Ch 22: Wolfden (1)

Let's turn back the clock a bit to when this 'small matter' of Ray's started. To when Jaune had just unlocked his Aura. Far to the north of the small section of the Emerald Forest, where the new students were taking their initiation trial. In the depths of the forest where shadows dominated the woodlands.

*Sniff Sniff* "Food… Delicious… Weak… Eat, grow stronger… Much stronger… Will surprise Eldest Brother!… Eldest Brother, praise Wolfden!" A dark shadow with glowing red eyes growled brokenly as it sniffed the air. It could smell the scent of Jaune's abundant newly awakened Aura even from this distance.

As it stalked forward a few paces, enjoying the scent, it stepped into a small patch of sun that had managed to pierce through the thick canopy. Flesh and fur as black as ebony. Eyes, red as freshly spilled blood that glowed with hunger. The head and hindquarters of a ravenous wolf. The muscular chest and arms of a professional martial artist. Two-inch claws and fangs that glistened with a deadly light. Bone white plates covering its forearms, forelegs, and chest like armor were decorated with tribal tattoos as bloody as its eyes. It was a 6'5" monstrosity born from the darkest nightmares, and it was coming to feed.

"Pack… Hunt!" He howled and rushed in the direction of his prey. As he ran, Grimm began to join him. Beowolves and Alpha Beowolves flocked to his call throughout the forest. Wolfden barked orders as new servants joined his hunting pack, organizing them as 'Eldest Brother' had taught him to maximize the hunt's efficiency. And as the pack grew, so did his hunger and confidence. Even when he sensed something that made his fur stand on end watching him, he didn't slow.

"I Lord… I have pack… No Food challenge me!" He howled and increased his pace. Shortly thereafter, he smelled an even more delicious scent than the one before.

*Sniff Sniff* "More Food?… *Sniff* Better Food *Snort*... Strong Food… But Wolfden strong too… Wolfden have pack… Food have few… Wolfden know 'strength in numbers'... Pack hunt!... Wolfden feed!" his pack drove him onward.

*Sniff Snort* "Food leaving!?... No!" Wolfden howled, enraged that his food would dare try to escape. He barked at his servants, splitting them into five packs of 30 Beowolves and 3 Alpha Beowolves each. He would lead from the back, as 'Eldest Brother' had taught him a wise leader did, waiting for the best moment to strike once Food was tired. The center pack would confront 'Strong, Delicious Food' that had stayed behind. The left and right packs would circle around to flank it. While those three packs hunted 'Strong, Delicious Food', the far left and far right packs would take the long way around and chase down 'Weak, Delicious Food' and other Foods that had run away.

With ravenous, blood-thirsty howls, the central pack burst out of the forest into the clearing. Eager to deliver Food to their Lord. And were greeted with a swift death.

Let's clear something up. As a long-range sensing technique, Ray's Aura Domain was extremely inefficient. Even though it could let him 'see' everything in up to a 1-kilometer radius around him or 10 kilometers in a single direction, it just wasn't worth it most of the time. Precisely because it let him see EVERYTHING. The amount of mental strain processing all that information into an understandable format was entirely not worth the effort when just a little bit of preparation would allow you to get almost all of the same information using drones or other people.

But that wasn't why Ray had created the technique. Where Aura Domain really shined was in combat when Ray shrunk his perception down to make a 200-meter wide territory around himself. Within that 100-meter radius, Ray could sense everything and control the flight of his forty Storm Tears down to the millimeter and perform up to 90 degree turns even when moving them at Mach 1. It was a kill zone where anything that entered belonged to him to do with as he wished, even his enemies. They just didn't know it yet.

This is what he had used to carve his way through hundreds of Grimm years ago, and this is what he had used now to kill the first pack of Beowolves in less than a second. Or at least that's what should have happened.

[These Beowolves are faster than normal.] In the split instant, before his Storm Tears had pierced their hearts, the Beowolves had all managed to dodge to the side just enough to avoid instant death. The Beowolves were still fatally wounded and would soon pass without any fuss, but the Alphas were still capable of fighting, having lost only a small chunk from their side from Ray's attack.

[Got to keep their attention on me.] Ray could sense the 66 Grimm trying to flank him and, more importantly, the two groups trying to go after his friends through his domain. He could send his Storm Tears to execute them, but if they were enhanced like the first pack, it would take at least two strikes to take each of them down and would reveal the range of his domain. Why give away valuable intel to whoever might be watching, Ray's instincts told him the eyes of more than just Ozpin's people were on him at the moment, when there was a more straightforward option. Go for the head!

Rushing past the dying Beowolves and delivering a swift punch to each of the Alphas in passing, exploding their heads, Ray charged at the Grimm hiding in the back. Ray threw a palm strike at its chest, hoping to incapacitate rather than kill so he could extract information later, but Wolfden countered with a fist of his own. Their blows collided between them, forcing them both back a step.

[Fuck! This guy hits like a Titan!]

[How Food so strong!?] "Food strong!... All attack!" Wolfden howled, causing the two chase packs to turn back to protect their Lord alongside the two flanking packs.

"Hey, a talking doggy." Ray joked. [That takes care of that problem.] With all the packs focused on him, Ray could limit his Storm Tears range to a mere 5-meter radius around himself without worry. After all, even if he could kill an Alpha with a single punch, a single pack of six Beowolves was about the limit for most students their age. Probably only Yang, Ruby, and Pyrrha among the current batch of new students would survive an attack from a pack of 30 lead by three Alphas.

[Now, let's see what you got.] Behind Ray's shades, his right eye began to change from silver to gold as he drove the Eye of True Knowledge at full power, discovering everything there was to know about this Grimm as they traded blows.

It soon became apparent that Wolfden wasn't all brawn. He had the brains and technique of a warrior to go with it. As uppercut countered bite, claw countered side-kick, elbow countered claw, and jump kick countered leg sweep, Wolfden proved himself to be a true martial arts master. Even as the two exchanged a flurry of blows that split the air and shook the earth, Wolfden was able to quickly analyze the 'limits' of Ray's Storm Tears and order his remaining Grimm to stay just outside of Ray's range. To make things even more complicated, by limiting his Storm Tear's range of movement, Ray had also limited what speeds they could reach, and, in such a confined space, they couldn't generate enough momentum to pierce through Wolfden's flesh. At best, they could hinder his movement and target softer points like his eyes and ears. With Wolfden holding him down and the rest of the Grimm not rushing in blindly but instead executing coordinated ambushes to catch him off balance and interrupt his attacks, Ray was forced onto the defensive.

"HAHAHAHAAAAA!" But in the face of this adversity, Ray laughed. A high joyful laugh that rang from his very soul. This was why he was here. This is why he had rejected paradise. This thrill! This excitement! This joy! Fighting! He loved every bit of it! However, as in his past life, so in this one. Protecting those he cared about would always come before his personal pleasure. As the last of the Beowolves fell, Ray completed his analysis of the now confirmed Grimm Lord before him and allowed his right eye to return to silver.

"Ha Ha haaa." Ray's laughter slowly faded, "A pity, but I guess it's time to stop playing around and end this."

"Big words... for Food... 'bout to be eaten."

Ray's smile turned mocking, and he threw a chop at Wolfden. Wolfden raised his arm to block the attack with his forearm plate, as he had many times before and readied the claws on his other hand to tear Ray's guts out.

[Eat Wolfden's killing move, Food.] Wolfden's claws began to glow a dark muddy red as he concentrated the negative energy in his body into them. Just before Ray's chop hit Wolfden's forearm, Ray suddenly focused his Aura around his hand.