"Marvel's Princess Becomes the King"

Like a spectator, Bella found herself at the furious waves of the Caribbean Sea. At the edge of her vision were countless warships, and the murderous aura rolling over the ocean was enough to make anyone's blood run cold. Even though she wasn't physically there, she could still feel the oppressive atmosphere of death and fear.

Outnumbered and outmatched, terror and the shadow of death hung heavy over everyone present.

Just as despair was about to consume them, a hazy figure climbed onto the ship's rail, grasped a rope, and delivered a stirring speech to the crew.

"The pirates are watching us, waiting for the Black Pearl to lead the charge. What will they see? Cowering rats? A ship stripped of its fighting spirit. No! They will see free men, and the spirit of freedom itself!"

"With the sweat of our brows, the strength of our backs, and the courage in our hearts!"

"Gentlemen, raise the colors!"

"Raise the colors!"

In an instant, the pirates' morale soared. They howled and roared, eager to clash with their enemies in a bloody battle. The charisma of Pirate Queen Elizabeth Swann was undeniable.

But Bella could no longer see the details of the battle—it was all a blur, like a mosaic smeared across her vision. At that moment, the glowing figure approached her.

"Child, your heart is filled with kindness, and your actions have been noble. A mere trial is not enough to break you. I have sailed the Seven Seas and command countless ways to make you stronger. But those powers are not truly yours—and some are far too dangerous. Instead, I can help you awaken the power within yourself. That, perhaps, is your true foundation. Which will you choose?"

I want both! Bella thought, but she knew that was impossible.

Bella wasn't the smartest, but she could hear the meaning in her ancestor's words. Without a doubt, the Pirate Queen wanted her to choose the latter.

"I trust myself. I'll awaken my own power."

The glowing figure extended a hand and lightly tapped Bella's chest. Bella immediately felt a barrier inside her shatter. If her old self had been trapped in a small pond for others to look at, now she had plunged into the boundless ocean, with an endless sky above her and an infinite sea all around. A new world unfolded before her, and it all happened in an instant.

"This… what is this?" Bella was stunned by the massive transformation within her body.

From within the light came a girlish laugh. "Shocked? Your ancestor is quite impressive, isn't she? Go back, child. Think it over. Maybe you'll understand; if not, it doesn't matter. This power will at least keep you safe."

In a blink, Bella was pulled out of the spirit sea. The pain in her palm brought her back to reality. She quickly bandaged her bleeding hand, washed her face with cold water, and, once calm, began to study her new state.

The change within her wasn't a gift from the Pirate Queen—this was a power she had always possessed.

This ability was inherently tied to her; it wasn't a mutation, nor was it power gained through contracts with gods or demons.

It was the innate ability of Isabella Swan herself.

Perhaps it came from the years of school bullying, or maybe she had been born withdrawn, but her former self had built an unbreachable wall around her mind. Over time, this evolved into a defense against mental intrusion. When she became a vampire, this hidden talent manifested.

However, by using vampirism to forcefully manifest her ability, she had cut off any chance of growth. What could have been limitless potential had been crippled by her own hand.

Now, the Pirate Queen had helped her breakthrough that limitation. Her ability had awakened naturally, without damaging her future. From this point on, how far she could go depended entirely on herself.

She could now build an energy source entirely unique to her—a power born from her faith, will, and determination. Drawing from her own spirit, she could generate energy, which she called Spirit Energy. Unlike the psychic powers of Warhammer 40K, there was no dangerous Warp involved; she only needed to focus inward. It was a purely idealistic power—the strength of the mind!

This power had no backlash like Marvel sorcery. After all, it was her own strength—how could it harm her? But because it relied entirely on her mind, anything she didn't understand or couldn't accept simply wouldn't manifest.

In other words, her range of abilities would be far less diverse than that of traditional mages.

Mages could draw power from demons, chant an incantation, and cast a spell whether or not they understood it. Their power was borrowed—it didn't matter how it worked.

But Bella was different. She had to understand. If she couldn't comprehend it, she couldn't use it.

Her power was entirely limited by her mental state. She couldn't just say "I am God!" and become God in the next instant.

Was she worthy? No. She was not!

This ability was somewhat similar to a psionic sorcerer from Dungeons & Dragons, but still fundamentally different.

Everyone's mental world was unique.

For some, it might be an animal, for others, a plant. Bella's was a lake—an inverted triangular lake.

Its surface was small, with only a thin layer of liquid inside.

In other words, it was both small and shallow.

By her understanding, the lake's surface represented her knowledge, experience, beliefs—her "mana pool."

The lake's depth represented the strength of her magic. The deeper her understanding of her inner world, the more power she could wield—this was essentially her "level."

Bella's psionic ability was different from mutant powers.

Mutants awakened their X-genes during adolescence, gaining new powers based on their genetic mutation. Once stabilized, their abilities became fixed. With training, they could refine their control but not fundamentally change their power—except for rare Omega-level mutants who could rewrite their genes.

Bella's power was different. It was rooted in her bloodline, but her genes remained intact. She could add new abilities without damaging her human foundation.

Her previous self-had become a vampire and manifested Shielding, a distorted form of her original psionic gift, along with emotional control, another residual fragment of her mental talent.

She had traded away the true treasure for its box.

Now, both Shielding and Emotional Control were within her spirit lake—abilities she fully understood and could call upon whenever she needed.