"I do sometimes see him get this serious and scary, but the only times that I do see him like that is when he does his work as the military general. And honestly speaking, I'm still not used seeing him like that." Zen whispered back. At home or if his father is with his friends, his father reveals his true face, but when he is in front of the people who work for him or in front of the people who he meets up with, he reveals a face that frightens people.

A few steps away from him, Zack noticed two people talking. Having the feeling that they are not paying attention to anything that he said, he called out their names. "Zen, Anna!"

Startled by the sudden call, Anna and Zen straightened their body posture subconsciously. Calling them like that is making them feel like they are at a training camp.

"In the beginning, didn't I said that no one is allowed to talk to each other unless I allow it?" Zack may not be as good as Leonardo at teaching Anna and her friends, but when the rules are set, he makes sure that it is being followed. And for those who do not follow the rules, there will be consequences.

Anna is about to open her mouth to defend Zen and herself, but Zack signaled them to keep their mouth shut. "Whether you two forgot about it or not, you two will still have to face the consequences. Now, give me thirty push-ups."

Zen stared at his father in disbelief, his body doesn't have enough energy to continue doing any more physical activity. Punis.h.i.+ng him to do push-ups just because he and Anna had a small conversation seems to be unfair.

"I don't want to hear any complaints from you two." Zack knows that his son is already tired and Anna's energy is slowly fading away, but to his point of view, thirty push-ups are only fair.

If they are not in the condition that they are in right now, he might have told them to give him a hundred push-ups.

After another hour of training, Anna and her friends have their backs plastered on the ground as they pant heavily.

"I am so glad that it's finally over," Aaron said. Not even Leonardo or his father has ever pushed him to this limit, to think that the first one who did this to him would be Zen's father. He never expected it.

"Please. We're more tired than you and your sister." Josh said in an annoyed tone. Aaron and Anna have more experience in these types of training, and hearing that he is tired makes him feel insulted. 'These two made it seem so easy. How annoying.'

"It was easy at first, but uncle Zack made things harder for me and Anna, and obviously, you didn't notice it." Aaron understands why Josh is reacting like this. If it were him, he will say the same thing too.

Then again, Josh is also not used to anything that involves too much physical activity. Sure, he is part of the basketball team and has some physical work here and there, but it doesn't compare to the activity that they just did.

"Josh, I think it's time for you to spend less time in your workshop and start gaining more stamina for your body," Nathalia suggested. Since Josh can't enter his father's workshop and tinker, Josh's parents decided to make a workshop of his own.

Ever since he got that present, he spends too much time and energy in that place. The only time that he is not in that place is when he goes to school or visit his girlfriend. Truth to be told, Nathalia hardly sees Josh nowadays.

"Yeah. I will do that." Josh's reply slightly startled Nathalia. She didn't expect him to say that. She thought that he will sarcastically reply to her, but he didn't.

Josh didn't saw Nathalia's expression, but his mind right now is strictly on one thing only. He keeps replaying what Zen's father told them earlier. ''He's right. Compare to this, this is nothing once we're going start experiencing how dangerous it is on a real-life mission.'

When he first heard about the organization his father is a part of, he was only interested in hearing of what it is about. He had no intention of getting involved with it.

The guys, the people in his group of friends keep talking about it. He heard their opinion, and it got him thinking that whether he plans to get involve or not, people who have grudge against his father will target him no matter what. The people that he love will be attacked by their enemies.

He couldn't even blame his father for having so many enemies around them. The reason for that is because without the organization, his father wouldn't be able to meet his mother and he wouldn't be here now.

It may not sound like him, but he believes that everything happens for a reason and it's up to him if he wants to know the reason. Right now, his reason for working hard to get through this miserable training that is thrown at him is because he wants to protect his loved ones.

~~~~

"My son is not acting like the way he used to nowadays." Mike suddenly said as he sharped the dagger in his hand.

"What do you mean?" Mary asked. Whenever Mike has some issues with his wife or son, he always comes knocking at her door and tells her all about it. At first, it was okay because they are friends. But it keeps happening now and then.

For some reason, Mary gets the feeling that Mike thinks that she is his counselor for his problems, and it has gotten to the point that it's starting to annoy her.

"He keeps asking me to bring him to the headquarters." 

"How is that weird? I'm sure that your son just wants to get to know what kind of other work his father is involved with." Mary frowned. This conversation that she is having with Mike right now is starting to go on a ridiculous path.

"I know my son, I know that he is not interested in getting to know his father's other job. I'm sure that there must be another reason why he's acting so differently." Mike strongly believes that his son is hiding something from him.

"You know, I love the fact that you're such a doting father and husband, but at the same time, I'm annoyed by this side of yours. If you want someone else to listen to your problems or advise you, find someone else and don't me. The only time you can do that is when it is really necessary." From what Mary can tell, Mike is only overthinking things.

She's been observing the kids, and from what she can gather so far, Josh is a good kid at heart. If her reasoning is not the case, then it must mean that Josh is asking because he wants to learn more so he can have a vague idea of how he should protect his loved ones.

"Come on, don't be like that. You're the only one I can talk to about this topic." If he were to talk about this topic with his other friends, there is a high chance of them laughing at his face, and obviously, he wouldn't like that to happen.

As for Mary, whether she laughs at him or not, it didn't matter because she is Mary Coleman. The woman who he trusted the most next to his wife and mother.

Mary sighed, then she said, "Look, Mike, if you want to know, talk to your son. When it comes to family, communication is very important." Not talking about the problem with his son can cause a lot of unnecessary things. Like her husband, her husband didn't say a word to her before he suddenly disappeared.

His sudden disappearance caused her to imagine a lot of things that might have happened. She even got to the point that Arion has found another woman to love and that she is nothing more than just his past. 

It drove her mad, but thankfully, she has Leonardo to set her on the right path. 'If he wasn't around, I might have become a paranoid woman by now.' 

"For how long are you two gonna talk? Let's go, it's time for us to infiltrate the place." Arion's voice was heard behind them.

After listening to that, Mary stood up, but before she walks away, she said one last comment to Mike. "You've been such a great father and husband, Mike. Be more open with your family."