The sun had not yet risen when Elena opened her eyes.
She sat up under the old tree. Cold air touched her skin, but it didn't bother her anymore.
"Wake up. We begin your physical training now," Raphael's voice said calmly inside her mind.
"Physical training?" Elena asked. "Aren't I already stronger than before?"
"Yes, but your body is untrained. Raw strength is useless without control."
Elena stood up, stretching her limbs.
She followed Raphael's instructions and stepped into a small open space in the forest.
"Hit that tree," Raphael said.
She hesitated.
"Hit… a tree?"
"Don't hold back."
Elena tightened her fist, stepped forward, and swung.
CRACK!
The tree shook violently — then split in half, falling to the side with a loud crash.
Elena stumbled back, shocked at her own power.
"I… did that?"
"Yes. And that was with only a portion of your strength. As your body adapts, you'll grow faster, stronger, and harder to kill."
Elena looked at her hands.
"I feel like a monster…"
"You're not a monster. You're something new. Something powerful."
She took a deep breath.
"Why are you helping me?"
There was a long pause.
Then the voice replied — softer this time.
"Because I see myself in you. You deserve the truth. My real name… is Turichie Baron Mars. Long ago, I ruled quietly from the shadows as the Blood Queen. But I was betrayed and sealed away."
Elena didn't speak for a moment.
"Turichie… Baron Mars…"
Now, I pass what remains of me to you. You'll be stronger than I ever was. But you must learn faster — the world is running out of time."
Meanwhile… in the Outside World
France was losing control.
The infection had spread beyond rural areas and into major cities. Hospitals collapsed. Military forces tried to shut down entire regions, but it was too late.
The virus, now confirmed by scientists, was traced back to a research team in Antarctica. The same team that had brought the virus to France — and tried to hide it.
But they failed.
The secret got out.
Now, other countries knew.
China was the first to report cases in Asia. Infected individuals had come in through flights before the lockdown in France began. But unlike France, China couldn't hold the virus back.
In just one week, entire neighborhoods in mainland China were locked down. Cities began falling one by one.
Europe trembled.
Poland. Italy. Parts of Spain.
The infection wasn't slowing down.
It was spreading faster than anyone expected.
Back in Germany
Elena stood in the forest, panting lightly.
She had broken two trees now. Jumped over a small river. Her speed and power were rising each day.
But she wasn't proud.
Elena's eyes narrowed.
She was no longer just a scared girl hiding in the woods.
She was becoming something else.
Elena sat down beside the fallen tree, still catching her breath from the last punch.
> "Turichie…" she repeated softly. "That name sounds… ancient."
The voice inside her responded, this time more serious.
> "That's because I am. I was born thousands of years ago. A noble woman — half Dutch, half German — raised in a wealthy family. I lived a peaceful life until my stepbrother betrayed me."
Elena listened carefully.
> "He poisoned me. Killed me in silence. All for money and land. My father's fortune was supposed to go to me, but he wanted it all. So he ended my life."
Elena's hands tightened.
> "That's horrible…"
> "Yes. But guilt followed him. Days after my death, he broke. Tried to bring me back with forbidden black magic he found through old texts from the East. But what came back wasn't just me. It was something new."
> "A vampire…" Elena whispered.
> "The first vampire. I became the Blood Queen — Turichie Baron Mars. Stronger than anything the world had seen. But with it came hunger. Power. And enemies."
> "What happened then?"
> "I ruled from the shadows. Changed the world from behind walls. But humans grew scared. They hunted me. Eventually… they sealed me. 500 years ago, they trapped what was left of me inside a crystal made from ice, buried deep beneath the world — where time stopped."
Elena's eyes widened.
> "Greenland…"
> "Yes. And you… You did two things."
> "You broke the seal when you took that crystal from the cave — and you licked it, absorbing the last drop of my frozen blood."
Elena froze.
> "So I really brought you back…"
> "Not completely. Just a voice. A piece of me. But it's enough to guide you — and to pass my power to you."
Elena stood back up, silent for a moment.
> "Then I'll carry it. Your name. Your power. But I won't make your mistakes."
> "Good," Turichie said. "Then we'll start preparing for what's coming. Because if the infection reaches Germany… it won't stop."
Elena looked toward the distant sky, where dark clouds were forming over the horizon.
>"Wait what infection?"
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