The following morning, my excitement got the better of me and I ended up going to the meeting spot earlier than the day before. Noticing that Shina was nowhere to be seen I decided to sit down on the floor.

Then suddenly my whole body shivered as my hair stood on end, a feeling I had long since forgotten. It's coming from behind me. I thought as I quickly stood up and dashed forward a few feet.

Looking back I saw it was Shina. "My, my. You certainly have good senses, for a human," she said. "I'm happy to see you made it, meow."

"Were you just hiding there this whole time, waiting for me to arrive?" I asked, disregarding her welcoming surprise.

"My kind is sensitive to mana and you have a lot of it. So I noticed you were coming," she explained. Oh yeah, I remember Diana saying the same thing. "Anyway, I didn't think you'd get here this early,"

"I could say the same to you."

"I'm always up this early," she said, sounding proud of the fact.

"So. . . Can we get started now?" I asked after a moment of awkward silence, feeling impatient.

"Right!" she said, sounding enthusiastic as she looked at me. "But before we begin there are a few rules you should know about."

"Rule number one! You absolutely cannot use any magic. Not even internally, until you've fully learned the basics," she said.

"W-What!? Why!?" I asked unsure of what her motives were.

"One must learn how to live without magic. Especially you, from our fight yesterday I noticed you relied on mana to win," she spoke pointing her finger at me.

I kind of agree with her since I use magic for literally everything. For example, when I'm lazy I just call upon my gravity to pull items toward me or even to open and close doors. But. . . "Not even healing?"

"Nope! No healing," she answered. "In order to grow you have to let your body heal naturally,"

Seriously!? Not even healing magic! I guess I'll just have to comply. "got it."

"Rule number two!" she announced. Does she have to yell every time? "No weapons! Only hands." Okay, that is something I can do.

"Rule number three!" she exclaimed holding out three fingers. Seriously, with the yelling! "You have to follow all my instructions."

"And finally, rule number four," placing her hands on her hips she spoke more delicately. "You have to agree that I'm the best! Meow," she said striking a pose.

"Okay?" I spoke a bit confused. I have doubts about that last one.

"Now. . . Let's begin!" she declared with a wide happy smile. For someone who seemed unwilling to teach me the previous day she sure looks happy.

-----

"Higher!" she said sounding annoyed as she stretched my leg up. "Higher!!!- Uh, Ahh!" she let out as we both fell to the ground. With an annoyed expression, she quickly stood up. "How do you expect to throw a kick if you can't even lift your leg high enough!?"

"S-Sorry, I'm not that flexible as you can see," I told her showing an embarrassed smile.

"Ugh," she let out a tempered sigh as she stared down at the ground thinking something over. "Okay, change of plans. We'll put aside combat training for now and work on making your body flexible."

"Sounds good," I replied. Quickly turning her head to me she gave me an intense look and then jumped me. "Woah!!! What are you doing- Ahh!!" I let out in pain as she stretched both my legs while bringing my upper body to the ground.

"We've wasted enough time today and I want to hear your stories of Canavar so let's get this over with quickly," following her words she began pulling harder.

-----

I feel violated. I thought as I laid face down on the floor. "Well, that's all for today," Shina said with a smile as she looked down at me. "Now!" getting down on my level she began to poke me. "Time for you to do your end of the deal!"

"Okay, okay," I said managing to find the energy to sit up. "Now. . . Where should I begin?"

"From the beginning! Meow," she exclaimed with a wide happy smile. "Tell me everything! Meow."

A smile escaped my lips as I witnessed her behavior. "Alright," and so I began retelling the story, starting when I got to the city of Brixton. I told her about all the members of Leon's party and ended it where we defeated the goblin gang.

"Wow!!! So cool! I can't believe you fought real monsters! Tell me more! Tell me more!" she said, looking at me with sparkling eyes.

"We've been here for some time now," I pointed out, realizing the sun had come up a while ago. "I should really get going. I'll tell you the rest tomorrow," hearing my words her face fell. "Why do you like hearing about Canavar so much?" I asked.

"Well. . . It's my dream to go one day," she answered. "Just like you, I want to kill monsters and grow super strong, haha!" she said letting out a small laugh as she fantasized about her future.

"Really? Well, I have plenty of stories coming," I said to which her face seemed to light up. "But for now I must go," because I'm super hungry. I haven't eaten anything since waking up.

"Okay then," she spoke, looking up at me. "I'll see you tomorrow then," was the last thing she said before running away. Seeing as her small figure left my line of sight I began to walk back.

-----

It's been about four weeks since I started training with Shina. And, as she said, we haven't been doing any combat training until my body was ready. Every day she'd hold me in uncomfortable and painful positions but as time passed it gradually got easier.

And today, as we were doing the everyday stretch, I managed to pull through it without any difficulty. I even surprised myself, I was now able to do what I never thought I could. I sat on the floor, legs fully spread into a split position.

I could even bend my body back and catch myself on the floor, like a bridge. I can basically perform calisthenics to some extent. Though I still need lots of work, but I am happy with my progress.

All of this, I can do without the help of mana. Who knew my body was capable of this? And in just a short amount of time too?

As promised, I'd always tell Shina stories about my journey up in Canavar and end them on a cliffhanger just to make sure she'd come the following day. But now, even if I didn't, I'm sure she'd still show up.

After my body achieved some level of flexibility it was finally time to move on to combat training. "You ready?" she asked. As I gave her an eager nod she continued. "Now take off your shoes and go give that tree a few kicks and punches, I want to see what you can do," she said pointing her finger at a nearby tree.

"Alright," I replied a bit hesitant to punch a solid object without the protection of my mana to reduce both the pain and damage. "Here I go," readying myself I took in a deep breath and. . . "Hmmmm!!" I let out quietly in pain as my fist made contact with the hard wood. "There," I said pretending it didn't hurt.

"Well go again," she said as if it were a matter of fact. "You have to hit the tree constantly to strengthen your punches. Hit it twenty times. And hit it properly this time."

"Twenty times!?" I repeated sounding shocked by her words. Is this really how she trained? Looking at her now her hands are pretty calloused.

Now that I think about it mana is basically a cheat. Any normal person could throw a hard punch with the strength of mana. But how could they throw an even harder punch? By adding more mana?

Well, yes and no. There is a limit on what mana is able to do for you. If you add a large amount of mana behind a punch, most of that mana will disperse and leak into the atmosphere, not contributing to its original purpose.

But say, what if the strength was already there from the start? Raw strength which will then be empowered further by mana. Not only will the strike have more power but it will save you mana as well. Your power will rise depending on what your body can handle.

As a swordsman, I was only bothered in perfecting my mana control to deliver fast and powerful strikes. Since the sword did the slicing I only worried about having enough strength to push it through.

But I see now that the foundation for all that power lies within my own. In order for me to grow further I need to start putting some real effort into strengthening my physical body. Mana can only do for you, what you're willing to do for it.

If I don't strengthen my muscles then mana will strengthen them for me but stop there, leaving no room for additional power. But if I, myself, had strengthened them from the start then mana would only work to empower them further.

Wow, it's almost as if everything I thought I knew was insignificant due to now knowing this fact. The more I discover, the more there is to discover.

This should've been obvious from the start since to learn internal mana control you first need to start training your body. But once people do learn it they don't stop using it.

I never thought of putting restrictions on myself like not using mana. No one ever told me to strengthen my physical body, not even my old retired tutor, Thorin. Could it be because. . . No one else knows.

Most people train their strength by using mana to empower themselves. Your muscles still get stronger even if you do train with mana but at a much smaller pace. That's why it takes years, decades even, for a person to see some significant growth. But training both mana flow and strength separately could lead to a different result.

Of course, this doesn't mean that you have to have a big bulky body to be the strongest. After all, Thorin didn't look that big, neither did Solomon. And they're both people who are looked up to due to their strength.

No, no. Certainly, some people have to be aware of this. . . Well, in this world people do rely on mana too much so it's possible that the majority might not know. I mean the beast warriors train like this so they have to be aware of it themselves.

"Hey, Arata!" hearing Shina's words I snapped back to reality. Locking eyes with her I noticed she looked confused. "What are you doing? You were just standing there for a long time?"

"Tell me something. . ." I bean to say. "Why do your people put a rule against using mana when training?"

"Huh! I dunno," she answered. "That's the way I've always been taught," What did I expect, she's still too young to know anything. "But that doesn't matter. I told you to punch the tree so punch it. . . Or," she paused, showing a smirk. "You scared to get hurt."

"Alright, here I go," I said then punched the hard wood once more.

"No! No! No! You're doing it wrong!" she said. Seriously!? Do you even know how to throw a proper punch?" she asked walking close to me. Kicking one of my legs so they'd spread apart she forcefully lowered my body.

"Now bring this hand up for defense," she spoke moving my left arm forward into an L shape with my palm facing away from me. "Then your other one down here, for attack," she added moving my dominant arm down level with my waist, my hand closed into a tight fist.

"There you go that looks a lot better," she said with a smile. So this is the Avalon's fighting stance. I thought while looking down at myself, noticing I was in a position that I once would've found trouble being in. "Now move your legs forward and at the same time throw a punch."

"Ha!" I let out as I followed her instructions. Ouch!! I thought as my fist made contact with the tree. That hurts. "Do I have to be in this position every time I practice my punches?" having to hold this stance can become quite uncomfortable.

"Yes my people fight using low stances so you have to get used to it," she explained. "Now continue! Nineteen more punches and then twenty kicks!" she said, sounding excited.

Well, let's not waste any more time. I thought as I braced myself for pain.

After finishing those excruciating attacks the throbbing pain in my knuckles and legs still lingered. "Now!" I heard Shina say. Turning around I saw her ready in her stance. "Time for some actual combat. Watch my every move and try to block my every attack."

As a smile escaped my lips I readied myself for any incoming attacks.

-----

"Ouch," I let out as I walked back beaten and bruised. I'm going to have to sneak inside the house I don't want anybody to see me like this.

The Avalon style. A hand-to-hand combat style that requires a flexible body to maneuver around and inflict deadly strikes. I wasn't interested in learning hand-to-hand combat before. But thinking about it now if I ever get disarmed I can always rely on this skill.

Since the foundation of their style relies more on low and precise strikes it's a technique that any normal person could learn. But staying that low while moving around sure takes a lot of leg power.

Not every tribe member uses this type of fighting. For example, Diana was a swordswoman who, looking back now, I guess practiced the Euro's style.

And also, turns out that when Shina said their combat techniques had to stay a secret within their tribe, it was all bull crap. The style is practiced everywhere. I could even get grandpa Orin to hire a tutor to teach me.

But in all honesty, I rather not do that. There are several reasons as to why I don't. First of all, Shina goes straight to the point of how something g should be done. Even goes as far as to guide me physically.

While a tutor would be afraid to even touch me. Since I'm a noble kid tutors would be afraid to hurt me. While Shina gladly beats me up. Just to show her superiority.

Especially today, since we couldn't use mana her combat skills were more than enough to land some good hits.

Tutors are too nice. For example, they'll say something like 'It needs a little more work' Or 'with more practice, you'll get there'. While Shina is more than happy to point out how bad I am. Sometimes you need some serious criticism to really grow.

I'm sure that I'd learn more with a tutor but I don't want to bother Grandpa Orin or the others about it. Just the basics are enough.