Hearing about the past of his family, Aerin was full of awe towards his ancestors. They only have their bodies and crude weapons, but they still managed to hunt down beasts that ruled the sky. It must have taken many lives to pull it off, but it was still amazing.
Beasts keep getting stronger each generation, so the beasts before could not be compared to beasts today, but still, it was an amazing feat.
Aaron retracted his wings and looked at Aerin.
"Hunting is all about killing the beast in front of you before it kills you. Kill, or be killed."
Aaron turned serious. Aerin listened intensely as well.
"To do that, we need to be smarter than them. They have stronger bodies, longer reach, and faster movement. What we have is our brain. Brain that can make plans. That's our greatest asset. It's what our ancestors used, and they succeeded."
Aaron paused and sighed.
"You're still too young to be taught complex things like that. For now, let's start with getting your body in shape to fight properly."
Aerin nodded smilingly.
"Okay, give me a hundred push-ups."
Aaron's kind smile never felt as scary as it does now to Aerin.
"Wha—a hundred?! I can't even do fifty! "
Aerin dumbfoundedly replied.
"Okay, how about this? You give me a hundred, and I'll cook your favorite food."
Suddenly motivated, Aerin started doing push-ups. He faced the ground and using those small arms of his, he started pushing his body up
"One, two, three…"
He started fast, thinking that if he did so, he could make a hundred.
"Your form is wrong; lower this down a bit."
Aaron, with a stick in his hand that he got from who knows where, kept on pointing out his mistakes, making the execution harder with every correction.
"Fi-fifty, fifty-ahhh"
Aerin, with all his strength, could only make fifty. His arms finally gave out, trembling as if all the strength had been taken from them. His chest met the ground with a thud, his face turned to the side, and his tongue hoped to escape from his mouth. He was drenched in sweat, and his breath was heavy.
"Fifty? Seems like I won't be cooking your favorite today."
Aaron chuckled. He knew from the start that Aerin could not do it. However, he was still surprised that his grandson could make it to fifty. It was not an easy feat; considering that Aerin had been sheltered until now, it was impressive.
Aerin did not reply. He just stared blankly at the air, breathing heavily. It seemed as if he had no energy left to even hear his grandfather's words.
"Okay, rest for a while; we'll continue later when you've regained some of your strength."
Hearing this, Aerin's mouth twitched.
"We'll keep doing this until you can finally do a hundred in one go."
The poor kid looked as if he was about to cry, but no tears came out. He could only make inaudible noises to show his dissatisfaction.
After a while, Aerin regained some of his strength, and he started doing push-ups again.
"This time, I will really make a hundred push-ups."
Face filled with determination, he started pushing the ground.
"One, two, three…"
He learned his lesson. He did not go fast anymore; instead, he started slow and steady, his breathing calm.
However, it was even worse than last time. This time, he could only execute thirty push-ups.
His arms splayed to the ground, no longer able to hold him up. He stayed there, arms wide, muscles limp and trembling. He was breathing hard but steadily.
Aaron looked at his grandson. Aerin may think that it was not much, not passable even, but his grandfather thought otherwise. However, he did not voice out his praise.
"Okay, we'll eat first, and then we'll continue in the afternoon."
Hearing the word 'eat,' he mustered the strength to give a smile. Food in this situation is truly a lifesaving grace, especially to Aerin.
"You rest here; I'll cook us something to eat."
Aaron went back to his hut. It was at this moment that Amon came back too. There was heaviness in his eyes.
Sensing this, Aaron asked his son Amon.
"How did it go? How long will you be gone this time? "
Amon exhaled a deep breath.
"I'm afraid it will take more than a year this time, maybe even two. We'll go deeper this time to study their movements and to find out their hideout. There must be a leader commanding those beasts; we need to find out. They need me especially, since I'm the fastest in the air."
Aaron turned serious. He never expected it to be this serious. Normally, beasts would keep on wandering mindlessly and kill whatever they saw. They would even fight each other. But now, they even have a place to gather.
"They're acting more and more like a human. It will be very dangerous; you need to take care."
"Yeah, and I need you to look at Aerin for me again."
Amon said to his father, eyes filled with shame.
"It's okay, I like the company of the kid. It's so boring here all alone."
Aaron laughed.
"And by the way, how was he? "
Amon asked, curious how the training of his son went.
"That kid, Aerin, got a naturally strong body. And his breathing is not messy either. He seemed to be a talented combatant. I can't wait to see how he will turn out when he gets older."
Aaron was full of praise towards his grandson, making Amon very happy and satisfied.
"Really? That's great then."
Amon laughed. He looked outside; there he saw his son lying under the tree with his eyes closed, sleeping.
Hang in there, Aerin. Dad will be back soon. I am so proud of you.