Ten years ago. Clan Percival estate.

  The rain was heavy that day. It drummed against the black umbrellas like a thousand tiny fingers, demanding to be let in. The air was cold and clean. While everyone else choked on their tears, Bella finally felt like she could breathe.

  It felt as if the whole world was mourning the woman in the satin-lined coffin. At least, that was what the sobbing guests felt.

  Nine-year-old Bella Percival stood under the black canopy, dry-eyed and bored. To her left stood Mizuki, her white hat covering her eyes from everyone but Bella. These were eyes that knew pain—and tried to offer comfort. Mizuki’s hand was warm, gripping Bella’s tight. A clumsy, desperate attempt to share the burden. Bella didn't squeeze back.

  Funny, isn't it? Bella thought, watching her father, Torus, collapse onto his knees in the mud. Satoru held his shoulder. Genichiro stood stoic behind them. As the Yumaki heir, he was trained to look strong.

  But the daughter didn't remember her mother. She remembered a stranger in a silk dress. And strangers aren't worth mourning.

  Emotions make even the strongest falter… and weakness invites wolves.

  ***

  A few months following the funeral. The Percival Training Hall.

  Ten-year-old Bella lay on the cold stone floor, coughing up blood. The smell of sweat and the taste of copper overwhelmed her senses. She tried to stand up, her limbs thin and trembling.

  “Stay down, mongrel,” a voice sneered. Lucian, a little older than her, twelve years old, but he was a ‘pure’ Percival—taller, heavier, and cruel.

  He stood over her, wiping his knuckles. Behind him stood his father, Lloyd, watching with his arms crossed.

  “Didn’t expect The God of War to be such a fool…” Lloyd shook his head in disapproval. “Monogamy… if he was like a normal man, we would have had an army of heirs.” His voice echoed through the vast hall. “Instead, he pinned his heart to that Krinden woman and made… this.” He gestured to a bleeding child on the floor as if she were a pile of refuse. “A failure.” He spat.

  “Not only a half-blood, but also a woman, who thinks she can lead us. Don’t make me laugh.” Lucian stepped closer. He looked at Bella as if he was a farmer inspecting livestock. Bella’s eyes filled with rage. She tried to stand up, but her limbs gave up.

  “Look at her.” Lloyd chimed in. “Still struggling. Scream all you want. Torus won't hear you over the sound of his boiling pots. He’s too busy cooking for a ghost to save a failure like you. Poor Torus... a grieving widower. He spends all his nights chasing ghosts, weeping for the dead. He has no time left for his children. Or rather... his last remaining child.” Lloyd laughed so hard that saliva splattered onto Bella’s cheek.

  "Fate is cruel, isn't it? The beautiful child dies. The one who looked like her rots in the ground. And Torus is left with... you."

  He pointed a finger at Bella.

  "You, who look exactly like him. A mirror image of the man who failed to save them. No wonder he can't stand the sight of you. You are just a walking reminder that the wrong twin survived."

  “Hey, Father,” Lucian’s smile widened. He mirrored his father’s sneer, parroting the filth he heard at the dinner table. “She isn't a warrior, is she?” Lucian crouched down so his face was inches from hers. The smell of his breath made her stomach turn. “But she still has a use. She can still breed more warriors for us when she bleeds, right?” He looked at her body, then back at her eyes. He smacked his lips. A wet, hungry sound. The sound of a man calling a dog.

  Snap.

  The adrenaline flooded Bella’s veins like ice water. The noise that erupted from her throat wasn’t human. It was the desperate screech of a cornered animal. She lunged. Her hands didn't go for his throat. Her small thumbs dug into his eye sockets with a sickening squelch.

  “Get off me!” Lucian screamed—a high, shrill wail—but Bella didn’t stop. She forced her face against his, opening her jaw wide. She didn't kiss him. She clamped her teeth onto the screaming muscle in his mouth.

  Tear.

  Lucian shrieked, his eyes rolling back, as Bella yanked her head back. A fountain of crimson erupted. Bella spat the wet, fleshy lump onto the cold stone.

  She rolled away, gasping, scrambling on all fours. She jammed two fingers into her throat and gagged. She heaved, puking her insides out onto the pristine floor. Vomit mixed with blood. She couldn't stop. She couldn't hear Lucian screaming anymore. She could only hear the sound of her own soul breaking.

  “You monster!” Lloyd roared.

  The heavy impact of a brass knuckle hit Bella’s spine, knocking her face first into her own sick. The pain made her vision blurry, but she was too busy retching to scream. Lloyd raised his fist, preparing for a definitive strike. He saw Bella as nothing more than a rabid animal that needs to be put down.

  He didn’t waste breath on words. He just swung.

  "Stop."

  A single word. Quiet. Dry like old parchment. Yet, it carried more weight than the thunder outside.

  Lloyd froze. His fist stopped inches from Bella’s skull.

  Stepping out of the shadows of the arched doorway was Elder Zane. He was the oldest member of Clan Percival, a man who walked with a cane made of black iron. He didn't look at the screaming boy holding his ruined mouth. He looked only at Lloyd.

  "Step away from the Heir, Lloyd," Zane said softly.

  "She... she ate his tongue!" Lloyd stammered, pointing at Lucian, who was writhing in a pool of blood, choking on his own fluids. "Look at what she did! She’s mad!"

  "She defended herself," Zane said, walking past the bleeding boy without a glance. He stopped over Bella. "Your son insulted her blood. He forgot that a Percival is a wolf, not cattle. If you tease a wolf, Lloyd... do not be surprised when it bites."

  Lloyd stared, his face pale. He grabbed Lucian by the collar and dragged him away, leaving a trail of red across the stone, terrified to speak another word.

  The heavy doors slammed shut. Silence returned to the hall.

  Bella lay shivering in the mess of bile and blood. She looked up at Elder Zane, growling with what little strength she had. A cornered animal, trying its best not to become prey.

  “Admirable.” Elder Zane extended his hand. It held a pristine, white handkerchief.

  "Wipe your face, child," he said gently. "It is unbecoming."

  ***

  The Elder’s Private Study.

  The room smelled of old paper and medicinal herbs. Bella sat on a high velvet stool, her legs dangling, too short to reach the floor. She flinched as the alcohol-soaked cloth stung her raw skin.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  "Hold still," Zane murmured. His voice was calm, steady. He finished cleaning the wound on her ribs and began wrapping the white linen around her small waist. "You growled at me in the hall." Bella looked down at her hands. They were scrubbed clean, but she could still feel the phantom warmth of Lucian’s blood.

  "I thought you were going to hit me," she whispered.

  "Lloyd would have," Zane said, tying the knot of the bandage. "Lloyd is a fool. He sees a biting dog and wants to put it down. I see a biting dog and wonder... who taught it to hunt?" He stood up and tilted her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Your father is broken, Bella. He looks at you and sees a ghost. Lloyd looks at you and sees a failure." Zane smiled. It was the only time she had seen an adult smile at her without mockery. "I look at you, and I see the only Percival with real fangs." He placed a hand on her shoulder. Heavy. "Let me sharpen them for you." Bella instinctively leaned into his touch, resting her head against his robes. Her eyes grew heavy, the adrenaline fading into exhaustion.

  "Let's begin."

  The warmth of the memory vanished. Bella blinked, the smell of herbs replaced by the sterile air of the arena. She was back.

  Mizuki was standing on the opposite side of the wide arena, swinging the club. Her movements were fluid, light, optimistic. Bella fixed her gaze on the girl. She didn't just see an opponent.

  She saw the innocence she had vomited up on a stone floor ten years ago. I have to destroy you, Bella thought, her grip tightening on the hilt. Because looking at you reminds me of the girl I had to kill.

  Bella suddenly felt dry in the throat. The phantom taste of copper was still lingering on her tongue.

  She immediately went to the bench where she had left her glass. No juice. Only ice cubes. She tipped the glass back, dropping the cubes into her mouth. She didn't suck on them. She bit down.

  Crunch. She chewed loudly, the sharp cold numbing the memory, grinding the ice into shards between her teeth.

  “Bella?” Mizuki’s voice was full of concern. She took a hesitant step forward.

  Bella didn't look at her. She simply extended her hand, raising a single index finger.

  Crunch.

  She bit down hard on the remaining ice, the sound echoing loudly in the quiet room. She ground the frozen cubes into slush, swallowing the cold, forcing her temperature—and her heart rate—back down to zero.

  Only after she swallowed did she lower her hand.

  She turned back to Mizuki, whose face changed from concern to genuine horror.

  “Your mouth…” she pointed at her.

  “What about it?” Bella touched her lips. It was covered with some kind of liquid. She looked at her hand. It had blood on it.

  “Whatever,” she said, wiping her hands and mouth with a cloth. “Let’s finish with this already. I am busy.”

  Bella raised her rapier high above her head, the same stance as in the preparation room.

  “Attack me.” Her voice was monotone.

  Mizuki tilted her head. “I am not stupid, Bella. You are a countering fencer. There is no way I attack first.”

  Bella didn’t answer. She changed her stance. Her hand lowered down, shrinking to her chest, and the rapier was pointed at Mizuki. Bella’s legs shifted, as she lowered her body into a deep crouch. A lunging position.

  Blink.

  Mizuki reacted even before Bella moved.

  Clang.

  The club smashed the rapier aside, wide off-line. Yet Bella’s face didn’t change. Right in the air, she rotated using the momentum of a parry to deliver a cutting motion to Mizuki’s eyes.

  Mizuki managed to block the attack, the strong of her club meeting the weak tip of Bella’s rapier.

  The rapier slid off, and Mizuki, seizing the moment, retreated.

  Mizuki’s blood ran cold. From her perspective, Bella just appeared in front of her, bypassing the ten meters in a blink.

  But that wasn’t the part that terrified her the most.

  The blade wasn't aimed at her brain. The angle was tilted slightly outward, a trajectory calculated to bore through the eye socket and exit the back of the skull without touching a single lobe of gray matter.

  The second attack was to cut both her eyes.

  She still respected the rules of a “To the first blood” duel, but the way she maliciously complied sent a shiver down her spine.

  It was a statement. If Mizuki hadn't parried, she would be blind.

  “So that’s the power of the Rank Three: Bella, The Silver Claw.” Mizuki smiled.

  “Don't look so surprised. Closing distance is a Mage-Hunter’s first skill.” Bella brushed over her hair with her hand.

  “Well, then show me.” Mizuki lifted her foot and stomped it on the ground. As a result, a vast amount of ice crystals filled the arena.

  Mizuki used lightning magic to leap into the air, powering her club up with it.

  She looked down. Bella was standing in the middle of the arena, everything besides the two-meter circle around her was filled with ice.

  Mizuki swung her bat. The lightning followed, aimed at Bella’s exact position.

  Bella didn’t move. She shook her head, then swung her rapier upwards.

  A compressed blade of wind erupted from the swing, colliding with the lightning bolt in mid-air.

  Boom.

  The energies clashed, shattering the surrounding ice crystals into a cloud of glittering, blinding shrapnel.

  Mizuki shielded her face, batting away the shards to clear her view. When she looked down, her stomach dropped.

  The circle was empty. Bella was gone.

  Instinct.

  Mizuki didn't wait to see her. She channeled lightning into her legs, blasting herself sideways in a desperate aerial dodge.

  Shhhk.

  Bella’s rapier pierced the empty air exactly where Mizuki’s head had been a heartbeat ago.

  Their eyes locked as Bella landed on her feet.

  X taught her to notice. Noll taught her to think. Those lessons were the only reason she was still fighting. But fighting wasn't winning. And right now, she couldn't even touch her.

  Mizuki landed, her whole body shivering. Bella stood there, examining her. Waiting, as if there were turns.

  Not a single wasted movement. Mizuki audibly swallowed. Every movement is either a deathblow, or a parry to set one up.

  Mizuki exhaled, forcing herself to calm down. Then… I will give you something to parry.

  Her body tensed up, as the lightning started flowing through her. Bella raised her rapier, ready for Mizuki’s move.

  She slid her foot forward; ice crystals followed. They moved in a straight line to Bella.

  Bella sighed, extending her rapier forward. A full two meters, including the rapier. Right as the ice touched the tip, it exploded.

  Mizuki was nowhere to be seen.

  Mizuki was behind Bella, with a club wound up for an attack. No matter how fast Bella is, she cannot turn around and block before I hit her. I win!

  Bella didn't turn. She didn't need to. Her arm snapped back with precision, her rapier acting as a rigid bar across her lower back. Clang. She caught the club centimeters from her spine.

  “You remembered me for ten years.” Bella’s voice was monotone; she still didn’t turn back. “Yet you forgot one thing… sneak attacks don’t work on me.”

  She slid the rapier under the club, and with one swift upward motion, the club was no longer in Mizuki’s hands. It fell behind her and Mizuki fell with it.

  Bella turned around, pointing the rapier at her face.

  There was nothing Mizuki could do. She was at Bella’s mercy.

  The tip of a rapier hovered over her eyes.

  But Mizuki wasn’t even scared. She wasn’t going to run. She was lying there, looking straight into Bella’s eyes, not even blinking.

  “Come on…” she said. “Gouge my eyes out if you want.”

  Bella looked at her. Then, upward to her hat. Her face changed as a smirk was plastered onto it.

  “I have a better idea.” She raised her rapier and lunged it at the hat.

  Mizuki’s hands moved on their own. She caught the rapier right as it was about to pierce her hat.

  She squeezed it hard, fighting against Bella.

  “I thought we were best friends…” Bella said. “How come you never showed what’s under the hat. Is it shameful? I certainly hope so.”

  “None of your business.” Mizuki spat. “As long as I squeeze my hands, you will never see what’s under it.”

  Bella stopped putting force on the rapier. Her smirk transformed into a wicked smile.

  “Well, if you say so,” Bella said and immediately pulled the rapier out of Mizuki’s hands.

  Schluck.

  The sound of steel sliding against bones and meat echoed in the silence.

  Blood sprayed in a hot arc across Mizuki’s face.

  The blade didn't just cut; it shredded the tendons and severed the nerves of her clenched fingers. Mizuki screamed as blood pooled over, tainting her white hair.

  Bella saw the pool of blood and stepped back to protect her shoes.

  But Mizuki didn’t stop. While grunting, she crawled to her club, trying to squeeze it.

  It only brought more pain.

  Bella looked at her, smile disappearing. She turned around.

  “I hope you can at least hold your word.” She left. Mizuki’s eyes filled with tears as she watched Bella leave without a care in the world. And she couldn’t do anything about it.

  ***

  The Preparation Room.

  Bella stood alone, pulling the emerald dress back over her shoulders. The room was silent.

  She tried to zip the fabric, but she couldn't. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably.

  She clenched them into fists, forcing them to stop, but her mind kept replaying the final second of the duel.

  Before she attacked, she filled herself with lightning, Bella thought, her eyes wide, staring at the wall. To a Sensor, it was blinding. Like feeling the warmth of a sun.

  But after the flash… nothing.

  A cold sweat broke out on Bella's neck.

  I couldn’t sense her. She completely removed her presence. No mana. No heartbeat. No intent.

  Bella finally managed to zip the dress, her breathing jagged.

  I only found her because she entered the Zone of Denial. The displacement of air within the two-meter radius gave her up.

  She looked at the training rapier on the rack.

  If she hadn't swung... if she had used magic from outside the circle while hidden... I wouldn't have seen it coming.

  She stared at her own trembling hands. The fear was disgusting. It was a weakness.

  "That..." she sighed, forcing her hands to still. "Is unacceptable."

  Question for you guys: Do you think Bella went too far, or is this just the reality of their world? And any guesses on what is hiding under that hat?