The way these girls acted, thinking they could face Daniel in any situation, was honestly foolish. Of course, they probably knew that themselves.
The only thing they wanted was to fight him, because they knew every time they sparred with him, they could figure out their weaknesses faster.
Someone like Alice preferred to speak indirectly, throwing in extra words to try and push her brother to take things more seriously.
But Tiana was more straightforward. She didn’t really care, and if it wasn’t for Alice, she would’ve just directly asked Daniel to spar and point out her flaws.
Daniel could easily read his sisters’ minds, so he didn’t say anything and simply went along with them. While mocking them a little, of course, he was still teaching them.
On the other hand, both of them saw Daniel as their role model , the goal they wanted to reach. More than anything else, they wanted to stand in the same league as him, stand by his side, and help him.
That was the reason they trained so hard: just to lessen Daniel’s burdens and responsibilities.
That’s why they wanted to see exactly how far apart they were from him. But every time they fought, they realized the gap only kept growing wider.
The [Deathless Star Armor] shone brightly on Alice’s body. The starry lines pulsed across it, as if the night sky itself burned inside her.
"Huh? A bet? No thanks," Alice refused the suggestion without hesitation. She might have looked arrogant, but she wasn’t stupid.
"Watch, Daniel! Now no strike can stop me!" she raised her sword and shouted.
Tiana also lifted her hands. Four elements, fire, water, wind, and earth , swirled around her body in a dance. The ring on her finger gleamed like a small sun.
"This time we won’t let you make fun of us!" she took a deep breath.
Daniel smiled calmly, resting the wooden sword on his shoulder.
"Then come. Show me."
Still, in his mind, he was actually shocked. This girl Tiana had reached the level where she could use all four elements.
Alice attacked with [Starfall Strike], her sword falling like a bright meteor toward Daniel.
At the same time, Tiana combined [Flame Spiral] and [Storm Spear]; a spear of lightning wrapped in flames shot straight at him.
A loud crash shook the ground. Dust and smoke filled the air.
For a brief moment, the sisters smiled... but when the smoke cleared, Daniel was standing exactly where he had been. Completely fine.
He had drawn a simple line on the ground with his wooden sword and now stood behind it.
"This... is that all you’ve got?" His voice was calm, but laced with disdain.
Alice growled in frustration and activated [Celestial Rend].
A slash of light and blade shot straight for Daniel’s heart. But Daniel only took one step forward. His wooden sword moved with unbelievable speed, striking Alice’s wrist. The glowing blade flew out of her hand.
She looked at him in shock; the star armor was still shining, but it hadn’t offered any protection against Daniel’s precise strike.
"Your armor is good, Alice. But when you rely on it too much, your movements slow down. Armor can never replace precision and technique."
"And don’t forget, armor is just an extra layer of protection. Never rely on it too much, and remember, I’m the one who gave it to you."
With another light tap, Daniel’s wooden sword touched her chest plate.
A faint cracking sound came from the armor. Alice stumbled back in disbelief — she knew that if it had been a real sword and if Daniel had used power, her heart would’ve been split open and the armor shattered completely.
Tiana quickly shouted and used [Frozen Shackles]. Ice spread across the ground, then [Terra Crush] raised pillars of stone, and at the same time [Flame Spiral] lit the arena in flames.
The entire training field drowned in elements.
Tiana thought to herself: "This time I’ll definitely trap him!"
But Daniel only sighed.
One step, his wooden sword struck the bases of the stone pillars, all of them collapsing.
Second step, the ice beneath his feet cracked and shattered like glass.
Third step, his sword sliced the air, and the flames split apart.
Suddenly, he was standing right behind Tiana. The wooden blade lightly touched her neck.
"Your magic is beautiful. But it’s too messy. When you focus on all the elements, you don’t master any of them."
"In the future, you’ll definitely reach the level where you can use all four elements at once. But for now, focus on one at a time and move on gradually. Otherwise you’ll always be slow in battles, and that’s a fatal mistake."
Tiana thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up as she understood, and she thanked him.
At the same time, Daniel noticed his younger sister attacking from behind.
But he moved like a shadow. One soft strike knocked Alice’s sword to the ground again. Another strike knocked Tiana’s ring out of her hand.
Both sisters were left standing, breathless, weaponless, powerless.
Daniel planted his wooden sword into the ground and spoke calmly, though clearly a little dissatisfied:
"Do you understand now? You rely too much on external items. I’m not saying it’s bad, but I gave you those items to support you, not for you to depend on them completely."
He glanced at them.
"Just now, you lost your items and you were completely defeated. You’re lucky your opponent was me, otherwise you’d already be dead."
The sisters stared at him, eyes full of shame and astonishment, then lowered their heads. They understood now.
Sweat dripped down their foreheads. Their hearts pounded. They had just realized the distance between them and Daniel was like the distance between the earth and the sky.
"Sorry, brother... since we’ve never fought opponents as strong as you, we forgot we shouldn’t rely so much on items," Alice admitted.
Tiana also nodded. Still, her case was different. She could tell Daniel was warning Alice, but giving her advice.
She hadn’t yet reached the level where she could use magic without her ring. That’s why Daniel was telling her not to depend on it too much now, so in the future she could find a way to create her own source.
"No problem. I’m your brother, and my only intention is to help. There’s no need to feel ashamed," Daniel chuckled and helped them up.
"How... how are you still so far out of reach? We used all our power..." Alice said with a trembling voice.
"And you... didn’t even use a single bit of yours..." Tiana added, gasping for breath.
"Competing with me is pointless. Don’t forget, this is only the start of your path," Daniel said with a smile , merciless, yet kind.