Nineteen Years Ago, Somewhere In The Kingdom;

Since I was little, I never knew my parents. However, my big sister was always by my side. We came from the lineage of destruction and didn't have much affinity with the outside world. In people's eyes, wolf lineage was synonymous with destruction lineage. Because both lineages were highly feared by the people.

After a while, my sister and I left our lineage home and settled in a remote mountainous plain. Whenever our lineage assigned a task, my sister had to complete it out of fear of the consequences. But when we settled here, he said he'd never do these missions again.

I thought things would continue like this, but I was wrong.

One spring day, my sister asked me to pick some blackberries for dinner. As I was picking them in a nearby woods, a black wolf approached me. He growled at me because he couldn't reach the blackberries due to the thorns. To calm him down, I broke off a branch full of blackberries and handed it to him. He stopped growling and looked at me in surprise.

"Take it and get out of here, my black friend," I said to the wolf.

I thought the black wolf was reaching for the branch, but he bit the strap of my berry bag and ran away with it. I chased after him, shouting, "Hey, get back here, you fleabag!" I couldn't use my strength against him because I was near the town and my sister didn't want me to freeze animals.

After a short chase, I stopped when I saw the activity in the town. Without realizing it, I had reached the town. Normally, my sister didn't want me to go there, but the gathered crowd piqued my curiosity. I couldn't resist and moved towards them inconspicuously.

My plan was to take a quick look and leave, but what I saw surprised me. A man in the center of the square was introducing his champion and challenging the townsfolk. "Come and see my champion, friends," he said. "He's a half-breed, ten feet tall, undefeated Big Jeff. Whoever beats him will be rewarded with a hundred gold pieces."

I was sure the man was an impostor, but people were already talking about how powerful his champion was. "I've heard of this guy," they whispered. "Rumor has it he once took down three samurai single-handedly."

I wanted to show them it was a lie. People were afraid of our lineage, but no one knew who I was. I thought that if I helped them, I could change their minds about us. Plus, my sister would be happy about the 100 gold coins.

Without thinking, I stepped forward and challenged the champion. The man looked at me mockingly because of my age. "Sorry, kid," he said. "This isn't for you."

"Don't worry," I replied in a mocking tone. "I won't tire your man out unless he's scared of a kid like me."

The champion got angry and answered sternly. "You little rascal," he said. "It seems your parents didn't teach you how to speak, but I'll gladly teach you."

The man allowed us to fight and spoke mockingly. "All right then," he said. "But don't be too hard on him, Jeff. He's just a kid after all."

When the man moved aside, the champion ran towards me. I threw out one hand and froze him with my ice power. The champion's owner looked unhappy, while the onlookers were amazed.

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As the crowd cheered and congratulated me, the champion's owner approached me slyly and changed his demeanor. "Wow," he said. "That was really great. I've never seen anything so perfect before."

He got close to me and asked for my name. I hesitated but answered, "Wedan."

"Wedan," he said. "What a beautiful name. Before I give you your prize, let me ask you something. What lineage can a person with such a superpower come from?"

"What does it matter?" I said, reaching for the bag of gold in his hand. He pushed it away and continued. "Give me the answer and the gold is yours."

The man was getting the townspeople going, forcing me to say it. Not knowing what the outcome would be, I answered, "The lineage of destruction."

Everyone fell silent when I revealed my lineage. They started to get scared and the man continued speaking to avoid giving me the gold. "Just as I predicted," he said. "You're one of those evil ones. Only people of your lineage can harm others, am I right?"

The townspeople looked away and the man continued vilifying me. "Giving gold to such people would be unfair to the rest of us," he said.

I turned to him and froze him like I did the champion. "Keep your gold," I said and left without looking back.

People were scared but didn't fight back because I hadn't attacked. I knew I had to keep this a secret from my sister and that people wouldn't come looking for me.

My sister was right; no one could change their past or where they came from. Even though people didn't recognize me and treated me unfairly, I enjoyed the short-lived applause. Maybe it made me think that one day I could really make people like me.

When I arrived home, I approached the door with cautious steps, but I paused when I heard my sister conversing with an unfamiliar voice. I pressed my ear against the wall to eavesdrop on their conversation.

The man speaking had a rough voice. "The leader wants to know why you didn't complete the mission," he said.

"You asked me to kill the queen of the merpeople, but I refuse to do it," my sister replied.

"We both know the consequences of refusing a mission."

"If you want destruction, do what you must. But my decision is final. I'm out," she declared with determination.

"Then you will face the consequences."

"Don't worry, I'll be there to confront him, but my brother will stay out of it, because this has nothing to do with him."

I didn't know what was happening, but I decided to barge into the room. As I entered, I noticed black smoke hovering in the air, and my sister looked at me in surprise. "Wedan, you're here," she said.

"Sis, what's going on? Are you okay?" I inquired.

"I'm fine, dear. I just have one last thing to do."

"But you promised me that you wouldn't take on any more work," I reminded her.

"I know, honey, but I promised you that this would be the final time."

"I want to come with you," I pleaded.

"You're brave and strong, but I need you to stay here."

"Sis, please let me help," I insisted.

My sister handed me the family bow and said, "You know how much I love this bow and that I would not go to war without it. Let it be proof of my promise to you. I will return for it, but until then, I must be sure that it is in good hands. Can you do that for me?"

No matter how hard I pushed my sister on the matter, her decision was final. Giving me the bow gave me some assurance. She would not take it with her unless there was a battle. I nodded my head in agreement.

Before my sister left, she said these last words to me: "I believe that one day you will show people that despite our lineage, we are not bad people. My brave ice prince."

A day, two days, and a week passed like water, but no one came. I realized that day that my sister was not coming back. As I sat in front of the house in despair, the wolf who stole my blackberries came back with my bag.

The bag was full of fresh blackberries and I hadn't eaten anything for almost a week. Finally, when the wolf left the bag, I ate the blackberries with tears in my eyes.

The wolf ran into the forest and disappeared from sight. But it helped me realize something at the time.

As hard as it was, I knew that I had to keep fighting as my sister wanted. That's what she wanted me to do. I had to. I took my bow on my back and set off on the road.

For My Big Sister