Thursday, December 3rd.

Inside a manor on top of a hill, six people could be seen sweating as they practiced martial arts.

While the seventh person was looking at the rest while he instructed them.

"Aurora, spin your knee more when you kick!" Theo shouted as he looked at the silver-haired girl.

Aurora just nodded and continued her kicking exercise.

"June, you got out of the stance! Do the punishment!" He shouted again as he looked at the blue-haired girl.

June groaned in despair as she dropped down to do the situps.

"Ayia, Shizuka! You two need to be more proactive! Do not lose focus!" He shouted as he looked at the two girls.

"If you want to advance your Dans, you need to make more effort!" He shouted again.

Ayia and Shizuka heaved a deep breaths as they tried to follow Theo's advice.

After Theo managed to assess their level yesterday, today he prepared specific training made exclusively to sharpen their techniques.

Their training was much harder than Aurora and the other girls'.

But that was not a surprise since if they wanted to advance in their Dans, they needed to make more effort than the rest.

It was common sense that when someone reached a high level of proficiency in any skill, it was much harder to advance than when compared the advancement in the lower levels.

"Come on, Sam! Do not give up!" Theo shouted as he saw the blonde girl almost stopping the exercise.

"Sylph, play some upbeat songs." Theo asked in a low voice.

He knew that his butler was hearing, so he didn't need to shout.

Theo could notice that the girls were struggling to keep the training, and the song could cheer up them.

Never underestimate the power of music.

Shortly after he gave Sylph the order, a rap song started playing throughout the place.

It was a famous song produced by a famous rapper.

And just like Theo predicted, as soon as the song sounded, the girls became more energetic.

They even started forgetting their previous struggle.

And there was a reason for that.

Some experts believe that music acts as a distractor. Distractors are known to moderate pain levels, which means you will be less likely to notice pain during a workout. Those not listening to music might experience the intensity of their exercise more, feeling more tired or sore while exercising. Those listening to music will be distracted by it and might not notice any discomfort or strain on their body.

And the high-intensity training that Theo was making them do was able to induce much more pain and tiredness than normal training.

The music was capable of distracting their minds from the pain in their bodies.

That was because it was not mentioned as the best effect of the music.

Theo was able to notice that the girls' performance was boosted as the song sounded.

Ayia, Shizuka, and Aurora became even more focused and made fewer mistakes as the song was played.

The three of them even started upping their rhythm.

But the most affected were Sayuri, June, and Sam.

The three newbies seemed like they weren't even feeling pain and fatigue.

Which was a huge difference compared with their tired bodies of before.

"Come on! I want more strength!" Theo shouted to motivate the girls.

The girls didn't even reply, they were too focused on the training.

Theo nodded in approval as he saw that the training was in the optimal condition.

The training went on.

The girls sweated all the sweat they could.

Their faces were red, their bodies were hot, and their minds were in a strange state of focus.

They were doing the training in automatic mode.

But when Theo announced the end of the training and paused the song being played, the huge fatigue started descending upon the girls' bodies.

"Come on, girls! Line up in front of me!" Theo shouted as he saw the girls panting.

The girls didn't even have the energy to protest, so they just obeyed his order.

When the girls lined up in front of him, Theo looked at him with a proud smile.

"Girls, you did amazing today." Theo complimented them.

"Because this is Martial Arts training, there are certain rules you need to know. I haven't talked about them yesterday because it was your first class. But today you will start following these rules." He announced.

The girls nodded to express they understood.

"Some rules you already know about it. Do not wear shoes on the tatami and follow the sensei's words. But there are others to follow."

"Bow your head to the tatami when you enter and when you leave the tatami. This is to show respect to the place where we fight."

"Respect your Sensei. I will be your teacher, so you guys should treat me like your teacher."

"Respect your fellow students. Especially when your spar with each other. When we fight, our objective is not to beat the opponent. The objective is to showcase our techniques and apply what we learned before."

"If the training already started and you arrived late. Before you enter the tatami, you have to ask my permission to enter."

"And lastly, when the training ends, all of you will line up in front of me. From the older student to the newest."

"For example, Aurora studied with me for a longer time, so she will be the head of the line."?

"After you line up, I will bow slightly, cupping one hand in the other before my chest, and I will shout 'fighters'."

"And you will also bow and cup your hands and shout 'sensei'."

"After that, starting from Aurora, you will all come bow to each other and greet each other." Theo finished his explanation.

The girls were a little confused with so many rules, but they tried to remember them all.

"I know it's a lot of rules. So, you can slowly print them into your minds. Let's start today, shall we?" He said with a smile as he took the position.

"Fighters!" Theo shouted as he bowed his head and cupped his hands.

"Sensei!" The girls shouted back and followed his movements.

It was mostly Aurora, Ayia, and Shizuka who shouted.

They were already used to these movements, so it was not difficult for them.

Sayuri, Sam, and June were a step late because they were not used.

After they did that, they started bowing to each other and greeting each other.

Like that the second martial arts class ended for the girls.

They left the gym and went to take a shower.

Theo and Aurora went to their rooms.

And the five guests used the bath house attached to the gym.

The bathroom was awesome, so they did not have problems as they took their showers and got ready for the day.

A while later, Theo and Ayia had already cooked and all of them were eating breakfast as they talked.

The seven of them were becoming even close to each other.

Their friendship was deepening.

They never imagined that they would become so close with people they met for so little time.

They ate the amazing food that the professional cooks Theo and Ayia cooked with satisfied faces.

Theo and Aurora were even happier because since their parents died, it was only them when they ate.

They missed having a bunch of people to share a meal with.

The two of them started to feel that their friends could become their family too.

Even though it would be a long process for them to open their hearts.

Theo and Aurora could feel a warmth in their hearts as they laughed and talked with their friends.

Sharing the breakfast with their friends was becoming one of their favorite parts of the day for them.