The training field was steeped in an uneasy silence, broken only by the repetitive sounds of malford energy explosions. At the center of the clearing, Strax, visibly frustrated, stretched his hands forward, attempting once more to create the infamous "flaming ice sword." However, as soon as the form began to take shape, a spark of fire erupted, consuming the ice before it could solidify.
*"Damn mutant fire! Damn it! If it were normal fire… but infernal fire?! This is impossible!"*
Daniela, sitting nonchalantly on a nearby rock, watched the scene with an expression that oscillated between amusent and exasperation. She had spent the last 90 minutes offering tips, so useful, others deliberately sarcastic, while Strax made a monuntal effort to et the challenge.
"You look awful, Strax," she remarked, resting her chin on her hand. "I almost feel bad for you. Almost."
*'Annoying woman...'* Strax gritted his teeth, ignoring the provocative tone.
He took a deep breath and tried again, focusing his energy. A sphere of ice began to form in his left hand, while a flicker of fla danced in his right. For a brief mont, it seed like he had finally found the balance, but the sudden heat from the fire lted the ice instantly, snuffing out the fla in the process.
"Damn it!" Strax exclaid, punching the air in frustration.
"Pfft... HAHAHAHA!" From her corner, Daniela burst out laughing. "That was pathetic, even for you. You had the balance for half a second and still managed to screw it up."
"You wanna co here and do it better, wind-head?" he shot back, his voice thick with irritation.
"Oh, no, no. This is your problem—your lack of mana skill is entirely your fault," she replied, feigning innocence. "Besides, I already know how to do sothing like this. You're the one who needs to learn... oh, mighty warrior who solves everything with a sword," she added with a teasing wink.
Strax huffed, but before he could retort, Daniela got up from the rock and walked toward him, her boots sinking slightly into the grass, her eyes glinting mischievously.
"I honestly thought offering the chance to see my naked body as a reward would motivate you," she said, her voice dripping with irony. "But I guess that wasn't enough."
Strax paused for a mont, his expression fluctuating between disbelief and growing irritation. "You're ssing with , aren't you?"
"Of course, I am," Daniela replied, crossing her arms and looking at him as if it were obvious. "After all, I'm not the one who just spent an hour and a half failing miserably at sothing I promised to do."
"I didn't promise anything," he snapped, his patience finally fraying. "You're the one who ca up with this crazy idea and expects to pull off sothing impossible."
Daniela raised an eyebrow. "Impossible? I thought you were capable of anything. My mother doesn't give problems without solutions." She paused deliberately, letting her words sink in before adding, "Or are you just good at impressing won with empty words? Well, my mother isn't, so even if you answer, you'll be lying."
*'What I wouldn't give to knock this woman down...'* Strax clenched his fists, his frustration reaching its peak. *'Tch, insufferable.'* He knew she was trying to provoke him, but he couldn't deny that there was a sliver of truth to her words. He prided himself on his combat skills, but this technique was completely different from what he was used to.
"If you think it's so easy, why don't you show again how it's done, huh?" he challenged, his eyes sparking with a touch of competitiveness.
Daniela smiled, clearly savoring the opportunity. "If you insist..." She extended one hand, her posture relaxed, but her eyes fixed on the empty space in front of her. An instant later, a form of energy began to take shape.
First ca the ice—a translucent blade that shimred like crystal. Then, small flas began to dance along the edges of the blade, flickering as though they were part of its very structure. It was a flaming ice sword, simple yet impressive.
She raised it, giving it a slight spin in the air before letting it dissolve, the flas extinguishing as the ice evaporated. "See? It's not that hard. Maybe you just need a little more practice... or perhaps a less rigid mind."
"You make it look easy because you already know how it works," he grumbled, staring at the ground. "Also, you're able to use Fire and Ice? How's that fair?"
"Oh, right. I guess Mother didn't tell you… All of us can use two elents because she gave us hers—Ice," Daniela replied with a smile. "I use Fire, and the others have their respective elents. You'll figure that out soon enough."
Her voice then took on a more serious tone. "But honestly, Strax, you need to loosen up a bit. It's not just brute strength or technique. It's balance. Understanding that fire and ice aren't opposites, but complents. They exist together, like parts of a whole."
Strax looked at her, surprised by the sudden tone of wisdom. He opened his mouth to respond, but Daniela stepped forward and lightly tapped his shoulder before he could say a word.
"But, of course, if that's too much for you, I can always lower the difficulty," she teased, her playful tone returning. "Maybe sothing more your speed... like making a snowball with a candle inside."
"DANIELA!" Strax yelled, exasperated, as she walked away, laughing. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure.
anwhile, Daniela had already returned to her rock, her laughter echoing through the clearing. "Co on, Strax. One more try! If you can't manage it, I promise I won't tell your wives about this little failure… but I also won't promise I'll stop laughing about it for a week!"
"You're unbearable," he muttered, though even as he said it, a small smile crept onto his lips.
...
already know how works," he grumbled, staring at the ground. "Also,
"Oh, right. I guess Mother didn't tell you… All of us can use two elents because she gave us hers—Ice," Daniela replied with a smile. "I use Fire, and the others have their respective elents. You'll figure that out soon enough."
Her voice then took on a more serious tone. "But honestly, Strax, you need to loosen up a bit. It's not just brute strength or technique. It's balance. Understanding that fire and ice aren't opposites, but complents. They exist together, like parts of a whole."
Strax looked at her, surprised by the sudden tone of wisdom. He opened his mouth to respond, but Daniela stepped forward and lightly tapped his shoulder before he could say a word.
"But, of course, if that's too much for you, I can always lower the difficulty," she teased, her playful tone returning. "Maybe sothing more your speed... like making a snowball with a candle inside."
"DANIELA!" Strax yelled, exasperated, as she walked away, laughing. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure.
anwhile, Daniela had already returned to her rock, her laughter echoing through the clearing. "Co on, Strax. One more try! If you can't manage it, I promise I won't tell your wives about this little failure… but I also won't promise I'll stop laughing about it for a week!"
"You're unbearable," he muttered, though even as he said it, a small smile crept onto his lips.
High above, floating in the blue sky, Scarlet watched the training session with a piercing gaze. From afar, the interaction between Daniela and Strax seed like re play, with occasional banter and laughter, but to Scarlet, it was more than just training. It was an evaluation. A careful analysis.
She remained still, completely concealing her presence. Her arms were crossed over her chest, but her eyes… they sparked with an unusual light every ti she felt Strax's mana pulse through the field. The boy was trying to create the infamous flaming ice sword, but every explosion, every imbalance in his energy, made Scarlet's body tense. His mana wasn't ordinary—it was wild, unstable, but above all, dangerous.
"What are you, boy?" Scarlet murmured, her voice low and raspy, almost a whisper to the wind.
But she wasn't entirely alone.
Not completely.
She glanced toward the sky, as though expecting an answer, then turned slightly, as if soone was there, unseen.
"You feel it too, don't you? This boy… he's not like you were," she continued, her voice tinged with lant, as if speaking to an old friend. "He carries sothing more. Sothing even he doesn't understand. But… you would have told to go on with this, wouldn't you?"
The wind stirred around her, rustling the leaves as though responding. Scarlet lowered her gaze, pensive, and sighed deeply. She could feel his energy intensifying, fluctuating between fire and ice, striving for balance. But what troubled her wasn't the skill itself… it was the essence behind it. Sothing was wrong. Sothing pulsed like a siren within her, warning her to keep her distance, to pull Daniela away from this boy.
Yet she hesitated. Why?
"You never told it would be easy," she said, pressing her hands against her chest as if trying to contain a storm within. "But I wonder... did we do the right thing, all those eras ago?"
Her mind was invaded by a distant mory, sothing she didn't want but seed inevitable whenever she thought of Strax.
It was a warm, tranquil afternoon, a field filled with golden flowers under an endless sky. At its center stood *Her*—a woman with a gentle smile but eyes that concealed overwhelming power. Her hair was like golden flas under the sun, and her presence made everything around her feel smaller, less significant. She was a force of nature, and Scarlet rembered admiring her with a mixture of awe and respect.
"When I have a child… he'll be trouble, Scarlet. Rember? I told you this a year ago," the woman had said, holding sothing small and fragile in her arms—a baby, with bright, intense eyes that seed to see more than they should. The boy was quiet, but there was sothing about him, sothing Scarlet could feel even from a distance.
"This choice of yours is rather reckless, don't you think? Foolish disciple," Scarlet had asked at the ti, her voice tinged with hesitation. "You're going to create sothing that might consu everything around it. Even you."
"*Fufufu*," the woman laughed, a sound as lodic as it was ominous. "I won't raise him myself, after all. I won't live many more years." She smiled as she spoke, her tone unshaken.
Back in the present, Scarlet closed her eyes, pushing the mory away. She took a deep breath, but the sense of danger lingered.
"You didn't live to see him grow, and now I've taken him, just as I took you. *Fufufu,* what a joke… or perhaps… it's destiny at work again," she chuckled to herself, reflecting on the choices she had made.
"A mother who gives everything for her child… even her own destiny. What an optimist you were. But I wonder… does he carry *that* as well?" she mused, recalling the most extraordinary thing she had ever witnessed in all her centuries as a vampire.
"Of course, he does. If not, he couldn't have reached the third stage of a Dragon," she concluded, a faint smile forming on her lips before she vanished from the spot.
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