CHPT 214: The Next Step.

Samuel laid face first in the grass for a long while. He was still and unmoving against the floor until the scents of fear and the sounds of many roused his mind into a hazy alertness. Before any of the individuals that he assumed were the attackers could hit him, he exploded to his feet.

He looked around chaotically with his hands up and ready to intercept any claws or bites he assumed were coming his way. He was moving on autopilot, his mind and body simply moving in response to the outside influences of the violent world around him. Only today was slightly different, it took him a moment to remember that fact.

The dozens upon dozens of Lupines that filled the clearing stalked around him in a wide circle. Moving silkily through the grass on all fours their hackles were raised and saliva spilled from their jaws like that of starved wild beasts.

He was about to question their motives when he suddenly found the source of why this night was different.

They stood a few feet in front of him, seemingly in wait. The main difference was the human. A Night Runner. He was a large man in full body navy blue armor that looked like it had been through hell. The state of his skin matched, sporting dozens of old scars visible even through the patchy graying beard on his leathery skinned face. He would've looked tough— if not for the way his eyes darted all over the clearing like a deer surrounded by Wolves. He also reeked of an enticingly sweet and lively scent that made Samuel salivate and feel jumpy.

Samuel was dazed by the scent for a moment, finding himself wanting nothing more than to follow the urge and feed on it to the fullest. The surrounding monsters lost more importance with every deep inhale he took through his nose. His natural blue eyes twinkled with dark violet sparks that expanded and spread until the beastial purple sheen of his true form was left.

The muscles in his legs felt alive. The pain of his battered joints loosened. He felt limber, and aggressive. The wonderful scent was impossible to avoid— being left tortured and unknowing of the time that passed at any moment, the difference between the two was like heaven and hell.

His feet moved, following his urge to meet the source of the scent. Before he could even take two steps, a medium sized hand grabbed ahold of his shoulder, threatening to crush it into red bone fragmented mush. He didn't dare move, he didn't even breathe.

"Ahhh…..Sammy boy." Jack said before taking in a deep inhale. "It's a beautiful smell, isn't it? Even better when they're alive. I knew you'd love it."

Samuel forced himself to breathe, now being back in his own mind he was left with fear and questions.

"What t-the hell is this?"

Jack put his arm around him, forcing the much taller Lupine, Samuel, to duck down awkwardly. Jack seemed unfazed and continued talking anyway.

"Hmmmmm. Think of this as training. You know what you are now. You're the pinnacle of predatory existenc—…" Jack was cut off by Dolion growling angrily.

"Sorry boss!" He yelled before continuing, "You, Samuel, have the potential to be the pinnacle of existence now that you've been given the all powerful gift of our Lord, Remus. Now, with that power comes change….hehehe you know all about change now don't you?" He continued, pointing to the transformed Lupines circling them.

Samuel swallowed fearfully.

"You know your humanity is gone. Human values are for…well— the humans. That goes for all things human. Good and evil…..love…empathy. Heroes." Jack continued, whispering the last word in a venomous snarl in Samuel's ear.

"A Hero is simply a powerful individual that rids the earth of monsters….why can't I—"

"PFHAHAHAH!!!!" Jack exploded into a predatory cackle that stung Samuel's ears. "You!? Hero?!…..oh Samuel. You've practically cleaned the streets of south Skyhaven with the amount of homeless filth you've eaten. Did you forget that?…"

"B-but they were filth." Samuel responded weakly in defense.

"Innocent filth. Very innocent filth. You didn't seem to care about that fact when you were eating their hearts." Jack said.

Samuel was silent. He somehow felt betrayed in a way as he remembered Jack goading him into eating them in the first place.

Jack pulled him closer, "Plus. We are the Monsters that those Heroes want to remove from earth. The Heroes are your enemies now. So, use that noble brain of yours and tell me who you think your allies are now?"

Samuel froze. The reality that he was truly what society classified as a monster still was a hard pill to swallow. He didn't feel like a monster. He felt the same as always— if not, weaker. But right now that wasn't the focal point of the issue. Jack just teased at a horrifying piece of information. The Lupines of Remus had allies….and the Heroes were their enemies. Humans were their enemies. There was only room for one faction to align themselves beside.

"Come on blondy! Who do you think?"

Samuel shook as a bead of sweat ran down his shaking spine, "M-Monsters…"

Jack jumped and removed his arm from around Samuel's shoulder to celebrate. His energetic nature didn't subside as he stopped and pulled Samuel over to him again, threatening to crush the bones in his arm.

"Exactly! Now, we Lupines need to make sure you're aware of that fact and willing to act behind it. No more of that Hero and Villain stupid shit. Only the hunt, our word, and the spread. Now, you will hunt your first Hero because he is against you. Because you are hungry. And because your Alpha demands it!"

With that, Jack let go of Samuel and pushed him into the center of the circle, closer to the encased Night Runner backed by Dier who was whispering in the man's ear.

When Dier was finished, he removed his hand from his shoulder and placed it on the rock around the Night Runner.

CRKCRKCRKCEK!!!

Small fissures that glowed the same color as Dier's eyes opened up all along the rocks surface that encased the Night Runner before bursting into small pebbles that fell at his feet. The Hero stumbled a few steps forward warily.

"Remember, kill the boy and we let you live. Don't and…die." Dier yelled to the man with the ending of his instructions made more intense by the snarling Lupines around them forming the boundaries of a ring.

Samuel stopped in confusion, "Kill me? But I thought I was special?…..destined for something bigger than myself." He questioned, seeming to ignore the relentless beatings he took from them that left him inches from death anyway.

Dolion appeared behind Dier in a flash and shrugged, "If you can't kill when we say it. You're worthless. Now, kill or be killed, Samuel."

Before he could respond, the old Night Runner exploded into action in a panic to survive.

"AHHHHHRGH!"

Due to the drastic change of his situation and realization of what he'd become, he froze for a moment too long and the old Hero's armored knuckles connected with his face in a dizzying flash.

Crack!

Samuel spun and tumbled backwards a few feet.

"Nice one, gramps!" Jack commented on the distance.

Samuel opened his eyes to see the crescent moon occupying the night sky above. He was really tired of seeing the moon. He didn't take long to look though due to the sound of heavy metallic footsteps smashing through the grass towards him.

He shot up just in time to see the Hero charging him mindlessly urgent to guarantee his own safety.

He stumbled backwards into the snarls and barks of the Lupines behind him. Bad move.

"RAGHSH!!"

CRSH!!

"AAACK!"

The Lupines he backed into showed him no mercy and bit at his legs while others ripped open his back viciously, causing him to fall and be dragged into the mosh pit of fur and claw that continued to rip him to shreds.

The Hero watched as the young teen screamed and cried from beneath the wave of monstrosity that overcame him only to spit him out moments later.

He rolled back into the grass in front of the Hero now leaking blood from every slash mark and bite wound that infested the pale expanse of his thin flesh. He wasn't even conscious.

"Remus doesn't tolerate those who flee. You will fight or die, Samuel." Dolion said flatly.

The young Lupine laid unmoving. Completely unresponsive in the grass.

There was a moment of sadness that made its way to the Hero's heart as he looked at the sorry mess of a teenage boy. He didn't even look like he was supposed to be here. In fact, he looked vaguely familiar.

"FIGHT YOU OLD FUCK BEFORE I RIP YOU TO SHREDS MYSELF!" Dolion exploded psychotically, causing the surrounding Lupines to flinch fearfully.

The Hero did the same before sprinting into action.

As he approached Samuel, a dark blue glow covered his hands and the particles of moisture in the air around him expanded into snowflakes and cold smoke.

Crckrcrkcrk!

He ran his hand in a straight line from his head down to his midsection. The growth of Ice followed his movements until a fully functioning ice pike fell into his hands. He held it firmly with both hands causing the weapon to thicken and fortify further by the second.

The elemental creation was concluded with the end of the pike sharpening into a deadly spear point. With that finished, the Hero raised the ice spear over his head and made his way towards the unconscious boy.

Dolion watched the end approach with happily placed disgust. Dier stood behind him emotionlessly. Aiko stood up with interest from her spot near the forest entrance in the distance. Jack was smiling so widely that his face looked like it was about to rip.

Samuel lay face first in the grass. His hearing was placed under a layer of liquid from the blood that leaked onto his ear. His breaths came out in a slow and raspy cadence that could only be made from internal injury. He was tired. So tired of everything. He tried, he tried to fight everyday. To survive and get by with faith in the fact that his father would come, that his father wouldn't let him whither away in here and die. Yet here he was. No father, and withering. Nobody was coming for him. He was sure of that as he lay in the grass. He was done.

Death felt like a beautiful idea in contrast to the painful state of living that welcomed him. No more monsters, no more torture, no more fear, no more struggle.

His eyes drifted closed and he felt himself sinking further into the cold grass as the Hero pressed on.

All he could hear after a while was his own raspy exhales reminding him; he was tired. So very, very tired.

"Ohhhhhhh sammmy boyyyyy…."

Samuel was jolted back into an off state of being awake in response to Jack singing his name in a dark and ominous melody.

"Don't tell me you're done now, you dingbat! We've got so much to do. You've got much to do. Don't tell me you've forgotten so quickly?" Jack questioned.

Samuel perked up at his words as if some part of him was actually remembering.

"You weren't eating all these corpses and fighting to survive the torture you brought onto yourself for no reason. You've been fighting to survive because of your own failure, Samuel. Remember!"

Spirals of smoke rose from Samuel's torn and ripped hands as the grass beneath them was scorched by an otherworldly heat.

"COME ON BLONDY! Why are you here, alone! Why are you fighting so hard to survive! What Lupine Law have you broken?! Who put you in this situation and who have you promised to see again?!" Jack questioned, now yelling with intensity.

Samuel's eyes snapped open, purple and hot like two darkflame suns.

"...Claude!" He snarled

WOO!

He laid in the grass for too long, the Hero was already on him. As he finished speaking, the ice spear came flying down at him like a blue lightning bolt.

WOOSH!

With inhuman speed, Samuel rolled over in the grass and raised his left hand towards the oncoming bladed ice.

FWOOOSHHH!

Purple flames burst from his steaming hand as if the gates of hell itself had just opened. The intense heat of the flames bolstered by his own emotional intensity melted the ice effortlessly.

"AAAGHHHH!!!!" The Hero roared in pain and stepped back to try and escape the cruel flames.

Before he could, Samuel snarled and grabbed ahold of his arm using it to pull him closer to the Hero.

In a flash he pulled himself to his feet and slammed his right hand onto the Heroes face.

"No! NO! WAIT?" The Hero pleaded while his eyes darted around from beneath the spread of Samuel's claw tipped fingers.

Samuel stayed silent, letting the burning sizzle of his flames do the talking while they scalded the man's face down to the bone.

"YESSSS SAMUEL! Kill to survive! Kill to reach him!" Jack roared happily.

Despite half of the Heroes face being burned out of existence, he still fought and struggled against Samuel's grip.

In a flash, Samuel pulled the man closer and spun around him, locking the Hero in a rear naked choke.

The Lupines roared and howled around them, heightening the chaos to an unbelievable degree.

The Night Runner stumbled and shook with Samuel on his back, choking him in a snake-like grip. He reached up with icy hands and began freezing Samuel's forearms.

Suddenly, it became a battle of the elements to see if the Heroes cold could overcome the Monster's furious heat.

As the battle continued, Samuel's anger grew until it flowed off of him as steam.

In a flash, he transformed.

The arm around the Hero's neck grew and thickened while being coated in a shining layer of golden fur. He panicked and his ice grew— sensing his inner turmoil and will to survive. Samuel's fur froze with ease.

It seemed like his win was imminent. But what he didn't know was; his terror was empowering to the monster on his back.

Samuel now in a feral state, inhaled the intoxicating fumes and exploded in a ball of purple fire. The old Night Runner screamed as the flames enveloped him until they were just one screaming ball of savage flames.

Dolion and his hitmen leaned in and watched with interest at Samuel's ability to use his element while in his true form at such a young age. He was only a month old and able to do something that even some experienced Lupines of Remus struggled to do. Not only did this make his Element stronger, but it also showed that his "human" mind and Lupine mind weren't too far apart. He was strong.

They all howled as the Hero was burned to ash in Samuel's hold until the superheated armor fell and all that was left was the vague outline of a flaming Lupine roaring at them.

He was beyond the point of zero mana, but his flames remained with the power of another form of Magic. Something more…..Wild.

As quickly as they came, the flames vanished, leaving only the ferocious golden Lupine who stumbled in the grass a few times before losing consciousness.

DING!

[Your System recognizes that you have defeated a foe much higher than you in Levels. You are now being brought to the appropriate Level that represents the skill required to accomplish such a feat.]

Ding!

[You have Leveled up! You are now Level 15!]

***

Dolion and his closest confidants stood over the unconscious Lupine and stared for a long moment. He was human again, his scared body showed every inch of developed muscle with the absence of fat. His chest and legs were covered in black ash and his body still burned, turning individual blades of grass into glowing embers every few seconds like an invisible flame shrouded him.

"He is not weak." Aiko confirmed.

"He is very weak. He just has potential as well."

"I'd like to see how his flames stand against the unbreakable will of earth." Dier said smoothly in his South African accent.

"All you guys and your Elements are boring. Whatever happened to a good fist fight?! I hate that stupid wizardry shit." Jack snapped.

"Enough." Dolion said before stroking his braid to soothe his mind.

"What is it boss?" Jack questioned after reading his calculating facial expression.

Dolion opened his eyes and took a deep breath.

"He's even less like himself than when he entered….no. More like his true self, no longer held by the shackles of humanity. It is as you predicted Jack. He's is more Lupine of Remus than Human of earth. We've told him pieces of our history. We've told him our strongest Law. He is in our pack. He has killed something he once thought he could be. Let's take the next step."

"Which is?" Dier asked.

"Let's take him to NoxIce Keep. Today he will meet our maker, Lord Remus."