The next day, Mika stood in the center of Aurelia's training room, her eyes scanning the space as she took in the equipment and layout. Just like in the training room for the Knights, there were free weights, machines, and other devices. However, she glanced at them for a second before ignoring them.

‘We won’t be using any of that for a while.’ Mika had a different plan for Aurelia that was a bit more unorthodox than what the people of this world were used to.

When she spectated the Knights' training, she noticed that most of them spent their time lifting heavy weights, improving their muscle strength and overall power. Mika didn’t have a problem with what they were doing, but she knew they would severely lack control over their body if they didn’t put that strength to practical use.

Just like she expected, sparring against the Knights revealed that while they were strong, that was about it. They couldn’t control their bodies like how someone who had conquered their own body would.

Mika wasn’t going to allow Aurelia to make that same mistake. She would make sure Aurelia knew how to control her own body properly!

As Mika was thinking about how she would sculpt Aurelia into a warrior, the girl entered the room dressed in workout clothes. She tiptoed in quietly, her body quivering as she tried not to disturb Mika. However, her plan failed as Mika turned around and looked into her fearful yet determined eyes.

“Are you ready for today’s training session, student Aurelia?” Mika crossed her arms and smirked.

Aurelia almost flinched under Mika’s intense gaze, but she clenched her fists and stared back into Mika’s eyes.

“...Not yet, you brute! Before I do anything, I want proof that you aren’t just a fraud trying to fleece money from my parents!”

Mika raised an eyebrow at her accusatory tone and became even more amused. “Oh? Was my fight with Orein not enough proof for you? What about with your very own Knights? Did that mean nothing?”

Aurelia just snorted and pulled out her phone, “You might be strong and talented with a sword, but I want to know how that relates to these nonsensical workouts!”

She pulled a few videos of her Knights working out and other videos of people showing off their workout routines. While the ways they worked out were slightly different, they were all either lifting heavy weights, in a gravity chamber, eating something that was supposed to make them stronger, or all of the above.

“This is what everyone who’s trying to strengthen their body does! But you… you are forcing me to do these ‘push-ups’ and other such exercises! How am I supposed to get stronger by doing this?”

It was a valid question, one Mika was surprised Aurelia hadn’t asked earlier. 

This morning, Mika had looked up the same thing Aurelia had just shown her and learned that bodyweight exercises aren’t that popular. In fact, it seemed like people looked down on them instead!

However, it’s not like Mika didn’t understand why. Bodyweight exercises can only get a person so far. 

How could someone who only does bodyweight push-ups compare to someone who can punch holes through steel walls? It’s obvious who will win in such a scenario.

Mika chuckled at the irony, ‘In my previous life, I was among the first to discover bodyweight exercises and used them to help me reach my full potential. Yet, now that I’m in this magical world, they’re looked down on. The world certainly works in mysterious ways.’

That’s right! In Mika’s never-ending pursuit of power, she discovered that targeting a specific muscle group and working them out continuously over a long period of time could strengthen them! 

Over the years, she spent much of her time perfecting these exercises, only to end up here, where those very same exercises were deemed useless!

Mika gave Aurelia another look, but instead of answering her question, she turned around and dropped to the floor into a push-up position. 

Aurelia was confused about what Mika would do but watched nonetheless.

Mika didn’t bother doing a push-up and instead lifted both her legs off the ground, holding her body up with just her arms. As Mika stayed in this position, she curled her body up and extended her legs out in front of her at a 90-degree angle.

Transitioning from that position, she moved into a handstand. 

Then, she removed an arm from the ground. 

Then a finger…

And another one…

And another one…

And finally, she lifted the last finger from the ground, balancing her body on just her pointer finger alone.

However, that wasn’t enough for Mika. To show off her skills a little more, she began waving her hand and feet around in the air like a crazy person. Her finger trembled, shifting ever-so-slightly to keep her balance whenever she moved, but it didn’t collapse.

Afterward, Mika went on to show off a few more incredible feats of body control, strength, and balance. This continued for a few minutes before Mika felt she had demonstrated enough.

Jumping back on her feet, Mika straightened out her kimono and stared at the dumbfounded Aurelia with a grin.

“The road to power is a long and arduous journey. You’re just a child; you have your entire life ahead of you to get strong. Now is the time for you to deepen your understanding of your body, work on your foundations, and grasp the art of control. Lifting weights is great, but if you can’t even deal with your own body weight, what’s the point of all that strength?” 

“That’s what I aim to teach you during our training sessions. My goal was never to make you strong. My goal was to help you learn how to use your body correctly so that when you do become strong, you aren’t completely useless.”

Aurelia could only stand there, rooted to the ground, staring at Mika in awe. She might be a child, but that didn’t mean she was ignorant of the ways of the world. As the daughter of one of the most successful merchants in the Kingdom, she had to know more simply due to her position and status. 

She knew that while Body Cultivation makes you stronger, it also makes you heavier. With Mira’s strength and size, it should’ve been hard just to do a handstand with both hands, much less to do it on one finger! Then, she showed off her incredible balance, muscle control, and mind-body connection with all the crazy acrobatics she did.

Maybe if Mika were just a normal kid without any strength, this wouldn’t have been AS impressive, but with all that additional weight on her body, Aurelia had no choice but to acknowledge her skills.

‘Most Body Cultivators lose out in agility and speed compared to mages due to all that mass, but this doesn’t seem to be a problem for Mika,’ The more Aurelia thought about it, the more she realized how amazing Mika was.

‘Can I do that too if I follow these workouts?’

Her eyes couldn’t help but brighten at the thought. One of the reasons Body Cultivation turned her, and many other women, off were because they’d lose some of their tenderness and flexibility, all while gaining tons of weight!

What woman wanted to weigh hundreds of kilograms, even if they were still lean?! She could become a mage and not have to deal with the problems that come with Body Cultivation.

‘But Mika’s telling me she can help counteract those problems with these exercises?’

Unfortunately, her assumption was only half right. 

While it was true that Mika’s workouts would help her control her own body better and become more flexible, that wasn’t what Mika did.

Her Body Cultivation technique and physique were just special.

“Any more questions?” Mika asked.

Aurelia shook her head and put her phone away. What more could she say? Mira had proved her talent, strength, and skills during her spars with the Knights and Mr. Orien, and now she had shown that she was indeed worthy of teaching her.

“Good! Now, let’s start with ‘pull-ups’ today! We’ll only stop until you physically can’t do anymore.” Mika grinned and dragged Aurelia to the pull-up bar. 

Aurelia groaned as she could already imagine how tired she’ll feel after today’s workout, but she followed Mika nonetheless. Her eyes gleamed with interest as she wanted to see if Mika’s words were true.

Standing under the pull-up bar, Aurelia stared up at it, but for some reason, it now looked much larger and more intimidating than before.

“Go on. Show me how many you can do.” Mika urged her. 

Aurelia gave her a firm nod, took a few deep breaths, then jumped up and grabbed onto the bar.

“Keuk!” She groaned as she tried to lift herself, her muscles straining. She struggled with all her might but couldn’t reach past the halfway point.

“Come on! You got this!! Get your chin over that bar!!” Mika clapped on the side to try and motivate her.

“Ugh!” Aurelia groaned again and engaged every muscle in her core to try and lift herself up. She shakily brought herself up to eye level with the bar, and then her arms gave out, and she fell to the ground.

“Haaa… Haaaa… I can’t… do anymore…” Aurelia slumped on the ground, struggling to breathe, and said.

“Hmm~” Mika stroked her chin thoughtfully, “So you can’t even do one, huh? Seems like we’ve got a lot of work to do.” 

Aurelia looked away, feeling awkward, as she had just complained to Mika that they should be working with weights. Yet, she couldn’t even do one pull-up.

‘...A-Am I really so weak?’ Aurelia stared down at her hands as if they betrayed her.

‘I only eat the highest quality and most nutritious food. I’m also fairly active, at least when I finish my studies. My body should be stronger than normal girls my age. So, how can I not do a pull-up? Did I do something wrong?’

Mika stared at her expression and somewhat understood what she was thinking, “Hmph! Did you think a pull-up was so easy? Your form was terrible; you activated the wrong muscles and didn’t push yourself hard enough! If you had truly gone all out, you would’ve been able to complete that one pull-up, but you failed because you didn’t understand your limits!”

Aurelia’s head dropped as if she had done something wrong, but Mika’s next words sent a shiver down her spine.

“However, don’t worry. I’ll be sure to train those imperfections out of you.” Mika said with a wide grin.

“Now, hop on that bar and do it again!”

***

While Mika was training with Aurelia, Katherine and Darius were talking with one another in his office.

“So, I heard from Bernard that Mika sparred with Orien and was able to land a hit on him,” Darius said, not taking his eyes away from the computer as he continued working.

Katherine nodded with a smile, “That’s right. Although Orien had limited his strength to equal Mika’s, it was still a surprising feat.

Darius nodded, but there wasn’t a hint of surprise on his face. It was as if he had expected her to do something like that.

Katherine wasn’t bothered by his attitude and continued, “She really is a talented little girl–so much so that it’s unbelievable. It makes one wonder who her parents are. They must be incredibly proud to have a little girl like her.”

Darius paused for a second and looked at his wife for the first time since she entered the room.

“I’ve already asked a few investigators to find out who the Zollers are, but they have yet to come back with any information.”

Katherine’s eyes widened slightly, shocked by that knowledge, “Really? The Quantum Sleuths can’t find anything about Mika’s parents? Do they live in a cave or something??”

Katherine knew just how powerful her husband’s intelligence network was. On the outside, the Quantum Sleuths were an independent group of investigators considered to be some of the best hackers and information gatherers on this side of the Motionless Sea. However, unknown to all, they were part of Darius’ secret forces.

‘Yet, even these men were unable to find anything about Mika or her parents??’ Katherine could hardly believe such a thing. 

Everyone on this planet has left a footprint. For people like the Quantum Sleuths, tracing those footprints back to the source was as easy as breathing.

‘The only way to completely disappear is to erase all evidence that you existed in the first place.’ Katherine’s eyes narrowed upon realizing this, ‘It seems Mika’s parents have quite the status. If she’s truly from Elysium, like she said, then they must be Earls, at the very least. However, if even Darius can’t find them, I would even go so far as to assume they are Dukes!’

If that were the case, it would make much more sense. Not only was Elysium on the other side of the world, but it was much stronger than the Barlton Kingdom. A ‘small-time’ merchant like Darius couldn’t obtain any information about the Dukes of Elysium even if he spent his entire net worth!

“It seems like you understand,” Darius nodded at his wife with a slight smile, “Let’s just let Mika do what she wants. I’m sure her parents will find her eventually. She’s already started to make a fuss here, after all. This could also be our chance to connect with Elysium.”

Katherine agreed with her husband. Elysium was a huge country with vast amounts of resources and knowledge that they’d never seen before. Making connections with such a country and a Duke no less was no different than ascending the heavens in a single step! 

However, she couldn’t help but frown, “S-Shouldn’t we try and contact her parents? She’s just a little girl; I’m sure she misses her family.”

Darius thought for a moment but shook his head. Katherine gawked at her husband’s heartlessness, but before she could say anything, he held up his hand and explained.

“How would I contact them? If they are hidden this deeply, then it means that even most of the other people in Elysium don’t know about them, including other nobles. Most likely, only other Dukes know of their existence, but do you really expect one of them to accept my call? One wrong move, and I might start an international crisis.” 

That’s what he said, but on the inside, he was thinking of something else, ‘It’s not every day that a Duke’s child rolls around. How can I let go of this opportunity for my daughter? If Mika is willing to teach her some secret training methods, then there’s no harm in keeping Mika’s existence hidden a while longer.’ 

‘I’ll ask the Quantum Sleuths to erase her tracks later.’

Katherine unconsciously nodded her head as Darius’ words sounded logical. However, she still felt that something was off, but she just shrugged her shoulders.

‘If that’s what he says, then it must be true,’ Katherine thought, ‘For now, while she’s here, I’ll just care for Mika in her parent’s stead. Perhaps during this time, she and Aurelia could become friends!’ 

“Anyways, I came to you because Mika needs paperwork to become a mercenary. Can you handle that for me?” Katherine changed the subject and asked. 

Darius nodded, “No problem. It’ll be done in a few days.”

“Great! Thank you!” Katherine smiled and nodded, “Then, I’ll go make us some lunch.”

Darius returned the nod and went back to work. Katherine didn’t disturb her husband any longer and left the room.