“Hup… Hup… Hup…”

The sounds of someone training echoed in a small, private workout room. Inside were two little girls who both seemed to be around the same age. One had blonde hair, while the other had fiery red hair.

“Hup… Hup… Hup…”

The blonde-haired girl panted with her hands and feet perpendicular to the ground. She kept her body straight and bent her elbows, performing a push-up with sweat rolling down her face. Once her chest touched the ground, she shakily brought it back up to the starting position and did the same thing again.

However, as her elbows bent, they collapsed in on themselves, and her stomach fell to the ground.

“Haaa… Haaa… No more… Please, Mika… I can’t…” The blonde-haired girl said in between breaths, unable to look her companion in the eye as she was too exhausted.

“Hmph! What are you doing lying down, resting?! Didn’t I tell you that once you reached your maximum push-up reps, you were to transition into squats immediately!?” Mika yelled and picked up Aurelia like a sack of potatoes, then put her in a squat stance without giving the poor girl any time to react.

“B-But…” Aurelia’s voice quivered, but Mika cut her off.

“No buts! You will continue doing body-weight super-sets for each muscle group until you can’t move any more! If you have the energy to complain, then you have the energy to train! Now, get moving!” Mika commanded like an old-fashioned drill instructor.

Aurelia glanced at the flimsy-looking stick in Mika’s hands and trembled, feeling a sting on her butt, then hurriedly did as Mika told. After all, she didn’t want to get spanked by that thing again!

Mika crossed her arms and nodded, satisfied with Aurelia’s behavior. Although the blonde-haired girl only listened to her out of fear, Mika didn’t care. Fear and the threat of pain were among the best motivators, especially for children.

A good example is just now. Before this, Mika had only smacked Aurelia in the but two times with her “Love Stick,” leaving two red bumps on her butt. However, after experiencing that pain two times, Aurelia didn’t want to feel it a third and began listening to everything she said.

Was the method a little forceful and slightly sadistic, especially for a little girl? Yes. Yes, it was, but Mika didn’t care.

She didn’t have the time or patience to coax Aurelia into training, nor did she feel like she should. Exercising and training aren’t supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to suck. If Mika had to lure Aurelia into the gym with treats and empathy, then that would defeat the entire purpose of going!

How could the girl give it her all if there are no consequences for not doing so?!

***

An hour later, Aurelia collapsed on the ground, her body twitching, unable to move a single muscle.

“...Can’t… Go on…” Aurelia muttered before passing out on the floor.

Mika smiled, picked her up in a princess carry, and took her out of the workout room. Outside the door, she met with Bernard, whose eyes softened at the sight of the unconscious Aurelia.

“How was the workout today, Ms. Zoller?” He asked.

Mika shrugged, but the ends of her lips curled, “For someone her age, it was exceptional. Not necessarily the results, but the fact that she puts her all into each workout is impressive.”

Those were Mika’s honest thoughts. Aurelia had decent mental fortitude for a 10-year-old.

Bernard chuckled, “Hahaha~ Is that so? Well, I suppose all those rigorous courses on business, trade, leadership, communication, body language, etc., weren’t for nothing.”

Mika was surprised to hear that, but on second thought, it made sense. From what she was told, Darius was the best merchant in the Kingdom. It would make sense that his only child would follow in his footsteps.

“Anyways, I’m going to drop Aurelia off at her room and do some training myself. See you later,” Mika said and turned to leave, but Bernard stopped her for a second before she walked off.

“That’s right! The reason I stopped by is that the Mistress wants to speak with you.”

“Katherine?” Mika muttered, confused why she would want to talk with her. However, she didn’t have a problem with it and gave Bernard a nod of affirmation, then left to put Aurelia in her bed.

A few days passed since Mika’s talk with Aurelia’s father, Darius, about the possibility of her becoming Aurelia’s swordsmanship and Body Cultivation mentor. They wouldn’t have a Master-Disciple relationship, but her job would be to instill the fundamentals into Aurelia to prepare her for when she starts cultivating.

While Mika’s knowledge of Body Cultivation for the average human is surface-level at best, she’s an expert when it comes to building a solid physique before one starts their cultivation journey.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

She lived for 45 years, strengthening every little muscle she could, trying to eke out another iota of strength to give her an edge in fights against the strongest swordsmen in the country.

Growing up in a society and country dominated by men, it was hard for her, a woman, to compete with the strongest of them in physical prowess. She wasn’t upset by this, as it was just biology, but that didn’t mean she would accept it.

She wanted to be the best swordswoman in history, and to do that, she had to fight against those at the top of the food chain! If she couldn’t hold her own against them, how could she claim to be the best?!

Thus, much of her life was spent learning about the muscles in her body, how she could control them better, train them, and incorporate them into her fighting style.

This knowledge is still applicable even in an advanced civilization like the one she’s in right now. Rather, it might be more valuable because people rely so heavily on their cultivation that they forget to master the basics.

Take the Emporvas Knights as an example. With the machines, knowledge, and technology at their disposal, they can train their entire bodies without any issues, but their mind-muscle connection to some of the smaller, harder-to-train muscles, is poor. Not only that, but the connection to some of the larger muscle groups is average at best.

She wasn’t sure why that was but assumed it had something to do with how they trained. She figured they focused more on overall strength rather than control, which wasn’t necessarily wrong.

However, Mika’s thought process was different. Control is the foundation of everything; if one can’t control their own body, what’s the point of having all that strength?

Consequently, the same goes for Mana Cultivation.

She honestly believed that someone with a higher degree of control over their body or mana could fight against those with higher cultivation, and her past life proved this. While it was no easy feat, she managed to fight and kill men much stronger than her due to the difference in control and skill.

That mindset and those training routines went into how she planned to mentor Aurelia. Since she decided to do this, she was going to go all out and build Aurelia from a weak little brat to a true warrior!

Mika smiled wryly at that thought, ‘Okay, maybe a true warrior is a bit of a stretch, but she’ll at least have the knowledge and foundation available to handle herself well in a fight. Whether or not she implements my ideals and sticks with them is up to her.’

***

After setting Aurelia down in her bed, which was a pod designed to speed up muscle recovery and growth, Mika decided to visit Katherine before she started training.

*Knock.* *Knock.* *Knock.*

“Come in.” Katherine’s melodious voice came from the other side of the door.

Mika opened the door and walked in, “You wanted to see me, Mrs. Emporvas?”

Katherine smiled, giggling, “Why so distant, Mika? Why don’t you call me by my name? Better yet, you could address me as Aunty Katherine since you and Aurelia are so close.”

An awkward look appeared on Mika’s face when she heard this, and she wasn’t sure how to answer, “Err… I’ll just stick with Mrs. Emporvas for now. I don’t think we’re close enough yet for me to address you on a first-name basis.”

Katherine giggled again, not bothered by her words, “So honest~.”

“Anyways, I called you here because I want to spend some time with you and Aurelia since you’ll be staying here for a while.”

Mika tilted her head, “What do you mean?”

Instead of answering, Katherine asked her a question, “You haven’t been in this Kingdom long, right?”

Mika nodded.

“I was thinking I could show you around and introduce you to the place with Aurelia! While we’re at it, we can buy you some new clothes, a phone, and a few other necessities. Then, I also have a few places in mind that might interest you, given your love for training and fighting, that we can visit.”

“Would that be something you’d be interested in?” Katherine asked with a smile.

Without hesitation, Mika nodded, “Sure!”

Katherine clapped her hands and stood up, “Great! Then, once Aurelia wakes up, we can head out! I’ll start preparing now!”

Mika smiled, happy she could finally leave the house without fearing she’d be captured again.

She was about to turn around and leave, but that’s when a thought struck her.

“Ummm… Mrs. Emporvas, what’s a phone?”

Hearing her question, Katherine’s eyes blinked as she stared back at Mika, a little confused, “You… You don’t know what a phone is?”

Mika shook her head.

Katherine rubbed the bridge of her nose as she understood Mika’s knowledge of the world was much less than she initially thought it was.

‘How can she not know what a phone is?! Then, does that mean she has never heard of the internet?! How is that possible?! Even if Mika grew up in the poorest and most remote village, she’d still have access to phones, Intelligent Wristwatches, and the Internet!’ Katherine thought, shocked by this information.

Since Eoburos is so giant, much of Human society today is run online. It makes long-distance communication so much easier.

Sometimes, trips to the other side of the world could take months, or even years, depending on the mode of travel, route, and money spent. So, talking with someone from the other side of the globe without physically moving there saves an insane amount of time, money, and resources. Not to mention it’s much safer.

Then, there’s the internet, which is a whole other thing on its own.

“This… That’s a bit hard to explain. It’d be best to show you, but that’ll take a while, so why don’t we wait until after we return home for me to explain everything to you?” Katherine asked.

“...Alright.” Mika nodded but was now curious about what a phone was. However, since Katherine wanted her to wait, then she’d wait.

‘Is it that small rectangle I’ve seen some of the Knights walk around with?’ She thought and felt like her assumption was correct but shrugged her shoulders, putting it to the back of her mind.

Now that their conversation was over, Mika left the room after their talk to get in a light workout before they went out for the rest of the day.

***

An hour later, Mika, Aurelia, Katherine, and Bernard were in the flying car outside the villa.

“Take us to Silverfall City, Bernard!” Katherine exclaimed from the backseat.

“Yes, Mistress!”