After Daniel woke up, he had breakfast together with Andreas and Ilaris. After eating, he headed to the training grounds to practice.
The reason he didn’t go to meet Selera directly was simple: apparently, the Black Palace had summoned both Andreas and Selera, and they had business with them.
Because of that, Selera wouldn’t be available for a while. So Daniel decided to train for now and, if possible, take care of another matter he had in mind.
Truthfully, he had wanted to do this for some time, but no matter how long he waited or searched around, he couldn’t find the person he was looking for.
"I hope she shows up today," he muttered to himself, and soon arrived at the training grounds.
The moment he stepped in, everyone there immediately stiffened in fear and respect upon seeing him. They quickly moved aside to clear a path.
These days, Daniel’s name had spread throughout the entire Lionheart family, and almost no one was unfamiliar with him. Most of his reputation revolved around how terrifying he was.
Of course, he didn’t care. Fear and respect were good things—as long as they feared him and respected him, he could control these fools with ease.
He picked up a wooden spear and glanced at the others present.
"Well, is there anyone today who wants some training?" The moment the words left his mouth, smiles appeared on everyone’s faces.
In the past few days, Daniel had been coming here often, and whenever he did, besides training himself, he would also teach them. That was why they respected him so much.
Everyone grabbed wooden weapons and lined up before him. They knew that even if they all attacked together, they couldn’t win.
Still, every time he beat them down, he also pointed out their flaws and gave them advice on how to improve.
One by one, they sparred with Daniel. For everyone else, using skills, energy, and even laws was allowed, but Daniel only used his physical strength.
And yet, everyone was defeated in turn. None of them could even come close to beating him.
"He’s really a monster! How can he be this strong?"
"His body is tougher than a mountain. He can beat all of us with just raw strength."
"If he actually used energy and skills, how terrifying would he become?" They all swallowed nervously.
Fortunately, this monster was their ally, not their enemy. Otherwise, who knew what kind of fate would await them.
Daniel spent almost until noon training and sparring with them. By the time noon came, everyone was lying on the ground exhausted and bruised, with no energy left to even stand.
"Master, please let us rest! At this rate, we’ll die!"
"Take it easy," Daniel laughed loudly, placing the wooden spear back where he had taken it.
"Looks like she didn’t come today either." The person he had been searching for still hadn’t shown up. He sighed and was about to return to the palace, but suddenly he sensed a presence watching him from afar.
"Huh?" He immediately turned toward the source, but the presence vanished. It was as if the moment it realized he had noticed, it fled.
"I see you." A smile appeared on his face, and then he disappeared from where he stood.
At the same time, a beautiful girl with pink hair was running away at full speed without daring to look back, as if she had just seen a monster.
After several minutes of running, she arrived at a beautiful garden. Everywhere she looked, there were colorful and vibrant trees. When she reached the center of the garden, she stopped and sighed.
"That was close... I almost got caught," she muttered to herself.
"You really did get caught."
The beautiful girl froze in terror upon hearing the charming male voice. She turned and saw a handsome young man standing behind her. She screamed and fell on her backside.
"Hey, relax. I’m not a monster or anything like that." Daniel gave a wry smile and raised his hands in a gesture of peace.
"Really? You’re not going to hurt me?" The pink-haired girl asked softly after sensing no hostility or ill intent from the handsome young man.
"Yeah, don’t worry." Daniel chuckled and stretched out his hand. The girl hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she took his hand and stood up.
"I’ve been looking for you these past few days, but every time I went to the training grounds, you weren’t there. So you were just hiding, huh?"
"Why were you looking for me? Were you going to hurt me?" the beautiful girl suddenly stepped back in fear.
"Relax. I’ll never hurt you." Daniel sighed. Just how much had those bastards bullied this girl for her to be this scared? For original chapters go to NoveI(F)ire.net
Yes, the girl standing before him was none other than the Inborn Spirit he had noticed on his very first day here, because of Rynor’s words.
Later, he asked Andreas about her, but he didn’t know much either. Still, it seemed everyone called this girl a cursed being—either avoiding her or bullying her.
The reason? Apparently, it had to do with her past. When she was a child, some Elders of the Lionheart family had found her in a nearby village and brought her here.
The strange thing was that the village she had lived in had been struck by countless disasters. Everyone except her had died.
Floods, earthquakes, bandits, famine, drought, insect swarms, and monster attacks—every single person in that village perished during the years she lived there.
Naturally, this news spread throughout the Lionheart family, and that was why they called her cursed.
What made it worse was that everyone who had ever gotten close to her or tried to be her friend had died a terrible death. That only added fuel to the fire.
This was exactly why Andreas had warned Ilaris not to approach this girl. He even gave Daniel the same warning.
But since when did Daniel ever care about other people’s warnings? He was also curious about her true origins. Even though Rynor had explained, he still felt there was more to her story.
"Really? Handsome brother won’t hurt me?" The girl’s eyes sparkled brightly.
Handsome brother? I like that name.
"Really. If you don’t believe me, I’m even willing to swear on it," Daniel said seriously.
"No... there’s no need. I... I trust you." The pink-haired girl spoke in a voice as soft as a whisper.
"Anyway, what’s your name? My name’s Daniel."
"My name? I can’t tell you," the beautiful girl suddenly shook her head furiously in fear.
"Why not?" Daniel frowned.
"Everyone who’s ever heard my name has died. That’s why they call me a cursed disaster. You seem like a good person... I don’t want handsome brother to die too."