The Summoner's Rebirth: Awaken, Milady

Chapter 135: Tutoring

"Yes.. Of course I understand that very well. I would like to be trained, big sister. Please take care of me,"

"Besides, when you approached me to get stronger, I don't think you wanted me just to accompany you everywhere. Surely, you did want this kind of situation to happen, right? Don't worry, I am a spartan teacher, so you will progress very quickly.. but you need to bear it all," Aria warned one more time. Even though she had a good relationship with all her students after the tense teaching period had ended, it still couldn't be refuted that her methods would sometime be described is brutal and torturing.

Alena gulped a mouthful of saliva, but she

"First of all, flexibility. You are still a child, so I want you to prioritize on this matter. Your body should be more prone to adjusting to this aspect.. Thus, we will heavily take care of this field. Stretches, acrobatics, body dynamics, all of it contribute to movements in your battle. If you just have strength but not the ability to use it, you will be doomed with troublesome enemies that have complicated movements. You need to force your body to the utmost capacity in bending all over the place and agility. Trust me, it will save you a lot in the future in dire situations, and you are going to make sure that this field gets checked out for the rest of your life. Don't slack on this. Even if you reached a substantial level, things like this depend on variables that deteriorate over time, and you need to put even more practice in them," Aria spoke.

"I would recommend you to build some platforms in this training area. Stretching, fitness, anything that can get you used to jumping in great heights and build stamina as a whole. Not only will your movements be refined to the better side, you will also build core and muscle power,"

Alena noted the point, and took out her device in order to place an order for a renovation in the training center so that it would fit the requirements Aria gave her.

"Next, mental strength. You have probably noticed, but even if you have a great amount of mana, if you are not able to improve your mental strength, then you will be easily influenced and would find it hard to focus on your task mid battle. Ilyin's 'aggression' that you spoke about, to the snake, is included in this segment. Since she did not have enough mental strength to resist the taunt, and she lacked the necessary control on her power, she ended up using much more than she needed to. If her mental strength was superior, then the taunting wouldn't have affected her, and her magic application would also be significantly upgraded," Aria continued.

In fact, things like strength were required, but soft skills like this that were inbuilt into your body were much more substantial later on. In the early phases of battling, you can get by just by pushing forward with brute strength and beginner's luck, like in a game. However, in the later phases, internal and external mechanics that stemmed from your body and the surroundings came into play, making you not able to ignore everything else and just use forceful methods anymore.

The snake that Alena faced was a good way of initializing her to mental attacks like taunting. Taunting was a skill that did not harm, and put the caster at risk. However, when used in a crafty way, and by utilizing traps, you could manufacture a great strategy. Of course, several factors would have to come in play at the same time, such as your opponent having lesser strength than you in order for it to be effective.

"The third one, and the final one that we are going to touch upon, is Control. Control over your powers. This is similar to mental strength, but it's more towards battle sense and your safety mechanics.. I would say. Risk yourself, but don't do it too much. If you know that you have a great chance of winning, or if there was an ace card at play, then go for it if you are at a pinch. But if not, then you must know that nothing can equate to ending your journey eternally by falling into your demise and joining the afterlife. You should learn to control and understand your powers, your limits, and what you can do. You must know to judge your opponents, and you will prove to be very good at this because of your power. I want you to keep working at those factors, and you will soon be able to enter battle with a lot of ease. Digest every component inside your battlefield, and put them into use. Analyze everything and why they are doing that, or why they have a certain item. Weaknesses and strength. Everybody has them, no one is truly 'omnipotent'. "

Alena pursed her lips, feeling a bit discouraged because she knew how long she took to process the information transfer from her System in the battle with the giant snake. She ended up finding its weakness, but what if her summon wasn't as efficient as Ilyin, and that she was injured right then and there? She was also incapable of gouging out her chances, and risked everything on a very unstable winrate. She constantly talked sweet words to herself in order to appease her tremors, but most of that were lies that she put in to bring herself up.

She fell silent, and did not know what to say as she continued digesting Aria's words and putting it inside her brain to work with.

Aria watched as her expression warped several times. She was probably imagining how hard her training was going to be, and nervous at how much she would have to yield in the results for it to be considered acceptable and not lacking.

A smiled bloomed on Aria's face as she giggled in glee.

"Student, did you get all of that, or should I explain further on some parts? We have all day to work with, let's not keep the questions to ourselves and speak it out loud, shall we?" Aria placed her hands on her hips, sighing as she knew that she was overwhelming the child with information.

However, part of the reason why she only took child disciples were because they were still malleable. They were blank canvases waiting to be painted with the finest paint and technique, and molded into perfect shapes and beings at their own respective shields.

Part of how your life turned out in the end sourced heavily from childhood, where you were very susceptible to teaching and new information. The teachings would imprint itself on you for the rest of your life if you just worked on it hard enough, and that was why Aria found joy in nurturing the children that she brought up and taught.

They were all humans that she saved out of a predicament, and thus were turned into great personas that she knew held the same views as her, and could be trusted.

Of course, these ideals were not entirely pure. In fact, there were some shady plays under the table. Aria was just like any other human being, with flaws and imperfect. She wasn't innocent. A person who killed on a regular basis and would not hesitate to pull out profitable things from their original locations, why would she be innocent? Who on Earth would be insane enough to think that such a person would not be influenced under negative imperations?

This ideology was first planted inside her head by her own teacher, Zehell Rivkins. He admitted that the fact that Aria was taken in because she had certain criterias that he looked for in a disciple.

Because she would be vulnerable to change and new concepts, and that he wished for her to become like him one day. He blatantly told her that she was a perfect candidate to teach, and that he found joy in teaching her because she would listen to him and applicate his words. Everyday, he instilled the concept of Unity, making her life heavily intertwined with the concept.

When he finally disappeared, what did she do? Continue the concept of Unity without even being asked personally. Because in her entire life, she had been involved with that damned concept until she couldn't rip herself out of the pit of research anymore.

Thinking about this, Aria did feel a bit unsettled. The fact that Zehell appeared inside her mind one more time, this time accusing her of being a villain.

In the end, what did Zehell want? She still couldn't figure it out.

All she knew was that she was about to take in another disciple on the basis of Zehell's mindset, the one that he imparted to her countless years ago. It was daunting to think about.

That the mold Zehell cast for her still existed up until this day,  even though so much time has passed.