The training hall was indescribably spacious. It seemed the whole space spanned the entirety of the academy dorm and administrative buildings. No wonder I needed a guide to take me there, I would have gotten lost at least four times if not for Vince leading the way. It was underground and was designed like a maze. The separate doors on the sides of the corridor lead to smaller rooms for private use. Those were limited to the VIP's of the academy. Or more like the graduates and the professionals of their trade. Those ones had names written on them, Vince explained they were like long term locker rooms to hold the private possessions of the people they belonged to and keep snoopers out of their training.

The place we walked to was humongous. I could see far and there was still some space left unseen. The whole thing was parted in different kinds of areas of exercise by curtained walls. Some of them were loaded with equipment for strength building, others were for building up stamina, sparring, combating and such. It was the first time seeing such a developed place for improving one's physical strength. I could see people training in a couple of those areas.

Vince led me into an area with a large metal cage connected to a farther wall with a hole on it. The hole was closed with metal bars, just like the cage, and there was something moving behind them. 

The entire area around the cage smelled rotten, the air was damp and moldy. I looked around, as expected, there were more people gathered to watch. A small dull sound came from the cage and I turned to it. Before I could sniff the thing out, some old man with a permanently scrunched up face and a whole head towering over me came up to me and stared me down.

“Fang Knights?”

I nodded staring back at him.

“Expected something else, I should admit.”

I quirked an eyebrow at the man and crossed my arms at him. I could swear he meant my height...

“Really? Something like what, like the guy over there?” I asked pointing my stare at Wann.

“Not exactly. Let's resume.” The old man stepped aside to join the other three men standing to the side of the cage. I assumed those were the supervisors or professors. The important ones, I supposed. Not that it mattered much. Bunch of old men... only in appearance, though.

“All you have to do is kill this rabid wolf, yes,” a small man with round glasses from those four important ones instructed. 

I was about to ask “what wolf?” when the iron bars at the hole in the wall twanged and a big gray wolf leaped out to bark at the spectators. The eyes of the creature had no mind in them. This one had already lost all common sense; there was no sanity. All the creature knew was the smell of fresh blood and how to use his maw to taste it. The beasts’ whole body was shaking like it was standing on its last effort, although the madness kept it quite energetic. It was waiting for the bars to move and let him outside the cramped space.

Fighting a beast was a weird way to test one's abilities, but I guessed this way worked. Hunting did require to be precise and swift. Mistakes had no place in this line of work. So if one couldn’t deal with a simple rabid wolf, how could they deal with something much more dangerous, much bigger and faster? 

I was lead inside the cage by the small man and the door was sealed. I heard murmurs of the spectators and felt their fear and excitement. I could feel Wann stabbing daggers into my back and sneering at me without even looking at him. I could hear him saying I will chicken out or piss my pants. Someone commented that I was too small for this.

“You may choose a weapon to your liking,” said a red-haired man from the four and started the countdown from five. His voice was even and steady. He was used to these tests. He had a heart of stone and nothing could have moved it. 

I noticed the other man, the one with an angry face, standing near the cage with a wide-edged sword. Probably in case, I couldn’t handle the wolf, he would step in.

Patiently waiting, I scanned the rack with weapons near the sealed-off door outside the cage. There were some axes, swords, daggers, even crossbows, old fashioned rifles and other weapons which were quite impressive. It showed the brilliance of the students of Huntig Academy. Vince was rushing me to pick a weapon, but I had other plans whatsoever. I preferred a clean fight; was not in the mood for spilling blood. Again there were comments of “she’s too scared”, “get her out of there”, “the guy will piss himself” and so on, but no one moved.

When it was clear I was stalling for time, at least that’s what they thought, the iron bars holding off the animal drew up and the wolf jumped right at me. I stepped backward, legs spread and arms wide, and stared it down. Its eyes met mine and it stopped almost mid-air. Fluid hand motion made the wolf concentrate on it and calm down. Then I made the wolf look me in the eyes again. This time my stare was reassuring, warmer, kind. 

“That's it. Good boy,” as I said the entirety of people down there held in their breaths. The four old men were lost for the moment of what was happening. It seemed, they saw this for the first time in their short existence. 

It lasted just a second. The wolf decided to ignore my hand. It realized my gaze meant trouble. It felt the darkness in my eyes and decided to attack, though I was faster leaping at it. I deadlocked its neck in a chokehold and held it down pressed to the moldy ground with the rest of my body. The animal whimpered and growled, trying to gnaw at my hands, trashing around till the last breath left its lungs. Its whines resonated in my ears, but there was no feeling. I gave it a chance... and it proved once again, animals did not like me much. It’s not their fault they’d rather follow their instincts than listen to me. The wolf’s heavy body slumped next to me and I slowly released it from my hold.

The room filled with silence. It seemed as if I stunned them all by doing nothing special. I mean, which of them couldn't take out a wild beast with their bare hands? OK, maybe not all of them, but still... Was it really something worth to keep one's breath in? Oh, yes, yes it was. After the deep silence came an... well, to call it an uproar would be an understatement. I felt fear, angst, amazement and even rage in the air around the cage. The whole vast space filled with a ball of emotions and loud voices. 

My heart raced out of pure excitement. And I was smiling, proud of the kill I just made. I just mercilessly took another life and was happy about it. This made me shake my head, it was bad, I had to remind myself not to get excited about things considered cruel in this world.

My hands were not shaking and my legs stood firm on the uneven cement ground. The animal looked nothing like it used to. Now it was reduced to a rotting piece of flesh. I stopped to think for a moment of what would have happened if the wolf was a fine, healthy beast, with a mind able to make proper decisions. The outcome would have been different. Wolves were intelligent beings, therefore, it would have been able to survive, if it decided to listen to its instincts to run. If it did not attack, I would not have chased it. But the test was to make us use our power to take away a life already doomed to death and I just proved I was capable of rendering a living being to nothing. Though, I believed I just freed it from its misery. 

My eyes locked with the red-haired man and stayed there for a couple of moments before he couldn't take it anymore and directed his gaze to the wolf. Not so tough now, were we? He had a heart of stone, but his nerves were far from steel. Using the opportunity, I stepped closer to the bars on the side closer to the four men. 

“Did I pass?”

Despite the fact I just barehanded killed a wolf, I was smiling a light harmless smile. I knew my eyes were shining with light of joy because I was truly happy. I loved making people disorganized.

The red-haired man cleared his throat. I guess seeing me smile was a bit unnerving in this situation. 

“Well, you demonstrated astonishing skills of close range combat. You were strong, fast and precise, which are the qualities of our best students. And I am glad to admit you truly are one of us from now on.”

“I must agree with professor Vertig,” said the permanently angry man. “You are definitely something else entirely. Even our best couldn't take out a wolf with their bare hands. I can't wait to have you in my class.”

So, if he's here and he has a class, it means he's the hand combat instructor Something Michail. He was one of the top three hunters in his time of prime until he got injured and his legs wouldn’t function properly. I must admit, to see a legend standing in front of me was amusing. I kind of got the urge to spill everything just to see if he was as strong as everyone was stating. Injury or no injury, legend stays a legend. But I stopped myself. It would have ruined the plan. Though, it was not really a plan, but more like an idea I had to change things up in my life.

Either way, I smiled wider and turned for the exit. 

“What can I say? Thank you for your praises,” I said with a smile.

Vince came up to me and grabbed my arm. His stare was unpleasant and it weirded me out. Was it concern in his eyes? Why?

“Hey, what was that? We don't do that,” he said, accusation in his voice.

“Dude, calm your tits. I'm used to this kind of thing. A bear would have been something more to worry about,” I joked as I freed my arm out of his grip.

“It's not about that. You growled back at it...”

He stopped in his tracks, making me stop too. Vince stared me down like I was a misbehaving child.

“I did?” I tried to hide the surprise in my voice.

“No one noticed, but I could hear it-”

“Don't be stupid,” I cut him off. “I don’t growl. Let's talk some other time. I need to go chat with the old men.”

If this happened in a distant past, I would have been more worried, but now it didn't affect me as much as it should have. Humans figuring out about my circumstances no longer scared me. I mean, really? What could they do? Try to kill me? Oh, please...

As I approached the four men standing in a circle, quietly discussing my performance, people gathered around stared daggers at me and I could hear them whispering shit about me. Some of them said I was a freak, others were sure it was rigged. The wolf, according to them, was fake. How do you fake a rabid wolf? I felt Vince's helplessness burning into my back. I could tell without looking his shoulders were slumped and he wanted to keep talking. 

The four men faced me as I stopped right next to them. All of them looked me in the eyes as if trying to read the secrets of my past. I stood there smiling the same smile I learned to fake whenever I needed to seem nice – teeth showing just a teeny bit, a dimple on the left cheek, eyes slightly lidded. 

“Is something the matter?” professor Vertig seemed unsure.

“Oh, no. Everything's all right,” I replied, still smiling. “Just wanted to shake on it.”

I stuck my hand out in hopes they would not take it too wrong. To my surprise, none of them seemed to be taken aback by my stunt. They shook my hand and wished me the very best at learning and training. All was left for me was to smile again and thank them.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Then they just excused themselves. I guess, important people had more important matters to attend to than keep me company.

“Hey, Vince,” I called out, “can I look around?”

“If I say no, will you come with me?”

“Probably no.”

“Then, yes, you can look around. Just don't wander too long and don't pry into private rooms.”

“You leaving?”

“I have homework to do. A ton of it. Have to go.”

“Have fun.”

Vince walked fast in wide strides, that only got on my nerves more. Tall people annoyed me... 

Not long after, the group of this morning Korean class was about to leave too. A slight waft ran through the room and my nose caught a smell I would have been glad to kill for. The faint smell filled my lungs to the brim and a single mind of devouring coursed my brain. The smell was of sweetness and sourness mashed up together, but it was just so tempting... Then the breeze was gone and the heavenly smell disappeared together with it.

I was fortunate enough and the room around me was empty so I managed to control the urge to bare my fangs at someone. Though, the scars on my palms increased considerably; on each – four small crescents were left temporarily. Again. Until the next time I lose my hands.

I got too distracted by the blood lust so looking around seemed like an awful idea. Especially, if there were some people around and it was a place as dimly lit as this one. I mean, it was dangerous for me or for whoever was still here while I was still in frenzy mode. I figured I would have as much time as I needed to look around if our combat classes would be held here. Or I'd just raid this place whenever I got bored of this game.

I somehow managed to get myself to the surface, even if I did come out from a different place we came in. The outside was still bright and sunny. And it stung. Walking around in the sun would have been masochistic, and I was not one for sure, so I just turned back for my room. Now that I thought about it, I had homework to do... And I should better do it if I didn't want to attract too much attention.

While I walked to the room I had some time to think of a real reason why I came here. I mean, yes, I was tired of living and it was getting boring. Again. But on the other hand, I did not want to be slaughtered by a bunch of mindless creatures. Which would definitely happen, if they knew what I was. Then again, would I be satisfied with their attempts at murdering me? Many tried... So maybe what I was looking for was an inspiration to live? Maybe I just needed a stimulus to make me realize the beauty of this shitty and corrupted world. Or I just needed a good kick to the butt to find interest in things around me, again. 

To tell you the truth, after a fair length of my life exploring and wandering, I found this world to be disappointing and hateful. There had been no one to make me smile a real smile for as long as I remember. And if there were, it did not end with laughs and smiles. And I only met a couple of humans who were tolerable enough for me not to end them the moment I laid eyes on them. Of course, I had met others, not quite ordinary, who, in human's eyes, were abnormal and had to be destroyed. For some reason they viewed me as a threat too. Abnormality in the abnormal world. Wasn't it funny? I would laugh, but, really? I didn't even know how my laughter sounded anymore...

On the stairs to the second floor I bumped into an unfamiliar face, but the smell was known to me. It was a short (taller than me) dark-skinned man with wild curly hair, though they were much longer than Sylvester’s. What caught my attention, though, was his wide dark eyes; it was like looking down into an abyss.

“Oh, hey, lil' fella. Ya tha newbie?”

“Yeah. Fang.”

His face was plastered by a wide smile when he realized what my name meant in English. For some reason they all found it amusing, my name being a different word for a tooth. Just to make it clear, it's a coincidence. It was a meaningless gibberish in Ancient Greek. 

“Peter. Nice meetin' ya.”

I gave him a smile and passed him stepping into the flat. Right there, right then I heard loud moans. A girl. Someone had a girl over and they were not studying, unless it was anatomy...

The sound came, of course, from the room I had left my stuff and was heading to right now. I just hoped they were not at it completely. And I was wrong.

The first thing I thought was “I don't mind as long as they don't ask me to leave the room, because I needed someplace to sit and relax”. But then I saw it. They were in the middle of the intercourse, hot and panting, on top of my bed. 

The ugly blonde girl was riding him like a horse and screaming for more. He saw me. And he smirked at me. Though, at the same time, I grabbed the wench’s hair and pulled her off of him. She dunked on the ground and hissed at me. For the time being, I ignored the girl.

“Get. Off. MY. Bed.”

I could have sworn I heard myself growl at him. And this one was intended. Honestly, I did not care if he was having a threesome or an orgy in this room as long as he stayed away from my belongings. And most importantly, my bed. In this sense, I was like a wolf – territorial to the bone.

Wann ignored my warning and laid still in the same position I found him, with his manhood exposed and standing tall. He had the nerve to still smirk at me as if he achieved his goal. Which, I had to admit, was what happened here. I lost my cool. Certainly, I could have handled this situation more maturely, but I just couldn't bear the sight of my precious bed being defiled by those filthy creatures. 

“And what if I don't?” he asked all smug about it. He had no shame.

“I'll rip off your penis,” I said as I reached for it. 

“Hey!” he panicked.

At the same moment, the girl decided to get back at me with a chair. I mean, you have to be stupid enough to come at me with a chair, but she was so stupid she actually had the audacity to do it. And she was not graceful about it. She looked comical. A naked bitch flinging a chair about in order to hit a being far more superior than her. So, while still trying to get to Wann's little precious, I stopped the chair with the other hand and moved it from her reach. 

Then she decided to assault me and I had no choice, but to stop threatening Wann's parts and take care of the mischievous one. I flung her down on the floor and pressed her neck with my knee. I got the result instantly. Her eyes shot wide, face going pale and breathing hitched in her lungs after realizing her mistake, and it made my heart go numb from satisfaction. I could do this all day. Torture humans, that is. It was fun, for the most part, when I had nothing containing me. 

“Now, listen carefully,” I bent down to her ear, “I will not repeat myself. You get up, pick up your stuff and leave here. If you come back while I am still in the room, it will not end very nicely for you. Am I understood?”

With tears in her eyes, she managed to nod. Though I could hear her spouting curses while picking her drabs, I decided to not do anything further. Wann, on the other hand, was still being a complete and certain dick about all of this. 

“Wann, I don't care how much of a self-loving turd munchkin you are, I would love it if you put it down and got dressed. You are ruining the image I have...”

He did not move. I moved in closer. “I think your father would still like to have a daughter, after all.”

And he finally moved and headed to the bathroom. Unwillingly, I saw his naked body carved with scars and wounds; his muscles toned and bulging. He was in all senses of the word a hunter. 

The stench of lust in the room they left was unbearable. The mixed feelings and emotions I gathered drove me up a wall and I wanted to tear the whole building down. Instead of raging all night, I spent it cleaning my bed and airing out the room. I was freezing my ass off by the time I finished cleaning my bed so it would be bearable to sleep in. The stupid stench of lust and carnal need was more horrible than the cold. The outside air was fresh, but humid yet a bit to the frosty side. 

To tell the complete honest truth, the human reproduction made me think of some useless things. Like the act on itself had genitals involved and that was pretty hardcore. I didn’t really like thinking about it. And then there were those things they called children... I could confirm that those were more like spawns of the Devil himself, than actual humans. Or not... It depended on the species, I suppose. Little wolves were cute. 

Anyway, all I was trying to say was I hated humans and their children. Not all of them were bad, humans, I mean, but the precedent in my room denounced the whole race by a lot tonight and I wasn’t so sure it would ever go up again. 

To begin with, humans were the weakest link on this planet's Ecosystem. Just think about it. They put up posters encouraging to be less wasteful, save the Rain forests and whatnot, but the poster itself was made from paper... And this destruction did not end just at this. They brought about their own demise by doing various other things. And one of them was bothering the supernatural. If left alone, none of them would go out and hunt for sport. All of the supernaturals, at first, were trying to blend in, feed only when necessary and leave humans alone. But no, some smart-ass had to go and start hunting because they were different and unknown - abnormal. 

I still couldn't fully grasp this “fear of unknown” humans tended to have. They were afraid of everything they had no knowledge of, therefore, they would wage a war against it to eradicate it. Which was stupid. Because the supernatural were there before the dawn of time, just like humans. 

So, what I was trying to say was humans were at fault of their own misery. If they left others to their own devices, there would be no supernatural-hunter war. Or the melting of the ice in the cold poles of the Earth. Or other disasters happening around them. They just needed to stop and think for a while if all of this was worth it.

After leaving for the bathroom, Wann did not come back to the room which was a relief, because I honestly did not want to see him for a while. 

I was putting on new bed sheets on the bed I had just cleaned, when a presence took me from behind. It was the same girl I tossed out the room a while ago. She had no chance whatsoever, but trying to stab me with scissors was a first for me. I grabbed her armed hand and tossed her to the ground. Obtaining the sharp object from the assailant was a kid's game, but I shouldn't have pointed the tip to her throat since it grazed her skin and the tiny drop of blood seeped out. My nostrils flared with the stench of her rotten to the core blood.

To make it all worse, she was screaming as if I was going to slaughter her. And it forced a reaction from my flat-mates. All five of them rushed into the room to check what was going on. I could feel their fright pooling in the narrow space. 

“Jesus Christ, what are you doing?” I think this one was JR.

“Hey, leggo of her,” whined Sylvester, but still tried to pry me off of her. I shook him off.

“Hey, don't be rash. Just chill, girl,” I wasn't sure about this one, but I guessed he was one of Wann's lackeys, Khai. His position was defensive and wary.

The girl was still screaming her lungs out so I just shoved my palm over the pie-hole, looked her straight in the eyes and she stopped abruptly. Suddenly, there were more people and more accusing eyes. Well yes, I had the cutting tool pressed to her throat so that would make me the bad guy. Well, whatever...

“What's going on?” I heard Vince.

“Have no idea, but she just went homicidal,” someone answered.

He pushed through the crowd and stopped a couple of steps behind me. He observed for a while. I had no plans to make excuses or anything like that, I mean, it was pretty clear what was going on. I assaulted someone in my own room with a sharp object.

“Fang, could you, maybe, release Izzy?”

Thank you, Vince, for this glorious slip-up.

“Now, Isabel,” her eyes widened confirming my guess, “I am going to release you. Make sure to tell them what actually happened.”

I backed off and stood up near the boy who showed me so much worry through his facial expression I got worried myself. Then I realized why. In the midst of the residents there was one of the professors. Vertig, if I recall it correctly. 

“Miss Knights, I was expecting great things from you-”

“I attacked her. She was defending herself,” Isabel didn't even realize what she was saying, and after the words were out she clasped her mouth shut with horror in her eyes. I just smiled.

“Why did you attack her?”

“Because me and Hellsing were-”

“It doesn't matter, Professor. All that matters is she attacked me, not vice versa. I hope you will do something about it,” I shouldn't have to be so smug about it, but I couldn't tame myself. 

“Of course. Miss Hollands you are under suspension until our prior notice. Please, gather your belongings and leave the academy grounds immediately.”

As I was hoping, the girl broke into a series of sobs and sniffles and ran out of the room. I passed the scissors to Vince. He took them with slightly trembling fingers. I guess, the whole thing shocked him a bit. 

Though I had to admit, there was nothing shocking about this. I was attacked and I defended. Nothing unusual. Well, maybe that the girl was still half naked. At least she put on some underwear before coming back. Which, now that I thought about it, was kind of amusing. Why find time to put on underwear, but didn't bother about the rest of the attire. Humans were truly amusing creatures...

I was pondering if I should have stayed in my room to everyone's gazes and gossip, or should I have just shoved them out of my way and went for a long walk? In the end, I decided against the walk. Too thirsty, too many temptations. And it seemed like professor Vertig wanted to discuss something with me. 

“Do I have to turn in an explanation or something?” I asked.

“No, this will not be needed in this case. Since she admitted and no one was hurt.”

Though, the girl was hurt. Slightly, but still had a wound on her neck.

“Then, excuse me if I might sound rude, why are you here?”

“Oh, I was going to talk to you about something, but... is it a good time now?”

“Of course. I have nothing important right now, anyway.”

“Then,” he pointed the direction of the kitchen for some reason and sat down at the table after asking for coffee with no sugar, but a bit of milk.