Elise First Training

"Well then, it's time to start your first training session, Elise."

"Yes, Teacher!"

"Next time, inform us before you teleport us somewhere and not after!"

While Nex and Elise were in high spirits, Jane on the other hand was grumbling. The enthusiasm that the two had didn't change her mood for the better.

That bastard, according to Jane, appeared out of nowhere right after she had dropped Eddie at school. The next thing she knew, she found herself, along with Elise in a place where they usually train. Only this time, the area looked quite different.

"Wait, did you do your fight here?"

Jane's eyes widened as she surveyed the totally wrecked area.

"That's right, Big Sister."

Elise's shining eyes roamed around as if appreciating her own handiwork.

"So this is the result of a fight between A-Rankers. So destructive..."

Jane was shocked. She never thought that Hunters could make so much damage! When she thought nothing could shock her further with regards to this matter, she heard Elise say something.

"Big Sister is misunderstanding something. This wasn't a fight between A-Ranked Hunters nor did it show the real power of the individuals involved."

Elise giggled for a bit before explaining more.

"First, this was just a spar between Hunters. So most of the attacks that we used were less threatening and aimed more towards knocking out the opponent. We never aimed to seriously injure one another nor kill each other. Second, I did all of the damage and all Teacher did was to dodge, block and one time flick my forehead. Lastly and most importantly, the real reason why it can't be counted as an A-Rankers fight is that Teacher's power is way above an A-Ranker!"

"What?!"

At the first part, Jane was shocked. The second part, she stared at Elise with wonder and newfound light. When the third part was said, Jane felt as though a bomb exploded inside her head.

Her brain was a gory mess inside her skull so she weakly turned towards the silver-haired man. He was just watching them converse from the side, not really bothered that he was being talked about.

"Nex, didn't your rank in your Hunter ID indicate that you're an A-Ranker?"

He nodded as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"That's right. I thought that having a high rank will be bothersome, so I faked the result. Hahaha..."

*Smack!*

"You, a*shole! And how long were you going to keep this fact to yourself?"

"I didn't think that it will matter. At least, not until you got to A-Rank..."

"So you didn't say anything?"

"Come on. What would have happened if you knew earlier?"

"I would still have my trust in you!"

"...Sorry."

Elise was awed by the exchange. She watched how her Senior Sister berated their teacher with wonder.

'Senior Sister sure is strong.'

After unleashing her anger at Nex, Jane somewhat felt a little calm. She sighed before asking him something that made her curious.

"Now that we have finished with that, can you tell us your real strength?"

He made a complicated face.

"This... I train according to a special system. So I can't say what my real rank is. But if you want, you can think of me as a very powerful High-Ranker."

Seeing his reluctance, Jane can only let the topic go as if it had been answered clearly. Elise made a similar expression of disappointment.

"Well, never mind it now. Let's start training now instead of wasting time!"

Nex quickly changed the topic with renewed enthusiasm.

He then turned to Elise.

"Elise, I need you to show me the way you usually train.

"Of course, Teacher!"

Elise moved like she was about to pull out her spear before freezing on the spot.

"Ah! I forgot about my spear!"

Nex was confused.

"You didn't buy another one?"

Elise lowered her head with a slightly red face. Her voice was quiet and tiny she could barely be heard.

"I couldn't. The one Teacher broke cost all of my savings."

He was put in the awkward spotlight. Immediately, he tried to appease her.

"Oh, sorry about that. Don't worry, I'll get you a new one! Just wait for a moment!"

As he said that, a small gate opened in the air. He shoved his hand inside of it as if he was searching for something.

"Found it!"

Both girls didn't even have the time to say something when Nex cried out happily. He pulled out a very large spear from the gate.

It was a very imposing and powerful-looking spear. Elise and Jane felt their skin shiver as they stared at it but all he did was nod in satisfaction. He passed shining energy into it, making it shine completely.

"Just a little touch up..."

The spear's form began to change and get smaller and more suitable to use for a girl like Elise. He then passed the transformed spear to Elise after he was thoroughly satisfied with its changes.

"Here."

Elise warily received the spear. The moment she held the spear in her hand, she felt like its was made for her. With it, she could be invincible. Nevertheless, she still bit her lip and handed it back to Nex.

"Teacher! This spear is too precious for someone like me!"

"Nonsense! If I gave it to you, then it means you are worthy of it! I have no use for this toy anyway."

He shook his head and pushed the spear back into her hands.

"I can't, Teacher! I didn't do anything for you to---"

"Just take it."

He cut her off with a serious face. He then gave her a warm encouraging smile.

"If you don't, I'll be sad."

Elise's eyes became misty.

"Teacher..."

She then bowed to him.

"Thank you very much!"

He smiled as he pat her head.

"It's fine. Think of it as a gift from a teacher to his student."

"Ahem."

The warm teacher-student scene was rudely interrupted.

"What about my gift?"

Nex froze as he heard Jane's voice. With speed akin to lightning, he opened the gate again and pulled out a beautiful necklace.

"This is your gift. I just had to prepare it."

His tone was overly ingratiating as he handed her the item. He then explained its uses.

"It has a large space inside where you could store many things. Additionally, it will defend you when you are in danger."

Jane nodded approvingly as she wore the necklace.

"Good. How do I look?"

Seeing that she was relaxed, Nex sighed in relief. He then answered her sincerely.

"Beautiful."

The comment caused her cheeks to flush but she forced her voice to calm down.

"As long as you understand."

'Maybe I shouldn't train them both at the same time...'

Nex didn't have the courage to say this out loud so he just sighed and then turned back to Elise.

"Now that you have a weapon, Elise, can you show me your training moves? We wouldn't want to dilly dally all day."

"Y-yes Teacher."

Waking up from the excitement she got when she further examined the spear, Elise immediately straightened herself. She began to exhibit spear movements in a slow and steady rhythm.

'As I've thought, this kid has a lot of potential.'

Nex nodded approvingly and waited for a few minutes until Elise finished displaying her spear techniques.

"I already saw it in the fight but you have quite good basics so for now, there is no need to further improve it. Instead, we can go directly to the fun part."

Both girls became confused by this.

"The fun part?"

Nex smiled widely.

"Yes. Instead of strengthening your power level, we would instead train your soul!"

This confused Elise more.

"The soul? Why should I train the soul? I don't specialize in mental powers?"

"Hmmm... I think it will be better to understand it first-hand."

Before Elise could clear her confusion or do anything, Nex appeared in front of her and took her spear with one hand while flicking her forehead with the other.

Instantly, she felt a wave of energy spreading from her forehead throughout her body. It gave her a powerless feeling like she is just a normal person capable of only using a minuscule amount of magic power.

"Your strength is now about the same level as Jane's."

She heard him say these words. What she hadn't expected is the next one's he'll say.

"As for why I did that, you will understand as you spar with Jane."

"What?!"

Both girls were dumbfounded.

"You want me to fight Elise? She has much more battle experience than me!"

"Relax. I know what I'm doing."

He reassured them both. Then, with a crafty smile, he pulled out a gorgeous bracelet.

"Whoever wins will get this. It has a magic that will always clean and refreshes your skin. In addition, it will automatically make and fix your make-up however you want it to. So what do you say? Interested?"

"..."

"..."

"I think it's a match with my new necklace."

"Hmph. Don't think that you would win, Big Sister!"

"Elise, brace yourself..."

♦♦♦

"Haha! Victory!"

Jane was shouting with joy as she snatched the bracelet from Nex's hands. She caressed it lovingly.

"I-I lost?"

On the other hand, Elise sat on the ground with a dazed and lost face.

At first, she thought it was just an easy battle. She could defeat Jane as she was more battle proficient than the older woman. But as they fought, she realized that her opponent was able to react accordingly and use magic power at a far faster rate than her. She even thought that Jane has a power of a Hunter!

She saw Nex giving her his hand with a smile.

"Surprising, isn't it? That is the power of a stronger soul. Even if you are not as strong as your opponent, you can still defeat them if your soul is stronger."

"If that's true, then why aren't the Hunters with mental powers much stronger than the others?"

Elise asked curiously as she took his hand and stood up.

"It's because they are training only one or two parts of their soul and not all of it as a whole."

Nex dismissed her question with a sneer.

"No matter how much they will train in that way, they will never get to wield real power."

"Train it as a whole? I never heard about souls having parts."

"Yes. The soul has many parts. More than one could imagine. Most people out there who know a thing think that it only has three or four parts. They think that the rest is one of those parts, which in some way could be true. But in order to unleash one's full power, even when it comes to whether it is physical or mental power, one has to train all of his soul and make it reach a higher level."

Nex pointed a finger towards Jane who was still in the middle of cherishing her newly acquired jewelry.

"Jane was born with a very strong soul that went beyond the normal limits. Because of that, her soul will grow every time she got stronger and let her unleash the full potential of her abilities without expending much effort. This is why she could defeat you so easily."

Elise nodded after hearing his lengthy explanation.

"I see. Then what should I do in order to get my soul stronger?"

Nex smiled and lightly tapped her forehead.

"Well, that's quite easy."

Elise felt her power coming back to her and a set of knowledge about a breathing technique and mental chanting appeared in her mind.

"Do this two together for two hours everyday. At the start, it will be quite straining but the reward you will gain will be great as well."

"Just this?"

Elise was a little skeptical. It was not what she had expected.

"Well, you do need to spar with me and Jane in order to increase your experience and techniques. There is also the matter of teaching you how to properly use magic power. Not to mention enabling you to use your superpower to its fullest potential. It will be quite a waste if---"

"Wait!"

Elise cut him off with a strange face.

"Teacher, what did you just say about my superpower?"

"Oh that? Don't you think it will be too bad if we don't let you use your superpower's real ability? Haven't I said it before? I think that your superpower is not only the most beautiful one that I have seen, but it also has the ability to turn into the most powerful---"

"Thank you, Teacher!"

He wasn't even able to finish his speech when Elise's eyes turned teary. She once again hugged him and began crying.

She finally felt hope. Hope for the thing that caused her distress and despair for so long will be finally fixed and won't cause her to be burdened anymore.

"..."

Nex smiled bitterly. He felt his shirt getting wet with tears. Jane's piercing gaze stabbed into him, sentencing him to death if she found him guilty of doing something to the young girl.

'Next time, I will only train boys...'