CHPT 238: Beasts in the Blizzard...

The unforgiving cold nipped at his skin with icy claws-- made stronger by the spinning winds that howled and roared infinitely.

All that kept him focused as he trudged through the cold vortex of madness was the urge to eradicate the threat and keep his human mind in tact as the power of the Lunar Artifact warmed his insides like a furnace.

With every step, the cold was less...cold. The winds less important, the sounds more painful. He was changing. He only touched the Artifact for a second-- yet, its ethereal glimmering Lunar talons erupted from the stone and dug into him with an insatiable hunger and urge to pull forth his true self. And it did.

Outside of the storm, he was a young boy-- riddled with the scars of past battles and eyes that saw far too much for someone his age. Within the Arctic Storm, he was what he needed to be to survive, fight and avenge. A Monster in his own right, stalking through the thunderous white terrain on the hunt.

The snow no longer melted against his hot expanding skin-- instead, its shimmering white flakes caught on the black fur that stretched across his leathery grey skin like a warming impenetrable blanket. The chaotic spin of the winds threw the scents of blood and fear around in an endless circle, but his wolven snout picked up all things with little effort.

He moved in a rushed gait on all fours-- low to the ground to avoid damage, the hackles along his back stood up in response to the constant flow of electricity and his own rising aggression. His claws scraped the frozen ground like nails on a chalkboard while drool spilled from his maw like the river Van, spilled from Fenrir's.

KRKABOOM!

"AAARRCKCKAA!"

A wild blast of Lightning fell from the thick black storm-cloud above them, stunning Claude's ears and smashing into the Chitinous Nightmare causing it to let out a insectoid shrill of pain.

He stilled within the storm. A predator with all its senses suddenly locked on unsuspecting prey. The scene has been played countless times through history. A Tiger crouched within the lush embrace of tall grass with its feline eyes focused like lasers on a Water Bufallo. A Crocodile hidden just beneath the murky water a Zebra drinks from. Or even a Dark Elf under the quiet expanse of night with a beautifully crafted bow pulled taut, ready to skewer an unsuspecting human to a tree and secure dinner.

It was all the same. Just the same as a Lupine of Romulus within a Blizzard-storm hunting an overgrown Boss-Level Nightmare Beetle.

He could smell the dozens of cuts marring its shelled flesh, the smell climbed by the second. Each shard of ice that crashed into the large creature ripped each cut further apart, sending splatters of green blood that froze and blended with the icy vortex of chaos. But it would'nt last long. That's why he was inside-- his team was already spent, they needed as much energy as possible for what could come at any second. And the only person with the capacity to end it fast enough was him. In this form. In these expansive icy winds.

For the first time, he let the inciting scent of the blood pull him-- starting first as a slow predatory trot, and then speeding up into wolven jog. By the time he could see the faint outline of the creature, he was moving as a blur, low to the ground and snarling madly.

The beaten and broken mess of a Boss noticed him in his approach and roared as it sent a punch in his direction, cutting through the snow and frozen blood in a flash of violence.

Woo!

Claude lunged to the left, hearing its weighted arm smash into the frozen ground as he took flight like a pouncing Tiger.

"RAGH!!!"

The shards of ice cut into his arms, ribs and chest. But the promise of spilled blood allowed him to ignore the pain as he crashed into the giant bug-man.

Now much larger in height and weight, he became a genuine physical threat to the already broken creature, causing it to flail and stumble to try and throw him off. But his ferocity overwhelmed the creature. Before it could do much damage, he already ripped off two of its arms and stabbed them back into the exposed parts of its flesh.

SHUNK!..SHUNK!

"AAAAAAAKKKKK!!!"

Claude roared back at the creature and swiped at its face.

SWOOP!

His claws ripped through its one remaining eye and threatened to rip off its lower jaw with the breaking of its pincers.

While the creature roared and stumbled limblessly, he continued his gruesome work with the focus of a surgeon on an operating table.

More ripping....more blood...plates of armor fell, leaving exposed sagging flesh that he tore to green shreds. He pushed on, even as lightning struck, running against his fur and tightening his muscles in uneven spasms.

While he fought, he watched as its blood dripped sideways-- against gravity, pulled by Magic. Maris was working to speed up the process.

After another few seconds, the creature he overwhelmed with claw and tooth looked unrecognizable. But it still stood. So, he went for the head.

With a snarl, he spun behind it and planted his feet on its shoulders while he pulled to remove its large horned head.

KRRRRKABOOM!

Another torrent of Lightning came crashing, running through them both. He howled in pain, a sound that mixed horribly with the insect beneath him as the skin around its neck began to give under his immense pulling pressure.

"Come on you fat BASTARD!...I've got bigger problems to worry about than you. So, hurry up and DIE!" He roared before completely ripping off it's head in a liquid lightshow of green blood and entrails.

SHRIPPPP!!!

"AAAAK--"

***

The Arctic Storm that Ursula, Warren and Conroy conjured to defeat the Boss changed drastically after Claude entered. What was once a spinning sea of white, instantly became a roaring storm of green and black.

None of them knew what the black pieces were until one landed on Warren's face, splattering against his skin like a bug.

It didn't take them long to realize it was pieces of the Boss's incredibly tough shell. They quickly realized after that with the storms help, Claude was ripping it to shreds.

Then, the Lightning struck. And the howls came. A horrible sound that Ursula felt in her spine as clear as day.

"Ok, that's enough. Turn it off!" She yelled in a panic after the bellow of pain.

Frosty felt the sound as well and began whining and barking psychotically while he snapped and pawed at the storm urgently.

Right when she was about to throw Conroy across the room to make him deactivate the spell--

DING!

[Tangent Complete! The Chitinous Nightmare has been slain! Collect the Loot you've earned and exit.]

[Rewards for completion: 300 EXP]

[+ 300 EXP]

In response to the system notification, everyone in the group let out an incredibly long sigh of relief and fought against the urge to fall to their knees with exhaustion.

The spinning vortex of ice, innards and blood slowed and the clouds parted, slowly transforming the terrain back to a warm canyon instead of an icy storm.

Blood and pieces of the Boss fell all over the floor as the winds subsided, leaving the floor covered in a gory mess that they stomped through in a rush to find their teammate.

Frosty jogged over the ground, snout to the floor as he tried to sniff out his Lupine brother. Everyone else called out to him hoping he'd reply and somehow be perfectly fine. Ursula did the same, but her mind continued to take her back to the sight of him jumping inside the storm in a burst of ominous pale blue light.

"What wa--"

"HOLY SHIT!" Chase yelled ahead of her, deeper within the still settling dust.

The group rushed to his voice, following the thickening trail of blood and scent of entrails to the source.

The Boss of the Tangent laid in a ripped and tattered heap of gruesome injuries. It's armor was torn off and completely removed in some places while pieces of its arms stuck out of its chest and neck like thorns. Ursula was ready to look up into its remaining lifeless eye, only to quickly realize there was no head.

"See what I mean? Crazy shit that ends up saving us.." Warren mumbled.

Ursula knew exactly what Warren meant while she looked at the obliterated creature-- possibly more than anyone else on the field. He's always been this way, even since before they were Reborn. Despite her familiar feeling unease over the situation, she couldn't help but notice the ball of guilt spinning into existence within the pit of her stomach, she much rather would've gone in with him ten out of ten times instead of having to witness him be fried from within a blizzard for any number of seconds. Sitting on the sidelines was beginning to feel akin to being run through by a great-sword.

"When am I gonna get to save you? Dammit!" She thought angrily as the grip on her axes tightened.

"Found him!" Stacy announced further ahead.

After being abruptly pulled from her thoughts, Ursula jogged over to the group of students that circled someone lying on the floor.

"So, does your friend get beat at home...or what?" Stacy asked in a slightly grossed out tone while they all looked down at the unconscious student.

".....We don't know." Warren replied.

In the center of their circle, Claude laid flat on his back-- still as a statue, save for the slow inhales that caused his chest to rise and fall shakily. The trademark tiger-striped scarring on the outside of his arms, midsection and shoulders used to stick out as clear as day against his bronze skin. Now, they were merely pieces added to a collection of old healed rips and tears all over. Even worse than his face, which she knew most people had to double take in surprise. He looked like he'd been thrown into a pit of Monsters.

They all stared in silence for a moment when he suddenly coughed, causing them all to jump. After the fit of coughs ended, the once still face he held that made him look his age, twisted into one of anger. He was awake.

Frosty's tail turned into a fur covered fan as he approached him and licked all over his face like there was food on it. After it was over, he sat up effortlessly and let his head hang for a moment. More scarring covered his back.

"You know, Claude? You're a bit of an oddity...." Conroy stated.

".....Yea." He replied in a hoarse voice before they all began helping him to his feet, despite his protests.

While they all conversed and slowly began to celebrate, Ursula found herself back inside of her mind.Their little dance of deceit had taken another step under the sweltering sun of the canyon, and she didn't know what to do.

She was more than sure he was a good person-- one of the best, but she was worried about him. Naturally, worried about how someone at that age could have so many scars-- among many other things. Her thoughts continually played it over, and confrontation seemed like the best and worst idea. She'd at least talk to him, let him know she was there-- and done being in the dark. Plus, the timing was ideal.

"It's the weekend. What else will he be doing other than training with us? We'll talk then."