THE TRAINING-1

"Do you understand what she did wrong?" Uma asked. Mia remained speechless at the scene.

"I am asking you," Uma said looking at Mia, which seemed to have jolted Mia out of her trance.

"What." She said.

"I asked if you understood what her fault was during our fight," Uma said.

"She seems to have perceived your attack in the wrong way," Mia replied.

"But she reacted according to the book," Uma said.

"I didn't say she reacted in the wrong way. I said she perceived it the wrong way. She was way too confident that you would be using the newly acquired blindspot to attack, which led to her concentrating on the left side and acting accordingly. You laid the bait and she took it."

Uma looked at Mia and smiled. She then turned around to look at Huntress, who was still lying on the floor. "This one is teachable."

To Mia's surprise, Huntress got up without any problem. She wasn't even injured. " Didn't I tell you? Her mother and I have taught her well." She then looked at Mia and said. "Although you could be a little kinder with the comments."

"So this was all to evaluate my reaction," Mia asked

"It was to verify whether you are capable of analyzing the basic combat situations. You proved to be adequate and hence we can proceed with the training." Uma replied.

"What if I had guessed otherwise?" Mia was curious.

"Then you would have been kicked out of the settlement by me. No more questions from you." Uma spoke up.

Mia stood stunned at her reply. She was irritated. Uma turned around to reach for a water bottle at the far end, while Huntress came near Mia.

"Ignore her comments. She is a good teacher. She is like a mother to both me and your mother. You will get along just fine. Get ready for the battle. Your suit is within the changing room there." Huntress pointed at a part of the sidewall.

Mia proceeded to go into the room. She was shocked to see the contents inside. There were hordes of costumes, weapons, protective gear, battle suits, inner suits, and even supporting pieces of equipment.

Another tiny little detail in the room was the partitioning. There were four sections. The first one had Uma's name on it and was the largest one. The second one was named Lily, while the third one was Huntress.

The fourth one, which looked relatively new, was named Mia. It was the only section that had a single bodysuit and a training suit within it.

"This is the storage unit where we get prepared for our missions. The emergency elevator is beside the wall, which gives the fastest access. Everything you see within the sections is collected by the respective hunters themselves."

"Uma's is the largest and all the most powerful weapon sets. The actual storage can be accessed from the button beside the wall. This is where the actual item is stored. Your mom and I come next to her. Since she is no longer with us, along with your section, you're allowed to access her equipment."

"Is this another piece of the inheritance she left me? I don't want it."

"Don't worry. She would never leave her gear for you. Every hunter needs to get their own customized pieces of equipment down to the very minimum support stuff. You can start your own research and build your equipment from scratch. But that needs, time, funds and knowledge, all of which you will be earning yourself."

"I don't even hunt, how will I do that."

"The first push will be given by the two of us as you assist us in our experiments. Take it as if you are being paid as an intern. Once you begin to independently hunt monsters and earn your own bread, you can start gathering funds for your own lab, equipment, and even support gears."

"Get in here." Uma's voice rang from the battle arena. Mia proceeded to put on her suit and rushed out.

"What took you so long? Are you in the Victorian era or something? Get into stance." Uma said in a stern voice. Mia followed the instructions and took a launching stance. To her shock though, Uma appeared beside her and stroked her legs with such force that she was forced into the ground.

Mia screamed in pain, but Uma had no change of emotions. " Get up and form a better stance."

Mia got up and took a proper one as instructed by the academy. Uma once again appeared beside her, held her shoulders, and forcefully pushed it down. She stopped once Mia was lower than earlier.

She then adjusted her hand placement and rotated her butt by some angle. She then made some more modifications. To Mia's surprise, she did feel a bit uncomfortable before, but once Uma was done, she was extremely comfortable, and her stance felt much better.

"You will stay in this position for the next hour. Meanwhile, I will be instructing you on battle strategies. You are not allowed to lose your position. if done, you will be doing 100 push-ups as punishment."

"You may also recite the exact content back to me once the hour is over. Failing to do so will result in you doing 200-pushups."

"How am I supposed to follow through?" Mia asked.

"You need to figure it out yourself dear. I am not your mother and you are not a fucking baby." Uma was getting weirder by the hour and the training was getting way more difficult. She began instructing Uma.

Around 15 minutes into the session, Mia slowly rose from the position. Uma vanished once again, and the next moment a stick hit Mia in her face, bashing her into the grounds. Mia once again screamed with pain.

"Get down and do 100 push-ups immediately. You have 20 mins to finish." Uma said. Mia felt danger from her voice and complied with the instructions. She began the push-ups.

"I hope she lasts till the end of the month." Huntress prayed.