[34]. First Phase of Training

"Hello, Mr. Popo." Kaso greeted politely.

"Hello, Mr. Popo," Ausbi'er followed along, mimicking Kaso's tone.

...She's copying me?

Kaso shot Ausbi'er a look of exasperation, while the little girl stared back at him — two kids locked in a serious staring contest.

Neither spoke. Even Mr. Popo, standing silently nearby, didn't say a word.

In that stillness, Mr. Popo suddenly broke the silence. "You two are quite impressive."

...Huh?

Kaso was a little surprised. Since their meeting, Mr. Popo hadn't said a single word. Now his first sentence was a compliment? Kaso didn't quite know how to respond.

"Let's begin the training," Mr. Popo said flatly.

"Okay!" Kaso nodded.

He had just tried scanning Mr. Popo's power level with his own (admittedly poor) sensing skills — and as expected, he found nothing.

But that "nothing" only made Mr. Popo seem even more mysterious.

Then, out of nowhere, Mr. Popo pulled out two small bells. "Tie one to each of your ankles."

He handed them a bell each, along with the simple instruction: take the apple from his hand without making the bells ring. No matter the method, if they could snatch the apple without triggering the bells, they'd pass to the next stage.

Kaso stared at the apple and bell that had appeared in Mr. Popo's hand. Wasn't this the same method Popo used when training Goku at the Lookout?

With his current strength far beyond what Goku had at the time, Kaso began to wonder if such training would still be useful for him.

Then he glanced down at the weighted clothes he was wearing.

"…I'm such an idiot," he muttered, slapping his forehead.

He'd been wearing these heavy training clothes for a week already. With most of his power suppressed, he was practically in the same state as Goku back then. So yeah — the training method was still valid.

Ausbi'er, on the other hand, had already started.

"Mr. Popo, here I come!"

She launched herself forward without hesitation.

Ding ding ding—

The bells on her ankles jingled. Ausbi'er ignored them and lunged for the apple.

Yet Mr. Popo, without even moving visibly, somehow dodged the attack. He raised his hand to flick her forehead as a light punishment — but paused, then instead flicked her outstretched hand.

"Oww! That hurt!" Ausbi'er yelped, crouching down to cradle her stinging fingers.

She cursed silently — how had that coal-ball managed to dodge so fast?! Her fingers were swelling up red. So unfair!

"Remember: do not let the bells ring," Mr. Popo said calmly, unmoving.

Just then, he turned around — and sure enough, heard another bell ring behind him.

This time, he didn't hesitate.

Thwack!

He flicked Kaso right on the forehead.

"OW! That hurt!" Kaso grabbed his head — a visible lump had already formed.

Damn it, he thought. All I did was try a sneak attack! Was that really necessary?!

Also — why didn't you flick Ausbi'er on the head? Why only me? Total favoritism!

Kaso felt both speechless and wronged.

"Again," Mr. Popo said with his usual calm.

Kaso and Ausbi'er exchanged looks.

This time, we're not going down so easily.

They carefully moved forward — one step, two steps...

Ding ding ding—

Thwack. Thwack.

The sound of twin forehead flicks echoed once again, followed by groans of pain.

Several hours passed.

After dozens of flicks, Kaso collapsed onto the floor of the Lookout. Ausbi'er leaned beside him, red palms in her lap, both of them wearing expressions of pure suffering.

"This is so hard…"

Kaso had thought it would be easy. Until he tried it.

No matter how careful he was, he couldn't stop the bells from ringing. It was infuriating.

He shut his eyes, taking a moment to rest.

He remembered that Goku had faced the same challenge. The bells would always ring, no matter what. The only way to stop them ringing was to not move — but if you didn't move, how could you snatch the apple?

A paradox.

"How did Goku solve this again?" Kaso murmured.

Mr. Popo had once said: You must be as calm as the sky…

Right. That was it.

To stop the bells, one had to first achieve stillness — not just of the body, but of the mind. Body and spirit in harmony, flowing with nature, moving as one. Let the bells become an extension of your body…

"Mr. Popo, I'm ready to try again."

Kaso leapt to his feet, a fire in his eyes.

Ausbi'er raised an eyebrow from the floor. "Is Kaso-nii just rushing to get beat up again?"

Across the courtyard, Kaso closed his eyes.

Mr. Popo's usually unreadable gaze flickered with a trace of interest.

"Decent intuition."

Kaso calmed his mind. His thoughts grew still. In this moment, he felt every shift of the bell, every motion of his body with crystal clarity.

Then he moved.

Ausbi'er's eyes widened. Kaso was walking — quickly — but the bells weren't ringing.

"Kaso-nii's amazing!" she gasped.

Two seconds later—

Ding ding ding—

"…Who are you trying to fool?" Ausbi'er sighed.

Kaso: "…"

A while later, she'd recovered, and the two resumed training.

—

Another week passed.

The Lookout.

Mr. Popo now balanced an apple on his head, casually peeling a banana in one hand.

Suddenly—

Two figures flashed forward like ghosts — one aiming low, one aiming high.

But Mr. Popo barely moved. With a slight toe push, he curled his body like a ball and slipped between their attacks, the apple on his head unmoving.

Kaso and Ausbi'er flew into the air. At that height, they were about to fall.

Then Kaso puffed up his chest and blew — a powerful gust of wind sent the apple flying from Mr. Popo's head and straight into Ausbi'er's waiting hands.

Thud thud thud.

All three landed simultaneously.

The courtyard fell silent.

Even Mr. Popo stopped chewing his banana.

Seconds passed.

"Next stage," he said blandly, before turning around.

But where the kids couldn't see, the corners of Mr. Popo's mouth twitched ever so slightly upward.

"Yay! Kaso-nii, we did it!" Ausbi'er squealed, leaping onto him in celebration.

"Hahaha!" Kaso laughed as well.

Only they knew how much effort it had taken to snatch that apple. Sure, they'd used a trick — but a win was a win!

As they celebrated—

Ding ding ding—

The bells finally rang.

At the temple's entrance, Kami-sama's lips twitched. What little monsters…

As the two kids rejoiced, Mr. Popo came over again, holding two black blindfolds in his hand.

"You've learned to keep your hearts as calm as the sky. First phase is complete."

"Now, we begin the second phase of training—where your movements must be faster than lightning."

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