In a more central district of the Capital, Duskburg was a mansion owned by the von Sideria Duke household. It was a very sumptuous mansion, built paying attention to every tiny detail.

There was an almost six-year-old girl in an enclosed training facility. The most astonishing fact was that this whole facility, which was once reserved for the officers in von Sideria’s private army, was now occupied only by this girl.

Her long golden hair fluttered as she swung her sword, her deep blue eyes fixated on the man in front of her. They were sparring using wooden swords, producing *stac* sounds. They were exchanging moves at an inhuman speed, and if one paid close attention, he could also see some small lights being produced.

Those small lights were something that usually only those in the Mid or Advanced Stage Awakening Realm could produce, and yet a tiny girl merely in Early Stage was creating them. They showed how powerful the combat techniques she was using were.

What was more astonishing was that this girl’s sparring partner was someone in the Late Stage, four whole Stages ahead of her. Even though she was at a slight disadvantage, she nonetheless was formidable.

As time progressed, the girl was put at a constantly increasing disadvantage, and it was clear that she was suppressed in both physical endurance and physical strength. Sweat beads covered her whole body, while her opponent was only now starting to show signs of fatigue.

‘I won’t be able to keep up for much longer. I better do an all-in now!’

Estelle was clearer about her situation than anybody else. She probably wouldn’t be able to last more than 20 more moves.

Except for very particular cases, it was almost impossible to have more raw strength than someone with a higher Cultivation Base. When people talked about geniuses who could fight higher cultivation bases—the so-called Realm Crossers—most of the times, they weren’t stronger in raw power but used better techniques instead.

There were exceptions to this rule of thumb, but few and far between. Anyone who managed to do so either dominated an Empire moved to the prosperous Central Region or died before he could do either.

Since her opponent was about to slash from the top, she prepared to parry the attack with her sword. Seeing this, the opponent finally showed a bit of a smile. He was sure he would break through her defence with this attack.

But his sword never felt any resistance. He now had a dagger in front of his neck. The little girl who had this dagger in her hand could barely reach her opponent’s neck by stretching her arm completely. Some people would find this cute, but the man could only shudder.

“It’s my win!”

“It’s indeed your win, milady.”

But there was still one thing that made him curious.

“Milady, would you mind explaining to this humble servant how he lost?”

“I faked parrying, but in fact, as soon as you tensed your muscles, I abandoned the sword and sidestepped. Once you started your swing, it would be pretty hard for you to alter the trajectory. Thus all I had to do was to unsheathe my secondary weapon!”

Even though she made it sound easy, it was by no means an easy feat—this required exact control over her movements, being very nimble, and absolute confidence. One would doubt she had only started training two years ago.

And moreover, leaving one’s own primary weapon required absolute confidence. If something went wrong, defeat was an almost sure outcome.

‘Hehe, I can’t wait to see my attendant worship me!’

Her motive for training this much was to mess around with the attendant that was to serve her in a few months. If the ancestors who taught her knew this, they would probably all spurt blood.

But, as far as she was concerned, the only thing that mattered was to become stronger than her attendant. Even though females had almost no disadvantage in higher Realms compared to a man, in the Awakening Realm, this wasn’t true.

Since using spells in the Awakening Realm was impossible, the physical body played a more significant role. And males held a natural advantage when it came to this field.

“You did a great job! Sadly, you won’t be able to focus this much on training once you are in the academy. But you must promise Uncle Albert to still train when you are free!”

“Yes, Uncle!”

“Very well, I think we are done for today. Anyways, to think you would achieve a Light Red core in the Early Stage… You sure are a talented lass. And in a mere two years on top of that. Once you become a Strong Cultivator, don’t forget about Uncle Albert, who took good care of you, okay?”

“Why would I ever forget about you, Uncle?”

“You’re still too young to discuss the reasons why you could forget about me… Just remember what I said today!”

“I’m too young here, I’m too young there. It’s such a drag being a child!”

“I’m sure you’ll eventually grow up in a beautiful lady, like those princesses from the stories you like so much.”

“Really?”

“Really!”

These conversations were something Estelle always treasured. They managed to put a smile on her face and make her forget about all the hardships she had to face during her training.

Even though she was a Cultivator, she was still a child. Cultivators behave in such a different way compared to mortals due to their unnaturally long lifespans. But, especially in infancy, this difference in mentality is negligible.

Therefore, only in later stages of life do Cultivators acquire a different mindset—either that or out of necessity. The Cultivation world wasn’t something forgiving.

After bidding her Uncle farewell, Estelle took a bath and changed her clothes, as they were drenched with sweat. She put on a cute outfit with a big skirt and tied her hair with a big white ribbon.

Once she was in her personal cultivation room, she started to cultivate. She wanted to achieve a breakthrough tonight and get an Orange Mana Core at that!

She sat cross-legged and started the familiar process of gathering Mana around her Core. Once there was a high concentration, she would begin to move the Mana inside her Core, making it pulsate like a heart. It was an excruciating process, as one would feel like something was growing inside themselves. The Mana Core would slightly increase in size with each Stage breakthrough, resulting in this painful sensation.

Even though the first few months of Cultivation were very hard for her, Estelle eventually got used to it. She had an unshakable will, and only her objective was in her mind. What she yearned for was to achieve the best she could, just to then break through her own limits.

As the Mana in the room kept gathering increasingly faster, Estelle’s face always became grimmer.

‘I don’t have to bear with it for much longer. Physical pain is only fleeting, don’t be distracted! The concentration is still a little bit lacking to make the Core turn Orange; I have to endure more!’

‘At this rate, I’ll breakthrough without achieving Orange; what should I do? I have to increase the amount of Mana I’m gathering! But how?’

‘Think, Estelle, think! What can gather things quickly? A cone? But I’m already doing something like that! Cone, cone, right! A vortex! Its rotation is going to increase the amount of Mana I’m gathering!’

The Mana, which was previously slowly heading in her direction, slowly started to rotate, creating a progressively faster Vortex.

‘It’s working, it’s working!’

After two minutes, the floor slightly trembled. The Mana in the room had come to a sudden halt. A small girl lay on her back, staring at the ceiling.

“I’ve done it! I’ve successfully achieved an Orange Core!”

To say that she was ecstatic was an understatement.

Having sensed something, Eric, who was demoted from instructor to personal guard, shut open the door.

“Milady, is everything alright?”

But there was no answer. The blond girl had lost consciousness. At the corner of her mouth, a bit of blood could also be seen. She had started absorbing Mana faster than she could handle to make up for the shortcomings in the earlier stages of the breakthrough.

“Did she suffer Cultivation Deviation? Oh god, what should I do… Well, let’s check her first!”

Cultivation Deviation was one of the worst nightmares for a Cultivator. It usually happens when a Cultivator does something wrong during the most critical moments of a breakthrough.

That’s not the only thing that can cause what’s called “Cultivation Deviation”, but it’s beyond doubt the most common one. It’s also the reason why people go into seclusion. Being interrupted in a critical moment might result in this, after all.

“She’s only unconscious, thank god. I better carry her to doctor Liam, though.”

Soon he was in front of a pair of doors in a pretty remote part of the mansion. It was Liam’s office, the most trusted doctor of the family. To keep her being a cultivator a secret, the ancestors chose only the most trustworthy people to know about Estelle’s talent.

Doctor Liam was an old man with white hair and a beard that almost reached his waist. While stroking it, he calmly analysed Estelle’s condition.

“It’s only a light injury, nothing to worry about. But her young and frail body cannot keep up with her Cultivation anymore. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but she has a very dense Mana Core, putting a heavy strain on her body. I’d recommend her to stop cultivating for the time being and focus on physical training more. If her body becomes stronger, she might be able to handle higher concentrations of Mana, allowing her to continue with her Cultivation.”

“I understand; I’m going to bring the lady to her room and report everything you said to Lord Gilbert.”

The following day, when Estelle woke up, she found her father, Gilbert and her uncle Albert in the room.

“Good morning, little princess. I heard you made a breakthrough once again. Congratulations!”

“Thanks, Dad. But what happened yesterday? I don’t seem to remember anything…”

“You lost consciousness. That’s also why I’m here today. Doctor Liam said you should refrain from cultivating more for the time being, as your body is too frail to handle another breakthrough. This time, you only lost consciousness, but you might put yourself in greater danger next time. For the time being, I recommend you to put more effort into physical training.”

“I understand.”

‘I had planned to stop cultivating anyways, as right now I don’t think I would be able to achieve a Yellow Core in the next breakthrough.’

“Also, soon enough, you’re going to leave the family and go to the Royal Academy. I wanted to wish you now good luck, as I’ll leave the country for a while. Also, you must not show your talent in the academy! Humans are envious, and if you are deemed to be a threat to the other families, they won’t hesitate to kill you! Sweetie, you must listen to your dad over this matter!”

“What am I supposed to do then?”

“You must avoid revealing your Cultivation Base at all costs! You can keep on training your body and practising martial arts, but you can’t reveal that you are already cultivating for the time being. Last time, when my first son managed to start cultivating at seven, there were three different assassination attempts! You must fake being an average girl. If the royal family sets its sight on you, even I can’t guarantee to be able to protect you.”

“Can I at least show my attendant?”

“Mh… I guess that’s fine since he’s bound by a soul contract. But you must explicitly tell him to not reveal anyone!”

“I understand, father.”

“Very well, I’m going to take my leave now. I can’t wait to see you grown up once I’m back from my duty!”

“Have a safe trip, father!”

“Thank you, Sweetie.”

Her father then lifted off the ground and started flying away.

“It’s always incredible seeing him fly! Will I be able to fly one day too?”

“As long as you work hard, I’m sure one day you’ll be able to!”

“Yaaaay!”

‘Hehe, I can’t wait to fly around and pull pranks on people.’