Despite having no strengthened dantian, Siyash was still invited to the next training exercise.
The kids lined up with small spaces between them.
"A good foundation for your body is important and that is done by enforcing your body with Qi
When you break the muscles in your body they repair automatically, creating a stronger body."
"Now can anyone tell me what the next step is?"
Halls and the other kids, aside from Siyash and Pippin, raised their hands in unison, and Mr Zhang nodded at him.
Halls threw out a punch, hitting the air, and a bang sound echoed, the punch seemed powerful.
"Fighting techniques sir!" Halls answered.
"Hmm. The number of techniques you can comprehend is important, to be unpredictable when going against any opponent."
"But the answer is not that, it's something that would enhance that."
Kun then raised his hand and Mr Zhang nodded at him.
"It's footwork sir, without footwork, the right amount of power won't be used in the techniques. And without footwork, movements will be restrained."
Mr Zhang was pleased with the answer as he smiled at Kun.
"Excellent. And that's why I've been teaching you the basics of two step shift, it's the simplest footwork and can be used with any technique to increase its potential."
It was surprising to Siyash the act Kun put on, he was a double sided person. He acted well and humbly in front of the teacher, but when his back was turned, he looked down on everyone.
"Watch as I demonstrate." Mr Zhang said.
He sucked in a deep breath, controlled the Qi in his body, then…
Bang!!!
Mr Zhang had thrown a punch at the air that echoed a loud bang throughout the courtyard, and Siyash's heart thumped faster, scared.
'That's it… the same power that Claus used, the power to crush with bare hands.'
"Observe carefully how I add the two step shift." Mr Zhang said.
He got in a fighting stance, with his legs spread apart. He moved his front foot forward, then his hind leg followed in unison.
In the perfect timing, he threw out another punch, utilizing Qi in the attack, along with the two step shift.
Bang!!!
This time a louder bang erupted, four times louder than the former. Wind currents rippled in the air and Siyash flinched.
"I hope you understand the usefulness of footwork now. The two step technique is a different technique and the spiral punch is a different technique. But with the two combined, a powerful hit has been created."
Mr Zhang demonstrated a few times before letting the kids try it out.
They repeated the technique slowly multiple times, while Mr Zhang, walked around, giving them pointers.
When he was satisfied with their initial performance, he instructed them to speed up the process, and that's where most of them made mistakes, but he gave them pointers.
And when they understood, he added that they throw an ordinary punch at the end, not some fancy technique like the one he showed.
They did as instructed, although they couldn't tell if they were doing it right, they hadn't reached that level yet, that's why Mr Zhang was there.
He turned to Pippin. "You're good at following instructions and fast at learning, good job." Mr Zhang complimented.
Pippin was flattered by the compliment and her cheeks glowed faint red.
He then turned to Siyash, although he was repeating the movements fine, it looked empty, like there was no Qi in them.
On top of that, he was already tired, the most exhausted of all the kids.
'Could this be because of his body having a weak dantian with no Qi, or because his body is full of impurities? Such a pity he's relentlessly pushing forward.' Mr Zhang thought.
Siyash caught a glimpse of the stare Mr Zhang gave him, before he moved on.
'Damn you… I've received that look before…many times. They thought the same thing back then. That I would be useless.'
'That I would never accomplish anything, and what did that lead to? Yes… Them having to turn on my immense power.'
Siyash tightened his jaw and continued the process, until his muscles were completely sore.
"Now, we would proceed to the final exercise." Mr Zhang said clasping his palms together.
He led them to another part of the courtyard, towards a giant pillar like machine. But Siyash immediately noticed this machine wasn't ordinary.
Visible energy waves were pulled from the air and absorbed into the machine.
'That's interesting, I wonder what it does… looks like some type of magic. Wait, does that means there could be magical substances in this world that could help me?' Siyash wondered.
Mr Zhang walked up to the object and tapped it a little, the machine tried absorbing the energy from him, but it bounced off.
Red digital numbers popped up from the object and kept going numerically until it stopped at fifty.
"I hope you all haven't forgotten your numbers from last time." Mr Zhang smiled.
The kids prepared themselves to use the two step technique they had just learned along with the punch to strike the machine.
The first kid to go up was an eleven year old with a score of fifteen, although he had performed the technique well.
It surprised Siyash that the machine absorbed the impact of the power, making no sound when the hit was delivered.
And now he was starting to get a grip of Mr Zhang's power.
'So that's a measuring device to see if they've improved, but him…'
'How did he get fifty with just a tap? But the kid gave everything he got and had a fifteen? How much power was in that tap?' Siyash mused staring at Mr Zhang.
A few more kids went up, and they rejoiced, seeing that their scores had improved significantly for them.
The least number he had seen was ten, while the highest was twenty.
Halls was next on the line, his hands were shaking slightly, and cold sweat formed on his temple. He was nervous.
He followed the procedure and hit the machine hard. He retracted quickly, waiting for his score.
"15…" Halls sighed in disappointment. "Why haven't I improved for weeks?"
It was Kun's turn, and he had a large grin on his face. He was completely confident, with his shoulder raised high. He followed the process and threw a punch.
"22. Yessss. I did it, hahahaha!" Kun laughed.
"I passed you all, hahaha!" He jumped in excitement.
'I can't blame him for being all over the place, he is quite skillful.' Mr Zhang smiled.
"Alright, Pippin and Siyash, the newcomers, it's your turn." Mr Zhang said, his voice full of expectations.
****
Inside the Flaming dragon faction, Claus stood in one of the meeting rooms opposite a man wearing a blue hat with a feather on each side, backing him.
"What about their kids?" The man asked.
"They are in Mr Zhang's care, there's no need to worry about them now. No one else knows their location aside from us." Claus responded.
"That's better," the man replied
"We must protect them, they're the only survivors of the attacks lately, and I'm sure as we speak they are willing to go an extra mile to make sure they are killed."