"When do we start?!" Dominique yelled in excitement.
"We will be starting right now. I'll give you your training schedule and I want you to stick with it until you reach the Qi Condensation Realm. I'll only watch over your training today to make sure you do everything I say correctly. From tomorrow onwards, you'll have to do it by yourself. How much you get out of my training depends on how much you put in and I refuse to teach anyone who can't put 100% effort into what I'm teaching them. I'll know if you are putting in all of your efforts or not. And if you dare lie to me about your training, then I'll throw you back to the village you came from. If you can't even be honest with me, you won't be able, to be honest with yourself, and if you're not honest with yourself, then you're not using your maximum potential. Follow me!" Mira gave Dominique what seemed to be a pep talk right before a workout. Dominique lost her child-like behavior and nodded her head in determination and drive.
Mira brought her to the little training area they had in their residence and as soon as Dominique stepped into the training area, she felt her whole body start to freeze.
It was so cold that her movements immediately slowed, her breathing became rough, and her body started to shrivel up. She started to wonder if she would even survive if she took a step forward. But all of a sudden she got kicked in the back, sending her to the middle of the area.
"What the hell are you standing around for?! You were so excited just a second ago! I didn't realize that your resolve was so pathetic! Now get up and run until I say stop! If I see you slowing down at all, then I'll be sure to let you know!" Mira yelled at Dominique and pulled out a whip.
Maria was watching this scene from behind and just shook her head with a light smile on her face. She could tell that Mira is being especially hard on Dominique which immediately showed when even she started feeling chilly due to the training area. She noticed that Mira put 5 small ice balls in the training area, but they were extremely potent even though they were so small.
'I guess Mira is testing her along with strengthening her mind. I guess it's better if she gets used to this sort of treatment early on because Mira truly doesn't accept anything half-assed. She doesn't care if you're bad at something as long as you put in the effort to get better. I think that's what makes her great. Talent doesn't mean anything to her, though she probably wishes that at least 1 person has great talent in whatever she teaches. Well, hopefully, Dominique can survive today.' Maria thought to herself as she continued to spectate from behind.
Dominique had started trying to run, but it was extremely slow. She then felt an intense pain on her back.
"You call that fucking running?! You're barely walking! If you can't even do the warm-up then you might as well just throw in the towel!! I don't see you even trying to run!" Mira yelled as she whipped her again.
"Argh!! I-I-I'm sorry! I-I-I'll do better!" Dominique struggled to get out as she started moving faster, but Mira still wasn't satisfied with her speed and knew she could run a little faster. So After a few seconds, Dominique got whipped again.
"What did I literally just say?! I even told you that I wouldn't accept anything less than 100% and you still have the audacity to make me watch this shit! What a disgrace! If I knew you were so useless, I would've thrown you out already like everyone else!! Even your own parents didn't want you! I think I understand why now!" Mira yelled extremely hurtful and condescending words at Dominique, but this just made her start feeling all sorts of emotions. Anger, frustration, confusion, sadness, hatred, and reluctance. But what she really didn't want to happen is for Mira to throw her away. She wanted to stay by her side, train with her, fight with her, go adventuring with her, and be taken care of by her. She then started to usher forth every bit of energy contained within her small body.
"I… Am… Not… USELESS!!" Dominique kept screaming as she ran at her absolute maximum speed. Mira was now satisfied with this result and let her run for about an hour.
"Stop!" Mira yelled and Dominique immediately collapsed. She looked like she was on the brink of death.
"You have 15 minutes to use the cultivation technique, circulate that Qi to help heal your muscles and warm you up. After you 15 minutes is up, we will move onto the next portion of your training." Mira commanded and even though Dominique was on the brink of death, her survival instincts started to kick in and did exactly what Mira told her to do. Her body was slowly recovering and warming up, though you couldn't say she was warm. She just wouldn't die from the cold. Those 15 minutes went by quick, a little too quick.
"Times up! Onto the next portion of your training! Your upper body!" Mira commanded as Dominique slowly stood up.
Mira actually brought out a bunch of different-sized rocks that seemed to be cut to look similar to dumbbells. She then proceeded to demonstrate every upper body workout she knew. This also included the core as well. Situps, pushups, bicep curls, different presses, curls, anything, and everything. She only showed them to Dominique once before she made her do them all on her own.
Dominique was able to remember most of the workouts, but she eventually missed a few so Mira had to 'reeducate' her. Needless to say, she didn't forget them a second time. Dominique also had to take 10-minute breaks every 30 minutes so she wouldn't die. Mira didn't punish her for this as she truly would die if she didn't have these breaks.
This continued for around 4 hours before Dominique couldn't use her upper body anymore. She just collapsed on the ground and fainted. Mira picked her up and brought her back inside before slapping her until she woke up.
"Ahhh!!" Dominique screamed in surprise and pain when she was forcefully woke up.
"You have 1 hour to eat and recover before we move onto the next half of our training. The lower body!" Mira said as she tossed a couple of rations towards her. Since Dominique couldn't even move her upper body right now, there was no way to eat so she had to recover first.
It took her a whole 45 minutes to be able to move her arms and she spent the rest of the time shoving her food down. After the hour was up, Mira came back.
"Hour is up. Follow me!" Mira said as they actually walked out of their Residence and towards the rest of the Sect. Dominique has been waiting for this day for around a month and knew that Mira is taking her to the Sect's Training Grounds to withstand the pressure.
Not long after leaving their building, they reached the Training Grounds. There was an Elder in front of this place as well seemingly keeping watch over the disciples. Mira went up to this Elder.
"I'm sure you've heard from Elder Kendra, but this child here is allowed into the Training Grounds." Mira said bluntly to the Elder while pointing at Dominique. The Elder was surprised for several reasons and didn't really know what to think at first. She didn't expect Mira's attitude to be like this, she also didn't expect to see Mira today and had never seen Dominique before. But they were all told by Elder Kendra and the Sect Master that Mira just treats everyone this way and to not feel any disrespect from it.
"Yes, I've heard. So is she going in them today? I don't feel the slightest bit of strength in her, not to mention she already looks drained right now. Are you sure it's a good idea to go to one of the Training Grounds today? Even the weakest one might kill her." The Elder asked out of your concern.
"Whether she lives or dies is up to her. It is none of my concern. She will be coming here every day at this time for an hour without me. If you see her close to dying, then I ask you not to save her. If she's going to die by some paltry pressure then she's not even worth the effort." Mira said bluntly and walked over to the First Training Ground, the one with the weakest pressure. A few new outer disciples were already in it, and all of them looked over as they heard a familiar domineering voice. They all felt their spines tingle when they saw Mira.
Mira told Dominique to get ready when they reached the training ground then pushed her in. Immediately, Dominique dropped to her knees and spat up a mouthful of blood. This pressure is not meant for a mortal like her. She felt like she was being flattened by a large boulder. Every fiber of her being was being forcefully pushed to the ground and she kept spitting up blood as the pressure started to rip apart her body. Mira just walked up and shoved a Rank 1 Rejuvenation pill down her throat.
"Resist the pressure by sending Qi into your body to help repair yourself. You will do this for an hour." Mira said as Dominique kept screaming and gritting her teeth in pain. Whenever a part of her body healed, another part was being ripped apart. Blood leaked from her pores and the pain was driving her insane. The other disciples watched on in horror as this little girl was being flattened by the pressure and Mira just stood there with her arms crossed, watching her. No remorse in her eyes, like she didn't care if Dominique lived or died.
"Are… Are you sure it's okay to leave her like that? She's only a child." The Elder came up to Mira and muttered.
"She said that she wants me to train her and make her strong. I'm improving her body, mind, and resolve by putting her through this. Not to mention she gets to experience unending pain and torture, her body will also improve faster if it's always at the brink of death. An hour of this will equal several hours to tens of hours worth of training. Like I said earlier, whether she lives or dies is none of my concern and completely up to her." Mira said to the Elder which made the Elder's mind go blank for a second. She couldn't argue against her logic, but isn't this a little too messed up to put on a child? She can't be any older than 8 and she already has to experience this type of torture? The Elder then remembered the state that Dominique came in and couldn't help but picture her going through a different type of torture before coming here. Her body shook at the thought of being put through this and started to think she was lucky for being much older than Mira or else she might be in Dominique's position right now.
"Your hour is up. Looks like you lived, good for you. Recover your energy on the way back so you can get ready for the second half of your training." Mira said as she dragged her almost lifeless body out of the Training Grounds and forced her to stand up. She then put some more rations in her hands and walked back to their residence. The people watching this scene were dumbfounded. This poor girl is only halfway done?!
Dominique shuffled her feet to get back to the room so she could save energy while she ate. She wanted to save as much energy as possible for her lower body training.
Once they made it back to the room, they went straight to the training area and Mira just threw her back in the middle of the area.
"I'll begin showing you Lower Body workouts. Pay attention." Mira ordered and began showing Dominique how to train her lower body. Lunges, step-ups, squats, deadlifts, calf raises, and similar workouts were all shown to Dominique. Mira then just told her to work out until she couldn't do it anymore.
This went on for another 4 hours with 10-minute breaks every 30 minutes as well. Dominique then collapsed onto the ground and Mira made her crawl out of the training area.
"Eat and then go to sleep." Mira said and gave her some more rations. Dominique was still on the ground, but she could at least use her arms to eat and didn't need to immediately recover. Mira walked off and went back to her room to cultivate.
Once Dominique finished eating and could stand up, she slowly made her way towards Mira's bedroom and collapsed straight onto the bed. She wrapped herself around Mira and fell asleep instantly.
Mira showed a faint smile on her face at this and continued cultivating.
