"No," Daniel said, shaking his head. "No, Master."
Alucard stepped in front of Daniel and leaned in until they were nearly face to face, their eyes locked.
"Look me in the eyes and say that again," Alucard said.
Daniel met his gaze.
"I... I’m not scared of anything," he replied.
"Liar," Alucard said in a firm tone.
...
The wagons rumbled forward as the warriors climbed aboard and departed from the training grounds, their wheels leaving faint tracks in the dirt behind them.
At the same time, Elira entered through the main gate and headed toward the building.
Marco raised a hand.
"Where’s Cinderela?" he asked.
Elira turned her head toward him and answered in a warm tone, "I don’t know. I thought she’d already arrived before me."
Then, her gaze drifted to Daniel for a brief moment as he stood beside Marco.
The instant their eyes met, Daniel recognized the unmistakable hunger in her.
She wanted him.
"Daniel, get back to your training," Marco said, giving him a light pat on the shoulder.
With that, Daniel returned to his spot and resumed his training while Marco remained beside him, carefully observing every movement.
...
"More. I need more power!"
"No breakfast until you give it everything you’ve got!"
"Treat this as if you’re facing a real enemy trying kill you."
"In a real battle, you don’t get a second chance."
"More. Breathe... breathe more!"
The young shamans stared in surprise.
Marco had never pushed anyone this hard before. His usually calm demeanor had vanished, replaced by an intensity that sent a chill through the training grounds.
’Come on, work, work...’ Daniel urged himself, gritting his teeth as lightning crackled around his outstretched hand.
Yet despite all the shouting and all the effort, the orb behind the metal plate remained dark.
His lightning still wasn’t passing through.
"Why are you stopping? Keep going! Practice makes improvement. Do you all hear me?" Marco called out.
"Yes, Master!" the young shamans answered in unison.
Hearing Marco’s words, the students renewed their determination and continued giving it everything they had, unleashing bolt after bolt of lightning.
Before long, the workers arrived to announce that breakfast was ready in the dining hall.
One by one, the young shamans headed inside, washed their hands, and took their seats at the dining tables.
Daniel, however, remained outside beneath the morning sun.
While everyone else ate, he was left with nothing but a glass of water.
While everyone else filled their stomachs with a warm meal, Daniel swallowed air beneath Marco’s watchful gaze.
*Zap! Zap! Zap!*
"Your hand. Keep it straight. Don’t bend your arms," Marco instructed, his arms crossed.
After unleashing bolt after bolt of lightning, Daniel’s body became feverishly hot, as though it were burning from within.
His right arm trembled from the strain.
Sweat streamed down his forehead and soaked through the back of his tunic.
’I’m tired. I’m hungry. My throat... I need water... Where did Master go?’ Daniel muttered under his breath as he forced another bolt of lightning through his palm.
His gaze wandered to a row of broken, half-split wooden training dummies standing off to one side, gradually settling on one in particular.
For the briefest instant, one of the dummies’ faces became Klaus’s.
Something inside Daniel snapped.
Rage erupted through him as he thrust his palm forward and unleashed another bolt of lightning.
*BzZzAP!*
*BOOM!*
A devastating blast hurled Daniel backward, and he crashed onto the ground with a heavy thud.
Bottle gourd in hand, Marco came sprinting over the moment he heard the deafening explosion.
"Daniel?" Marco called, patting his face with light taps.
A high-pitched ringing echoed through Daniel’s ears. He could see Marco’s lips moving, but couldn’t make out a single word.
Meanwhile, his right arm trembled uncontrollably from the backlash, thick veins standing out beneath the skin like those of a man pushing far beyond his limits.
Result?
The orb behind the metal plate glowed with a brilliant white light.
But what truly shocked Marco was the metal plate itself.
It had bent inward from the center as though struck by an overwhelming force. The point of impact glowed dull red, heated to the point of scorching.
A flood of questions raced through Marco’s mind as he examined the plate.
If that was the Fourth Form, the lightning should have pierced straight through the metal without deforming it.
Then... was that the Third Form? But if it was, how did it inflict this much damage? And if it really was the Third Form... why did the lightning pass through at all?
Despite his confusion, Marco couldn’t hide his satisfaction.
He offered Daniel a hand, helped him to his feet, and led him toward the dining hall while the other young shamans had already finished eating and returned to their rooms for a quick rest.
The dining hall was empty.
Daniel’s right hand trembled so bad that he couldn’t even use it to eat. Instead, he picked up a spoon with his left hand and began eating, slow and steady.
*Nom~*
’Finally... some good food,’ he murmured.
Even a simple meal tasted heavenly after hours of draining training.
...
*Burp~*
Once he finished his meal, Daniel returned to the training grounds, but to his surprise, Marco told him to head back to his room and rest for the remainder of the day.
Daniel obeyed without a second thought.
From the window, he watched his comrades undergo the same training, though nowhere near as harsh as his own.
Marco’s loud, commanding voice echoed across the training grounds.
Just then, Elira walked over to Marco, whispered something into his ear, and headed toward the main gate.
Seeing that, an idea crossed Daniel’s mind.
He wrapped one towel around his waist, draped another over his shoulder as a change of clothes, and casually made his way toward the well for a bath.
The other young shamans watched him disappear behind the building toward the well before turning their attention back to practice.
But what none of them knew was that the moment Daniel reached the well, he slipped into the nearby bushes.
There, he quickly drew a ritual diagram on the ground and placed a hay doll with Cinderela’s hair on top of it.
"Veiliquandè mikora jim bos ariqueisà."
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