Chapter 2

Aliff and an old man stood in the middle of a tranquil forest, surrounded by tall trees reaching up to the sky. Aliff, with his small body like a seven-year-old boy, looked at the old man suspiciously. His eyes squinted, still not believing the training the old man wanted to give him.

"So... what kind of training do you want to give me today?" Aliff asked, his voice filled with doubt. His eyes stared at the old man standing in front of him with a smile that somehow made him uncomfortable.

"That smile makes me want to run away," Aliff whispered to himself.

"No... I can't do that... I have to become strong in this novel..."

The old man nodded slowly, "Since you are still young, I just want to give you training that matches your current abilities," the old man replied calmly, as if he had planned all this from the beginning.

"Why do I feel twice as uneasy?"

Aliff furrowed his brow. "Alright, but what exactly is this training?" he asked again, feeling like the old man was deliberately making things difficult for him.

The old man pointed behind him. There, a large stone bigger than Aliff's body was tied with a strong rope, ready to be dragged. "I want you to pull this stone back to the house," said the old man casually, as if it was a normal thing.

"Hah?!" Aliff was shocked. His eyes widened, mouth agape. "Hah?! Are you crazy? Do you want me to drag a large stone like this to the house with my small body? Do you not have a brain?... Do you want to kill me?" he yelled, his voice full of anger and disbelief. He looked at the old man as if to say, "Are you serious?"

The old man just smiled, indifferent to Aliff's reaction. "Why does your face look like that? Don't tell me you can't do it," he said mockingly, as if deliberately challenging Aliff.

"Stupid old man, is there any kid who can drag a big stone like that, about... I have to object."

"Hgh, exactly! You want me to pull a big stone like this with my body like a seven-year-old? Are you crazy?!" Aliff yelled again, his hand pointing at the stone with an emotional gesture. He felt this old man was really crazy.

The old man sighed, as if he was used to the boy's whining. "How many times will you repeat those words?... Just so you know, this is the easiest training I'm giving you today. If you can't even do this training, let alone the others," he said firmly, not wanting to compromise.

"Do what I tell you, if you really want to become strong, do it," he said.

"This is supposedly the easiest training, even if I return to my original body, I'm very sure I still can't pull that stone."

"Hgh..." Aliff stared at the stone with a blank expression. His mind was spinning, "This is crazy. Really crazy." He shook his head, his voice robotic. "Hahaha, this is truly insane."

"I want to go home..."

The old man didn't care about Aliff's reaction. He just nodded and said, "Whatever happens, don't come back until you manage to pull the stone all the way home." With that, the old man turned and started walking away, leaving Aliff alone in the middle of the forest.

"Hey, wait! You're going to leave me here alone?!" Aliff screamed, but the old man had already disappeared from view. Aliff sighed deeply, "Stupid old man!!!" he shouted angrily, feeling like vomiting blood. "Hmm, alright, calm down, forget that stupid old man," Aliff looked at the large stone in front of him.

"Alright, let's try..."

He grabbed the rope with both hands, trying to gather all the energy in his small body. "Alright, let's try pulling," he whispered to himself. He pulled the rope hard, but the stone didn't move at all. "Pull!!! Pull again!!! Come on, pull!!!" Aliff shouted, but nothing changed. The stone remained in place.

"Ahh..ahh..."

"Hah... it's completely impossible," Aliff lay on the ground, feeling like he was going to faint. "Hgh, my body is too weak to pull this stone," he complained, his hands already in pain. He lay on the ground, trying to think of another way. "I have to train my physical body first. But how?"

Suddenly, he remembered something. "Hah!, I read in my favorite novel, there are ways to train physically." Aliff tried to recall the exercises mentioned in his favorite novel. "Push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and running," he whispered. Maybe I should try those exercises first.

"Rather than doing that nonsensical training, I'd better train my physical body first."

Aliff stood up and started doing push-ups.

"The first exercise I should do now is push-ups," Aliff did push-ups on the hard ground in the forest. He pushed his body up and down, counting to 50 times. His arms and chest muscles felt like they were burning, but he continued until he finished.

"Finally the push-ups are done, now let's move on to the second exercise, which is sit-ups," after push-ups, Aliff lay on the ground and did sit-ups. He lifted his body off the ground, knees bent, until he counted 50 times. His stomach felt like it was being stomped on, but he didn't stop.

"Hgh.. ahh..ahh... Finally done, let's move on to the next exercise, squats," Aliff stood up and did squats. He went up and down, knees bent, until he counted 50 times. His legs felt like they were going to break, but he continued.

"Ahh… Ahh… let's keep going," Aliff kept exercising even though his body felt like it was going to die. After finishing the strength training, Aliff ran around the forest. He ran for 5 kilometers, his breath unstable, his legs feeling heavy, but he kept going until the end.

Night fell...

"Hey Grandpa, where's Aliff?" Ina asked as she just came out of her room.

"Aliff? He's training in the forest now," the old man replied.

"Training at night?"

"Why don't you bring him food to eat? I'm sure he's very hungry now," the old man said.

"Alright, I'll bring him some food," Ina replied.

°°°

Aliff now lay on the ground, his body feeling dead. "Hgh... my body feels like it can't move," he complained. He managed to complete all the exercises he set for himself, but the result was a tired body and muscles feeling like they were burning.

"My body feels very sore right now, did I overtrain?..."

"Hah!, what's that sound?"

At that moment, he heard footsteps approaching. He lifted his head and saw a woman standing in front of him. The woman was Ina, his teacher's granddaughter. She was carrying food in a basket.

"What are you doing lying on the ground?" Ina asked, her voice as flat as usual.

Aliff furrowed his brow. "Do you even need to ask? You came here to give me something to eat, right?" he asked with a tired tone.

Ina nodded. "Right. Here, take it," she said, handing the food to Aliff. Aliff slowly got up, his body still aching. He took the food and thanked her. "Thank you for the food," he said weakly.

Ina just nodded. "Alright, I'm leaving now," she said before turning and leaving Aliff alone.

Aliff watched Ina leave with mixed feelings. "She's still cold to me," he whispered, sighing. He sat and started eating, thinking about what he wanted to do tomorrow. "I have to continue this training. I can't give up." Today, I managed to do,

Push-ups: 50 times,

Sit-ups: 50 times.

Squats: 50 times.

Running: 5 kilometers.

"Tomorrow I have to do,

Push-ups: 150 times,

Sit-ups: 150 times.

Squats: 150 times.

Running: 15 kilometers.

"Every time this training is completed, I will increase it. I will strengthen my physical body first. Just you see, stupid old man, I will surprise you with my greatness."

°°°

After finishing his meal, Aliff continued to lie on the ground, gazing at the star-filled night sky.

"It's so beautiful…"

He suddenly remembered what the old man said earlier, "If you can't even do this training, let alone the others." Those words were like needles in Aliff's heart.

"What kind of training will he give me once this is over?"

He continued to lie there, staring at the stars in the sky.