THE start of childhood training

"Yes, yes, now, can we begin training?"

"Sure, sure, though you seem ruder than usual, are you in a bad mood?"

"No, but I'm in a sort of tight spot with the possibility of dying"

"Imagination in children sure is bright"

<Peter's POV>

'He doesn't seem like lying and that glint of intelligence in his eyes, Mark has changed. Before, he was just emotionless with a glint that was weaker, and now it got stronger. This change is so sudden that I'm not even sure that I'm standing before my own son.'

'There is also a desperation and a will so strong that it can't be hidden from even Maria. Mark is not normal, that's all I can say, but meh, let's not stress about the present, he will tell us what he wishes to, when he wishes to know.'

"We have come to a place where we will be running."

"But dad, this is a forest."

"Because this is a forest that we will be running here, running on an uneven terrain is more difficult and consumes more stamina and strength, so this place excellent for running."

"Dad, can I not run?"

"What are you talking about, you wished to learn proper forging, you can wait till you are 14 and start training then, or you start training and begin learning in 4-5 years, when you'll be around 9, which option do you choose?"

"The second, plus it has more benefits, I wish to learn forging as soon as possible."

"You can shorten this to asap."

"What path will we be running?"

"Paths are boring, so we will be running of track, plus all the bruises and so on will help you to toughen up your skin. You will need that hard skin for the future, now, let's start running, we only have so much time to spare, don't worry, I have water with me."

"Ok"

<Mark's POV>

'Fuck, not even military trained me like this. This is hardcore.'

"What are you waiting for, son, we still have 7 kilometers, if it were your grandpa, we would be running 15km from the very first day."

A/N: 1km=0.62 miles, do the math yourself

'What kind of grandpa do I have if I would be running 15km instead of 7 from the start'

"*Huff*, dad can, *huff*, can we rest, *huff*?"

'System, why am I getting exhausted so quickly?'

[Because, while you have 100 stamina poitns, you lack strength and agility to back it up, so your muscles get tired far more easily than they should. But the disparity isn't that big, you should need to raise your strength and agility by 3 stats and you should be fine]

'So that's why those assassins, berserkers and so on from the big guilds invested in stats that are almost useless to them.'

"Now Mark, time to rest, if we run any more, you would harm your body. Here's water"

"Thanks Master."

"You need that water, you're not like me, who is already trained. You're not getting bored are you?"

"No, I have never run here, so everything is very new."

"Are you, perhaps, finally starting to wish to go to kindergarten?"

"I would much rather do this 10 times every day if it means that I won't to kindergarten."

"That's good, if we complete this run in under an hour, I will drive you to a library, you can grab up to three books though, library rules."

"I'm definitely completing this in 45 minutes then"

"That's the spirit, now of we run once more, we have 4 kilometers to cover."

<Maria's POV>

'Why does Mark not want to go to kindergarten? My neighbor said that when she told her boy he's going to kindergarten, the boy asked her if they can go there today.'

'I'm worried, Mark doesn't even have an ounce of wish to socialize, at this rate, his future will be very lonely.'

'I have decided, I will hire him a music teacher, he said himself that he wants to learn two instruments. I hope this will help him socialize more, even if it's not with kids, but at least it is with someone he doesn't know'

<Mark's POV>

I see the forest's end

'Finally, this is over'

"And we only have 200 meters left, we have run here because there is this really nice lake."

"But we didn't grab towels or anything for bathing"

"Who cares, you can wipe to water with your hands and we are the only ones here, so don't need to hide anything."

"Then I'm going first"

And I quickly took off my clothes and ran to the lake.

I was so tired that I didn't even mind the cold of the water, I just wished to clean myself and be done with this.

"Woah there little guy, don't hurry so much, I will take this chance to teach you how to swim."

A/N: There will be no skill like 'Running' or 'Swimming' unless it is something special, like running like the ancient Japanese.

 I did my homework and turns out that their running is more complicated but it is very energy efficient, because it uses gravity mostly, instead of legs, you can see and extreme example of this in animes like 'N_ruto' and such. A/N ends

And he started to teach me how to swim.

He isn't the best teacher out there, but he was good enough to show his point when teaching.

First, he taught me how to swim in one place. Yes, swim, not float.

Then he started to teach me how to float, as according to him 'Swimming on the back is easier once you know how to float, because then you are like a boat and your legs and arms are the engine that is pushing it forward'.

And he ended the lesson with that.

"You got the hang of things pretty well, maybe that's because you're a child, maybe it's because of your talent, who cares, now we will run back and once we are out of the forest, we will walk back home and take a cold bath."

"What about the promise?"

"Don't worry, this won't count towards the total time."

*Phew*

'I don't care what we are doing, I want to go home and lie down for a bit anywhere.'

'System, show me my health'

[Health: 87/90]

Why did my health lower?

[When you are training, your muscle tissue gets torn, after a while, it regenerates, that's how you get strength, your muscle tissue now is torn after running, once it repairs, you will receive your full health back]

[Also, there is a training quest for you, all the regressors received one, it is a quest that you can't refuse and it is consecutive quest, here's the description]

[Quest: Training both the body and the mind

Description: Your foolish father decided to train your strength in a way that doesn't suit you, you didn't inherit the strong body that he has. So complete his training and training the training method you have.

Task: Complete your dad's training regime, train your training method for 1 hour

Daily completion reward: 'Body recovery pill' (G- rank), 'Mind recovery pill' (G- rank), 1 free stat point, 1 copper coin.

Punishment: -1 stat point, -1 copper coin, -1 minor rank in a random skill (5% chance)]

'Fuck, I'm better doing this, though did everyone receive this quest?'

[Yes, everyone got a training method that is suitable for them, though yours is the best by a large distance with a basic regime they must complete, unless they have a teacher or what not.]

[Then they must complete the training regiment that is given to them unless their system determines that that is impossible, then the quest description changes by a bit. But the punishment is the same.]

'What if you can't complete it due to injury or what not?'

[That's your problem, not mine]

'Okay'

"Now that we are home, I'll prepare the cold bath a source of hot water for us"

"Why a hot water?"

"Do you wish to get cold?"

"No"

"Then that is that."

"Then I'm off to go prepare those two while you go and get changed and throw the sweaty clothes near the washing machine, then come to the bathroom"

"Yes master"

Luckily, I was done with my task quickly and when I came, my dad was already in the bath and saw steel buckets near the bath."

"Dad, why did you put steel buckets near the bath?"

"You will place your palm on them, though not now, all you would receive now is first degree burns. We will train your defense later, what you need now is a stronger body so that it could bear the rest of the training. And it's still master for you."

"Master, how much rest time do we have?"

"30 minutes, all of which you will be spending in this bath or in the sauna."

"Ok"

I quickly came and jumped into the bath, I want to rest, I don't care weather it is in bed or in a bath.

The moment my body touched the body, all I could think about was how can I get out of here, but firm hands grabbed me on my sides and held me in place.

"Calm down, this is only your body's reaction to this cold.

You're not used to cold, but you will quickly get used to this. Now, your body won't listen to you because of this, so I will tell you when I'll pull you underwater for a bit, you will take a deep breath then and on the count of three I will pull you underwater."

"Ready?"

"No"

"3…2…1…"

And I'm pull underwater very fast, same for going back up.

Thank God dad is doing this for me, otherwise I would have long left the bath and as he pulled me up, I heard his words.

"Hate me, dislike me, that's fine, but I'll push you so hard that you will collapse, wish you could stop this, but I won't let. I will push you so hard, that if life will try to push you to the ground, you will stand like a mountain, unmovable."

'Fuck, dad might be pushing me more than I thought he will, Mark, get ready for a torture montage, because this isn't funny.'

A/N: End of what can be considered the first volume