Gaia's Favourite

Until Zack reached the age of three, he tried his best to act like a normal child and not to arouse any suspicions. Soon afterwards it was his third birthday and his body was somewhat developed enough to start training.

After breakfast, the next day, Zack slipped out of his house to the entrance of the forest. Due to numerous trees and rocks lying around the place, it was perfect for him to increase his strength, speed and control.

The first thing that Zack did was to run around the place with a rock his height on his back. He repeated it until he was eventually drained with sweat. For control he, he did L - sits while hanging onto a thick branch of a tree. He kept doing this until it was after noon and lunch was ready. He hurried back home and after wiping of his sweat, he put on new clothes in order to not arouse any suspicions.

Eating his lunch quickly and quietly he slipped away as soon as possible in order to continue on with training. He repeated the same routine again and again until it was dinner time. Eating his dinner, he quickly went to back in order to give his body proper rest and prepare for tomorrow's exercise. This routine eventually repeated itself everyday for the rest of the year. After every week, Zack would increase the intensity of his routine in order to continuously temper his body.

By his fourth birthday, Zack was strong enough to lift a three hundred pound rock with ease. Of course most of this was due to the rich Qi in the air which allowed his body to be tempered at an extremely fast rate otherwise it would have taken him a long time to reach his current position.

However, Zack still refrained from cultivating with Qi as he patiently waited for the inheritance. The reason that he did this was because he didn't want problems to arouse in the future due to the fact that he cultivated a different path. Zack also encountered another problem which was that he had encountered a bottleneck in his bodily cultivation and the only way to break the bottleneck was though rich experience and there was no way that his parents were going to allow him to go into the forest, thus he decided on a completely different way.

-------------- Inside Zack's House ---------------

" Dad, can I practice the spear arts with you ? ". Zack spoke in the cutest voice he could in order to avoid being rejected. His father was startled by this request out of the blue and hesitation could be seen in his deep red eyes." I just want to learn the basics of Spear Arts, nothing else. Please daddy, please. ". His heart jumped as he saw hesitation flash by his father's eyes and, lamenting the fact that he had to stoop this low, Zack made the cutest puppy eyes he could in order to convince his father. " This..... Well, fine but only the basics ok ? Otherwise your mother will tear me limb from limb.". Jack slowly got up and went outside with Zack gloatingly following behind him.

" Let me clear up one thing before we start. Even though I am only teaching the basics of Spear Arts, there is no way it is going to be easy. Only a strong foundation can lead to a smooth future. Now then are you prepared." Steeling his heart, Zack replied, " I am. "With that Jack started imparting all his knowledge of the basics to his son while Zack started to comprehend the essence behind those moves with all his concentration.

---------------- A Year Later -----------------

In front of a huge forest, a youth was practicing his Spear Arts. This youth had silky black hair that dr.a.p.ed down his n.a.k.e.d shoulders. He had emerald green eyes and his muscles were exceptionally well - built for a youth of his age. This youth was none other than Zack, after a year he had become exceptionally handsome that made even the aunts in his village blush. After a year his Spear Arts had extremely well developed and he had completely grasped the essence behind the basic moves of the Arts. As he was practicing a deep, boisterous voice came from behind, " Hey! You stinky brat ! Practicing all by yourself. Looks like you want to leave your old man in the dust.". A tanned man with spiky red hair could be seen coming from the horizon with a spear in his hand. " Come ! Let's have a spar. I'll drop my cultivation base so that you can have a chance at beating this old man ! ". Zack confidently replied " Sure let's spar. "

The father and son duo started their spar with extremely skilled and agile movements even though they were only the basics of Spear Arts. Zack thrusted his Spear forward and like a snake it twisted past his father's defense." Hah ! ". Jack gave a loud shout as he retaliated with extreme speed and his Spear left blurry after images in the air. Spinning his Spear, Zack predicted the trajectory of his father's attack and with precise timing he thrusted his Spear through a flaw in his father's attack. However, Jack revealed a playful smile as he suddenly twisted his body to the right at a weird angle and hit his son's head with the blunt end of the spear. With no time to defend himself, Zack could only meet the attack head on. The attack threw Zack tree meters back and before he could stabilise himself, he saw his father's figure standing in front of him with his Spear pointing at Zack's throat. With a playful smile on his face, Jack said " You may have mastered the basics but the applications of these skills in battle is a whole other matter. Not to mention that you're too naïve, if this was a real battle you would have been dead by now. ". Taking his words to his heart, Zack nodded " I understand. Thanks for the lesson. "

------------ Later That Afternoon -------------------

" There's other half a month left until I receive the inheritance. The basics have already been mastered and my bodily strength had also increased. I am quite expectant of this inheritance, I hope it lives up to my expectations. ". With only a month left, Zack continued with his body and spear training.