It had been nearly a week since Lisa had first learnt how to manipulate mana. The training that Charles had given her consisted mostly of breathing exercises to help with her concentration. Even after a week, she was still only able to maintain the ball of mana for around 15 minutes. Her progress had been so quick that it surprised even Charles and Pandora.

The two had continued travelling through the Kaspian plains, all the while Charles continued to train Lisa in mana manipulation as well as basic martial arts. Before they moved on to weapon training, Charles wanted to ensure Lisa knew how to fight even without one, since having your weapon at the ready with you at every fight wasn't possible. Charles wanted Lisa to be ready to fight even if she didn't have time to draw her weapon.

"Alright, let's start today's sparring session. See if you land a hit on me like always."

"Got it."

Her eyes were filled with determination as she readied herself to attack. It had been almost a week since they began combat training, and Lisa had been utterly bested every single time. She wanted to at least show that she was making some progress. Taking a deep breath, she rushed at Charles with a speed he hadn't seen before. Immediately, she ducked down anticipating an attack. When no attack came, she raised her fist and aimed it and Charles's face. Still remaining still all the way to the last second, Charles smirked at her right before her fist connected with his face.

"How...?"

"You're still a tad bit slow."

His palm had stopped her fist from doing any sort of damage to his face. Quickly moving back before he could grab onto her, Lisa then tried to throw Charles off balance using her legs, attempting to sweep him off his feet. All that did though was cause Charles to jump up and avoid it. They exchanged blows a few more times, each one of Lisa's attacks either being dodged or stopped by Charles, who seemed to be putting in the most minimal effort, each punch or kick she threw, Charles would simply avoid or block before running through what she did wrong while the fight was still ongoing.

"Your punch was too predictable!"

"This position leaves you in an extremely vulnerable spot if your attack fails."

She felt a little frustrated. She knew Charles was an extremely skilled fighter, considering how quickly he dispatched the assassin. Yet Lisa couldn't help but feel annoyed at how easily she was being countered, she thought she was a fast learner, yet it was only now that she realised some things only click in her head after multiple experiences.

Charles ended the fight by blitzing Lisa and before she could even react, he had positioned a wooden dagger he created behind her back ready to strike.

"And we're done for the day."

Placing the dagger in his coat, Charles watched as Lisa dropped to the ground panting.

"You alright?"

"Yeah...just give me a moment."

After around 10 minutes of resting, Lisa seemed to regain most of the energy she lost.

"You're just too strong Charles."

She complained as the two continued travelling deeper into the Kaspian plains.

"That's not true. There are plenty of people way stronger than me. If you want to be a strong lancer, you're going to have to beat me at least you know."

"I get it! Don't cry when I eventually best you in a duel."

She spoke with an enthusiasm and drive that was rare for someone who spent their whole life cooped up in a castle.

"I look forward to it."

They stopped to rest for the night as Lisa began her test of maintaining the ball of mana again. No matter what she tried though, she could never go past 15 minutes before her body felt too fatigued to continue.

"Your mana lines are newly activated that's why. As you use them more often they will get better and more used to extended durations of mana consumption."

Charles noticed that Lisa wouldn't even respond to him as she was so focused on the task at hand. Like a child focusing on completing a test, she seemed laser-focused on completing her task.

(She's really warmed up to you huh?)

"In some sense I guess. She's gotten more comfortable speaking with me. If she can keep this attitude up the entire journey, we should be good."

Charles didn't expect to ever feel the way he was feeling now, he had expected to simply cruise through this journey without much thought. He would do his job, but he never believed he could've enjoyed it, yet seeing Lisa trying so hard and working towards her goal, Charles couldn't help but enjoy watching her growth. No matter how strong she became in the future, Charles would be proud of her growth.

Just as the 15-minute mark had passed, Charles expected the ball of mana to disappear before Lisa collapsed in exhaustion. That didn't happen though, instead, she remained upright with the ball of mana still in her hand. Charles wondered if today was finally the day she would be able to complete her first task.

The following minutes were as stressful for Charles as it was for Lisa, he wanted her to complete the task as soon as possible. Every day that she needed to try again was another day she couldn't move forward with her training. Despite feeling this way, Charles wouldn't mind if she didn't succeed today, after all, she had already made significant improvements from when they started. He wouldn't mind waiting as long as she needed. Magic was all about the basics after all. Mastering the fundamentals would ensure that the later parts of learning would be easier to understand.

Finally, as the 20-minute mark was crossed, Lisa dropped to the ground as she always did after.

"Congrats, you completed your first task."

"Really?"

Lisa wasn't really keeping track of the time and therefore had no idea whether she really hit 20 minutes. Seeing the reassuring smile Charles had on his face as he congratulated her caused Lisa to heave a sigh of relief.

"Yess! I finally got it."

She raised her fists to the air in one triumphant stance before returning to the ground.

"Now I can finally sleep."

Just as she said that her eyes closed and she fell into a deep slumber. Charles walked towards her and noticed how peaceful her face appeared when she was sleeping. She really did give off the vibe of a princess in these moments. Over the past week, Charles had gotten the chance to see her personality truly come out as they travelled. Her endless curiosity of the outside and her desire to learn and get stronger was something he never expected. She also seemed to be adapting to the adventuring lifestyle quite well, although that could be attributed to the fact that she never really integrated into the court lifestyle.

"You're doing great."

Just as he said that Charles decided to head to bed as well. Tomorrow they would be moving on to a much more difficult stage of training. He would also commence their weapons training, now that Lisa's mana lines were adjusted to using mana for longer periods of time.

As the new day had arrived, Charles officially started teaching Lisa the more advanced techniques regarding mana manipulation.

"If you can master this, we can officially move on to teaching you how to use magic."

"Alright. I'm ready."

She took a deep breath before readying herself.

"Now then, make the same mana ball right now."

Following Charles's instructions, Lisa made the same ball of mana she had been practising with the past week.

"I want you to try and shoot that ball of mana there."

Pointing towards a large rock that was sitting near their location. Lisa stretched her hand out and attempted to do what Charles had asked. The ball was soon launched from her hand, however, instead of heading towards the rock, it curved and shot itself all the way to the right of the rock and causing a small bit of damage to the ground.

"Eh? How did that happen?"

Lisa was confused as to how the ball of mana could change its own trajectory like that.

"Mana is an extremely volatile existence in physical form. What you did wasn't so much shooting the ball as it was releasing it from your palm. The ball then travelled on its own because there wasn't any path it was shot towards."

Charles then created another ball of mana that he then aimed at another nearby rock, this time, it went exactly where he wanted it to.

"Woah, it went where you aimed it at."

Lisa was still in confusion over why she couldn't accomplish such a thing.

"Well, the trick is to generate some mana on your palm and use it almost like a catapult to push the ball where you want it to go."

"I'll try that."

Lisa once again extended her arm out and created the ball of mana, she then proceeded to try the technique that Charles had explained.

"Here goes."

Her eyes were full of anticipation as she concentrated on following Charles's instructions. Soon the ball of mana was shot out of her hand and a clean shot landed on the rock.

"I got it!"

Clenching her fists with joy, Lisa turned to Charles who gave an approving nod, proud of her progress.

"Remember that feeling, it'll be the foundational concept for when you use any sort of magic spell in the future."

"Yeah!"

The two continued on as Charles was searching for a suitable location for their next training, he was going to start training her on how to use her weapon. According to Marcus, all lancers are given a weapon that they resonate with the most by the Holy Papacy of Longinus, the nation where the whole lancer thing started.

Finding a nice open area where the grass wasn't that tall, Charles then began their training.

"I never got the chance to ask you this but...what weapon did you receive?"

"Oh, it was this."

Reaching into her pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a teaspoon at first glance. Charles stared at her in confusion as Lisa soon showed him something he had never seen before. A quick spin of the spoon soon transformed it into a huge scythe as sparks and ashes illuminated it. The scythe was black with the blade being a crimson red. It definitely matched Lisa's hair and the black colour matched her eyes. More than anything though, Charles never expected the weapon to resonate with Lisa the most to be a scythe.

"Well, that's interesting, a scythe huh?"

"Yeah, when I saw it during the selection, I couldn't help but be drawn to it. There was just an allure I couldn't ignore."

"I see...well in that case."

Opening up his golden ball of mana again, Charles retrieved a scythe of his own.

"Here we go."

"Do you just have everything in that storage of yours?"

"Well, most things I need I guess."

Charles chuckled as he scratched the back of his head, it wasn't the first time he was asked such a question and each time the person asking would give that same look of confusion and a bit of admiration.

"Anyway, let's start. I'm going to teach you the basics of how to operate a scythe. It's quite different from a sword or spear that most people use so it might require a little extra focus."

"No problem."

Charles couldn't help but admire her sense of determination and willingness to learn, even when she was told something wasn't going to be easy, she would still smile and take on the task given to her.

Charles then gave her a basic rundown of how to use a scythe as well as the numerous strengths and weaknesses that came with wielding one.

"A scythe has quite a bit more range than a sword and yours, in particular, seems to have more range than a spear even, it'll help with outranging your opponents. The difficulty comes with the blade being all the way at the end. It leaves you in a vulnerable spot if your weapon gets caught or locked with your opponent's weapon."

Pointing at the rest of the scythe, Charles explained the importance of it.

"Most people only care about the blade you see, but every part of a weapon can be used. If you really need you can use this as a weapon too. It hits pretty hard you ask me, it also helps with defence and blocking any weapons striking your sides."

Charles then demonstrated the basic moves and attacks that all scythe users learn, he also taught her the ways to block and defend against attacks.

"Now try and follow me."

"Got it."

For the rest of the day, the two would continue training and Lisa would continue learning the basics of how to use her weapon.

Another week passed and the two had continued training in both mana manipulation and weapon handling. By now, Lisa was able to maintain the mana ball for close to an hour and was somewhat decent with her scythe, enough that Charles believed it was time for her to take on her first monster. The Kaspian plains were known for being relatively peaceful, yet there were still things like dire wolves and small goblin tribes. By chance, the two had discovered a lone goblin that had strayed from its tribe.

"This will be a good chance, try and see if you can take on that goblin."

"Right."

She seemed nervous and her posture was stiff.

"Don't be so nervous, just treat it like any practice match we've had."

"I'll try..."

Turning to face the goblin, Lisa saw it arm itself with the standard wooden club before it charged at her with no warning. Lisa quickly readied her scythe and took a wide swing at the monster. The goblin, however, being as agile as it was, managed to dodge the swing before lunging at Lisa swinging its club. Instantly, Lisa used the snath of the scythe to block the attack and push the goblin away. As the goblin fell on its back, Lisa seized the opportunity and charged it. Believing she had a confirmed kill, she raised her scythe in the air preparing to deliver the finishing blow.

It was a rouse though, the goblin got back up on its feet in no time and swung its club right at her side. Before the club could strike her side though, Lisa quickly brought the butt end of the scythe down onto the goblins head. The heavier scythe combined with her body weight was enough to push the goblin to the ground before piercing its head with the scythe.

Just like that, Lisa had secured her first kill on a monster. The goblin soon dissipated as only its mana core remained.

"What's this?"

"A mana core. Generally, all monsters and mana beasts are made up of mana. After they lose their strength such as that goblin did, they will dissipate into the air and leave behind a mana core. You can trade those in at the adventurers guild for some cash."

"Oh? So I just us some money?"

Charles was a little surprised that Lisa would say such a thing but given that it was technically true, he nodded in agreement.

"It's about time you start picking up the pace Charles."

She smirked at him as he stared at her with dismay.

"If you insist I guess I got no choice. Try and keep up with me."

Immediately after saying that, Charles ran as fast as he could towards a nearby forest, as they exited the plains and entered the denser forest. The sound of various mana beasts could be heard as Lisa tried her best to keep up with Charles who seemed to be sprinting towards something.

"Found it."

Just as Lisa caught up to him still panting, Charles pointed at a small group of warrior goblins armed with spears and daggers. They seemed to be hunting for food as they had a few preys they were carrying on their backs.

"What are you...doing?"

Lisa was still catching her breath as Charles pulled out the same sword he had been using and leapt forward off the tree branch they were watching from.

"Time for me to pick up the pace."

Charles descended from the tree and landed with a loud thud. Notifying the goblin group immediately, soon they readied themselves and charged him. A smile ran across his face as he took a deep breath.

Instantly he cut down the first goblin charging him, as two more goblins armed with spears charged him, he lept in the air and landed behind them, slicing their heads off in an instant. The final goblin was too stunned to even move, yet as if compelled by sheer instinct, it charged at Charles. It swung its sword around like a maniac before Charles simply grabbed its arm and pierced through its chest with his blade. Just as the final goblin fell, all their bodies dissipated into 4 mana cores on the ground.

Lisa stared confused and in awe of such a feat, it took her a lot of effort to fight a single goblin and here Charles easily stomped 4 of them.

Landing on the ground as well, Lisa stared as Charles picked up the 4 mana cores.

"How in the world are you such a monster?"

"Practice I guess? Besides, I'm confident you can easily surpass me if you continue progressing like that."

"I hope this isn't flattery?"

"Would you prefer I flatter you?"

"No, it's fine... Anyway, let's get back to training shall we?"

"Yeah."

(Seems your little stunt gave her more motivation to train harder. Who knew you were such a good teacher.)

As long as Lisa continued to give that determined look and continued to want to get stronger. Charles would answer those feelings of hers, it was the least he could right now. It gave him some sort of purpose at least.