CHPT 232: Anxiety Lingers, Don't let it Fester....

Friday Evening, Nov 16th, 2240

Claude started his morning as he did most mornings this week, in pain. Pushing a boulder up a snow-slush covered mountain over and over again seemed to have that effect on your muscles-- even if it was....a dream?

Despite this burning pain that lined his muscles every morning, he pushed for more pain-- he pushed himself to go harder under Fenrir's watchful gaze because he knew it would pay off. And it did.

The last Lupine and strongest Wolf God parted on oddly decent terms for what he showed each night that Fenrir characterized as "FeROCiouSLY RELesntLeSSSss FlAmES BURN WiTHiN YouUUUU...GooD.".

A rather wordy compliment, but Claude got the point. Fenrir wanted a disciple that was unrelenting-- someone that would push a boulder up a mountain and fail repeatedly all night.... every night until failure was a completely exhausted option and all that was left was, victory.

Fenrir also seemed to enjoy that Claude no longer roamed the Astral Realm in his human form, it was all part of The God of Wolves goal to make him shed his humanity like a snake shedding its outgrown scales.

So, after transforming in a fit of rage brought on by failure and anger towards the world-- Claude changed and stayed that way. More power was what he needed-- his true form brought that and more. If sacrificing his humanity on a more physical front was what it took, then so be it.

That's exactly what it took.

Following his nightmarish awakening in his dark room, he gained three points in his Strength stat. Small, but growth is growth. Not only would this make him stronger in real life scenarios, but it would also make his battle against the boulder that much easier, make his journey to the top of the mountain feel that much closer, closer to proving himself and gaining whatever reward Fenrir had in store for him.

All he could hope was that it was something that would help in closing the gap between himself and his evergrowing list of adversaries-- his evergrowing list of targets.

***

The rest of his day went by in a flash of worrisome thoughts and cluttered hallways as he traveled from class to class until he made it to Training-- the focus of all his worries....sort of.

***

With the students being halfway into the month of November, night fell on them faster and faster by the day, bringing with it, the cold winds of oncoming winter. The thought caused a shiver to run down Claude's spine, but the thought couldn't linger for long. He had other-- more pressing, matters to worry himself over.

Pressing matters that he knew his current sparring partner was also thinking over. He could see it in the lines of worry etched in her clear suntanned and glistening forehead. Or the pursing of her pink lips and clenched jaws that made her freckled face look more defined and less child-like than usual. She was just as anxious as he was.

He didn't need to read the jittery and offset movements of her body while she fought to know so. They could do all they studying they wanted over their demonic adversary, but the anxiety they felt stuck to them all like a ghost with infinite layers of unfinished business.

They'd been sparring as a warm-up for the past 2 minutes in silence and it was beginning to bother him. It didn't help that Arne was panicking in his mind like a maniac throwing out endless curses at Claude and his subpar social skills.

SWoO!

Ursula came in swinging with another wide chop of her axe, despite the height difference, he ducked in a flash and rose up behind her with more of an urge to speak than fight.

"I think its time we address the elephant in the room--"

Fwoo!

Another swing came, aimed at his chest. The cold steel of her axe shimmered under the fading sunlight as he dodged.

"What is there to address?" Ursula replied in a huff before sidestepping away from Frosty who was somehow always at her back.

"....Well....you're scared." He replied under the sound of metals clashing with other metals, elements and Aura's while nearby students continued to raise the intensity of their sparring matches.

Ursula rolled her eyes before sending an ice covered 1-2 combo at his face. He fluidly bobbed and weaved before they departed.

"My, my Claude. You have such a way with words sometimes..." She pointed out sarcastically.

"[Really..]" Arne agreed with her sentiment within Claude's mind.

"Yea thats me, Claude the....erhm...wordsmith."

Ursula cringed before chuckling at his awkward delivery of the joke.

"Seriously though. I didn't just mean you're scared. You're too scared, Ursula." He explained before she blasted from her position and slammed her axes in a downward chop aimed at where he previously stood.

Woo!

ThunK!

Her axes sunk into the ground loudly followed by the ground freezing over around her, "Seriously though. I'm no coward. I'm fine."

Woo!

Claude moved on the offensive and slammed his foot where her axes were to try and lodge them further into the ground. She dodged with impressive speed for a Berserker, causing her to bound away as Claude smashed the icy ground into reflective shards over the grass.

Where she landed, a growl emanated from behind her-- triggering the natural human response to move when a Predator is behind you, causing her to mindlessly lunge forward back towards her opponent.

Woo--

The cold steel of Claude's short-sword hovered over her neck while he eyed her from behind the cover of his midnight black hair. Game point. Possibly.

"I know you're no coward. You're one of the least cowardly people I've ever met. But that doesn't mean your immune to the affects of fear. None of us are--"

"Except for Maris." Ursula cut in while she kept her head slightly raised so his sword didn't cut her chin.

Claude nodded, "Fair point. Except for Maris, none of us are immune to fear.....and fear becomes added weight in combat when you let it set on your mind too heavily. We can't afford added weight."

Ursula's face brightened like the sun as she served him a knowing half-smile, "Wordsmith indeed...."

Claude coughed to hide his sudden self consciousness, "They aren't my words."

His sparring partner shrugged and her warm smile faded, "Either way. It's true. But how can I not be too scared. HellBreeder's are serious business...beyond serious business...if serious business was a person, it would piss itself in the presence of a HellBreeder. That scorpion-tailed shithead could kill us..."

"Just like whatever else we'll find inside the Tangent, Ursula. Something running the risk of killing us is in the job description of being a Hero. You lessen that possibility by fighting....even more so when your not compromised. I know you're scared-- I am too. But you have to trust. Trust that I'm not letting any of you die. I've uh.... got some tricks up my sleeve."

Ursula's eyes turned icy, "Don't do that....don't do that shit. We have a deal. You don't save me, we save each other. I don't care what tricks you have."

Claude shrugged while her throat pressed into his sword carelessly, "If you want to hold up your end of the bargain then you have to lessen your fear. Clear your mind, don't think about what it can do. Think about what you can do and what you've learned. We stand a chance, you know that right?"

"[Well well...look at you go....]"

Ursula's grin reappeared, "We did burn a HellBreeder to a crisp and then behead it....and then encase it in a tree. I'd like to do that again tonight. I'm tired of this stalker bastard."

Claude's nostrils flared as he scented the air, "...Fear...faint. Overshadowed by excitement and anxiety. Better."

"[Very well handled, Claude.]" Arne commended.

"ALRIGHT! Wrap up your sparring and gather round!" Prof. Raizen's voice boomed from across the field, causing all sounds of weapons clashing to cease.

"Anyway, I think I win this match." Claude said before lightly shaking his hand that held his sword.

Ursula's smile took a mischievous turn, "Did you?"

Following her words, he felt an object push into his upper thigh near his crotch.

"Shit..." He growled, causing her to let out one of her usual cool and breathy laughs before responding.

"Femoral artery.....if you slit my throat-- I'll die. But you'll bleed out soon after, coolface. Tie?"

"....Yep." He replied sourly before they both dropped their weapons and joined their team around Prof. Raizen, Brennan and Callista.

***

"Ok. Now that everyone's here, lets go over the basics. Once again, none of you will be told what's inside the Tangent. I hope you've all been paying attention in your classes because your last run was less than impressive. Once your all inside, no dilly dallying-- get straight to work, whether it be searching, recon or combat. No time wasted, and I want you to implement what you've been training. I'll be watching, and I want to see you all using at least using two of the four aspects of awakened combat...FLUIDLY! Now, before we leave, Prof. Callista has a message." Prof. Raizen announced to the cluttered circle of students.

Prof. Callista stepped forward, letting her soft hazel eyes that radiated from her mature-- yet, elegant face rest on everyone before speaking. "This message is to all my Healers in this class. I need more action out of you. You're all in combat when you're inside the Tangents, don't forget that. I saw too much standing idly and healing one person last week. Your job is to heal everyone. Move through the battle and keep your team in tip top shape. You're one of the most valuable members-- so don't be scared to move. If you get hit, heal yourself. Out there you cannot hesitate, and I saw too much of that. Lets fix that tonight."

"Any questions?" Prof. Raizen announced, shocking everyone out of the calming trance Prof. Callista put them into.

The crowd murmured a mixture of no's.

"Alright then. Lets roll!" Prof. Brennan yelled before taking the front and leading them on their journey.

"God dammit, I hate suspense!" Warren cried.

"Stop whining and sharpen your arrows or something." Maris replied flatly, causing the rest of the team to laugh as they marched off into the cold night.

***

This Tangent was a lot closer. They only needed to venture through two valleys and patches of forest before the glow of the Tangent lightly radiated through the forest like a distant torchlight.

"Huh...What an odd placement." Claude heard Prof. Brennan mumble at the front of the line under the wave of steady student chatter.

"The hell does that mean?" Claude asked.

"[Tangent appearances are random and often have weird locations....like at the edge of cliffs....or peaks of mountains...I always hated those.]" Arne replied.

"Hopefully we don't have anything like that." Claude thought.

***

Luckily, they didn't.

Once Claude and his group were close enough due to a handful of students already entering, he was able to see the blue tear in reality floating serenely over a river. The water around it changed entirely and flowed perpendicularly to the rest of the river-- creating a sight that was almost headache inducing.

"[Over time, Tangents affect our world in odd ways....]"

"No kidding..." Claude replied as they approached.

"Alright guys.....h-how about a prayer??? You know before we enter??" Warren said as they stopped near the river.

"What god do you believe in?" Isaac questioned jokingly.

"Whatever one wants to help!.....You think any will?.....heheh?" Warren replied.

"Of course not, you dork. Lets get to work." Isaac said before running and leaping with his usual alarming level of explosiveness over the river and into the Tangent.

Woo!

VWOOMP!

"Balls of steel on that one..." Warren commented with a head-shake while he readied his bow and jumped as something flew past him towards the Tangent.

"Goblins....Goblins....Goblins...." Maris chanted before leaping into the Tangent.

VWOOMP!

The final four filtered in soon after in a rush to meet their team on the other side.

VWOOMP!....VWOOMP!...VWOOMP!...VWOOMP!

***

Claude and Frosty stumbled as the hot and stony ground of the Tangent interior rose to meet them in an abrupt change of the area.

Unlike last time, the group of students didn't wait around in a huddle and admire the expanse fearfully. Instead, most of them had already took off in search of whatever inhuman being they'd be at odds with. Straight to work, just as Prof. Raizen demanded.

Claude decided to be rebellious for a moment and took in his surroundings with his team.

As his eyes scanned over the terrain, he couldn't help but squint. The sun was bright and beaming in a way that would shock anyone who had just been running under the setting sun for half an hour only seconds before.

For the first time, they weren't in a forest, the place didn't reek of rot and there were no black lakes housing ghoulish monstrosities. Instead, they stood in what could've been a desert-- if not for the mountainous rock formations that rose from the earth to border their path and form maze-like pathways further ahead.

The height of these natural boundaries ate up the focused heat of the sun and cast them into partial shadows while other spaces were completely illuminated and shown the floating dust in the distance that produced an unsettlingly calm look.

They were in a canyon. He could smell the rivers that cut through the sandy rocks all around them.

"Alright monster guy, what's it looking like for us?" Isaac questioned.

Claude thought over the question calmly before replying, "We're in a desert-like terrain. Heavy sunlight, dry air and hard surfaces with long stretches of land. The main creatures we have to worry about in areas like these are Goblins, Kobolds, Lizard-Folk, Gnoll's....and bugs."

Warren shivered and Maris's eyes lit up like a candle.

"Fucking bugs...of course." Warren scoffed.

"What kind of bugs?" Ursula asked while they all began to cautiously eye the tops of the canyon around them.

For Claude, this was the easiest answer. And probably the right one.

"....Nightmare Beetles."