It took about a week for Mika’s personal training room to be built, much to her excitement. The last week has been nothing but pure torture for Mika, who wasn’t able to swing her sword physically.

She’s used her [Mind Space] skill extensively over the last week. In there, she mainly worked on creating her own Cultivation Technique, but that also failed. 

It’s not that she can’t develop a Cultivation Technique; it’s more like she doesn’t even know the basics of Cultivation. 

What is the Cultivation Technique supposed to do? How do the Pathways and Core come into play? What’s supposed to happen to them as she progresses through the Realms of power? 

These questions plagued her mind, but she couldn’t find an answer to them.

Mika knew that her goal was to turn her [Black Core] into a [Red Core], but what exactly does that mean? Is it just about making the Mana denser, or is there more to it?

What about the Minor Realms like Stages 1 through 10? Is there a difference between those stages? What makes them different from breaking through to the next Major Realm?

She may be able to cultivate passively, but that doesn’t mean she can make breakthroughs passively.

These questions needed answers before she could even begin creating her cultivation technique. Now, she can only continue testing things out in her [Mind Space].

She could ask her parents these questions, but Mika felt it would be better to go through this experience herself.

Mika’s also not in a hurry to cultivate her Mana.

Though she did try asking the System for help, the answers it gave her weren’t helpful. It just told her to figure it out on her own.

Anyways, Mika’s not too worried about this. What she really cares about is her Body Cultivation and Sword Skills, as not only are they tied together, but it’s where most of her strength comes from. 

After waiting a week, Cain and Elizabeth finally brought their daughter to her own training ground. 

It was deep underground, and they had to use a machine called an elevator to get to it. 

Her Parents also used a bunch of confusing words like it has ‘facial recognition,’ which can only be used by people of the Zoller Family, but she had no idea what they were talking about.

Soon, they appeared in front of the door to her training room. They had their faces, blood, and fingerprints scanned and waved a keycard in front of the door. Only after doing all of that did the door open. 

She hurriedly walked inside and was amazed at the quality of the training room. The floors were wood, like a traditional sword dojo, but the walls were metal. Bright lights shone from the ceiling, and there were a few more things, but Mika had no idea what they were.

“Well? How do you like your training room? Looks amazing, right?”

Cain chuckled, seeing how happy his daughter was.

“...Yes! It’s amazing!”

Mika exclaimed as she held her wooden sword tightly. Both of her parents chuckled at this sight and started secretly taking pictures of her.

“Wait until you hear about the special features this room has. I’m sure you’ll be blown away!”

“...Special features?”

“That’s right! Come, let me show you.”

Mika nodded and followed after her Father. He made his way over to a small table near the entrance, and on it was a tablet. Mika looked at it curiously, as she’s seen her parents using a smaller version of this thing before, but she had no idea what it did. 

“This device actually controls this entire training room. You can change the temperature. Simulate various natural phenomena like rain storms or droughts. There is also an option where the room will create simulations that you can fight. Although these simulations can’t hurt you and aren’t real, they can still be used to help you.”

“...Simulation?”

“Ah, right. You don’t know what a simulation is. Well… I think it’ll just be easier to show you.”

Cain pressed a button, and suddenly, a humanoid silhouette appeared in the middle of the room. It had no face or anything like that and only looked like a bunch of lines, but Mika knew it represented a person.

Cain pointed his finger at it and shot a small fireball out of his finger. The Fireball hit the silhouette’s chest, dissipating into thin air before a new one appeared without any injuries.

“...Wow!”

“I know, right? Isn’t your Father amazing?! Hahaha!”

Mika subconsciously shook her head without thinking, as her mind was elsewhere.

“...No. Even I can do that. The Simulation is amazing!”

Cain froze upon hearing his daughter’s words and didn’t know what to do. He was trying to show off, but he forgot that she could already do more than that. He felt his fatherly pride go down the drain and concluded that she needed to see a bigger explosion to be amazed.

He was about to start clicking a bunch of buttons on the tablet until he got hit in the back of the head by his wife, who gave him a death glare. It appeared he could only give up on showing her how amazing he was… for now.

Elizabeth took the tablet from him and canceled the silhouette before turning back to Mika.

“Well, sweetie? How do you like it?”

“... It’s perfect! I can do lots of training here!”

“Why don’t you give it a try, then? We’ll sit back and watch to ensure everything is okay.”

Mika nodded and went to the center of the Training Room. She took out the wooden sword, steadied her breathing, got in the proper stance, closed her eyes, and remembered all those years of training she had done in her previous life.

She didn’t want to start with anything fancy right now and only wanted to get the basics down. Even though her body might be strong, it’s still like a blank canvas. There’s no muscle memory, nor has she gotten acclimated to being in a child’s body. 

Most of her life has been spent as an adult woman in another world in a completely different body. She still needs to get used to that, even if her body is perfect for using the sword.

Clearing her mind, Mika slashed.

Then slashed again.

And again!

*Slash*

*Whoosh!*

*Slash*

Mika kept repeating the same strikes over and over again while her parents watched without blinking. Although they weren’t swordsmen, they knew enough to know that she was working on the basics. Yet even though she was only performing simple movements, each strike carried a weight behind it, like she knew what she was doing. Like she had practiced these strikes thousands of times…

However, when they thought about how she had already comprehended Sword Intent, they seemed to come to their own conclusions as they figured this amount of skill was only natural for someone as naturally talented as Mika.

The two continued to watch as Mika swung her sword for the next hour before she became exhausted and starving. Luckily, Elizabeth appeared next to her with a jug of water and some food.

She quickly filled her belly and then fell asleep. 

Cain and Elizabeth looked at each other and laughed.

“I guess she liked it.”

“I guess so. Who knew she would like training so much? No wonder she always had a bored look on her face whenever she was awake. Haha~”

“Haha! Well, as long as she’s happy, then I’m happy. Though she might not be happy about her ‘training’ later.”

“Hey, those are necessary skills that every Noble must learn! I won’t let my sweet little daughter become a muscle-brained idiot like you!” Elizabeth scolded.

“Look who’s talking, Wifey~ According to the rumors, you have quite the… unique… nickname. What was it again? Oh, right! The Butc-”

*Smack*

“Ow! Okay, I won’t say it! Hahaha! I know you don’t like that name, but I can’t help but tease you.”

“Hmph!”

***

A few hours later, Mika awoke in a different room. She looked around and noticed that this room was similar to her Father’s study, but it was smaller and had more books. 

Her Mother, who was standing nearby, noticed Mika had woken up and walked up to her with a smile. Usually, her smile would make Mika feel all warm inside, but why did this one cause her hair to stand on end?

“Since you are so good at training, I think it’s time you learn how to behave in front of other people, especially Nobles. We will be attending the Third Prince’s birthday party in a few months, and you need to learn how to conduct yourself properly. At least a little. So from now until then, you will be ‘training’ with me for two hours every day.”

“...”

“...NO!”

***

Those were the worst two hours of Mika’s life. She’s never been good with words and cares little for other people’s feelings. In her past life, all she did was fight. 

She’s always been the type to kill first and ask questions later, or if she finds a worthy opponent, she’ll attack them without saying anything. 

Not only that, but she seldom bowed to anyone, much less kneeling. Those she bowed to were already dead. That’s the whole reason she bowed.

However, she can do it if she’s forced to.

But kneeling? That’s a different story. 

Kneeling is a sign of subservience, and Mika has never once thought of subordinating herself to someone else. She didn’t even kneel to her own parents, and in her opinion, they were the most deserving of it.

This is such a concern because, apparently, she will have to kneel when she sees the King at the Birthday Party, but this is simply impossible for Mika.

Kneeling, to her, is a sign of weakness, a sign of submission. She has never kneeled in front of anyone, not even her parents!

This isn’t even about her being talented or her believing that she’s so amazing that she doesn’t need to kneel. 

This is about the path that she’s on. Part of that path is never to show a sign of weakness or submission to another living being. That’s part of the essence of what makes her a Swordsman!

However, an additional problem arose when her Mother was trying to teach her how to kneel properly. A System message popped up.

[You are not allowed to kneel, kowtow, or anything of that nature in front of anyone.]

‘Why?’

[Your destiny is to become a God or die trying. How can a God kneel before another? How can a God offer their subservience to another? In time, all those within this Universe, and any Universe for that matter, will be in the palm of your hand. That is your destiny. That is your fate. That is the karma that has been bestowed upon you. Ordinary people cannot bear the consequences of subordinating you due to the amount of responsibility and karma, for lack of a better word, surrounding you. You have the System to help you keep it in check until you get strong enough, but retribution will be in order should you decide to serve another.]

Mika was stunned when she heard the System’s answer. Although she wouldn’t kneel in front of some random King anyways, it seemed like things weren’t as simple as she believed.

‘What would happen if I ever kneeled in front of someone?’

[Try it and find out.]

‘What if I don’t have another choice? Can you make an exception? You do realize that I’m not a god, right?’

[No exceptions.]

Mika didn’t like that answer, and the fact that the System refused to say anything else only made her feel worse. Would she die? Would the world explode? Would the person she kneeled in front of die? 

She didn’t know and didn’t plan on finding out either. 

Ultimately, she told Elizabeth that she couldn’t kneel in front of others. Naturally, she was perplexed about why her daughter refused to learn proper etiquette, such as kneeling.

“Why? Are you hurting somewhere? Did you hurt your knees with all that training earlier?”

Mika shook her head.

“Then why?”

“...Bad things will happen.”

Elizabeth was stunned when she heard her daughter’s answer and wasn’t sure what to say. But as a trusting and doting Mother, she didn’t want to scold her child for making things up and force her to kneel in case something really happened.

Mika’s a peculiar child, after all.

“Why do you say that? How do you know? What sort of bad things will happen?”

Mika was quiet for a few seconds as she thought of her following words. Truthfully, she didn’t understand why either, so she decided to use the System’s words instead while adding on her own assumptions.

“...Death.”

Elizabeth’s mind went blank when she heard Mika utter that word, but her daughter wasn’t through yet.

“...Destiny does not allow me to kneel, or bad things will happen.”

At this point, Elizabeth was totally lost. Death? Destiny? Bad things? My god, she’s just trying to teach the girl how to kneel in front of the king properly! 

‘Is she just making stuff up?’ Elizabeth wondered but shook her head, seeing her serious expression.

After putting her mind in order, she asked the number one question on her mind.

“How do you know all this, Mika? Is someone threatening you or forcing you to say this?”

Mika shook her head.

“... I can tell. If I think of kneeling, I feel terrible. It feels like I’m about to die.”

That was the best way for her to put it, even though Mika honestly didn’t know what would happen. 

She’d probably face some horrible backlash, and the same goes for who she kneeled toward, but she didn’t think anyone would die. 

At least, not the first time.

Now, her Mother was straight up panicking because her baby girl just said she would die if she kneeled to the King!

What was she supposed to do now?! It’s incredibly disrespectful not to kneel to the King. Not only that but it could easily be seen as a sign that they no longer think of themselves as below the King.

Her mind worked a million miles per hour, but suddenly a tiny hand gently tugged her shirt.

“... It’s okay, Mom. Now we can stop the lessons!”

Elizabeth was once again dumbfounded, but then she let out a loud, boisterous laugh.

“Hahaha! You little brat! So that’s what your end goal was? Haha! Well, we might have to stop this lesson… BUT! You will learn everything else!”

“...No!! Mom! Actually, bad things will also happen if these lessons continue!”

“Oh? Like what?”

“....... I’ll poop my pants!”

“...”

“HAHAHA! Good! Good!! I’ve been waiting for the day I’d have to clean up your stinky diaper. I guess today’s the day! Hahaha!”

“Nooooo!”

In the end, Mika didn’t poop her pants and was forced to continue her Mother’s lessons.

***

Mika continued training with her sword and with her Mother for the next five months until it was time to finally make a public appearance at the Third Prince’s birthday party.