitless Potential] I've obtained the ability to 'listen' to the earth pretty fast, in about half an hour. The earth sounds... calm and peaceful, but also cold, warm and rigid at the same time.

"I think I got it. I can hear the earth."

Toph smiles and congratulates me.

"Wow, really? You got it pretty fast."

"You're just a better teacher than you think."

Toph blushes slightly.

"Alright, enough with the compliments! I'm not gonna go any easier when we get to more physical training!"

"How will we even get to train more physically, anyways? We can't exactly do it in your family's garden."

"Hmm, good point. You got any ideas?"

"Hmm, a remote place would be good... Do you think the Earth Rumble arena is still accessable? If not, we can just sneak in during the night maybe? Or we can go into the forest? That might cut our training time short though."

Toph puts a hand to her chin and thinks for a few seconds.

"I think it should be fine to go into the arena... It's not really used much after a tournament, so we should be fine."

"Alright, so when we get into physical training, we'll go to the underground arena during the night."

"Right. Now, we move on to Neutral Jing! You've should've already seen me use Neutral Jing during my fights the other nights."

I feign ignorance and make a guess.

"Is it the times you would wait for your opponents to strike first?"

"Good guess, Little Lu! You got potential!"

Thank you, God, for giving me some cheats.

"To use Neutral Jing effectively, you gotta be able to sense your opponent's movements. Try striking me."

"Okay." I said nervously.

I'm not afraid of hurting her, I'm afraid of her hurting me. She's not one to hold back.

I take a basic striking stance and thrust my fist to her face.

Toph deflects my fist and strikes me in the ribs hard, then grabs my arm and does a judo throw.

Oof.

I really need to put on some muscle to help soften these blows. I'll start exercising when I get home tonight.

"See? I waited for you to strike first, then I used your own attack against you. To avoid this, you gotta root yourself to the ground."

Toph takes a rooting stance and I copy her.

"For now, just breathe, and focus on listening to the earth, it'll tell you what your opponent will do before it even happens. Close your eyes and focus."

I close my eyes and focus only on the ground beneath my feet.

A few minutes later, I can feel some vibrations around me, but only things that have alot of mass, like trees and big rocks, and Toph walking behind me.

Suddenly, I can feel her take a sudden, quick step towards me. I move my head to the side and avoid a punch.

I take her hand by the wrist, turn myself around to face her, and pull her into a close embrace, our faces close together.

I'd say that was pretty smooth.

"Wha-"

Before she could speak, I kiss her on the cheek.

"That was my thanks for teaching me, and accepting me as your fiancé. I hope you can teach me more, in the future Master Toph."

Toph puts her head to my chest, blushing, and sighs.

"I'm supposed to be teaching you, dummy, not hugging you. Not even my feet could see that coming."

She hits my chest softly, while gently separating from me.

She looks up at me and smiles.

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad Dad decided for me to marry you."

Toph gets on her tip toes to give me a kiss on the cheek in response to mine.

I think I've successfully made Toph fall for me.

I didn't expect her to be this cute though, so I'm genuinely falling for her too.

I'm so glad I got to reincarnate.