"Groowl…grooowl~!"
The Cinderhorn Direwolf's lips peeled back, steamy saliva spilling from its fangs in thick strands that hissed as they struck the stone. Its gaze never wavered from Bell and there was a hint of actual anger and hatred in it as opposed to earlier, when it had resigned itself to death.
Bell regarded it with mild curiosity, spinning the kunai in slow, lazy circles. The steel rope followed, whispering softly through the air.
"If you're trying to intimidate me," he said lightly, "you're late."
'Maybe if this was before Diana's blood… maybe.'
The wolf vanished.
Bell didn't move.
A few seconds passed as he observed the beast that wasn't aware Bell could "see" it. Bell didn't make it too obvious that he knew where the wolf was, watching it from his peripheral vision rather than directly.
Then the beast popped back into existence at Bell's side, jaws opening in a silent roar as fire bloomed in its throat—
Bell stepped inside the attack.
There was no need to fear the flames that would only make him stronger.
The flames washed past his back, heat curling around him, but the kunai was already moving. A flick of his wrist sent the blade gliding across the wolf's foreleg, not deep enough to cripple — just enough to carve a precise line through its muscle.
The wolf screamed.
Not in pain but rather, in offense. It was offended.
It twisted violently, claws slashing where Bell had been, but he was already gone, slipping aside as if guided by a ballroom music only he could hear. A very elegant dance.
Jess released an arrow. It passed wide, detonating near the wolf and forcing it to stagger.
"Good shot," Bell murmured and nodded at his teammate. "Thank you." Even though he didn't really need it.
The wolf vanished once more. It looked over at the group of three in the distance, especially at Jess who had shot the arrow. But it turned its head back to Bell who was the only real threat. Yes, it could probably take one of the three down if it focused its attention on them, but that wasn't what it desired.
It desired Bell's flesh and blood.
This was the beast's last dance and it wanted the dance to be with a human of Bell's caliber.
Bell closed his eyes, taunting the beast.
He felt the pressure around him shift — the tightening of beast energy, the inward curl of heat.
Behind him.
Bell turned smoothly, the rope snapping tight as the kunai buried itself near the base of the horn again — same spot, deeper this time. He pivoted on one foot and guided the wolf past him, redirecting its charge with a dancer's grace.
The beast slammed into the ground hard enough to crack stone.
"Good try," he said. It was a genuine compliment but sounded harsh coming from him who dealt with it so easily.
Bell didn't let it recover.
He stepped onto its spine, heel pressing down just enough to pin it without crushing it. The wolf thrashed, claws gouging furrows into the stage, fire spilling uselessly from its jaws.
Bell leaned closer, voice calm, almost conversational.
"You rely too much on momentum," he said. "It makes you predictable."
The wolf surged, muscles bunching—
Bell twisted the horn with his bare hand.
Bone screeched.
The beast howled, half its body spasming as the horn wrenched violently to the side. Heat flared wildly, scorching the air.
Bell released the horn and stepped back just as the wolf erupted in fire. The beast realised it was doomed to die, so it wanted to go out with a bang.
If regular flames couldn't kill the boy, maybe this would, was what it was thinking.
The large flames that extended to nearly where Cormier and the others stood engulfed Bell.
Vivian's foot slid forward. It slipped her mind that the beast might sacrifice its life to activate its stronger ability.
But she didn't move as she watched the boy inside crouch and stare at the beast in silence.
Was he actively observing and learning more about the beast right now?
'...He's crazy. As expected from a prodigy,' she scoffed as a grin grew on her face.
Then Bell walked out of the inferno once it began to die down.
His skin had been burned, ripped, and scorched, but it was already healing back to normal.
'Even the scar on my hand from when I shot it with the widowmaker,' he thought. A vampire's regeneration was simply overpowered.
The wolf stared in disbelief as its life force flickered and dimmed.
It understood that it was never a match for this boy.
Fear flooded its mind as it closed its eyes.
Bell returned to his team without looking back and said, "Shall we head down the stage. Good work team."
Good work team?
"You did all the work. You saved our butts," Francis said.
"That was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Jess said, wiping a tear from her eye.
Cormier stared at his shield, a little bitter that he couldn't be of help. He wanted to get stronger so that someday, he could play the proper role of protecting his leader rather than the leader protecting him.
* * *
Diana sat at the edge of the training hall's step, idly rolling an ice ball between her fingers.
It was late in the afternoon, and the lights in the hall had been turned on for the students who were putting in extra effort to get stronger.
A bunch of Combat students were training behind her. The sound of their weapons clashing echoed along with the occasional activation of their star ability.
Although it was quite intense, for the most part, no one was getting hurt because people knew how to hold back.
Leaning against the pillar in front of her was Peneri. Arms folded, she said, "You're back to normal."
Diana blinked a few times, looked up, then smiled at her friend.
It was an easy smile. Natural and unforced. The kind she hadn't worn in months.
"Am I?" she asked.
"Yeah," Peneri said flatly. "You weren't distracted. You actually looked like you were enjoying conversing with our friends. And I heard a genuine laugh from you. You may be able to trick the other girls, but not me. I knew those laughs from before were fake."
Diana let out a soft hum, eyes back on the ice ball in her hand. She crushed it into cold dust and said, "I suppose I am back to normal."
Peneri pushed off the pullar and sat beside her, legs stretching out.
"So?" she prompted. "What happened after we… You know, did that thing to our teacher."
She was referring to killing Mr. Alfonsi, or rather his clone.
"You blew me off, didn't answer anything, then came back to the dorm in the middle of the night. Now, you're like this. Back to your old self."
For a moment, Diana said nothing. Then she sighed.
"I resolved something," she said quietly. "Something I should have dealt with a long time ago."
Peneri tilted her head. "That sounds ominous. Are you referring to the secret that you've been keeping from me, your best friend?"
"Yeah," Diana replied, still smiling.
She hesitated, her fingers forming another ice ball that she began playing with before relaxing again.
"I kept it from you," she added. "And I'm… sorry about that. But even now, I don't think I can tell you."
Peneri turned fully toward her now. "You're apologizing?" she asked slowly. "There's no need. I was just… I was in my feels. My best friend is going through something and I couldn't help because I don't know what it is. But at the end of the day, it must've been a very personal secret. You don't need to apologize. I apologize for overstepping your boundary."
Diana let out a small laugh. "Thank you. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you involved. Or worried. Or looking at me differently."
"It's that bad?"
"It's that bad."
"And now?" Peneri asked.
"And now it's resolved," Diana lied. "So I can finally breathe again."
She looked up at her friend then, genuinely meeting her eyes.
"Peaches, I'm sorry for shutting you out. Someday when I'm ready, I'll tell you everything."
Peneri studied her face for a long second. Then she waved a hand dismissively. "I don't care anymore."
Diana stiffened slightly. "Peaches—"
"No," Peneri interrupted. "I mean it. You don't owe me every ugly thought in your head." She smiled, softer this time. "As long as my best friend is back to being her."
Diana's chest loosened.
"…Thank you," she said.
Peneri nudged her shoulder. "Besides, you look better. Less like you're about to stab someone with a spoon."
Diana laughed again, genuine and light.
However internally, something twisted.
Because she was thinking about stabbing someone.
Constantly.
The thought was there when she woke up. When she trained. When she closed her eyes at night. It sat in her chest like a slow, patient fire.
Bell.
The image of him burned behind her eyes with frightening clarity — the calm confidence, the effortless superiority, the way he existed like the world bent around him without asking permission.
She wanted him dead.
Not in a blind, frothing rage like when she was throwing him around in that empty building.
But a clean death where she slices his neck when he lets his guard down.
That desire was the spine of her discipline now.
It was the reason she woke before dawn, why she's pushing herself through the pain of living with the memories of the past, and how she's able to refine every technique she had until it was sharp enough to cut through air.
Hatred alone was useless — she knew that. Rage made you sloppy.
To kill someone like Bell, she needed control.
She needed clarity. She needed the correct mindset.
So she smiled. She laughed. She acted calm.
She let Peneri believe the storm had passed.
In truth, Diana had simply learned how to stand at the center of it.
"You're staring," Peneri said suddenly.
Diana blinked and looked down at the ice ball again. "Am I?"
"I just said that you're back to normal," Peneri said. "And now you look like you're staring into the future or something."
Diana threw the ice ball in her hand, hitting the pillar. It exploded into an icy-blue burst.
"Just thinking about the secret that Mason told the school," she said easily, lying through her teeth. "Although he promised not to mention our names, I'm worried that maybe he did."
Peneri grinned. "If he did, they would've already called us to the office."
"..."
"Come on. Let's go for another round. If you're finally back to normal, I expect you to stop holding back, Ms. Honor Rolls."
Diana rose to her feet, her expression serene.
"I won't," she smiled.
And she meant it — just not in the way Peneri thought.