Mika adjusted her kimono and skipped over to the door with a little bounce in her step. 

“One moment.” She said before opening the door.

Face to face with Mika, Bernard brought his hand to his chest and bowed, “Good morning, Miss Mika. I hope you slept well last night.”

Mika nodded with a slight smile, “I did! In fact, it was one of the best nights of sleep I’ve ever had!”

Bernard lifted his head and returned the smile, “I’m glad to hear that. You might not have realized it, but all the bedrooms in the villa have an enchantment cast on them to promote higher-quality sleep.”

As Mika realized this, her eyes widened. Shortly after, she noticed a word she did not recognize.

“Enchantment? Is that similar to a spell?” Mika asked. 

Bernard touched his chin before nodding a moment later, “I guess you could consider enchantments similar to spells since they both use mana, but that’s not exactly correct. Enchantment was more in line with blacksmithing and alchemy.”

“Alchemy?” Mika tilted her head.

Bernard stared at Mika before a wry smile appeared on his face. ‘It seems she hasn't had much interaction with people, or society as a whole, before.’ He wondered what kind of environment she grew up in to be this talented yet so clueless. ‘I’ll have to notify the Master about this when he returns.’

While Bernard was lost in thought, Mika stared at him, waiting for an answer. When he realized this, he shook his head before answering. “In Alchemy, people called Alchemists combine different resources, plants, and mana to create something useful for one’s cultivation.”

Mika thought of the healing serums she had consumed over the past year.

‘Were those a product of Alchemy?’ She wondered if they were a product of alchemy but decided to focus on more pressing matters.

Walking out of the room with eyes full of battle intent, Mika closed the door behind her and stood beside Bernard. 

“Alright! Enough idle chat! Let’s go to the training room!” She stated.

Another wry smile appeared on Bernard’s face as he took Mika’s blunt behavior in stride, not bothered by it. Although some might consider her a bit disrespectful, Bernard found her behavior quite refreshing.

‘It’s much easier to deal with straightforward people like her than those who scheme in the shadows. I’m sure the Master would agree as well.’ Bernard thought.

However, not wanting to keep Mika waiting any longer, he put these thoughts away and began walking. 

“Very well. Please follow me, Miss Mika.”

***

Stepping into a large open room, a wave of heat washed over Mika’s body as a strong musky scent pervaded her nose. Grunts of pain and the sounds of chains clinking entered her ears as Mika caught sight of dozens of men lifting weights and sparring with one another. 

Perhaps sensing someone unfamiliar entering the training room, the men all glanced over to look at Mika, only to see a little kid and a butler standing at the entrance. Their interest plummeted, and they went back to what they were doing. 

Mika’s eyes widened at the scene in front of her as she’s never seen something so…

“...Amazing!”

Hearing Mika’s compliment, Bernard’s eyes shone with pride as he nodded and introduced the room to her, “This is our state-of-the-art training center, meant for those who follow the Body Cultivation path.” Then, he pointed at a group of machines containing what Mika assumed were weights.

“Over there, we have comprehensive, full-body weight-lifting machines meant for those in the Bronze Realm of Body Cultivation,” Bernard explained and pointed at another area in the training center containing a bunch of human-sized tubes.

“Those are for training your bones and organs. Since those are the most difficult and painful to strengthen, we’ve researched ways to make the experience easier and smoother for those in the Bronze Realm. One of those ways is the Blood Refinement Chamber.”

“Blood Refinement Chamber?” Mika tilted her head, staring at the coffin-looking machines which numerous people were using. 

Bernard nodded his head, “I won’t bore you with the details, but essentially, you’re hooked up to a machine, which cycles your blood from your bone marrow through it, pumps it full of nutrient-rich resources, and sends it back into your bloodstream to strengthen your body.”

Mika’s eyes widened, but a second later, they narrowed. She stared at the machines, feeling a tinge of anger grow in her chest. 

Bernard was about to move on, but when he sensed Mika’s abnormal emotions, he stopped. Turning to look at her, he asked, “What is it? Is there something wrong with the Blood Refinement Chambers?”

“...What about cultivation techniques? Don’t they need to use any? How can a machine replicate that?” She asked, trying to push down her irritation.

Bernard’s eyes shone with understanding as he clapped, “Ah! So, that’s what you’re worried about!” He chuckled, then explained, “No. We’ve actually found that there’s no need for a cultivation technique in the Bronze Realm, at least not before you reach the peak when you produce Aura. As long as you train your body enough, you can break through all the stages in the Bronze Realm.”

Mika’s eyes twitched, and the anger she pushed down surged, making her heart palpitate, but she controlled herself. She didn’t want to make a scene here, after all. 

“...So, you’re telling me that these machines reduce the amount of pain they feel, making it easier to break through?” Mika clenched her fists and asked. 

She didn’t quite understand why she felt so mad, but just thinking about the hell she had to go through just to break through a few stages and the fact that these guys could do so without any pain made her want to punch something. 

She had to break bones, rupture organs, and go through heart-wrenching pain every day to cultivate her body to her current level, but these guys just had to lift a few weights and sit in a machine to achieve the same thing?! 

Just the thought of that made her blood boil!

Bernard nodded with a smile at Mika’s question, “Yes! Isn’t it great? We’ve found a way to produce strong Bronze Realm cultivators reliably-”

At those words, Mika snapped, “NO, it’s not great! The whole point of body cultivating is to toughen one’s mind and body by breaking and rebuilding it over and over again through excruciating amounts of pain!” 

Everyone in the training center stopped what they were doing, hearing Mika’s outburst, but she didn’t stop. Instead, she turned to look at each and every man in the room. 

Although each of them looked strong with large muscles and a dense aura, none of them had the eyes of a warrior! None of them looked like they had survived a life-or-death battle! None of them looked like they didn’t want to be here!

These men had never gone through hardships on their path to power! 

“These cowards will never make it far in their cultivation path if they don’t experience the pain of having their bodies ripped apart! They should know that it only gets worse the farther they go! If they can’t handle the pain now, building up that mental resilience, how will they be able to handle pain that’s so bad it can literally kill them?!” Mika spat, her eyes narrowed in disgust. 

She believed every word she said. The whole point of training, whether it was back on Earth or in this new world, isn’t just to improve the strength of one’s body. It’s also meant to improve one’s mental strength as one experiences pain, hardships, and setbacks.

‘The countless times I faced despair, struggling to match the strength of my male counterparts or create a new sword technique, I pushed through the pain and pursued my goal relentlessly. Now, I’m here in this new world where anything is possible, all because I had the talent and put in the effort despite the misery!’

“......”

The whole place went silent as they all stared at Mika with wide eyes and open mouths. 

*Clink!**Clink!**Clink!*

The sound of metal hitting the ground was the only thing that could be heard, but even that wasn’t to wake them up from their stupor. Bernard wasn’t any different, either. He stared at Mika as if she had grown a second pair of arms!

He was shocked, yet at the same time, confused.

‘Why is she so angry?’ He wondered but now wasn’t the time to ask.

“Little girl,” A tall man with bulging muscles and short brown hair stepped up and looked down at Mika, “Do you mind repeating what you said? I don’t think I heard you right.”

Mika looked up at the large man, his aura pressing down on her, but she didn’t falter. Instead, a mocking smile crept up on her face, “Oh? Did I not make myself clear?” 

She cleared her throat and announced to the whole room, “I said that all your strength is useless if you didn’t earn it! You lot are unworthy to be called Body Cultivators!” 

“...”

The tall man froze, blinking his eyes a few times, before he suddenly burst out laughing, “Pfft-HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The other men soon followed suit and began laughing! 

“Hahahaha! L-Little girl, you’re too funny! Hahahaha!”

“Hahahahaha! That’s the funniest shi-ahem, stuff I’ve heard all day!”

“Hahaha! If you want to mock us, little girl, you will have to try harder than that!”

Mika’s smile disappeared, hearing how they didn’t take her words seriously, but inwardly, her impression of them rose by a notch. 

‘It seems everyone in this kingdom isn’t trash.’ 

Still, she felt she’d be doing them a disservice if she didn’t teach them the errors of their ways. As the men in the training room stared amusedly at Mika, she walked to the other side without asking permission. There, she picked up a single-edged training sword and pointed it at the tall man. 

“Since you refuse to believe my words, let me prove them to you with my sword.”

“...” 

All the laughing stopped, serious expressions painting their faces, especially the man who confronted Mika. He might just be a guard at the Emporvas Villa, but he had enough social intelligence to realize this wasn’t a joke.

‘No, from the look in her eyes, she’s dead serious. Where did this kid even come from? Who is she?’ The man wondered.

He glanced at the Butler, but seeing as how he didn’t stop anything, reality began to set in. For some reason, he had a bad premonition, but he ignored it, not believing a little girl could do anything. 

However, as both a guard and fighter, he couldn’t just take a challenge lying down. 

"Do you mean what you said?" He asked in a deep voice. 

Mika nodded, "Of course! If I can't beat you in a single move, my life has been worthless up to this point!"

Mika’s taunt seemed to spark a reaction as a scowl appeared on the man’s face, his frown deepening.

“Alright, little girl,” He growled, “I’ll play your game. I normally wouldn’t fight kids, but since you want a beating so bad, who am I to deny you of that?”

Mika nodded, happy that the man didn’t deny her challenge. 

With a sword in hand, she walked over to the sparring area, followed by the man. The two stood face to face, around ten meters from each other, holding swords. The man had a standard, long double-edged blade with decent posture. 

He stared into Mika’s eyes, trying to intimidate her with his aura and bigger frame, but when he did, a shiver ran down his spine. Mika’s black eyes were as calm and deep as the void yet as piercing as a sword. She didn’t look perturbed in the slightest, even against a superior opponent. 

Instead, an aura of confidence radiated from her very being. 

‘What the hell?! Who is this girl?!’ He screamed internally, but it was too late to back out now.

Meanwhile, Mika stood there, hardly even glancing at her opponent. Just from the way he held his weapon and positioned himself, she knew he was easy prey. 

“Come!” Mika said, motioning with her free hand for him to attack first. 

The man, not in his right state of mind, followed through with Mika’s demand and charged at her. 

“HAAAAA!” He released a battle cry, swinging his sword when he got within range of Mika, but as if she was a ghost, the girl seemed to have disappeared before his eyes!

“Wha-?!” His words got caught in his throat as he felt the smooth yet somewhat sharp edge of a wooden sword press against his neck, drawing a sliver of blood.

“You’re dead.” The girl whispered in his ear. 

That was all it took for the man’s brain to shut off, and he fainted.