The surrounding men stared at this scene in disbelief! While seeing a small child taking down a fully grown man was already weird enough, for it to happen so quickly was what really shocked them. One move! All it took was one move to take him down! Yet, the girl looked like she had barely tried!

“Holy shi-! T-That girl really did as she said she would. She took Bob down in a single move!” One of them woke up from his reverie and exclaimed, causing the rest of the men to snap out of it. 

“Nonsense! How could she have beaten him if Bob hadn’t underestimated her?!”

“Hmph! I agree that he didn’t take her seriously, which was his mistake, but didn’t you see her footwork? That’s not something an ordinary child should be able to do.”

“Not only that, but her speed was also abnormal. I think only someone in the Middle or Late Stages of the Bronze Realm would be able to keep up with her.”

“Now that you mention it…”

They gasped when they realized that Mika had that much strength at such a young age! In the Barlton Kingdom, and most human countries for that matter, the general consensus is that people won’t begin cultivating their bodies until they reach adulthood, or at the very least, after they’ve formed their Mana Circuit.

While one of the only adverse effects of doing so is that forming one’s Mana Circuit becomes harder, another reason is that Body Cultivation is hard. It’s forcefully altering one’s muscular, bone, and organ structure, then elevating it to a higher degree. Not only is the pain severe, but it’s quite complex if you don’t know what you’re doing. Leaving this up to children, who can easily screw this up, creating a poor foundation that they won’t be able to change for the rest of their lives, isn’t intelligent.

Lastly, while rare, there are some cases of the body mutating when a child cultivates it before they mature. 

After their thoughts reached this point, they gasped again, and how they looked at Mika changed. Some looked at her with pity thinking that her future was ruined, while others looked at her as if she was some sort of exotic animal. 

However, if they knew that Mika wasn’t 10 years old but a little over 3 and that her current body is the result of her physique and Body Cultivation Technique, who knows what they’d think?

“Aren’t you guys forgetting a few important facts?” Suddenly, a lean yet muscular man spoke up. Everyone’s eyes turned to him, waiting for his next words.

“Not only is she this strong at such a young age, which is already extraordinarily rare, but her sword skills are nothing to scoff at either.” 

The men tilted their heads as they recalled the fight. Although Mika technically didn’t even swing her sword, the way she snaked around her opponent and carried herself showed that she had skills and experience beyond her years. 

“Gasp! You’re right!”

“...W-What the hell? Who is this little monster?”

Just as their minds began wondering, someone began clapping behind them, followed by a voice they knew all too well. 

“Spectacular fight, Mika! I knew you were amazing, but to think you could take down one of our Apprentice Knights in a single blow!” He praised, but then a coy smile appeared on his face, “However, there’s no way you’re satisfied with that fight, right?” 

Mika glanced over at him and nodded, “So, he was only an apprentice knight, huh? Well, I guess that explains why he was so weak.”

The men felt their eyebrows twitch as being called “weak” by a child hurt their pride, but they didn’t have a way to refute her. The Apprentice Knight, Bob, already made them look weak and stupid for losing in a single move. The only thing they could do now to regain their honor was to challenge her to a duel. 

A young man with a similar aura and strength to Bob stepped out of the crowd, dragged the unconscious man out of the arena, and entered the sparring platform. When his eyes met Mika’s, they couldn’t help but narrow. Unlike Bob, who underestimated his opponent, he now knew not to do that and would be more careful.

He held a wooden spear, pointed it at Mika, and said, “My name is Alex, and I’m an Apprentice Knight just like Bob. With your strength, you might be able to beat me, but I won’t go down as easily as him!”

After announcing that, his knees bent, lowering his body as he readied his spear in a more defensive position.

Mika noticed this and nodded in approval, ‘At least he’s willing to set aside his pride and just strive to do better than his predecessor.’

A smile spread across Mika's face, and she said, “I like your grit, Alex! Now, let’s see if you can stay true to your words!”

Without any warning, Mika dashed at him! Alex’s eyes widened at the sudden attack, but it was soon replaced with a serious expression as he stared at Mika, trying to guess her next move to block it. 

‘I just need to survive one attack, and I’ll be better than Bob!’ That was his only thought. 

Mika raised her sword above her head to attack. Seeing this, Bob held his spear horizontally in both hands to block it. As Mika’s sword descended, his lips slowly curled up, but soon his expression froze as he felt a jab at his stomach, and he fell to the ground.

“Ugh!” 

Before he could regain his senses, he felt the familiar feeling of sharpened wood pressed against his neck. 

“You died. Twice.” Mika’s voice brushed against his ears, causing his shoulders to drop in defeat. 

Raising his arms, signaling his loss, he looked up at Mika with respect in his eyes and asked, “How did you do that? I thought you raised your sword to hit me with an overhead strike, but how did you switch to a thrust without me realizing?”

Mika raised an eyebrow and glanced at him, amused that he had taken the loss so well, and answered, “I did initiate the attack with the overhead strike, but right before I hit your spear, I transitioned into a thrust, stabbing your stomach.”

Upon hearing her answer, Alex revealed a surprised expression and fell into deep thought. After a few moments, a light of understanding shone from his eyes, and he nodded at Mika, “I see. Thank you for telling me.”

With that, he got up and left the arena, not daring to look back. 

Mika silently chuckled at his behavior, but it was not like she didn’t understand. Her ability to do that move required absolute control over her body, perfect swordsmanship fundamentals, and a keen sense of battle. To seamlessly switch from a vertical strike to a horizontal thrust is impossible unless one can control their body and muscles in a way, so the attack doesn’t lose any power.

It’s no wonder Alex was upset and depressed after understanding how he lost. He was vastly outclassed, and by a 10-year-old at that.

Mika pushed the last battle out of her mind as she stared out into the crowd, her eyes roaming across the other men in the training center.

“Who’s next?” She asked, but nobody made any immediate moves to fight her. With that last battle, nobody doubted Mika’s skill and took sparring against her very seriously. They didn’t want to be humiliated by a child, after all.

Mika frowned, seeing this, but she wouldn’t be herself if she didn’t provoke someone.

“Hmph! Since nobody dares to come up, I suppose this is the best you lot can do.” Then, she sighed, “And here I was hoping one of you could last more than a single hit, but I guess that’s expecting too much from a group of losers who only care about muscles rather than actual skill.”

That seemed to rile up the crowd a bit as their fists clenched and they ground their teeth, staring at Mika with flames of anger spewing out of their eyes. 

However, Mika wasn’t through taunting them yet, as she wanted a real fight, not these baby spars!

“Oh? Did that make you guys angry?” Mika asked with a slight smile, which only grew over time, “I was only speaking the truth. In a contest of skill, none of you in this room are even worthy enough to lick my shoes, much less spar with me.” 

That last statement was the straw that broke the camel’s back…

“This bitc-!”

“That’s it! I’m through listening to this arrogant child’s words! If it’s a fight you want, then it’s a fight you’ll get!”

“Screw it! I’ll admit that you’re a bit more skilled than me, but aren’t you a little too much?! In a fight, nothing is guaranteed!”

“Fuuuuucccc-! I’ll show you how amazing the Emporvas Knights are!”

Both Apprentice Knights, who were in the Bronze Realm, and actual Knights, who were in the Iron Realm, were enraged at Mika’s words! Most of them have spent YEARS training, getting stronger and more skilled with their weapon. This is especially true for Knights, who have spent at least a decade(s) or more to reach their current status.

What Mika said just undermined all the hard work and effort they’ve put into training! 

However, what they didn’t know was that Mika had worked harder than all of them, as she had spent her entire previous life training her swordsmanship. With her talent, Mika’s 40+ years of training are worth hundreds of years, maybe more for any average person. 

So, it’s not like what she said was wrong, as she truly believed that nobody in this room could compete with her in terms of raw skill. Sure, there were plenty in this room who could brute force their way to victory, but Mika never claimed that she was stronger than anybody. 

As she had expected, a man with no shirt on and numerous scars all over his body jumped up onto the platform. He had a more savage aura compared to the rest of the men, but Mika still saw him as nothing more than a wannabe warrior.

He stared down at Mika like a beast, holding a sword to his side, trying to intimidate her, but she didn’t back down. Seeing an amused smile spread across her face, the man felt his anger rise. 

“I’ll suppress my strength to your level and teach you not to be so arrogant.” He growled before raising his sword in front of him. 

Mika nodded and readied her sword. Without another word, both of them dashed each other at the same time. The man went in for a diagonal slash, and normally one might expect Mika to either dodge, block, or counter, but she did neither. Instead, with a sudden burst of speed, she appeared right before the man and jabbed her sword into his chin!

“Blurgh!” 

This disoriented him for a moment, but that was all she needed to press her sword against his neck, winning the spar. 

“NEXT!”

She yelled as she hopped back to her side of the arena, ignoring her stunned opponent completely. 

While others might have said that her attack was risky, and they’d normally be correct, Mika thought otherwise. 

With her small body, fighting against a full-grown man was already hard enough. If she didn’t close the distance as soon as the fight started, it’d be hard for her to gain any advantage.

Generally, her motto in these types of situations is to “Strike first. Strike fast. Strike hard.” 

If an opponent can’t deal with that, then in Mika’s eyes, they are unworthy of sparring against her as it shows their lacking experience. People who have fought many life-and-death battles understand this and prepare for their opponent to go all out early on. 

Mika was searching for that person. A person who could give her a proper fight. A real warrior. She wanted to fight against someone who could truly put her skills to the test instead of just weaklings and beasts.