Chapter 3

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~~Supervising~~

Serelah froze as she recognized the monotone voice, her breath hitching before dropping the sword to the ground as she turned to face her master. He stood at the entrancek observing her, his face as blank as ever. She gulped as she wondered just how long he may been standing there for. Did he see all those pathetic attacks she was making? No, she would have felt his spiritual pressure if he was ever around. Perhaps, she got too carried away with the last slash that she couldn't even notice an Espada was present.

She watched as he walked over to her, green eyes never leaving her's. Once in front of her, he stared at her for a moment before his eyes slowly fell to her sword on the floor.

"I find your swordsmanship to be a poor one." he commented as he looked back at her. She shifted almost nervously, not expecting that statement. She didn't need someone to tell her she was garbage at wielding a sword, she knew that already. In fact, she didn't even know what she was doing when releasing all those spiritual pressure attacks.

"Releasing such amount of spiritual pressure is placing your life at risk. You don't have such amount to be able to release like that." he stated. She understood that. That was probably the reason why she tired so quickly. Spiritual pressure has a lot to do with one's life force, she would most likely die if she were to drain every ounce of it. "I know I may not be that skilled at using a sword, but I wanted to at least try and see what I could do before our training session." she explained. She didn't want to look entirely clueless and stupid when he was training her. It would only make her look like a liability. Although she probably already was to Ulquiorra. He stared blankly before replying. "It's a relief knowing I don't have to train a lazy subordinate...as I won't tolerate such." she nodded her head at his twisted way of saying he had no problem with her training before he arrived. He glanced at her sword before looking to her. "Pick up your sword." he ordered. The sword was behind her, so she turned and walked over to it before she bent down awkwardly to retrieve it. "Use your right arm to hold the hilt firmly..." he advised as she heard him speak from behind. She did as she was told silently. Wasn't she supposed to use both arms to handle the sword firmly? It would put too much pressure on one hand right? As if he knew what she was thinking, he continued. "I prefer using just one arm to handle my sword as it looks less amateur like." It was true. She imagined it would look more elegant fighting an opponent using an arm to handle the sword. Although she knew that won't completely be easy as it would require a lot of strength. "If you feel like you can't handle it, place your other arm." he said again. She didn't want to look weak so she left her arm by her side. He said nothing of it and continued to advise her. "The boulder up front, utilize your sonido and slice it into four parts in five seconds...it should take less shorter time to do that, but I will start at that for you. The boulder isn't a normal rock, it has hardened spiritual pressure around it so it won't be as easy. I prepared it specially for our training." he explained. Serelah never thought he had planned ahead that much. It was an easy task...if the rock isn't as hard as titanium. If she couldn't do that, she wouldn't be surprised if Ulquiorra decided on giving up on her. She was good in her sonido but she wasn't too sure on swinging the sword...

She sighed nervously as she felt sort of self-conscious knowing that she was being watched. It was easy training when she was alone as nobody could see her pitiful attacks. She took a stance as she eyed the boulder before she heard Ulquiorra speak.

"I start counting... now." Serelah immediately appeared at the boulder slicing the rock into four different places as she hung in the air. She came down as ungracefully as any hollow could and looked towards Ulquiorra from the distance. He stared blankly, his face giving the 'what on earth did you just do' ish look. His unblinking stare unsettling Serelah. "That took sixteen seconds." he stated. She was shocked. Well five seconds was quite short, but sixteen? Was she that slow or was it the swordmanship that was awful?Either ways, she knew now that she wasn't an impressive fighter at all. She looked down clearly abashed before she raised her head slowly to look at the sliced rocks across the floor. She heard him sigh before she harkened footsteps from behind knowing the Espada was nearing. She didn't know what his motive was but she stood in place, too scared to look back. Serelah knew he was right behind her, the proximity too disturbing. She immediately stiffened when she felt his cold hand on her bare waist as he pulled her towards him. Her top was cropped so it left her tan-skinned stomach completely exposed. She didn't know what to think of the awkward situation. Her breath hitched when she felt his breath against her ear as his left arm came to hold the hand she placed at her hilt. She was frozen in place as she wasn't used to this much proximity as a hollow. She wasn't one for close-contact and judging from the way Ulquiorra behaved, she figured he wasn't the type to crave for such.

"Serelah." he called sternly. She didn't know what to say as her body felt too stiff and uptight to make any words. She wanted him to just leave her be as she felt too uncomfortable being like this. "Relax...I simply want to exhibit my way of fighting to you so you could have a better understanding. I do not wish to use this method to teach you either so don't fret." he told her. She closed her eyes before letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding as she relaxed...slightly. "Good. Now listen carefully...when wielding a zanpakuto, the first thing you should take to consideration is the way you grasp the sword...you hold it with control and charge..." she felt his breath on her ear as his long hair tickled her neck. He raised her hand and used the sword to slash through the air with such strong force. "Do not let your hand waver, let your fingers take over...no... close it... perfect. Now..." he shifted slightly from behind, tightening his grip on her. Serelah had to try her best to calm down as she didn't want to look over dramatic, he seemed to not be as bothered as her so why should she even be panicking at all? "When fighting an opponent, the most tactical thing to do is to first observe. I prefer analyzing one's method of fighting before I target, it gives me an idea on how to counter the opponent's attack." he explained.

She listened quietly as he swung the sword effectively, side to side. It made her imagine how elegant he must look in battle as everything he did was always precise and accurate. Fighting against him would surely be difficult even if the person was almost as strong as him. Now that she thought about it, maybe having him as her trainer wouldn't be too bad as he would teach her all the right and smart tricks to pull off in battle. His fighting style was unique, it wasn't predictable or obvious as other fighters. During a battle, while he observed the fighter's abilities and techniques, he would most likely block and defend while analyzing at the same time.

"Ulquiorra?" she voiced out for the first time through his explanation as she turned her head to look at him. "What's your rank in the Espada?" she asked curiously. He looked down at her, green orbs accessing her before he let go of her completely making her feel a bit cold but chose to ignore the feeling.

She turned to face him as he stared at her, no emotion lacing his features. "I am the fourth ranked Espada." he answered.

She nodded her head thoughtfully before looking to him. "Out of eleven right?" she guessed. "Ten." he corrected. She nodded once again, deep in thought. She was amazed at his position in the army. Aizen's fourth most powerful arrancar? That was a title to be proud of... and be afraid of.

She looked up at him to find him observing her silently. He stepped forward towering over her. "Serelah...were you listening to all I was saying?" he questioned sternly. She tensed slightly before nodding quickly. "Yes, of course. Ulquiorra...sama." she hesitated. Ulquiorra's brow shot up slightly at her sudden use of honorifics but said nothing of it. He blinked before explaining. "Now before you interrupted...I was explaining one out of various methods of fighting, another way of-"

"You don't need to explain any further about them...I mean on fighting styles. The first one you told me seems the best." she cut off as she stared at the floor, hands by her sides. He stepped forward causing her to look up. "Woman, I haven't even begun to explain other methods, how are you so sure that formation of fighting suits you?" he deadpanned.

She didn't need him to go on about other forms and techniques of fighting, she liked his the best. His method seemed the wisest if not most suitable for her. That range of battling was intuitive and would always keep one alert especially for someone like her who would always need to know what was going during battle.

His way of fighting was perceptive and she would be more than glad to learn it.

The female hollow stared at him before blinking rapidly as she crossed her arms over her chest. "To me that's the only way I could see my self fighting. It's very clever and keeps you alert. When battling, you would always be at an advantage as you've already examined and predicted your opponent's moves...I see it fits me best." she finished.

He stared at her wordlessly for a moment before blinking and looking away to the side. "If it suits you." he replied lowly. She stayed quiet for a moment not knowing what to do before he slowly walked past her staring into the distance. She watched his lean muscular back as he stood stiffly as if thinking over something. He suddenly turned to her, making Serelah tense as she didn't know what to expect. He slowly reaches for his green hilt as he pulls his sword out of it's sheath, green eyes never leaving her's as if gauging her expression. She holds her's firmly getting ready for whatever he had planned for her. He was going to use his sword on her and that thought made her a little uneasy as she didn't know what to expect.

Then all of a sudden, he was nowhere to be seen. She turned sideways, checked the sky and even looked backwards. No trace of him. Her mind kept telling her that this wasn't going to be good as she searched for his spiritual pressure. Then, in a fleeting moment, her eyes widened briefly before she felt herself being swung backward, body across the pale sand. Her lavender hair splayed on her face. She got up as fast as she could as she wiped off the blood cascading from the side of her mouth. There Ulquiorra stood watching her silently as he had his hand placed in his pocket while the other holding his sword, mocking her. Serelah was amazed at his speed. She didn't even see him coming.

"Your reflex is oddly slow." he judged making Serelah clench her jaw in apparent disgust at herself. She was appearing too weak and pathetic. She hated it. She didn't like all this sword drama. She would prefer to just jump and claw at her prey as she remembered her hollow self. Although she may not be able to do those now, as it would be too animalistic. She heard him sigh making her attention go to him. He was probably thinking why Aizen assigned him such a useless fraccion. It would be understandable if he was already tired of her. Who wouldn't? She knew Ulquiorra would be the type to speak his mind out without caring if it offended her or not, so if he was tired of her or her inability to learn quickly, she was pretty sure he would speak out...or he could just go behind her back and tell Aizen she was a lost cause.

Either ways, she probably won't last too long as his fraccion.

"I know. It's just...I didn't see that one coming. Y-your pretty fast too." she stuttered, crossing her arms trying to defend herself. Ulquiorra's speed was surely greater than her's. He was the fourth ranked espada and his basic hollow abilities were definitely more advanced than her's. "That's not an excuse. If we were truly fighting, I could've easily beheaded you at that moment." her eyes widened briefly, as she thought over the scenario.

She looked down in defeat for a moment before looking to him. He had raised his sword infront of him, telling her to focus and resume their training. He leapt forward once again making Serelah do the same. His sword fiercely clashed against her's making her feet scrape the sand, moving backward as she struggled with so much strength, she had already given up on the whole using one arm to fight, she was trying her best to keep his sword from slashing her face and she was using both hands while Ulquiorra was busy toying with her using only an arm.

He repeated the attacks with the same force, but then suddenly he would appear from behind or upwards with more force than usual. She noticed he liked coming from unexpected areas, sometimes from under when they would fight in the air catching her off guard. Of course she never got used to it, he was always so fast and she already had quite some bruises and cuts on her arm and face. She couldn't regenerate for an unknown reason as she could before she was evolved. It might've had something to do with the hogyoku, she suspected. Maybe her high-speed regeneration might've been taken away for more power? She wasn't exactly sure.

Ulquiorra's sword suddenly met with her arm, making a deep cut as blood gushed through. Ulquiorra landed gracefully on the ground as he observed her quietly. She landed slowly as she panted heavily, holding her injured arm. "That's just a warning for spacing out, Serelah." he warned. The way he had called her name, it was stern like, she could tell he was truly pissed at her for being distracted. "I-I apologize Ulquiorra sama." she stuttered. If Ulquiorra could, he would probably roll his eyes at her statement. He was just about to resume their training when she caught him clench his jaw slightly. She felt a rather great amount of spiritual pressure, surely not one of a Número but rather definitely an Espada's. Judging from Ulquiorra's expression, he most certainly didn't want them around. It neared before she saw the door to the training grounds burst open as there stood a rather familiar looking blue-haired man. Her eyes widened momentarily before she coughed out some blood on the sand making Ulquiorra glance at her briefly before returning his attention to the unwelcomed Espada. She figured there was no way he should care if she was worn out as they were still in the middle of their training.

Ulquiorra glared at the sixth as he stalked over confidently, both hands in his pocket. He stopped a few feet away from them, watching. "Why the death glare Cifer? I did tell you I'd be coming." he taunted, smirk widening. His eyes then settled on Serelah making her tense. "Oh, I see you've done a lot before I arrived. Came too late then. I would've really enjoyed seeing her get all beaten up. Tch, relentless as always." he said as he took in Serelah's state. Serelah glanced at Ulquiorra to find him staring down the fellow Espada. She was surprised the teal-haired man could take the look Ulquiorra shot at him. He must really dislike his presence.

Ulquiorra finally turned his attention back to her, his face impassive once again. "Ignore the delinquent. Don't let him distract you." he simply stated as he leapt forward once again. She could've sworn she saw the turqoise-haired man glare at Ulquiorra at his rude insult. She raised her sword again to block his attack as their swords clashed making the wind rise around them...not cause of her's but Ulquiorra's strength and force. She flew backwards, but this time she didn't fall over, mainly because he didn't put as much effort as last time though

This went on for about three hours. Three hours of intense training and a very annoying who she has come to know the name of : Grimmjow making loud and unwanted comments. Sometimes she would send glares his way when he would trash talk her fighting skills or when he would grin and laugh whenever she was too slow to dodge his sudden attacks and she would end up getting thrown across, but she didn't care. She tried hard as hard as possible to focus on Ulquiorra and not on the lousy Espada as he would always yell randomely. She understood why Ulquiorra felt so irritated before. He was a nuisance.

Ulquiorra had decided to put an end to the training as he placed his sword back in it's sheath. His shirt wasn't even wrinkled, he still looked the same as how he came. He observed her quietly before blinking and turning on his heel, placing his hands in his pockets. "That is it for today. You need improvement in many areas, your fighting skills is pitiful and you're too slow to react to attacks. Learn to also concentrate your spiritual pressure correctly, you release a large amount of spiritual pressure at the wrong moments. Take to these." And with that he stalked off leaving a worn out and bloody Serelah to fall face flat to the ground, her arm supporting her face. She closed her eyes as she let all the fatigue settle first. She hoped they wouldn't be doing this everyday. Her wounds still needed time to heal, well not that long considering even without regeneration, wounds tend to close up faster than that of a human. Maybe just a few hours. Her eyes shot up as she heard footsteps stalking away and she looked up to see Grimmjow walking towards the exit. "Tch...I'm leaving." he muttered and he was out. Serelah layed there for a while, eyes closing in peace as she dreaded the next training to come.

Ulquiorra had just finished changing his clothes as he felt a little unclean after his training with Serelah. There were little stains of her blood on his shirt and he was always one for hygiene. After he had changed, he took note to report to Aizen as soon as possible on her progress although he didn't really see any. He placed his sword by his hip and walked out of his room, locking it.

The woman was a handful. Useless on his part. He didn't see why Aizen even recruited such an arrancar. She was terrible at everything. Her swordsmanship was deplorable on it's own. She couldn't even deflect attacks effectively. Her reflexes were just detestable. He hadn't even planned on holding her to teach her to use a sword, well maybe if the worst came to worst, but Serelah had acted like a complete novice, so irritating but he refused to show it at the time. He didn't want to spend his entire time training an incompetent arrancar, it would be bothersome. Of course he would never report to Aizen of his dislike for the woman, as he wanted to do as Aizen pleases. Even if Aizen noticed, it's not like he would assign her to someone else. Aizen thought he was a patient person. He was very sure that if any other Espada were to train her, she would most likely be at the brink of death, someone like Nnoitra or Grimmjow had a short temper that couldn't tolerate things for too long. Although being with Grimmjow would be better as his mind didn't even want to think of the things Nnoitra would do with the woman.

She was submissive, he could see that. She didn't question his judgments or appear rude, at least she knew where she stood, but that wasn't enough to keep her as his fraccion. She was weak...too weak. She wouldn't even be able to fight for herself not much him. She wasn't physically weak, he could notice that as she had taken some few blows, but power wise, she was weak.

Ulquiorra stood in front of the large doors as he knocked and spoke.

"Ulquiorra." and the doors opened slightly for him to enter and he immediately did. Once inside, he walked a little further before kneeling down on a single knee and looked downwards.

"Greetings, Lord Aizen." Ulquiorra greeted. He heard him shift in his seat before he replied. "Ah Ulquiorra, welcome. Any news on Serelah?" he inquired. Ulquiorra looked up. "I've just arrived from her training. She still needs quite some improvement but I can say she has progressed slightly." He explained, his voice simply monotone. He didn't want to tell him she hasn't made any, technically she hadn't, but she has at least learned a few things. That was enough to say she made progress at least. Aizen's smirk grew at his comment. "Perfect. I appreciate the feedback. Is she to your liking Ulquiorra?" Aizen asked. Most certainly not, Aizen knew this but was most probably trying to gain a reaction.

"She is unskillful in her fighting, very weak and not competent enough but if you wish for me to train her to her fullest, I shall comply." Ulquiorra replies. Aizen's smile broadened. "Very good. When she has made immense amount of progress, report back to me." Ulquiorra nodded respectfully taking in the information. "Very well. Thank you Ulquiorra. You may take your leave." he stated and with that Ulquiorra stood up, bowed respectively before replying "Yes, my lord." and he immediately left the room.

That means he would report back to Aizen maybe after a few more training sessions with Serelah, he could only expect her to make progress.

Serelah layed in the bath tub, the comforting warm water cooling all her senses as she relaxed. This was the first time, she had felt so at ease, her hair carelessly splayed out. Her wounds were healing gradually as they were not that serious. She actually liked the bathroom, very accomodating. Not that spacious but comfortable enough. Her body still tired from all the events that transpired that day. The training had been tiresome especially when she has a trainer like Ulquiorra, he was relentless and unflinching. Not that it was a bad thing, she just had a hard time adjusting. She wondered, if Ulquiorra kept training her like this every single day, would she be as good as him?...No, definitely not. He was a natural at everything. His speed was extremely fleet, his thinking was mature and sysytematic. No wonder he was ranked the fourth, he also seemed very submissive to Aizen, she guessed he was probably his favorite.

After finally cleaning all the filth and blood on her, she reached her hand out to turn off the faucet, grabbing the towel near by. Right after hopping out the bathtub, she cleaned herself of all the water, wrapping the towel around her body. She stared at herself in the mirror as she remembered how she looked before she became an arrancar. Her face nothing too extraordinary, rather average. Her amber eyes still the same. Her skin was rather tan, maybe not dark-skinned but dusky. After staring at her reflection for a good amount of time, she blinked before turning on her heel and walking out the bathroom, grabbing a new set of clothes.

She quickly wore her uniform before buttoning up her shirt as she heard a knock on her door. She stared at the door skeptically, wondering who it could be. She sighed as she walked hastily to the door opening it slowly to reveal a lower class arrancar. The arrancar nodded subtly before speaking. "Lord Ulquiorra told me to inform you that there would be training...approximately tommorow and you should be early." The arrancar explained. She nodded thoughtfully as processed the information. That means there was no relax day tomorrow, not like she was planning on it, she figured he would most likely wear her out more this time. She shrugged before looking at the arrancar. "Okay." she replied before closing the door. The arrancar had immediately left as she could feel the spiritual pressure get fainter and fainter. She plopped down on the bed staring at the wall boredly. She was totally jobless as she had nothing to do or entertain herself with. She just wished she had someone she could spar with now. Sitting down and doing nothing was not her thing. Well, perhaps she should just practice with her sword, yes that seemed reasonable. Anything to relieve her of her boredom. Then she would get ready for her next training session with Ulquiorra.

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That's chapter 3 you guys! And trust me when I say things are soon to get interesting as the chapters progress. There was a teeny tiny bit of a moment with Serelah and Ulquiorra if you noticed. Anyway, I appreciate the reviews and don't hesitate to continue.Bye!