CHPT 363: His Day of Birth, The Longest Night....
The rest of Claude's morning was spent in it's usual fashion with the rest of his pack. A nice light workout, a fast paced hunt....and then a battle to the death with Demonically powered Monsters sent by a super-Demon from the desert beyond. Very normal-- especially when compared to what he'd brought back from the Astral Realm only hours before.
The difference today was another group of intruders...this time not a touch of the underworld graced their flesh. No symbiotic Armament of the Underworld to shut off their motor functions and pilot their bodies, no HellBreeder sting to transform them into life stealing, fire-breathing hellions, they simply came as they were.
And what they were, was very.....very anti-Druid.
Greco-Roman Monsters and Druids didn't always mix well. An oldworld response to the history of Celts and Romans being at odds. He got his first inkling of that fact when he faced his first trio of Harpies-- beautiful women made bird-like Monsters in one swift headache inducing shift. And despite his meeting with the Satyr duo only days ago-- he would be reminded again, of the drawback of Druidry.
On his birthday of all days.
Probably not the best way to start one....
***
Visibly, it wasn't the best start to a morning for any of the birds native to the forest either. Seen in how they fled their thick tree's doused in white snowfall after every branch and limb was shaken by the fastening of a flaming chain-- called forth by the partially transformed Lupine swinging through the forest in pursuit of the Monsters below.
The entire forest was fair game in their pursuit. The tree's Claude didn't swing from above were shaken to their cores below by Ursula and the Phantom Legion bashing the Demons and their newest enemies into the hard bark surfaces. The shadowy Monster seemed quite a bit stronger than usual....
The intruders were being ran down, and they never even got to reach Rollan's home.
After another few minutes of Ursula hacking away at Centaurs, Or the Phantom Legion stomping out a group of Goblins while Gil shot the escaped enemies to dust, there were few left.
Three to be exact.
Claude watched them as he swung and bounded through the forest.
Their scaled mop of tendrils for hair bounced and slithered, hissing at Claude as he chased behind them. He hated snakes. Seeing Monstrous men and women with snakes for hair only rooted him deeper in his feelings.
Gorgons of the Medusean Race.
He'd read the myths and legends-- they made him hesitant. But his anger for them coming on such a memorable day eventually threw him out of his shell. They didn't turn their enemies to stone with a single look. He'd spent enough time watching the life fade from their slitted reptilian eyes to know so.
Their venomous bites on the other hand were a very different story. One he didn't want to learn the contents of despite his enjoyment of reading and discovery. For now, he just wanted to remove the threats, speak to Rollan and get back to Frosty. Frosty's development had the possibility to be something.....incredible.
He had an idea on how to get there faster.
In the midst of his swinging journey through the forest, a spark of green energy cloaked his arms, providing mimicking afterimages of his arms movements. (Second Frenzy). A very valuable spell and physical buff.
In theory, it could only become better when combined with another buffing spell.....from a certain god.
Hesitantly, he activated (Strength of the Jotunn). A tidal-wave of bright green energy exploded from him as he swung through the air, ripping apart branches and shredding leaves as if the initial start of the skill was a break out ability. Unbound like always.
Immediately after, his muscles bulked-- giving him a more monstrous appearance when combined with the clutter of black veins bulging from beneath his greying skin.
Naturally, he went to swing himself again to keep up with the Gorgons. He didn't calculate the strength boost accurately.
FWOOM!
With a single swing, he threw himself through the forest at blinding speeds, ripping off the branch of the tree his Malevolence Tether was once attached too.
As he rocketed through the air he could see himself passing over his enemies through his peripheral vision in a scaled blur of snakes and pale skin.
Soon after he landed in the lush grass, skidding and rolling to a halt by stabbing his spears into the ground.
He stayed still in the grass, feeling the faint vibrations of their footfalls, the sound of their guttural breaths, the hissing of the mop of snakes atop their heads.
Thirty...twenty...ten feet away.
He rose to his feet and switched the grip on his silver spear, lunging forward to throw it through the forest with his boosted strength and secondary attack. The weapon whistled through the woodlands, cutting through branches and slicing through chunks of trees without an ounce of disturbance laid to it's path.
A path it met the end of in the chest of the first Gorgon.
SHLNK!
The spear ripped through it's core, knocking the physically slim Monster off it's feet and flat onto it's back.
[+100 EXP]
By the time it hit the floor, Claude was already moving. Lunging forward to slam his black spear into the face of the next Gorgon. A seven foot tall male wrapped in dark cloth and razor sharp claws with strikingly feminine features standing out beneath it's angular face and hideous bared fangs.
The blade of his spear tore through the pale veiny white skin of it's face as if it were made of mesh.
FWSH!
"AC--!"
With his boosted strength, the spear strike gained a sort of shockwave, plunging a creator in it's face surrounding the stab-wound to an almost comically large degree. A flash of green energy rolled down his arm in a wave of power, slowly gaining the form of his fist, reanimating the attack for a second blow to the dead creature.
SPLSHK!
The second boosted blow was too much for the creatures ruptured face and skull to handle, causing a large fist sized hole to be blown through it's face, sending fragments of skull and brain fluid bursting out of the back to splatter in the last Gorgons face.
[+100 EXP]
"SCREAAAA!!" The final Gorgon screamed, bursting through it's fallen comrade to tackle and snap at him as they rolled through the grass in a tangle of fur and scales.
When they came to a stop, the Gorgon had top mount, slashing open lines of red in his forearms and tearing through the Druidic cloak that sheathed his shoulders.
"Druid.....Druid....DRuiD!" The Gorgon chanted psychotically as if driven by a primordial directive.
When the next punch came, he caught it in a clinch with his elbow, holding it firmly to his body as he twisted, breaking the arm with a wet crunch.
Surprisingly, (Second Frenzy), repeated the action for him, breaking the arm even more so until the creatures entire forearm was simply connected by a thread of pale white flesh. He had to get used to that.
CRNCHSH!
"AHHHCK!"
With his other arm, he reached up and punched it in the face, the second strike knocked it off him and onto it's back. Without a moment of hesitation, he rolled backwards and got to his feet just in time to see it swiping at his face with it's only freehand.
FWOO!
He leaned away from the slashing strike, front kicking the Monster in the ribs at the same time, sending it crashing into a tree behind it hard enough to scare off the birds a dozen feet away.
The second hit was harder, shown as he dashed in and delivered a roundhouse kick to it's stomach, slamming it back into the tree hard enough rip a legion of cracks into the bark.
When he dislodged his transformed leg from it's ribs, the creature sagged to the floor and face-planted in a pool of it's own blood.
[+100 EXP]
[+1 Stat Point]
[You have 15 Stat Points Available!]
He didn't even read the system notification, instead letting his eyes stay on the dead Gorgon as his pawed hybrid foot rose to hover over it's head covered in dead snakes. The urge to stomp it out-- reduce it to nothing but red in attempt to vent his anger was almost inescapable.
He wanted more. He wanted to move and fight until he was too exhausted to think about it all. What made him angrier was he couldn't yet get to the one's who'd left him in such a state. Part of him continued to think, "It's just a birthday"....and that part was reasonable. The other part knew it wasn't about the birthday. It was the day. It was all days from this point onward.
Spirals of steam rose from his bubbling shoulders and elongating jaws filling with razor sharp fangs. The transformation spread like a virus, following the toxic spread of his anger.
"Fuck....you.." He snarled and slammed his foot into the corpse, smashing it's head like a watermelon covered in dead snakes.
"Fuck....you....Samuel." Another stomp, shaking the ground as he dug his claws into the tree in front of him...
"Jack!..." Another, the tree creaked and clouds of wooded dust sputtered from where his claws sliced through the surface...
"Dolion..." The corpse was unrecognizable-- even more so than before.
"Remu--...."
"...Claude?"
His foot slowed to a stop, hovering inches above the bloodied mess in response to Ursula's voice.
"....Are you ok?" She asked, taking a step closer.
Claude took a deep breath, feeling the change slowly reverse itself until he stood, looking relatively human and doused in sweat.
"Yep." He finally replied, turning to face her and walk back to Rollan's home, effectively stuffing down what had once risen to the surface.
Before he could, she took a step to the side, blocking his path to meet his eyes.
No words needed to be said. He wasn't a good liar anyway, mind-links aside.
Claude stayed silent for a moment, shrugging and shaking his head in defeat from not knowing how to properly enunciate what he felt without going too deep into detail. He settled with a vague fact.
"Some days you're reminded more of what exactly you lost....all the little details don't really matter....until they do. Until they're right in your face, and you have nothing to do but sit with them."
Ursula placed her thick calloused hands on his shoulders, "I have no idea what you're talking about exactly....But I know it relates to your father. Just like I know how you feel...partially at least." She said, removing a hand from his shoulder to point from his head to her's in reference to their link.
"It sucks. And if you'd like to talk more about it, you know I'm here. Until then, let's go workout until Rollan worries for our wellbeing and finish off that sheep."
"Cooked....Cooked sheep." Claude said to her fleeting frame gaining a croaking bark of agreement from Gil.
"Maybe!" She said jokingly while jogging beside the hulking Phantom Legion.
He shook his head with the beginnings of a smile appearing on his face in response to her words, before he could watch any further, the sudden appearance of his transparent green System screen entered his vision.
DING!
[Your Companion has entered the first phase of it's first Evolution!]
[Three days Remaining!]