It was early in the morning. Inside the private training room of the Thorne mansion, the morning sunlight peeked through the high windows, lighting up the polished wooden floors and the racks of blunt training swords lining the stone walls. There were only three people in the room.

​"Yaaaawwwnn," Emma mumbled, covering her mouth to hide how tired she was. "Brother, what are we doing here so early in the morning?"

​"Yeah, when you told us yesterday that we would do morning training, I thought you were joking. Come on, man, this is torture," Emily growled.

​"Stop complaining, Emily," Ian said. "Don’t you both want to know how I became so strong?"

​The moment he said that, the girls stopped complaining and quickly nodded their heads. Ever since yesterday, they had wanted to know how their brother had gained such monstrous strength when he used to be just as weak as them.

​"If I tell you, you will have to do whatever I tell you from now on. Understand?" Ian asked with a firm voice.

​"Now that sounds creepy. What do you want to do to us?" Emily asked, raising her right eyebrow and crossing her arms defensively.

​"I will do whatever you say," Emma agreed without a second thought.

​"Emma, why do you agree without asking any questions? You are too innocent sometimes! One of these days, someone will take advantage of you!" Emily yelled at her sister.

​"And what would I do to my own siblings? Emily, don’t be dramatic," Ian sighed, rubbing his forehead.

​"How would I know what’s going on in your mind?" Emily shrugged, muttering in a low voice.

​"Emily, you should have more trust in Big Brother. He wouldn’t do anything that would bring harm to us," Emma said with a warm smile on her face.

​"Fine," Emily agreed reluctantly.

​"Anyway, you know about the bronze pendant I told you about, right?" Ian asked. The girls nodded. "That pendant left me with a technique that can increase the strength of the body without the use of mana. So, I trained with that technique the day I woke up, and it gave me this strength."

​He looked at them very seriously. "If you learn this technique, you must not tell anyone. Not even Mom. I will find a day to tell her myself. I don’t want this spreading to the maids or the knights either. Do you understand me?"

​"Yes," both of them nodded.

​"Good, let’s get started then. Here is the technique. I have written it down for you." Ian handed them the notebooks. He coughed awkwardly. "Ahem... do not mind the drawings. I am not multi-talented," he said, scratching his forehead shyly.

​Emily opened the notebook and stared at the page. "Pffft, you call this a drawing?" she said, trying hard not to laugh.

​She held the notebook up for Emma to see. In the center of the page was a crudely drawn stick figure with an impossibly massive head, zero neck, and uneven, spindly legs bent in what was supposed to be a martial arts stance. Right next to the stick figure was a lopsided, deformed oval with four sticks poking out of the bottom and a squiggly line for a tail.

​"What is this potato with legs supposed to be?" Emily snorted. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

​"It’s an ox!" Ian defended, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment.

​"Even a five-year-old could draw better than you! Hahaha!" Emily continued to laugh. Emma could be seen laughing silently, looking away and covering her mouth with her hand so she wouldn’t get caught.

​Is it really that bad? Ian thought to himself.

​"Ahem, anyway, let’s continue," Ian said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I will just show you how it’s done since you are too dumb to understand a simple drawing."

​You think? both girls thought at the exact same time.

​"The technique I am teaching you is called the Adamantine Ox Hide Technique," Ian said seriously.

​"Ada... what now?" Emily asked in confusion.

​"Adamantine Ox Hide Technique," Ian repeated with an annoyed expression.

​"Couldn’t you just say Adamantine Technique? What’s up with the ’Ox Hide’ part?" Emily asked with a teasing smirk.

​"You can change the name to whatever you want," Ian sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. "Anyway, let me show you how to cultivate this technique."

​Ian then started showing the girls how to hold the proper horse stance. To his surprise, Emily didn’t complain this time and followed his instructions through and through, right alongside Emma.

​A few hours passed. The girls were sweating, their legs shaking slightly as they struggled to maintain the unfamiliar, grueling stance. Ian walked around them, crossing his arms and acting like a strict, wise master as he corrected their posture.

​But inside his mind, he was staring at his invisible interface, practically begging. Please let this work. Please let me get Prosperity Points for teaching these dumb siblings of mine.

​Finally, the girls got the hang of it and relaxed their shaking legs.

​"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. If you succeed, you will have hard skin like this. Let me show you," Ian said.

​Without warning, he pulled out a hunting knife and violently stabbed his own right knee right in front of them.

​"Aahhh!!" Emma screamed in terror when she saw him stab himself. But to her complete surprise, there was no blood at all. It was only a tiny scratch.

​"Emma, there was no need to scream," Emily said, rolling her eyes. "He did say he had hard skin. Honestly, I think he is a terrible teacher too. Look at him, he just stabs himself without a proper explanation! And it took us two whole hours to get the hang of the stance even though it’s so simple. I feel like if I just practice a little more, I will totally master this." Emily pointed accusingly at Ian.

​Ian’s mouth twitched in annoyance when he heard her remarks.

​"Don’t put the blame on me! I am a beginner just like you," Ian argued back. "I don’t even know what levels are above this skin technique. I am in the dark just like you guys! And as for my teaching skills, you two are my very first students. How would I know anything about teaching? Can you cut me some slack?"

​"Yeah, sis, it’s his first time experiencing this too," Emma said, stepping in to side with Ian.

​"Fine," Emily grumbled.

​"Oh, I almost forgot something else. If you use this technique with both feet flat on the ground, your physical strength will be tripled," Ian added, scratching his left cheek and laughing awkwardly.

There were five seconds of awkward silence.

​You really are a bad teacher, both of the girls thought at the exact same time.