CHPT 178: To Win or To Lose

The dance of deceit. A dance well known to all Shape-Changers and Monsters hiding their truths behind the thin and weak flesh of man. A dance that forces the deceived to tip toe the line between realization and ignorance.

The dance of deceit. The same dance Claude engaged in with his first and closest friend, Ursula. The movements and stages of their long running dance acting as instances that grew her suspicion or cast her back into the blind and deaf silence of ignorance.

A vicious snake bite to the leg that no student should be able to withstand, Claude took the brunt of the attack and then swung the creature like a lightweight baseball bat at his opponent. Suspicion grows. Showing his old self and instances of control that dwarfed the twins who she was also suspicious of. Ursula's hope for Claude to still be himself allowed her to stay blind.

A number of more instances— parts of their intricate and dangerous dance, grew both aspects of Ursula's position as the suspicious friend, and the oblivious friend.

But, recent events— recent discoveries, have the changed the pace of the dance. The information Marshall shared changed things. The question was; Would the seed of suspicion that's repeatedly been planted in Ursula's heart finally take root and grow into an unwavering flower of realization? Or would more evidence allow her to fully plunge into the much safer dark expanse of ignorance?

The ignorance that would allow her to stay oblivious to the world where she'd learn that an old and unseen force had the ability to change the world in an instant, and the only knowing force against it was in fact her closest friend and troubled Hero, Claude.

Only time and speculation could answer the questions presented. But, either option would have a drastic effect on the state of Claude's mind.

***

After Claude finished his Monster Species Studies class led by Prof. Alvis, he urgently exited the building— finding the jumbled whispers of students and Ronin's powerful aura to be suffocating.

As soon as he exited the University and stepped into the lush grass that led to the Training field, he felt himself beginning to relax and the familiar jumpy aggressive feeling settling into his muscles. Exercise was needed. Luckily now was the perfect time for it.

Claude started a light jog across the field, passing the weapon racks, the weights and even the training dummies standing idly under the shade cast by the looming walls of the University until it all was a distant image behind him as he headed to Predator's Forest to pick up his inhuman brother. He could tell from their link that the PitWolf felt a similar jumpy feeling, causing him to explosively burst into a sprint.

"On my way." Claude spoke through their link as the bright forest full of life became visible in the distance.

Instantly, he could hear Frosty's deep and excited howls permeating the forest he resided in sounding like a distant cry of excitement carried by the cold November winds. Slowly his canine companions joined as the student they oddly understood and felt drawn to closed in on their home.

The sun sat in the sky above the forest, sending its rays bursting through the openings of the forest canopy and shedding light on the furry bodies dashing through the light yellow-green beams as they danced happily inside.

Claude slowed to a jog and silently slid into the shaded green expanse of Predator's Forest.

Once inside, the smells of fur, tree bark and blood hit his nose in large wafting quantities. Followed by the sounds of numerous animals sniffing the ground intensely as they inched closer to him.

"Hey guys, long time no see." Claude greeted the pack of Canines, finding Frosty's hulking mass looming over the smaller animals ahead of him.

Consisting mostly of Dogs, the Canine pack was still wide in variety and combat power. He individually greeted each animal, immediately recognizing what they were— while others were a little harder to decipher.

The first— and most eye catching being, a couple Low Class Vulbeasts.

Vulbeasts are Foxes evolved and upgraded to survive in the new world of combat in many ways— one of which being through cross breeding with similar species in Orc Tangents. This allows them to have much larger bodies and just enough more muscle for them to retain their catlike agility. They make very formidable Companions to starting and even experienced Beast Tamers due to their catlike vision and canine sense of smell that Beast Tamers can utilize through the skill, (Beast Trait).

After Claude greeted the black and red Vulbeasts, he couldn't help but notice how much they moved like cats— it reminded him of the Glorian Lion he met, causing him to feel both sad and happy at the memory of discovering something so beautiful.

Aside from them, the rest were Wolves and WolfDogs bred to give the Beast Tamer certain desirable traits in combat and recon scenarios.

"They always knew they'd be Beast Tamers, huh?" He thought as he scratched the slim head of his classmate Drew's, tall and slim-legged Doberman colored Wolf mix of some sort.

After a few seconds passed, footsteps behind him followed by loud male and female voices caused him to freeze for a moment.

"[I hate to say it Claude, but they won't like finding you interacting with their Companions like this.]" Arne pointed out.

"Very true…" Claude replied with a sigh before his hand took on a green glow as he rose from his previous crouching position in the center of the forest with the Canine pack.

Above him, the branches of a tree spiraled and intertwined, forming a well crafted wooden spear that trailed down into Claude's glowing hand.

Snap!

As soon as he broke the spear from the branch and raised it over his head, the Wolves, Vulbeasts, Dogs and everything in between became alert while their tails wagged madly causing Claude's signature scowl to relax a bit on his scarred face.

"Looks like you guys already know what this is. Good. Go fetch!" He said before throwing the spear deeper into the forest.

Fwoo!

The wooden weapon whistled through the forest like an arrow as the Canines hopped and zig zagged through trees and bushes in pursuit until their sleek furred bodies vanished.

Frosty sat in front of him still, tail wagging with excitement for Training class.

"Let's get out of here." Claude said before turning and leading Frosty out of Predators Forest.

On the way out, he passed the students who stuck to the dirt trail— gossiping about Marshall Leon and how they thought the twins disappeared. Most theories involved him— to no ones surprise. Luckily, he didn't have to deal with them since they were oblivious to the fact that he and his PitWolf lurked in the shadows of the forest surrounding the trail.

The sight of them caused Arne to realize something as Claude and Frosty exited the forest and took in the late day sun falling on their fur and skin.

"[You know Claude….those students will be late since you sent their Companions on a wild goose chase for that spear.]" Arne commented.

"That was the point." He replied after remembering the way they spoke about Frosty the last time he entered the forest with them.

"[Ahhhh. Very mischievous indeed, Claude]" Arne joked before they broke off into a sprint go get back to Training.

***

Claude returned to Training, finding the field had been cleared of its weights section, training dummies, and weapons racks leaving a large field of green that the students stood in groups around. The Professors stood by waiting for the class to fill up— to Claude's surprise it wasn't just Prof. Raizen and Brennan chatting together. His Earth Element Professor also waited around in the grass.

"What the hell is happening?" Claude asked silently.

"[Thats a good question. All I can say is that it looks like you may be experiencing something new today. How fun!]" Arne responded cheerily.

Claude internally laughed at Arne's attempt to soothe his nerves in response to the vast number of differences concerning the first Monday of November while he approached his only friend that was as early to class as he was.

She stood close to the door inside, leaning against the cold black walls of the University while she chewed away at her nails— he could hear them being broken by her teeth as he approached. A gesture that made sense once he caught a whiff of her intense anxiety and fear.

Without noticing, he sped up— crossing the field in seconds to reach her while the students surrounding them continued talking amongst each-other.

He stopped a few feet behind her after noticing the way her shoulders shook under her leather armor. If that wasn't enough to shower discomfort at something, he soon noticed small beads of sweat running down the back of her tanned neck. She was sweating— despite being in the densest spot of shade on the entire field.

"[...Claude, what in gods name are you doing? Say something.]" Arne said after a few seconds passed.

"What do I say? If I say hi now I'll freak her ou—"

"HEY WOLFBOY! STOP BEING WEIRD AND TALK TO HER DAMMIT!" Chase yelled, causing the students to all look and see him standing behind Ursula like a creep with a giant wolf at his side.

Ursula's head raised in response to hearing the nickname Chase gave Claude and spun around fearfully.

Claude glared across the field at Chase who simply threw his arms up in confusion— providing a good argument for possibly being more socially challenged than Claude.

"I…..Uh— I swear I wasn't stalking. I was going to come say hi, then I noticed your shoulders were shaking and you were biting your nails— like you were thinking strongly about something. Are you ok?" He asked after looking away from Chase to speak to Ursula.

Ursula took in a deep breath while she ran a hand through her light brown ponytail. "Hehe…N-Yea. I'm fine. Class stuff that's all." She replied after letting out the fakest laugh he'd ever heard.

"Lies." Claude immediately thought.

"[She may be a worse liar than you.]" Arne joked as Frosty suddenly rushed her, sniffing and licking her hands until she bent down to pet him.

Seeing the two interact was comforting but that didn't dispel the fact that she was nervous and incredibly scared about something. Something she wouldn't tell him.

"Shit.."

***

After a few minutes passed the class was full. Students littered the grass, talking and wondering what today's Training class would bring.

"Alright everyone! Gather round!" Prof. Brennan yelled, causing the students to jog across the field and circle the Professors as their young eyes gleamed with interest.

"Why's there no equipment out today?" A student yelled impatiently, followed by a rising cacophony of student voices asking similar questions.

CLAP!

Prof. Raizen clapped his hands a single time— creating a sound similar to thunder that silenced everyone on the field.

"That's much better. Now I'll get straight to the point then. As you all continue training and climb to achieve the status as Heroes, you'll experience a number of difficulties here— and in the Tangents. One of which being a change in terrain. Whether it be a glacial environment with biting cold winds, or a canyon with impossibly high drop offs— you'll experience it all. And today you'll get some practice in with your own personal Obstacle Course to hone your balance, agility, reflexes and stamina. All aspects of your body that will be held to a certain standard for you to survive…..and win this event." Prof. Brennan explained while the others nodded in agreement.

The students erupted in an outburst of various vocal opinions. Knights and Tanks protested against the exercise while Swordsmen and Archers cheered at the thought of an easy win.

"Ok. Everyone go line up by the University so we can create the course and explain it further." Prof. Raizen said.

They all took off while Claude hung at the back, watching Ursula talk with their friends— still smelling of fear.

After a few seconds he realized Arne was screaming in his mind for something.

"What, Arne?"

"[Somethings made her more suspicious of you again. Which is especially bad today.]"

Claude almost yelled out before forcing himself to relax, "How is her being suspicious of me today any worse than any other day?"

"[Sometimes you are unbelievably dense. YOU'RE DOING AN OBSTACLE COURSE! This is the perfect event to allow her to determine if you move like a man…or something else entirely— a way that's not as easy to tell when you're fighting. You forget how high your Stamina and Agility are…and if you accidentally use Wild Magic. Claude, you have to deliberately lose this.]" Arne pointed out.

"Wha—"

Claude was listening so intensely to Arne's words that he didn't notice the way Frosty kept looking behind them in response to the student approaching them.

"Claude. This is the perfect event for us to further solidify our rivalry!" Chase said in an excitedly psychotic tone of voice.

Claude turned his head to look at the tall and lanky Archer walking slightly behind him. "Chase. Are you stalking me? Now your being weird." Claude replied, hinting at Chase embarrassing him earlier.

Chase looked at him like he was an idiot as they walked across the field, "No way. I guarantee you my success rate with the opposite sex is way higher than yours."

"What the hell does that even mean, Chase?" Claude replied flatly— unaware of the insane levels of naivety he was showcasing.

"Listen— that doesn't matter." Chase replied in a louder voice while he swatted at the air like his thoughts were physical objects in front of his face. "Claude. This is our event. This is where we establish our rivalry to the….the world! The Wolf…and the Hunter!" Chase continued animatedly.

"[This child needs help…]" Arne commented.

Before Claude could speak, Chase' face twisted into a grave expression of determination, like what he was about to say next was the most important words he'd ever speak.

"Listen, Wolfboy. You better give me everything you've got in this event. I'm not losing. And I'm definitely not taking this win just because you didn't give it 1 billion percent. Let's go all out! Fenrir and Cernunnos will be watching."