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I was actually hyped for training. If Dad made it into the Protection Society, he had to know some badass skills I could learn.
That hype died at 4AM.
Dad slipped into my room and smacked my butt.
"Wake up, little one," he whispered. "Time to get stronger."
I groaned into my pillow. "Come on, Dad. It's like… 3AM."
"Don't you wanna get stronger already?" Dad's voice got louder. "And awaken that hidden ability inside you? Unlock that potential you—"
I was asleep before he finished the sentence.
_Whap._
Another butt smack.
He dragged me off the bed. I was still clutching my pillow.
First stop: the kitchen. We had to grab Dad's Celestial Blade, which took forever to find.
And you won't believe where we found it.
The fridge.
How the hell did it even—you know what? Forget it.
Katana secured. Next objective: escape the house. Only exit was the main door.
Problem: Mom was sitting in a chair blocking it, sipping hot tea.
She looked at Dad, calm as ever. "Going somewhere?"
Dad went full nervous mode. "Oh, hi hun… good morning. We were just going to, you know, clear the… morning weeds."
Before he could finish, I ratted him out.
"He's lying."
Dad spun on me. "Hey, what the hell? Isn't that why we got the katana in the first place?"
"Nope."
Mom set her tea down. "It's 4:32AM. Why would you drag my son out of bed for some stupid training? Are you trying to exhaust him?"
I pointed at Dad. "Yeah, Dad. Are you trying to kill me?"
Dad muttered, "I'll wipe your little ass later." Then to Mom, "No, hun, I don't plan on doing that. I just wanted to get our son ready for the upcoming situation. That's all."
Mom stood up. "You can't do that this early. Go back to sleep. Now! No one leaves this house till I say so. Understood?"
We both yelled, "Yes ma'am!"
I was back in bed before Dad even turned around. I was snoozing in 0.2 seconds.
Dad didn't give up though. He tried all morning.
We finally left the house at 12PM.
He took me to some weird training ground. Looked like an abandoned sports track buried in grass and weeds.
Dad spread his arms. "Alright! Time for Day One of 'Father-Son Training Day!'"
I gave him the _wtf_ face. "Please don't call it that."
"What do you mean? That's the perfect name for it."
I stared, deadpan. "Fine. Forget it. What are we doing for day one?" A bit of excitement slipped in. "Wait, am I gonna finally use your Celestial Blade?"
Dad smirked. "Nah uh. After you snitched about the morning weeds? We're actually gonna clear the morning weeds."
"Dad…" I sighed. "It's already afternoon. You know that, right?"
He paused. Thought hard. "Afternoon weeds it is!"
"Ugh, come on, Dad. I didn't really snitch. I was just tired. Plus these weeds have sprouted like a billion times. How the hell are we supposed to clear them all?"
Dad launched into a speech that sounded like advice. To me it was just, "Blah blah ba ba blah."
Then he tossed me a tool. Looked like a stupid scythe.
We cleared every single weed. It was hell. I swear I hit my life limit. I felt like fainting, but I _refused_ to pass out. Last time I did that, I ended up in that old dragon's weird green living room.
I collapsed on the ground and stared at the sky, exhausted. Then I looked at Dad.
He was already asleep. He passed out before I even finished.
I glared at him. "I'll make sure I tell Mom you almost killed me today!"
Then my eyes got heavy.
I fell asleep.
And guess where the hell I landed again…
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