(MNIBP)Chapter 47 - Children's advancements

The Highlands, New Jersey, USA.

Ben's P.O.V.

Leaving the other two men to their own training, Ben's feet quickly led him through the entrance, where his sight was immediately attracted to the group of three women and three children seemingly celebrating together. The situation puzzled him, however his doubts were swiftly answered, as their voices reached his ears.

As his body started moving in their direction, he deployed his Divine Sense in their direction to confirm his guess, which brought a smile to his face as soon as he noticed the changes in the kids' bodies. He, however, opted to act clueless and let them announce the good news first. “What's up with you guys celebrating? Did something good happen?” He asked with a warm smile while arriving close to them.

“Uncle Ben!” The three kids exclaimed before jumping excitedly all over him and trying to explain the good news all at the same time, creating an auditory mess in everyone's ears. Of course, the middle-aged man knew both what they were trying to say and had the brain capacity to distinguish every single word they uttered, however, sharing that fact would not be a good thing, and thus kept it to himself.

“Slow down! One at a time! You're not making any sense.” He instead claimed while patting the three on their heads, which seemed to have a calming effect on them as they suddenly fell silent. “Alright. Let's do this one at a time. Who wants to go first?” He noticed that as soon as his words left his lips, the three were dying to be the ones to tell him. What made him happy however was their following reactions.

“I don't mind if MJ or Gayle go first.” Peter said before Gayle and MJ followed suit by pushing the 'opportunity' toward the two others. Chuckling at their cute response, the silver-eyed man chuckled before proposing. “Why don't you all do a rock, paper, scissors to see who goes first?” His proposal seemed to have ignited the fire in their eyes as they all took position with their right fist on their left palm.

“I'll be in charge of counting. Ready?” The three nodded their heads firmly, eliciting a few giggles from the three women watching from the side. “Rock, Paper, Scissors!” As the last words left his mouth, Peter, Gayle, and MJ swiftly showed their hands with both Peter and Gayle using scissors, while MJ used paper. “Noooo!” MJ exclaimed while looking frustratingly at the other two's choices.

Wearing an amused smirk on his face due to something he noticed during the first round, he nonetheless chose to keep silent about it and instead declared. “MJ, you lost this time.” With a defeated expression on her face, the adorable little redhead did not protest the result but instead moved the the side to leave room for the other two to compete.

Once the two were ready, Ben started counting again. “Rock, Paper, Scissors!” This time, Peter chose paper, and Gayle who was about to do the same quickly changed her fingers' position to form a pair of scissors again. The move was so quick, however, that the young man did not pick up on it.

Shaking his head at the little girl's scheme, Ben stated to Peter whose face was painted with disappointment. “You lose, this time, Pete.” Patting the kid's head, he added. “This is a good lesson for you.” Turning his head toward the youngest girl, he continued while cocking a brow. “For you too, little princess.”

Tilting her head, she replied 'innocently'. “What do you mean, Uncle Ben?” Chuckling at her obvious attempt to play coy, he retorted. “I saw what you did. And making puppy eyes won't work.” He added as the mischievous little girl tried her best attempt at the 'Puss in Boots' look. As her ploy was uncovered, she softly snorted while crossing her arms in another try at turning the man to her side.

Unfortunately for her, it was doomed to fail as despite having a soft spot for the three kids, he knew that if he never put his foot down when they were wrong, the three might turn into spoiled brats, with all the consequences that could potentially result from that. Knocking softly on the little girl's head, the middle-aged man narrowed his eyes as he said in a lower tone than usual.

“Gayle.” The call made the blond girl shiver slightly as her bratty attitude turned around instantly after she noticed his current look. Lowering her head, she mumbled. “I'm sorry.” Relaxing his expression, Ben instructed. “Tell your two siblings what you did.” Lifting her head, her eyes searched for his in a clear plea for mercy. The man, however, would not relent and with an obvious look of reluctance, the young girl started explaining her little trick to her older sister and brother.

Once she was done, Ben patted her head and said. “Good job, my little princess. Being honest with your loved ones is a great quality to have. Do you know why I think what you did previously was wrong?” Looking back at him with a depressed look on her face, she replied half-heartedly. “Because I shouldn't trick people?” Chuckling at her response, he retorted. “Not exactly. I just don't want you to trick the people you care about. If it's enemies then you can trick them as much as you want to. I won't have any problem with that.”

Noticing the light in her eyes returning, he added in a mock whisper. “Also, when you spar with others, you're also free to trick them as long as you don't go too far.” The mischievous grin on his face as those words left his lips was mirrored by the little girl who even unconsciously giggled at something that seemed to traverse her mind.

Being fully aware of what he just unleashed, the middle-aged man however had no regret. 'This adorable little devil will make them used to unconventional tactics. They may resent me for this, but I'll take that any day if they can avoid being taken by surprise in a life-and-death situation.' He thought as he turned toward the older children.

Looking at Mary-Jane, he stated while patting her head. “Ask questions and don't blindly believe in people. Even I can be wrong at times. Although it almost never happens.” When he added that last sentence, the redhead and he chuckled together before she answered with a cute smile on her young face. “I'll remember it.” He was sure she would, as he knew that she was as cunning as her little sister. It was just that she was not as attracted to plunging the world into chaos as Gayle.

Nodding at her words, he then turned toward Peter. “As for you, little Pete, do you know what mistake you made?” With a hesitant look on his face, he answered. “I'm the same as MJ...?” Shaking his head at the young man's answer, Ben explained. “No, it's worse than that. You think that because you stick to the rule, everyone else will. That's ABSOLUTELY not the case. People will cheat, steal, lie, etc. to get what they want.”

Pausing for a second to let his words sink in, he then resumed as his gaze roamed around all present there. “That goes for all of you. Opponents will very often act completely differently from what you expect. Especially if you expect them to act with honor.” Patting the young boy's head, he added. “In any case, it's enough that you remember that for now. You'll understand more in the future.”

Words were after all just that, words. How can kind people understand how wicked people think and act? Unfortunately, it usually comes at the cost of being burned at least once. His lesson was simply to avoid being burned too severely when it inevitably happened. Letting out a brief melancholic sigh at how twisted the world was, he then declared. “Since Gayle tricked the two of you twice, she'll be the last to tell me the news. Peter, you were tricked twice, while MJ was only tricked once, so little red will be the one to tell me first what happened.”

Unlike the other two's frustrated expressions, Mary-Jane had a proud look on her face as she said. “Uncle Ben, I reached Mid First Level Mortal Transcending Rank...” The way she almost tripped over the name made him chuckle before he stated. “It's a mouthful, I know. Anyway, congrats, princess! I'm really proud of you!”

Kneeling down, the middle-aged man gave her a big hug which she returned quickly while a few happy chuckles escaped her at his gesture. After letting go, Gayle was about to say something but Peter was faster. “Uncle Ben, I've also broken through to the same level as MJ!” The pride radiating from the little guy brought another smile to the silver-eyed man's face, who embraced him while exclaiming. “Good job, kiddo! I'm also proud of you!” A few embarrassed but joyful chuckles also escaped him as he hugged the older man back for a moment before stepping away.

As the two oldest were done, Ben turned toward the last member of the little squad, who for some reason had her head lowered and a pouting expression adorning her face. Feeling puzzled, he gently stroked her golden hair and asked. “What's wrong, chipmunk?” To his question, she mumbled something in such a low tone that he was probably the only one who heard her. “I'm only at the Low First Level...”

Her disappointed words elicited a smile on his face who commented. “Remember what I told you about only comparing your present self to your past self? Now, did you improve?” Lifting her head slightly, she nodded silently. “Then why are you feeling down? You've improved and that's all that matters. You've done great and I'm as proud of you as your older siblings.”

His words brought a small smile to her face, which enlarged even more as Peter and MJ interjected one after the other. “Uncle Ben's right, Gayle. You did great!” “Right, Little Sis, you're as awesome as Pete and I!” The obvious happiness he spotted in her eyes at everyone's words brought out a discreet sigh from the middle-aged man who thought bitterly. 'Being so young and being so afraid of not being enough is heartbreaking to watch...'

Giggling away, the young girl threw herself into Ben's embrace for a moment before moving away and surprisingly went ahead and hugged her two older siblings who froze for a second before returning her embrace. The scene brought a warm smile to all the adults watching with Madeline even looking at him briefly and mouthing the words 'Thank you', as her eyes slightly misted.

In return, the silver-eyed man returned a smile and mouthed 'Always', eliciting an almost invisible blush on her face while the warm smile on her face turned slightly bigger before she moved her gaze back toward the children's directions, with Ben doing the same.

A moment later, the three broke the hug and after a bit of a chat, the children went back upstairs to play while Ben stayed to train the girls in close combat. Of course, as the three had no background in fighting, he had to start with the basics, which seemed easier for May to pick up. After thinking briefly about it, Ben could easily guess that it had to do with her 'high' cultivation level, the latter increasing every aspect of her body.

In any case, even with the talented brunette, the silver-eyed man decided to avoid going further in his lesson as having a solid foundation was the best way to go far. Natalia thus found the three women throwing standard-looking punches and kicks while Ben was on the side correcting everyone's posture, sometimes demonstrating himself the right way to position their body.

Noticing the arrival of the female agent, Ben declared to the girls. “You can keep practicing yourself while I go spar with Nat.” He then moved with Nat toward the Arena with the latter commenting, amazed. “May's really super talented. I can't believe that she reached the Eighth Level in only a few days.”

After a light chuckle, he responded with a delighted smile on his face. “My wife's amazing, isn't she? I really lucked out the day she agreed to marry me...” Shaking her head at his response, she retorted. “That you did...” Pausing her words for a second, she suddenly exclaimed as they both arrived in the arena.

“Good evening, boys! You mind if we borrow the place for a bit?” At her words, Marco and Andrew turned toward her and replied. “No problemo, lady amigo!” “Sure.” Grinning at their response, the redhead then deactivated the metallic pillars before the two friends took their fighting stance and she claimed. “Let's see how much you improved since yesterday!”

Before she quickly went on the offensive. Unlike the last few days, Ben could easily deal with her speed, which seemed to startle the woman for a brief moment before she regained her calm as she unconsciously mumbled. “How the fuck!?” Bursting into laughter, he replied playfully. “Talent, hard work, and a good dose of luck.”

Rolling her eyes at his response, she retorted. “You reached the Third Level in a few days from the First Level and THAT's your excuse?!” To which he replied. “Since Universal Energy is so abundant around here, is it really that crazy?” His argument made her pause and think for a moment before she claimed. “It's true that the concentration of Universal Energy has massively increased around New York City for the last few weeks, and with how talented you already were, it's not entirely inconceivable...”

Letting out a clear frustrated sigh, the woman added. “I'm sure that there are other reasons, but whatever... Let's go back to sparring!”