Myth Of A Dragon - 32 Normal Punch..?

Zeke could now freely move his mana inside his body wherever he wants. The only thing he felt sad about is that he takes a bit of time before getting mana out and the speed in which mana travels inside his body is still a bit slow in his opinion. Still, it was a fact that Zeke could now operate mana inside his body.

‘System, use the skill tome for Elemental Mana Circulation now.’

*Yes, Zeke. Consuming the skill tome.*

As usual, a wave for information surged in his mind.

According to the information, Elemental Mana Circulation makes it so the mana that the magician will guide isn’t pure mana, but mana that already has an element. Normally, when magicians take mana out from their mana core, the mana will be pure and still without an element. It was only then when the magician fired it off outside the body would it have an element depending on the magician’s choice. Now, if a magician practices Elemental Mana Circulation, they could make it so that their mana would already have an element as soon it got out the Mana Core. This would make the spell cast faster as it wouldn’t have to take extra time in converting the element of the mana being used.

As soon as Zeke sorted out the information he got, his Mana Circulation went up by a level. Zeke was surprised as when he indeed tried to do it, he found out that the speed in which his mana traveled around his body became slightly faster and he found it easier to will mana out of his core.

He then tried to apply the principle contained on the skill tome as he slowly willed mana out. He didn’t immediately try to will pure mana out, but rather he was already trying to change the element of the mana before it could even come out. His first result ended in a semi-failure. The mana he managed to will out after a few seconds turned out to be pure mana for the most part but with bits and pieces of mana particles of the fire element. He then tried to do it using other elements but he found out to his surprise that fire seemed easier to control than others.

‘Why do I find fire element easier than others, System?’

*I am not sure about this, but it is probably because of your bloodline. Your father once mentioned about the four royal families with your family being the family who controls fire. Perhaps it’s because of the Flamehaven blood in you that you have a slightly higher affinity to fire than any other elements.*

‘I see. If it’s really like that, then I suppose I’ll make use of it more than other elements in the future then.’

He then tried it again and again only for all of his tries to end in failure. He was so exhausted after several attempts that he just fell asleep as soon as he laid on the bed.

Early Morning, when Zeke and his parents were having breakfast.

“Son, why did you stay all day cooped up in your room? Are you reading something again?”

Zeke didn’t know whether to let his father know about his combat training. He didn’t know if his father would allow it or not. However, he ultimately decided to tell it just because he trusted his father would agree.

“Dad, would it be okay for me to learn how to fight?”

Zeke’s sudden question left his parents surprised. Why is their son thinking or fighting at a young age?

“Uh, I don’t think your body is ready but we’ll see about it. I’ll test you later, alright? just to see if you’re capable enough to fight. If not, then you should just focus on your meditation and continue doing your exercise.”

“I feel like I am ready, dad! Also, the reason I was in my room is that I am learning how to use my arms.”

“Ho?” Charles seems surprised by his son’s choice of words.

“Alright, son. Let’s see about it later if you’re just boasting or you really have the ability.”

Charles smiled, thinking the idea of Zeke training is absurd. He felt that Zeke’s small arms don’t contain power enough to deal damage with a punch. Nevertheless, he couldn’t just lie to his son and crush his dreams, so he decided to at least present Zeke with a test to pour some cold water on Zeke’s ‘overconfidence’.

Zeke nodded. He knew his father was underestimating him, but it was understandable considering his father didn’t know Zeke’s abilities particularly the System’s help. Any father would absolutely not believe his 2 or 3-year-old son could fight. Also, maybe they find their sons cute to the point where they couldn’t harm others with their cute arms. Zeke wondered if his father forgot about his early Mana Core forming, an achievement no other child his age could make. Zeke thought that if his father took note of Zeke’s extraordinary feat, his father wouldn’t find his desire to train weird. After all, what Zeke did is beyond common sense, so it was natural that Zeke would also think of other crazy things.

After breakfast, Charles and Catherine discussed Zeke’s sudden request.

“Hun, are you really planning on training him? Zeke’s too young, you know.”

“I know, Cath. Even I thought about it too, maybe he read about it in some book?”

“*sigh* You should really sort out the books in the study, you know. Who knows what Zeke’s been reading there.”

“Although the books there are not much organized, I can tell for sure that there is no book there that teaches how to fight. I’ve checked it all after we moved in, and most of the books are only about plants, monsters, or history. Why would I put a book that might teach my son how to kill?”

“Fair enough. What will you do then?”

“We can’t just ignore his wish. It’d make us look bad in front of our son, you know? Let’s just give him a simple test. Let’s hope this test would discourage him a bit.”

It wasn’t that Charles didn’t want his son to train, it’s just that he feels like Zeke hastily made his decision. There’s still a lot of time for him, why would he want to learn how to fight when his body still hasn’t matured?

Charles called Esteban and made him buy some things. After lunch, Charles called Zeke and they both went outside.

When Zeke came out, he could see different kinds of wood piled on top of each other.

“Son, before you decide to train, you must have enough strength. There’s no use in training right now when your strength can’t hurt your opponent.”

“I know, Dad. What are these?”

“These planks are made from the trunks of a tree that’s highly resistant to physical damage. These planks also vary in their age, as the older the tree, the higher its resistance. These are used by our kingdom to produce training dummies for our soldiers. I’ve brought this here to test your normal strength and your maximum explosive strength.”

Charles said as he picked up a plank from the pile. This plank is slightly lighter in comparison to some underneath who are dark brown in color.

Charles held the plank with his two hands as he placed it in front of him.

“This one is only from a year old tree. Try to break it with your fists.”

Zeke nodded. He didn’t feel the need to do a complicated punch so he decided to just do the simplest form of Punch.

Zeke changed into the stance and he punched the plank directly.

To Charles’ surprise, Zeke’s punch pierced through the plank that was like paper and hit him on the chest.

‘This..!’

Charles was astonished. When he saw Zeke’s punch, Charles clearly saw that it was a simple punch with no profound movements. It was just as he expected his son to do. However, the plank was pierced easily by his son’s punch and he even felt its power. Although the force was decreased due to the plank in front, Charles received a hit equivalent to a normal adult’s punch.

‘Strong!’

Charles didn’t know how his son achieved this degree of monstrous strength. The punch itself wasn’t that strong for Charles but it was the fact that his son was only 3 years old but he could already unleash the strength of a 30-year-old’s!

Charles felt a faint pain in his chest but he didn’t frown. It was actually the opposite, as he was ecstatic about his son’s future.

“That hurts, son. You didn’t even hold back.” Charles smiled and joked.

“Huh? But you said I should just use my normal strength?”

“N-normal? You mean it wasn’t your maximum power?”

“I don’t know, Dad.”

Charles became shocked again, and he sucked in a cold breath. Just a casual punch is already that powerful? He then shook off his thoughts and picked up a second to the hardest plank.

“Why don’t you just pick the hardest, Dad?”

“I’m afraid you’ll hurt your hands with this.” Charles smiled.

“It’s fine, Dad. I can handle the pain.”

“Alright then, if you say so, son. Prepare yourself.”

Charles picked up the plank with the darkest color of them all.

“Ready when you are, son. Give it your all.”

Charles lightly said. He found it hard to contain the excitement about his son’s peak strength. Would he be able to break the hardest material for training dummies?

‘If I want my father to agree to my training, I should show him how capable I am right now.’

Zeke decided to go all out with a determined expression. He tried to remember the way to execute a proper Punch as he stood in front of Charles.

Zeke positioned himself and repeatedly told himself to do the subtle movements. He repeatedly told himself to achieve the most powerful Punch and surpass his previous try. Zeke was basically steeling himself to apply new comprehensions.

Zeke went into a stance and threw his punch. As his arm was thrown, Zeke tried to do the movements but due to the spur of a moment, he could only execute 30 to 40% of the movement. Although it was a failure, it was definitely better than his previous best.

As his punch landed on the plank, the plank didn’t break but the punch left a deep crack instead. Charles, who was holding the plank behind, had to force himself not to take a step back. He was shocked due to the immense power of that punch. Compared to Zeke’s casual punch, his full-powered one did almost twice the damage to the point that Charles needed to tighten his legs to prevent taking a step back.

*Congratulations, Zeke. You further leveled up your Punch to level 3.*

‘Sweet!’

“Was it good, Dad?”

As Charles was still immersed by the power his son displayed, Zeke asked him with innocent eyes.

In fact, Zeke actually wanted an answer. Even he was surprised by his power, and even though he had seen the effect, he still wanted a clear understanding.

“Are you kidding? Of course it’s good! No, it’s insanely good! How the hell did you get this strong, son?!”

Charles couldn’t suppress his excitement by the end of his sentence. It was because it was too absurd even for him, a royal noble who had seen different kinds of people. He absolutely couldn’t think of any genius individuals who could do this at Zeke’s age. Couple that with the fact that Zeke right now already has a mana core, Cahrles felt infinitely proud of his son, who was even beyond the realms of geniuses.

“I just did workouts and exercises every morning, Dad.” Zeke scratched his cheek.