For almost half a day, Mika continued to spar with the Knights, but none were able to overcome her in terms of pure skill. Her sword skills and ability to judge a fight were too strong. Whenever they stood opposite her, it felt like she had seen through them before the spar started.

Her repertoire of attacks seemed endless! Those spectating the fights tried to discern Mika’s attacks and prepare for them in their battle, but she never used the same attack twice, making it impossible for them to prepare.

Despite the fact that many Knights and even some Apprentice Knights could have beaten her with their superior cultivation, that would have defeated the purpose of the spar. This raised Mika’s opinion of them by another notch, as she was glad to see they were able to put their pride aside and learn.

Throughout all the spars, a few more talented Knights lasted longer than a single move, but they didn’t make it past three attacks. In fact, when Mika faced those people, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to defeat them on the first attack and thus used a series of attacks that could take them down in the shortest possible time.

“Haaa… Haaa… Damn… This child is a little menace!” One of the men exclaimed in between breaths. He wasn’t the only one who was exhausted, either. All the men were!

“You can say that again! I don’t even know how she beat me!”

“Hmph! How pathetic! At least I knew how I lost!”

“Yeah, it’s because you gave up when she launched an attack at your crotch. Hahahaha!”

The younger Apprentice Knights joked around, not too bothered by their loss. While it was a little demoralizing for a child to defeat them in a single move, at least they were all in it together.

However, the older Knights had a little different opinion of Mika.

“You know, I have a daughter around her age, but she can barely sleep without a nightlight, much less fight me.”

One of the older men walked up, patted the man on the shoulder, and commented, “That’s alright, man. At least your daughter can marry a nice, strong man when she’s older. On the other hand, my son wants to grow up to be a mage! I don’t make that kind of money!”

The men understood where he was coming from but decided not to comment on it. Talking about their children caused their minds to wander until someone said, “I wonder what that child had to go through to become that strong.”

“....”

Their expressions turned solemn upon hearing his words. Just simple training wasn’t enough to reach that level. Only someone who has fought with their life on the line and lived to tell the tale could have eyes like hers.

The eyes of a warrior waiting for battle.

Their section of the training center fell quiet as all eyes turned to Mika. She stood on the sparring platform, a fine sheen of sweat glazed over her entire body. She used the training sword to keep her up and took deep, labored breaths as she tried to regain her strength in case another fight broke out.

Even now, she stood tall, her back straight like an arrow, not wanting to show any sign of weakness. She didn’t even seem conscious that she was doing this either, almost as if it came naturally.

“Somehow… I feel ashamed to call myself an adult while in her presence.” One of the Knights muttered, and the others unconsciously nodded.

Even they, people who have been alive for decades, felt small in front of Mika.

After a few moments, Mika’s breathing steadied, and she looked around the training center and asked, “Rematch?”

“UGH!”

A loud, collective groan resounded throughout the training center, indicating the Knight’s unwillingness to go another round. However, they also stared at Mika in disbelief!

‘We just sparred for hours, and you still want more?! What the hell are you?!’ They all thought.

Suddenly, they heard a clap from behind them and turned to see Bernard standing there with a smile.

“Hahaha! Why don’t we stop here, Ms. Mika? These men have a job to do, after all. They can’t spend all day with you.”

Another groan escaped the Knights’ lips, but Bernard chuckled, acting like he didn’t hear anything.

“You sure?” Mika looked at him and asked, “I feel like it’d be interesting if we sparred.”

Bernard’s smile widened ever so slightly, but he looked around the training center, glancing at all the Knights, and shook his head, “Maybe another time.”

Mika understood that he didn’t want to fight in front of them. She didn’t know why, but her intuition told her he wasn’t a typical butler.

She remembered how he followed Aurelia around everyone and couldn’t help but think, ‘He’s more like a bodyguard than a butler.’

Mika shook her head, stopped thinking about this, and hopped off the sparring platform. Like the Knights, she was a little tired after all the fighting.

“Well, whatever,” Mika shrugged and walked over to the Butler, “I had a good time, regardless. It’s been a while since I sparred against humans.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Bernard raised an eyebrow at her words, feeling like something was off about them, but he didn’t comment on it.

“Oh? Really? I’m surprised.”

“Why?” Mika tilted her head. What was there to be surprised about?

Bernard smiled awkwardly and replied, “Well, you beat most of them in a single move. I feel like such battles would leave you unsatisfied.”

“Aha!” Mika’s eyes brightened in understanding, and she chuckled, “Normally, it would, but with so many target dummies in front of me, I was able to reaffirm some techniques and attacks that I haven’t used in a while. So, it wasn’t a complete waste of time.”

The Knights’ faces darkened at being called “target dummies”, but they couldn’t refute her. Over the last few hours, they truly weren’t any different than target dummies for Mika.

Bernard chuckled, amused at Mika’s blunt words, but didn’t rebuke her. Instead, he was curious about something else.

“Anyways, now that you’ve fought against them for almost half a day, what do you think about the Emporvas Family Knights?” Unknown to Mika, this question was one of the reasons Bernard wanted to bring her to the training center.

Advice from someone at Mika’s skill level was worth its weight in mana stones. Although she was just a kid, she was anything but in this area. A few words from her might raise the average skill of all their Knights!

“Hmmm~,” Mika thought for a moment, not realizing that the Butler had baited her into answering, “They weren’t bad. Not great, but not horrible.”

“Care to elaborate?” Bernard asked.

“Mhmm. I find them mediocre for several reasons, but I think the main one is that they don’t know how to wield their weapons properly. Not only that, but their battle instincts are trash. They seem to only think or plan in one-move increments. For example, if I attack, three options appear in their minds: block, counterattack, or dodge. But that’s not how you should view a fight.” Mika explained, capturing the attention of not only Bernard but everyone in the room, including a small pair of eyes secretly watching everything from the side.

“Then, how should they view a fight? What sort of mindset should they have going into it?” Bernard asked, and although he had a few guesses as to what Mika’s answer might be, he was still intrigued.

Without any hesitation, Mika answered, “One should look at a fight as if it were a game of chess. On the first move, you need to grasp your opponent’s intentions and prepare for them. You can’t just think of one move ahead, or else you won’t know how you lost. You have to think 3, 5, or even 10 moves ahead.”

Mika took a short breath, then continued, “Every step, attack, and move must be thought out and planned, then adjusted to your opponent's fighting style. That’s the main reason you lot couldn’t beat me. While you were just thinking about getting past the first attack, I had already planned my next ten moves that would lead to your inevitable defeat. Though, it’s also because your weapon fundamentals are trash as well.”

After Mika’s rang out, the room fell into a stunned silence. The Knights looked at her as if she was some sort of alien creature. What she just said had never crossed their minds, and how could it? They were just ordinary people with average talent, most of whom had never been in a life-or-death scenario.

How could they plan ten moves ahead when they didn’t even know what their opponent’s second move would be?!

Even Bernard was looking at Mika weirdly, but not because he felt she was wrong or because he didn’t plan his attacks. No, it was because what she just said wasn’t something a 10-year-old should know! There were so many layers and little nuances to what she just said that it simply wasn’t possible for someone a decade old to comprehend.

Hell, even he struggles in this field, as there are too many things to consider when in a battle!

Bernard was the first one to wake out of his reverie. He turned and stared at Mika with a complex smile, extremely curious about her history.

“That was… quite insightful, Ms. Mika,” He said after taking a deep breath, then gazed out into the crowd, “I’m sure the Knights will take your words to heart.” A formless pressure exuded from him and fell upon the Knights, instantly waking up.

“THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TUTELAGE!”

Mika chuckled and waved them off dismissively. She knew that while her advice might help, they were unlikely to achieve any significant results.

“Well, then, Ms. Mika. You must be famished after all those fights. Let’s go get you something to eat.” Bernard turned around and said, before walking out of the training center.

His words caused Mika’s eyes to brighten.

Food.

‘It’s been so long since I’ve had normal food!’ She thought and followed behind Bernard with a little extra pep in her step.

Meanwhile, a small blonde girl peeked her head out from behind a wall as she watched Mika walk down the hallway with her butler. A flurry of emotions flowed through her eyes as Mika’s words and display of power struck a chord in her.

Still, the fact that she bought Mika from the black market and that the red-headed brute had even beat her up on the first day was still fresh on her mind.

Thus, she didn’t know what to think about Mika anymore. On the one hand, having a teacher like Mika was an absolute blessing. On the other hand, she didn’t like the girl.

Biting her lip, she ground her teeth in frustration for a few moments before calming down.

‘I’ll let father make the decision. He always knows what’s best for me!’ She thought and then left the vicinity, no longer thinking about Mika.

***

Back on Mika’s side, the girl was in the dining room, stuffing her face with whatever food the Emporvas chefs brought made. She didn’t even bother to ask what kind of food it was and just began shoving it down her throat.

Tears nearly formed in the corner of her eyes as she savored the juicy, seasoned, and tender meat. Additionally, she alternated between a few bowls of vibrant, ripe fruit next to her.

‘It’s been so long since I’ve had real food!’ Mika cried inwardly.

For most of her time in the jungle, she consumed Nutrition Serums to satiate her hunger. Cooking was more of a burden and a hassle than anything else and wasn’t worth the effort when she could just pay one mana stone a month for all her nutrients.

Plus, even if she did cook, she didn’t have any seasoning, nor could she make a proper fire because everything was always wet!

“It seems you were hungry,” Bernard commented from the side, to which Mika nodded, not sparing him a glance.

“It’s… munch… been… much… a year… munch… since I’ve had real food!” Mika said in between bites, but her words puzzled the butler.

‘A year since she’s eaten real food? What does that mean? Does that mean she was trapped in the Noxious Jungle for a year? I’ll have to inform the Master of this news.’ Bernard thought, making a mental note.

After Mika finished eating, it was already dusk, so she retired to her room, where she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the bed.