Chosen Teacher

"You ready, new girl?" A masculine voice asked from outside Vermeil's tent.

The human girl grumbled in mild annoyance when she heard the way she was being referred to but she couldn't do anything about it.

This person was her master after all.

Rising from her seat, she pushed past the flaps of her tent to meet her mentor.

Waiting outside for her was a tall yet muscular man who seemed to be the very personification of the phrase 'gentle giant'. He was wearing dark blue armor with a massive greatsword across his back, yet his friendly smile made him seem incredibly approachable.

This was the mentor Vermeil had chosen. She really had no particular reasoning behind it other than he was the only one of the other 11 heroes that did not look at her with either jealousy or rampant lust.

He was also one of the few heroes who could cultivate and use arcane.

His name was Vance Michaels and he was the 9th hero brought to this world by the great god of cleansing rain. He was quite popular among the people due to his short dirty blond hair and calm blue eyes.

When Vance saw Vermeil, he let out an impressed whistle.

"My, my! Seems my little protege had herself a bit of a glow up!"

Vermeil, not used to compliments shuffled her feet awkwardly.

After she began cultivating, Vermeil had finally stepped into the mortal realm and her body was cleansed of all impurities.

The results were extremely drastic. If before Vermeil was just an attractive young girl that you could find anywhere, she had been transformed into a super model whose face you would remember for the rest of your life.

Wearing the white and gold bio armor dress that the priests had prepared for her, she was earning her nickname among the people as the saintess of stars.

"How do you feel? Stepping into the mortal realm is quite the experience, no?" Vance asked.

Vermeil opened and closed her pale fists. "Honestly it's... incredible. My body feels so clean and filled with power and energy!"

She'd never experienced anything like this. Her body was coursing with so much power she felt like she could punch a hole through a stone wall.

'Even though it hurt like a bitch, it was still worth it!'

"Ha! Just wait until you hit the venerable realm like me! You will feel like a god among men! Or I guess a goddess in your case."

Vermeil laughed awkwardly. It was a bit strange to be the only girl among all of the heroes but she was slowly getting used to it.

"Alright, let's start your training for today!" Vance turned around and began walking through camp and Vermeil shyly followed him.

They were in a makeshift campsite with about 1,000 warriors all under his command.

All of the heroes had their own private armies that obeyed none other than them. Since Vance was both relatively new and picky about his soldiers, his army was still relatively small.

The first hero, was already in control of an army whose numbers were over 100,000.

As the two walked through the campsite, cultivators under Vance's command bowed respectfully at the two of them before opening up a path.

'I don't know how long it'll take me to get used to this...' Vermeil thought inwardly.

Going from being a loner to some big important person within the span of a week was really jarring for her.

Not only that, seeing the dedication and seriousness of everyone around her, she began to worry that she would not be able to measure up to the expectations that were being placed upon her.

When the time came, she was not sure if she would have the strength to do what needed to be done.

"Don't think about that." Vance replied without looking back.

"Pardon?" Vermeil was utterly floored. Could you read minds at higher realms? What would happen if she thought of something embarrassing??

"We all had the same worry when we first came here. But ultimately, when the moment was thrust upon us, each of us were able to step up to the call of duty. Do not worry about these people at first, don't even be afraid of the monsters we fight against, all you need right now is the desire to see another day. The rest will take care of itself."

The saintess nodded slowly, letting the wisdom of her mentor's words seep into her mind.

Already she felt herself feeling lighter and less burdened by the future. "Thank you for the wisdom, Vance."

"Hahaha! No problem kid!"

Soon the two of them reached an open field a safe distance away from the camp grounds and turned around to face each other.

"Alright, we've stabilized your cultivation with pills and a proper breathing technique for now. Do you want to try learning some arcane?"

Vermeil nodded hard as she tried her best to suppress her excitement.

This was the moment she'd been waiting for since she came to this world!

Real life magic!

Vance recognized the look of desperation in her golden eyes and chuckled.

He unsheathed his sword from his back and jammed it into the ground.

Vermeil was briefly impressed by his incredible strength before she followed his example and sat cross legged on the ground.

"Using Arcane is a bit different from cultivating the body." Vance began.

"Instead of trying to draw energy into yourself, you are using your inner element as a lighter capable of creating an even bigger flame when exposed to the necessary counterpart."

He held out his hand and a faint blue light began to glow before a small ball of water was formed.

"Since your elements are pretty rare, there isn't anyone who can teach you the best way to visualize the power to create spells. Just start small and we'll work our way up from there."

It took a while and a great deal of concentration.

Vermeil had yet to understand the technical aspect behind tapping into her elements.

However, after over an hour of meditation, she believed she might have found a possible answer.

Vance looked down at Vermeil's hands that were glowing with an intense golden light.

'What the hell... The kid's a natural.' He wanted to give the credit to his amazing teaching, but he knew he hadn't actually done much.

At this rate, Vermeil was going to become a one star mage by the end of the day.

Or so it seemed.

"Leader Vance!"

A member of Vance's private army ran forward, seemingly out of breath and nervous.

"Easy lad, Where's the fire?" Vance asked in a concerned tone.

"There is an army of fallen near our current position, it appears to be an army of beast men led by the werewolf princess herself!"

Vance's expression became serious as he faced his worried looking student.

"I'm sorry kid but it seems as though you're going to see real combat a bit sooner than we expected."