In a certain valley in the Jade Kingdom, lies a small village called the Twin River Village. There were only around a thousand inhabitants in this village, and only a handful were above the first level of the Mortal realm.

In a world where might makes right and the strong oppress the weak, this village was a breath of fresh air. It was secluded and lied in the middle of two rivers, and behind was a mountain range that was deadly to traverse, even for the bravest of hearts.

In the small forest between one of the rivers was a young girl at the age of 12 running around. Following her were a few foxes, trying to catch up to the girl.

The girl kept running and looking behind her, and once she was hidden from the view of the animals, she hid behind a tree that was twice as wide as her. Holding her breath, she was hoping it was enough to hide her from the foxes.

Peeking out from behind her cover, she could see two of the foxes slowly walking towards where they last saw her, sniffing at the ground and the air trying to catch the scent of the girl.

She was happy, because she had already taken precautions against smell, but then something was tugging on her mind. She could only see two foxes. There were three chasing her.

A breath of air hit the side of her face, and the girl slowly turned her neck to stare into the eyes of the last beast. The fox was as tall as she was, and it’s four legs kept walking, moving the fox closer and closer until it’s snout touched her chin.

The girl let out a laugh and fell down on her butt. “Haah, Luna you little sneak. How did you get behind me? Did you use your brothers as a distraction so I wouldn’t notice you?”

The fox, Luna let out small yips and her face warped into the fox version of a smirk, no doubt laughing at the little girl.

“Oh well, one day I’ll beat you Luna, and Shio and Leo. If I don’t my name is not Sorine Kohara.”

Luna lied down on the ground with her head resting in Sorina’s lap, while Shio and Leo came up besides them and snuggled up close to the young girl.

She let out a giggle and took turns patting her fox-companions.

Sorina was not just a normal girl. Her mother that died when Sorina was only five, was a full-blooded lightning fox. She didn’t know a lot of her mother’s background, except she was a high tier beast that could take human form. She had left her home behind and found Sorina’s father when he was lost in a forest.

The lightning fox grew interested in the human, and approached him. Shortly after they fell in love, and they had Sorina. When Sorina was five her mother fell ill, and soon after she died.

She was sad for a while, but her father said that “Your mother will always be with you in your heart”.

Sorina had tried to awaken her fox bloodline, but she didn’t succeed despite sprouting ears and a tail, the same white colour as her hair.

The young girl had a special look, one that was not too common. She had icy blue eyes and white hair. Most people in this country and the ones surrounding it had either brown or black hair, and most had brown eyes. Of course, there were exceptions, but they were immortals in the eyes of the regular people. Cultivators.

Some cultivators took on traits of their favoured element once they broke through the Mortal realm and became Ascended cultivators. Sorina didn’t know what came after Mortal and Ascended, but she could never hope to become anything more than her current first tier of Mortal realm.

Snapping out of her remembrance, she let out her fox features as she was with her kin. The three foxes looked at her before letting out content purrs.

Feeling warm and sleepy, Sorina drifted off for a bit.

She woke up to the growling of her fox-friends, and due to her bloodline her senses were enhanced , and she could smell the smoke, and something else that she currently didn’t recognise.

About to make her way back, Luna stood in her way and used her snout to poke at Sorina’s fox ears. Blushing in embarrassment before petting Luna’s snout, she retracted her fox features and what remained was a normal looking girl, albeit a peculiar hair and eye colour.

Leo crouched down in front of her, and she smiled at him before sitting on his back, and they rushed back towards the village. 

The closer they got the more worried the young girl became. At first she thought maybe the villagers just had a bonfire, but now she noticed the flames and smoke rising from different locations in the village.

Breaking out of the vicinity of the forest, what lied before Sorina was a horrendous scene she could never imagine.

Her home village was on fire.

Naked women she recognised lying dead spread out over the village. Some were torn and mutilated, others had broken necks, while the remaining had cuts across their throats or hearts. Some even had daggers in their limbs.

She knew what happened to these women, they were used as toys by men.

The children were no better, but she noticed one thing. Only women and children were left in the village.

Jumping down from the back of Luna, the four thread their way through the hundreds of corpses, and she now recognised the smell. Blood. The air was thick with fire and blood, and she could already begin to hear the cries of scavengers in the distance.

After walking in a trance for almost fifteen minutes, she heard a sound just a little bit always from her. Broken out of her trance she ran towards the sound, while tears were streaming down her face.

“Sori-na. I-i-I’m glad *cough* you’re ok- *cough* okay.”

The girl held the older woman’s hand, and recognised her as her neighbour. The friendly wife of her father’s friend. They owned one of the bakeries in town, and the young girl would often help them out and eat while hearing the stories of their younger days.

“What happened?” The whispery voice of Sorina could barely be heard.

“Th-the jade army. *cough* t-t-hey came, c-conscripted the men before *cough cough* raiding the village. The women were raped and used as toys, while the *cough* children were killed.”

An unknown emotion rose up in the young girl. Pure, raw, unbridled rage. The army of the kingdom, supposed to protect its citizens. She did not yet understand everything, and as she held the woman’s hand, her body fell limp and her eyes lost the remaining shine. She was dead.

Sitting there besides the woman for an unknown amount of time. By the time she came back to the real world, the tears had dried and the flames were only reduced to embers and ashes. 

The smell of smoke, burning corpses, blood, ingrained itself into her memory. Her enhanced smell took in everything, even though she wanted to get away from the horrible smell, she swore to herself she had to remember it.

Aimlessly wandering around the dead villagers, she found herself in front of her home.

Walking inside into the dark home, she didn’t bother with light. Her eyes shone slightly in the dark, and she could see, not as well as in the light, but she could move unhindered.

On the table lied a paper. A letter. A message.

Sorina. I’m glad you’re not here today, even though I would have liked to say goodbye one last time.

The army came and forcefully conscripted all the men and teenage boys. There was no questioning it. The first to raise his voice was cut down.

We were given half an hour to gather our things, and anyone late would be cut down where they stood.

I don’t know what they want, but it’s not anything good. I don’t know what will happen to the village after we are gone, but I don’t think I want to know.

If you read this, you lived. I almost hope you don’t come back, as I don’t know what awaits you.

Besides this letter is a bangle. It was your mothers. It is a weapon of a high grade, an heirloom from her family.

Your mother and I never told you, but she was a Crown Princess of a beast kingdom in a neighbouring continent. The Sigyn Clan.

Place the bangle on your wrist, and drip a drop of blood to bind it. If you think about it becoming a weapon, it will, and the same to reverse it into the bangle. Once you’ve bonded with it, someplace in this house there is a manual that will help you.

I don’t know if I will see you again, but I will always love you. Take care of yourself, and get strong, maybe one day we can reunite.

The girl thought all her tears were spent, but the paper was soon wet with the tears of grief, sadness and hatred.

A howl echoed through the village, followed by a second, and a third.

Ignoring the howls, the cries of agony, the girl looked at the bangle.

It was plain, metal, unassuming. Not something fit for a princess, it spoke of function over form.

Sorine placed the bangle on her right hand. It was too big and would fall off. She followed the instructions left behind. Biting her thumb and letting a drop of blood fall onto the bangle.

Blue lightning crackled around her as the fox features manifested, and if anyone had been in the room they would see the ferocious face of an angry fox, one no one would believe was not a War God.

She felt a connection to the item, and it shrank to perfectly fit her wrist.

Thinking about wanting a weapon, the bangle transformed into a scythe.

The handle was as long as she was, and the curved blade half her height, nonetheless she could wield it.

The material was nothing she had ever seen before, and even though it should be heavy, it felt light.

Swinging the blade she could feel a small gust of wind, and realised the lightness she felt did not reflect on the power of the weapon.

Reverting it into its bangle, she felt a faint trail leading her deeper into the house.

Following the trail, she opened up a floorboard and saw a worn but expensive-looking booklet.

“Sigyn Clan Arts: The Scythe Reaper of the Lightning Goddess.” She whispered to herself.

She now had a weapon, a manual, and an enemy.

The girl’s eyes hardened, overcome with the emotions that had been forced on her from the moment she returned to her now ruined home village.

Her emotions were snuffed out, only leaving the girl with a purpose, and an unapproachable aura.

Gone was the innocent girl that played with her father and her fox friends.

A warrior was born that the world would regret unleashing upon itself.

The girl swore an oath to repay kindness with kindness, but not trust naively and blindly. Anyone who crossed her path would lose their life, and her first target was the Jade Kingdom.

First, she had to become stronger.