Only then did he realize that he was still in the process of reacting and his body had yet to fully adapt. It seemed that his first success could only be attributed to sheer luck; he still had a long way to go before he could truly master it with ease.

Picking up the axe again, Sean Carter's eyes flickered with a strange persistence. That almost divinely-assisted first strike had given him a strong sense of confidence, providing both the motivation to persevere and a clear direction for his efforts.

Chapter 10 Aunt Joyce Harris

Thirty days passed, and every day the sound of chopping echoed from the backyard of Sean Carter's house, with the pile of chopped firewood growing steadily.

By the thirtieth day, Sean Carter's body was fully able to keep up with the speed of his mind's reactions. After training in the virtual space and exercising in reality, his success rate at hitting the white line had risen to more than half.

He discovered that as long as his posture was correct and there was no deviation in where he struck, a single swing was enough to split the board in two. But if there was even a slight error, he often couldn't even reach a third of the way through.

So, he consciously slowed his movements a bit, focusing his mind intensely before each swing, his gaze becoming razor-sharp. It was often at these moments that he could achieve his best streaks of hitting the white line.

At this point, his wood-chopping speed increased dramatically, even surpassing the daily limit that Old Miller could achieve.

Seeing his son suddenly develop such enthusiasm for chopping wood, and achieving so much, Old Miller was truly filled with mixed feelings of surprise and delight.

Selling all this firewood did indeed earn more than farming, but for Old Miller, he still hoped his son would return to work in the fields.

"Pa."

A crisp, clean sound rang out as Sean Carter easily withdrew the large axe. The tool that had once felt so heavy now felt like nothing in his hands.

The thousands of repetitions of the second set of radio calisthenics each day had not been in vain; his strength had increased, undoubtedly the most prominent improvement in his physical abilities.

And with the practice of the third set of calisthenics, Sean Carter's control over his strength had also improved greatly. This was the main reason why he could hit the white line and split the board more than half the time with a single chop.

"Sean Carter, why are you still chopping wood? Where's Bond Miller?"

Sean Carter looked up and saw a familiar, kind smile. He wiped the sweat streaming down his forehead and said, "Hello, Aunt Joyce Harris. Dad is working in the fields."

Joyce Harris was a widow in the village. After her husband passed away, she opened a small grocery store in the village. Among the villagers, most transactions were barter; she would take the goods she collected to the knight's manor to sell. Although she didn't make much, it was more than enough to get by.

Bond Miller had a good relationship with Joyce Harris. Every time Joyce Harris went to the knight's manor, she would borrow Bond Miller's old horse.

Sometimes Sean Carter even suspected that Bond Miller had bought that old horse not just for plowing, but more likely to make it easier for Joyce Harris to transport goods to the knight's manor.

What puzzled Sean Carter was that, although there was clearly mutual interest between them, neither had ever crossed that line.

With the experience of his previous life, Sean Carter naturally understood Bond Miller's concerns. To be honest, he didn't mind having a stepmother in this life, but as for taking the initiative to play matchmaker, he would rather politely decline.

Joyce Harris came in, set down the basket in her hands, and said, "Here's some food I accidentally made too much of. You and your father can eat it later. Especially you—since you've been working so hard these days, you should have a good meal."

Sean Carter smiled slightly. He had lost count of how many times she had "accidentally" made too much food, but every time, he got to enjoy a delicious meal.

Thanking her sincerely, Sean Carter suddenly thought that maybe the family really did need a woman to help manage things.

Of course, this was something Old Miller should consider for himself. If he brought it up, it would be a bit too shocking.

"Sean Carter, when Bond Miller gets back, tell him I need to go to the manor tomorrow and ask if I can borrow his horse."

"Okay, Aunt Joyce Harris." Sean Carter casually asked, "Going again so soon? Didn't you just go last week?"

Although there were quite a few people in the village, the goods bought from the grocery store usually lasted a long time. So generally, Joyce Harris only went to the knight's manor once a month.

"Oh, this time my brother wants to recruit a few apprentices, and three boys from the village have signed up. It's their first time going to the manor, so I can't let them walk all the way there."

"Uncle Warren Clark is back and recruiting apprentices?" Sean Carter did a quick calculation in his mind and immediately smiled, "He must have been promoted, otherwise he wouldn't be able to take on so many apprentices at once."

A trace of pride appeared on Joyce Harris's face. In this world, having such a brother was indeed something to be proud of.