Arella ran back all the way to the villa. Flustered, she went to her room, closed the room, and finally took some deep breaths to calm down. Son, she went out and had her lunch.
After lunch, she tried to connect with her beast. This time, when she cultivated and looked inside, everything was different. The darkness which had blinded her senses was nowhere to be found.
Instead, a blinding brightness had seeped into every corner of the space. But the result was still the same. She could not see anything at all! It was too bright!
The only difference was that she could feel pulsating energy around her. Though she could not see anything, she could feel wings flapping above her. Its pulsation resonated with her soul and vibrating core.
By the time she opened her eyes, it was evening. She felt relaxed. Adrian too, came back at this time. He freshened up and informed Arella that they would be having dinner soon.
Confusion appeared in her eyes. But Adrian was determined. While having dinner in the evening, she could not stop herself and asked again the reason behind such an early dinner.
"We will begin your Night training today. And I am afraid after it, you will lose the appetite to eat." Adrian nonchalantly informed her.
She was still confused. What did he have in mind? Never mind, she ate her fill. Afterward, Adrian took her back to his office area. But this time, instead of taking her to his office, he took her to another area.
It was more like an underground laboratory. It was fully lit and functioning, and members worked around the clock. Inside the laboratory, there was no distinction between day and night.
Arella saw corridors and doors and lots of them. Every door required a password. Adrian took her straight to room number 216. He input the password and took her inside.
The room was illuminated with white lights. A man was busy working in the corner. And in the middle of the room was a huge bed, and on the bed was something. Arella could not see it from afar.
Connected to this body were various instruments and fluids. Numbers flashed, and different lights blinked on the instruments. But it was too quiet.
Noticing the intruders, the busy man looked up. Adrian nodded, and the busy man nodded in response. Then, without any other nonsense, the busy man went out, leaving Arella and Adrian alone in the room.
Arella walked further inside. She wanted to see what lay on the giant bed. When she saw it, her feet stopped, and her eyes widened in alarm and shock! Wasn't this the hound that had attacked her in the forest?
She could easily recognize it because of the burnt mark left on its body. Its fur was burnt to the roots. Its body was littered with wounds. It was indeed the same hound!
She turned around to seek validation from Adrian. He nodded gently in confirmation.
"We found it, but its condition was not good. It is brain dead now." He briefed Arella.
He would never tell her that he had used its body to test drugs and torture methods! And that it wanted to die a million times, but they never allowed it. He watched it squirm in pain till its brain could no longer handle the drugs and became dead.
The good thing was that its body was still available for experimentation.
"We are here to test your healing capabilities. Of course, as your mate, it would be most effective if we experimented on myself. But my inherent healing abilities and my beast's instincts would heal my wounds without giving you a chance." Adrian shared his perspective.
"That is why, we are here. You can try your healing abilities on this body. If it makes you uncomfortable, we could switch to something else or resort to another option." Adrian made sure that Arella was okay with such an arrangement.
If not, well, he could find a live animal, preferably something cute, to let her test her healing skills.
Arella pursed her lips. It was a little sudden. But it is a good method to test and experiment with her skills. To her, it was not uncomfortable at all. Because whenever she looked at the lifeless body of the hound, she was reminded of Anne's wounded leg and Devon's miserable fox.
Experimenting on the hound sounded like a good idea to her.
"I am fine with it," Arella spoke in a determined manner.
"Good. We only have a week. After that, the body would stop responding as well." Adrian informed as he handed over gloves to her. He too, wore a pair expertly. He took a scalpel and made a shallow cut on the hound's exposed stomach.
"Let's start with shallow cuts first. We will increase the intensity later." He spoke as if the splashing blood never existed. His cut was neat and temperament solid. He did not even blink while cutting the flesh.
Arella swallowed a little. It was new to her. She blinked several times and inhaled a few times to calm down her core. Then, once she was in control of her emotions, she raised her quivering hands and put them on the bleeding cut.
She closed her eyes and summoned her healing blue flame, letting it concentrate in the middle of her palm. The blue in her eyes, around the edges of the red, started gleaming.
Adrian had noticed that these days, the red in her eyes had become brighter. This was the first time, he noticed the blue shining with the same intensity as the red in her eyes. It circled the red. It looked as if a molten lava lake was being stopped by a ring of ice.
It was truly mesmerizing. He found himself lost in her eyes. Meanwhile, Arella was concentrating solely on healing the cut. She had performed her healing antics on Anne and Devon before. So, she was quite familiar and efficient this time.
Within a few minutes, the blood stopped, and the cut healed. She released the breath she was unconsciously holding. She looked up and found Adrian looking at her in a trance.
She moved a little, breaking his trance. He checked the cut and showed admiration. To Arella, it was like passing level 1.
Adrian, without wasting any time, made another cut in the same area. This time, it was a bit deeper. Blood started gushing out sporadically.
The amount of blood took Arella by surprise, but she was still at ease. Partly because it was the hound that hurt her friends before. So, seeing it bleed did not matter much to her.
And secondly, because it was already brain dead. So, it was not whimpering with pain or looking at her with helpful eyes. She did not feel the pressure of healing it. This made her relax a little.
She pooled her healing blue flame around the palm and touched the wound. It took her longer this time to heal the wound, but she did manage to heal.
Arella felt giddy at her achievement. It was like passing level 2. She looked at Adrian for words of praise, but Adrian's next words made her doubt her ears.
"No, Ella. This is not right." Adrian slowly spoke as he scrutinized the healed wound.