"Call me Master," The icy woman immediately replied.

"I'm fine. I'll just stick with snake… it suits you-"

"I won't be giving you any favors if you keep running your mouth like that,"

"Tch… Fine,"

Soon, we made our way to the arena where it was completely reserved for the Empress and me, and thankfully, that damn butler wasn't here as the Empress was confident she could stop me if I rebelled.

"Now, let me see your skills," The Empress said as she tossed me a steel sword while she picked up a lighter wooden sword.

"Are you underestimating me?" I asked, and the Empress just smiled widely, the edges of her mouth practically scraping the very bottom of her ears.

"I am not… but if you think I am, then come beat me," She said, and so, I let out a long breath which trailed until there was nothing left in my lungs.

I then sucked in so much air that my vision was shaded in a light blue color before I burst towards the Empress, who just stood there.

CLANG

As soon as I swung my sword, the woman just placed out her flimsy wooden sword as if it was a shield instead of an actual weapon.

I was confused as to what she was doing, but I knew that retreating now would be an embarrassment… so I put as much power as I could into this one swing.

CRACK… Shing

The blade of my sword had been split in half, and the tip had sunk into the training grounds' cold and hard dirt.

"Huh? How did you do that?" I asked as the Empress walked up to me, fidgeting with the wooden sword in her hand.

I didn't feel an ounce of magic, meaning she reinforced it or just swung harder into my own weapon, counteracting the force and directing it all towards me… but is that really what happened.

"Hmmm… How should you be requesting an answer when you're talking to your master? Come on, tell me," The woman said with a cheeky and aggravating smile.

As she walked up to me, a chilling sensation ran through my entire body as if a blizzard was running through my veins.

"Seriously? Can't you just-"

"Nope~... Come on, what do you refer to me as? I'll give you a reward if you say it," She said, and as I felt the chilling sensation grow colder and colder within my body, I clicked my tongue before slowly opening my mouth.

"M-Master… How did you do that?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Good girl~! That is how you're supposed to refer to your teacher… and as a reward, I guess I'll teach you that move. Who knows, it might save you later on," She muttered before finally walking straight up to me and stroking the top of my head with her soft and pale hand.

The chilling sensation soon disappeared as her hand ran through my hair, warming and almost calming me down.

"That's another thing that might help you to calm down. Lower the temperature of your body with your ice magic and then quickly release it. This will slow down your heart rate, making you much calmer and most likely not feel as much fear,"

"I… I see…"

"Good, now, take this wooden sword and…."

FWOOSH

She reached out her hand towards the wooden sword behind her, and a mysterious force ripped it off the ground and into her hand.

She then gently handed it to me, the sword's rough texture grazing against the palms of my hands.

"And… since you're a righty, you must place your hand here and your other hand here. Just let me guide your body and listen to my orders," She said as she twirled behind me and almost moved my body by itself.

Her breasts were pressed against my back, and her hips were pressing against my behind, so it made me a bit nervous, but when she started to teach me how to perform the same move like her, I slowly began to grow a bit more comfortable.

Her explanations and orders were easy to follow, and if I didn't understand something, she would just explain it again in a more straightforward format.

And if I didn't understand that, she would do it herself and show me how to do it almost perfectly.

"Good girl… You've already learned it in a day. That butler you have beef with took about one month for him to fully understand this, but I guess you have good control of your body. Tensing your muscles in certain places isn't the easiest task to do," The Empress chuckled before picking up another wooden sword and charging toward me.

A chill was sent down my spine as her wide smile returned, and I attempted to try the same thing that she did previously.

She swung, and then I placed out my sword so the other blade could slide into my own, tensed my muscles, placed it forward, and…

CRACK… Tuck

The tip of my wooden sword fell to the ground, and as I looked back at the empress, I saw her with a teasing smile.

"My bad, my bad… Your Master is at fault for using so much power," She smirked as if she was trying to taunt me.

"Again! Do it again!" I shouted as I knew what my mistake was.

I tensed my muscles way too slowly, and as it was more of a foreign feeling, I was unable to absorb and redirect most of the power back towards her.

"What an aggressive student I have… But I can't do that. It's already so late. I mean, look up at the sky. It's the dead of night, and you still have so much energy. I want you to be able to move tomorrow, so take a shower, brush your teeth, and go to sleep. Rest up for tomorrow's training,"

"B-But I almost have it-"

"Shhhhh… Bad girl," The Empress whispered into my ear after drifting off into particles of snow and then reappearing behind me.

"Tch… Fine… Also, stop saying all that cringy shit…."

"No can do~."

"This motherfu-... *sigh*,"

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