CHPT 171: A Man of his own Principles.

Claude walked in silence after leaving the Village, already thinking of what to do next— how to do what he already planned to do next. Probably not the healthiest way to deal with what he experienced, but it felt right. Keep fighting, keep striving to be a Hero.

Arne was subjected to silence for a very different reason. The same reason anyone would he silenced after seeing what Claude did. And if they had any knowledge of Lupines, they'd know that what he did had never been done before. Ever.

From beginning to end, Arne was stunned— deeply plunged into the realm of disbelief. Not only did he utilize his Element with an impressive level of skill and power— he also infused it with his Wild Magic effortlessly— as if it came to him as naturally as breathing. And it didn't end there.

In the final moments of battle, he did something Arne didn't understand until afterwards. He filled his body with Wild Magic, pulling it into him infinitely and feeding on it with an insatiable hunger. As crazy as that was, that wasn't what stuck out to him. That wasn't what shook him to his core and made him begin to question the origins of Claude. Who was he? How could he be such a natural?— So resilient? So tenacious?

The event that caused these questions to fire off in Arne's mind was when Claude led the pack of Canines in their final charge.

He absorbed so much of the Wild Magic that it flowed off his fur like smokey fire. While this was happening, he fed it to the pack of canines at his back— lending them the power of ferocious Magics that hovered over the village like fog intertwined with his hatred until it transformed them into monsters in their own right. Anyone who saw the Lupine running at them with dozens of Wolves, Coyotes and Foxes at his back brimming with power and hate wouldn't have been able to compare it to anything they'd ever seen.

Arne always thought hearing of their creator, Romulus, being able to transform an entire desert into his own wild land was the craziest and most impressive thing he'd ever heard. But, hearing about and seeing a 15 year old emotionally empathizing with dozens of powerful animals while also imbuing them with the magic of predators was something else entirely. It left room for an unsettling amount of speculation.

If he was able to do all that when he was angry and out of control, what could he do when he learned how to train it? What could he be capable of if he learned to consciously share the power of the wild with his inhuman companions?

***

By the time Claude reached SkyHaven, the sun was just climbing above the heights of the city, casting deep shadows over the streets and alleyways lined with sleeping drunks, homeless and trash.

Night Runners like himself returned around the same time, some returning with injuries, others returning with bags filled with loot and monster parts. The other groups coming through the gates were Merchants and street performers, prompting Arne to remember something that would become important in time.

"[Hey, Claude.]"

"Yea?" He responded as he headed down the streets that shifted from seedy night time business in the shadows to fresh early morning activity.

"[As you get stronger, you'll need to start collecting Monster parts. Bronze Level Tangents and Infested Areas don't usually have much worth collecting but I'd say your starting to fight some things that are rather powerful.]"

"Believe it or not, I don't know much about that. I remember having a book on it, but I was never really interested in reading about what happened to creatures after death. So tell me, why do Heroes collect parts?" Claude asked, silently scolding himself for deliberately skipping out on valuable information.

Arne paused, finding Claude's choice of words for why he didn't read about them after death to be...interesting, before explaining. "[Black-Smiths can use parts of certain Monsters to empower your weapons— or make entirely new ones. Like fortified BoneSpears, JawBlades or adding certain effects to weapons...like poison damage from Ghoul, or Monstrous reptilian poison sacs. They can even make it reactive to your Mana so the blade becomes more volatile when infused with your energy.]"

"That sounds....valuable." Claude thought in reply.

"[Indeed. Just something to start thinking about.]"

That's exactly what Claude did as he continued down the street to reach the SkyLight Guildhall. Wondering what kind of weapons could be made from the parts of Bosses and if these weapons forged from Monsters were the best of the best. If that was the case, he'd need one.

***

Claude reached the Guildhall shortly after speaking to Arne— slowly feeling worse and worse as he closed the distance for one reason. They died. He didn't want to enter the building full of Heroes who were skeptical of him and have to deliver such terrible news to the one person who seemed alright. But there was no choice, he had to face the music.

"Fuck..." He groaned as he shoved open the doors into the building.

The room lacked its usual dark crowd of Night Runners since they were all clearing out as the sun rose, leaving him no choice but to hear one of the very few people in the area.

"Allblack?!?! Hey! Car— Allblack!" Ilka yelled while she crawled over her desk, kicking up papers and knocking things from her desk onto the floor.

"I'm sorry....I couldn't save them. I was too late." Claude said once she reached him, breathing heavily with a look of disbelief on her face.

Ilka nodded in understanding with a saddened look on her face that was expressed strongly through her bright blue eyes. "I know...but you saved one and he told me everything. He told me about the giant monster that appeared and all the animals roaring and snarling....oh! And how by the time he escaped, the entire Village looked like it was turned into a forest!....C-Carter....how did you survive? That monster sounds like it could be a Boss escaped from a Tangent...to even save one person under those circumstances is... impressive."

Claude was stunned into silence for a moment in response to forgetting that he told the only survivor to stay and wait. That was a dangerous mistake on his part.

"Yea...uhm. Whatever it was, it was too busy with the Arachnoids to worry about me so I fought off the ones I could and escaped after realizing I was too late. I wasn't able to do much. Truthfully." Claude replied, deciding to tell the full truth at the end of his statement.

Ilka looked at him with a sympathetic smile and a shrug that caused her ponytail to bounce behind her, "I don't think anyone would've been able to in your circumstances....that monster sounds terrifying. I wonder what it was....or why it fought other Monsters. Hm." Ilka began to question the oddity of the powerful creature and its motives. A dangerous thing to do if this girl was as interested in his mysteries as Ursula.

"Well. I'm sure whatever it is, is dead now. Since there's always a bigger fish. Anyway, I'm sorry...and here." Claude said quickly before handing her the Quest Entry and leaving.

"W-wait...Carter your payment?" Ilka yelled as he headed for the door making soundless trained footsteps.

"I didn't do my job. I failed so I'm not taking it. See you next weekend." Claude responded before his cloaked body disappeared into the streets of SkyHaven.

Ilka looked stunned for a moment before knowingly smiling to herself and looking down at the crumpled paper.

"Believe it or not, in today's day and age, a Heroes job isn't to save people. But you don't care, do you Allblack?"