Chi Fu glared at Li Shang with puffed cheeks and watery eyes, as he protested through the cloth tied around his mouth.
"Let's quicken the pace," Li Shang said, ignoring Chi Fu's glare as he turned to address the soldiers behind him.
An hour later…
They reached their destination.
Li Shang dropped Chi Fu's scrolls onto the ground and hunched forward with his hands on his knees, his chest heaving heavily.
Chi Fu sat on the ground, clutching his scrolls silently. He had already lost his voice from screaming, so he could no longer shout. He couldn't return to the cave because he didn't trust his endurance for the journey.
Chi Fu decided to wait and watch the training. He had already decided not to participate under any circumstances.
The remaining soldiers had already collapsed from exhaustion along the path, attempting to catch their breath.
"Is this the place?" Li Shang asked, looking at the vast plateau that stretched into the distance before him.
At the far edge lay a spring overlooking the mountain below.
The scenery was breathtaking, as though they had stepped into another world.
"Yes," Mulan nodded.
"Mr Aladdin is over there." She pointed in a certain direction.
Li Shang narrowed his eyes in that direction and saw a familiar figure seated on a carpet in the distance.
It was the mysterious traveller!
"I'll go inform him that we're here," Mulan said.
She looked back at the men behind her and was relieved to see that they were slowly getting to their feet. It would be a little disgraceful if Aladdin were to address them while they were lying on the ground.
"Go ahead," Li Shang replied.
Mulan walked towards Aladdin.
Li Shang watched Mulan. While the others had collapsed, she hadn't shown any signs of exhaustion throughout the journey, aside from several beads of sweat that she casually wiped away as though they were nothing.
Could the mysterious traveller's training regimen be so effective that it transformed a recruit whose fitness level had been weaker than even the weakest soldier into the strongest among them within several days?
Li Shang's expectations of the training regimen rose even further as he turned to ensure that all of his men were standing and awaiting Aladdin's arrival.
They couldn't show weakness.
No matter what.
A few minutes later, Mulan returned with Aladdin in tow.
"Greetings, Teacher."
Li Shang bowed respectfully with his hands cupped before Aladdin.
The remaining soldiers behind him did the same.
Chi Fu hesitated, then bowed as well.
"You don't need to call me Teacher. Just call me Aladdin. I'm not that much older than you," Aladdin replied.
"I'll try my best, Teacher Aladdin," Li Shang said as he straightened his back.
"We've already wasted the remaining few hours of the day," Aladdin responded, changing the topic. He was already slowly getting used to their insistent, respectful behaviour.
"Let's start immediately. Follow me."
They followed behind Aladdin as he walked towards the centre of the plateau.
"Take a rock from that spring and split up accordingly," Aladdin ordered. "The rocks are all evenly sized, so you don't need to worry about choosing a bigger one than your peers."
Li Shang walked forward, dragging Chi Fu along with him.
Chi Fu had been sceptical about Aladdin's claims, but upon reaching the spring and seeing that the rocks were indeed evenly sized, he fell silent.
Li Shang picked up a rock and estimated it weighed about 200 pounds (90 kg). Though it wasn't heavy for him and could be made to feel much lighter with the proper technique, he was worried about how his men would fare.
As expected, the remaining soldiers struggled with the rocks they picked up. However, they still persevered and returned to the centre of the plateau.
Li Shang spotted Mulan, and to his surprise, she carried her rock with ease before returning to her position. Li Shang then returned to help Chi Fu pick up his rock before going back to his own position.
They split into rows of five or seven, with five men standing a short distance apart from one another.
"Taking a good look at all of you, I can roughly judge your fitness levels. Except for a few, the rest of you are worse than rookies."
Aladdin said loudly as he walked through the rows. His voice resounded across the entire gathering.
Li Shang sighed in disappointment. If it weren't for the fact that several recruits from other camps had been mixed in with his own men, he couldn't even imagine what Aladdin would have said about the original soldiers from his camp.
"I'm sure you're all wondering what we're going to do with those rocks; they're going to be the first step in training all of you into capable warriors," Aladdin continued.
"Spread your legs and pick up your rocks. Keep your arms outstretched, raise the rock up, aligning it to your shoulders, bring it down to your chest, push it back out, then lower your arms once again."
Aladdin picked up one of the soldiers' rocks with ease and demonstrated the technique.
"Do you understand?" he asked.
"YES, SIR!!" they responded in unison.
"Do you have any questions?"
"NO, SIR!!"
"Good. Do that for twenty minutes. Then we'll take a ten-minute break before continuing with the next exercise," Aladdin explained as he returned to the front of the formation.
"You may begin."
The soldiers picked up the heavy rocks, spread their legs and began performing the technique that Aladdin had demonstrated.
Mulan was already familiar with it, so she performed it with relative ease.
Li Shang quickly got the hang of it and carried it out effortlessly.
Among the soldiers, only one person was not participating.
It was none other than Chi Fu.
Aladdin walked towards him.
"Aren't you going to join the others?" he asked, raising a brow.
"No, I am not. This is completely unacceptable for someone of my calibre. I will not carry such a heavy rock… I'll write a letter to the Emperor and inform him of the conspiracy that's about to befall me," Chi Fu replied fiercely.
"And how are you going to do that?" Aladdin asked.
Chi Fu looked down at his hands and realised that the scrolls he had been holding were gone. He looked at Aladdin and saw them in his hands.
"Give those back."
Chi Fu lunged forward to snatch them back. However, Aladdin swiftly caught his wrists and pushed him away.
"Ouch!"
Chi Fu stumbled backwards and landed on his backside.
"These were mine to begin with. I was simply lending them to you." Aladdin held up the scrolls alongside the inkstone and brush before Chi Fu.
Chi Fu quickly checked his robes and realised that the inkstone and brush had also been taken without him noticing.
Dread washed over him.
He didn't want to anger Aladdin.
"Don't worry. I have no need for them, so I'll give them back to you later," Aladdin said, storing the scrolls and inkstone inside his cloak.
He took out a small wooden bottle and handed it to Chi Fu.
"Drink it. It will provide the strength needed for you to complete today's training."
Chi Fu accepted the wooden bottle and removed the cap. He brought it to his nose before quickly pulling it away.
"It smells awful," he stated.
"It's simply how it's made," Aladdin replied.
"However, if you don't want it…" He reached to take the wooden bottle back, but Chi Fu quickly pulled his hand away and drank its entire contents.
Then, he handed the empty bottle back to Aladdin.
"How do you feel?" Aladdin asked curiously.
Chi Fu slowly rose to his feet and leapt into the air.
"Ooohh!!"
He landed firmly on his feet.
A mysterious warmth flowed through his body, erasing every trace of stiffness he had ever felt and strengthening his bones and muscles.
Chi Fu touched his arms, stomach, and joints with an expression of disbelief.
He had his doubts about Aladdin's claims, but he had proven him wrong.
"I feel young again… No, I feel stronger than I've ever been..."
Aladdin wasn't expecting an older man like Chi Fu to keep up with the intensity of the new recruits, so he gave him an elixir he had originally made for Mulan. It would not only increase his strength for a short period of time but also maximise the gains from an intense workout session.
Chi Fu looked at Aladdin with a mysterious glint in his eyes.
"If the Emperor could have this mysterious tonic, not only would he live a long life, surpassing the emperors before him, but he could also potentially gain the strength to rival an elite soldier. Please, tell me the secret formula for this tonic. I'll give you anything... My house… my wealth… my position… whatever you desire is yours."
He stepped forward, attempting to grab the bottle, but Aladdin quickly stored it beneath his cloak.
"Sorry, it's not for sale."
"Please…" Chi Fu fell to his knees and pleaded with his hands clasped together.
"Get back to training, Mr Chi Fu, or I'll increase your training time," Aladdin warned.
Chi Fu hesitated before nodding. He rose to his feet, picked up the rock from the ground, and slowly began performing the technique just like the others.
Li Shang observed everything from the side.
The conversation echoed through his mind. He couldn't believe that Aladdin possessed the knowledge to create a tonic as extraordinary as the mysterious smoke he had used to knock out the Hun soldiers.
If they could establish a trade with him, then even if Aladdin chose not to fight alongside them directly, they would still have a far greater chance of defeating the Huns.
Before Li Shang could speak, Aladdin had already walked over to another soldier.
Li Shang held back his words and decided to speak with Aladdin later. He glanced at Mulan, who pretended as though she hadn't seen or heard anything unusual.
He guessed that she was already familiar with the tonic.
The more he thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense.
Soon, the atmosphere was filled with grunting and heavy breathing.
Aladdin moved from soldier to soldier, demonstrating the exercise to those who still hadn't fully grasped the technique and helping them refine their movements.
To those who collapsed, unable to complete the technique, Aladdin added more time to their training. To those who persevered and continued tirelessly, he promised them more rest time.
"Up!
Aladdin ordered loudly.
"HAA!!"
The soldiers responded fiercely.
"Again!"
"You think the Huns will care that you're tired?"
Aladdin walked to the back of the training ground. He channelled his mana and stretched his hand toward the sky.
"I'll help them a bit."
Dark, stormy clouds slowly formed overhead.
The soldiers looked up, frightened.
"It's just the weather. Don't slack off!!" Aladdin commanded.
The soldiers returned to their training, ignoring the gradual drizzle as rain fell from the sky.
Aladdin heard Abu humming from within his robe out of boredom.
"It's fitting for the occasion," he smiled.
Aladdin hummed along as well.
A melody slowly formed within his heart.
He pursed his lips and sang,
[The world out there isn't going to slow down for you.
It won't care what you lost.
It won't care how tired you are.]
[When the storm comes…
you either stand…
or you get swept away.]
As the rain fell upon the soldiers, they slowly felt their tiredness wash away. A mysterious surge of strength gradually filled their muscles. The more they trained, the stronger they became.
They couldn't understand what had occurred. All they knew was that Aladdin's words filled them with enough strength to continue their training.
[A warrior isn't someone
who never falls.
A warrior is someone
who gets back up.]
The drizzling became heavier.
[Leave the fear behind!
Hold on to what's inside!
The enemy is coming…
but we won't run and hide!]
***
Author's Note: I realised that I was unconsciously competing with the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You." Unfortunately, I recognised too late that this was the wrong approach for the story I had written.
Instead, for a group of men who had suffered such horrific trauma, I chose to focus on their emotional development first, before moving on to the physical.
Don't forget to support this poor author! It gives me a lot of motivation to continue!