86 SAVAGE STEPPE

Claude slept.

A peaceful sleep.

He dreamt beyond his own body and physical limitations. But he was grounded and untouched by the astral realm.

He was simply, elsewhere. In every way.

He dreamt he was a tiger. A massive Islandian tiger with coal black fur and barley brown stripes. He lived the life of a solitary ambush hunter on the summered edges of a wintery world . He killed and dined on massive elk. Human hunters stalked the edges of his marked territory but never entered. He slept under northern lights and watched midnight winds bring gentle snowfall.

Traveling bands of goblins threw him chunks of ice-fish to gain entry into his lands.

Other tigers— larger with wild eyes and sabered fangs, came to him on full moons to hunt massive invasive predators. By morning they left in human skins.

Claude thought he got lost in the new life where he'd forgotten the trauma and pain. Then he awakened and the summered edges of the world were gone.

Winter came like it never left and his eyes burned at all the white. It reflected the pale white sun above and carried no warmth with it. Just the pale burn of bright light.

It was cold in ways he'd never felt before. The only thing stopping him from freezing alive was the warmth at his belly. At his face and chest. He sunk into it. The furs were hard beneath but soft in layers that could've made him sweat if he tried.

"Wait…."

The context of his existence slipped back into his brain.

He sat up. An endless world of white surrounded him. The winds howled. It was the worst sound he'd ever heard. Dead trees erupted from the hills of snow like clawing hands of the dead.

He was in a white hell.

And he remembered.

"They're dead…. And I'm—"

DING!

[Racial Transformation Instance Recognized!]

[An attempt was made to alter your Racial (Defect) Status to….. Lupine of Remus!]

[Pureblood Bite Potency:….1000%]

[Racial Transformation Admitted!]

[Human Status: Erased]

DINGDINGDINGDINGDING!

[Racial Transformation Altered due to Physical and Mental Outliers!]

[New Racial Transformation Instance Recognized due to outstanding personal characteristics of (Will),(Natural Ferocity), (Mana Diversity), (Mental Diversity), (Natural Essence), (Emotional Turbulence)]

DING!

[Racial Transformation Admitted!]

[You have been changed to a Lupine of Romulus.]

[Racial Information:…..Error…]

[Ancestors/Relatives:…..????….???…???…???…???…??…???…???….???…..???….????….????…..????…..???…..???…..???…..???…..????…..????...???….???….Romulus Morozov (LV840) (Deceased)]

[Due to the circumstances of your Racial Transformation, you have earned the Racial Variation of (Potential). As a result, you will have different ability functions and evolutionary options compared to the average Lupine of Romulus.]

[Endagered Warning!!!]

[Global System Scans confirm that you are the only Lupine of Romulus on earth. Grow your race in number to guaruntee safety and strength!]

"...great." Claude huffed.

"[Quite the ray of sunshine aren't ya, mate?]"

Claude spun around swinging in response to the voice.

The action had him flipping and falling off whatever warm furred seat he was on.

He fell into deep snow and was surprised to find it was painful. It was hard to move.

DING!

[You are experiencing (Starvation) and (Dehydration)]

DING!

[20% HP Remaining….]

"[You've been out for a while.]"

Now under layers of snow and in so much pain it frayed his senses, he realized the voice was in his own head.

"Who are you?"

"[I'm your guide. Our forefather was smart enough to imbue the Potentials of our race with a fail safe….. I just never thought it would be me. Anyway…. My name is Arne. I'm here to make this last Lupine of Romulus thing a bit easier for ya. Bare with me, I was never a good teacher… or student. By the way, is the weird horse yours?]"

"The… what?" Claude said.

Before Arne could respond, a monstrous roar came from above. Immediately, all the snow swallowing him whole was blown aside in a flurry of white and pale sun rays.

In a flash, he was laying on long dead grass. Standing over him was hulking horse sized wolf. It had a white mask that covered the whole top half of its snout and ran down its back and front legs. Everywhere else it was dark brown.

It's lower incisors stuck out of its mouth and spun into insanely sharp twisted tusks like a boar.

That combined with its unnaturally long horn-like ears made the wolf look terrifying.

He couldn't exactly place its breed.

It's bigger front legs and grotesque musculature screamed PitWolf, but no PitWolf was as big or sporting tusks.

"…..wait."

The wolf leaned forward and licked Claude's forehead.

"….Frosty?"

His massive tail sent tidal waves of snow flying left and right behind him.

DING!

[Your Tamed Companion has completed their Hallowed Evolution!]

[Your Tamed Companion, (PitWolf LV12)'s Hallowed Evolution has resulted in a Racial Transformation!]

[Due to your unique Physical and Magical Makeup, and godly intervention, your (PitWolf LV12) has evolved into a (God-Eater Lupine LV1]

DING!

[Vengeance God-Bond: Activated]

[God-Bond Skills: (Vengeance Trigger LV1), (Hunter's In The Dark LV1) (Unbound LV1)]

"Vengeance.... for my father. For Trey. For Percival. For Marion….. for myself." Claude remembered.

Frosty whined.

Claude could feel the hounds sorrow— doubling his own.

Involuntarily, he laid back down against the frozen ground and curled up into a ball, letting out a shuddering breath as the tears came.

"Shit..."

"[Claude, I—]"

"Arne. I don't want to talk."

He was given about a half minute more to cry when Frosty spun around and snarled at something in the distance.

Not something.

Someone.

Many someone's.

Through Frosty's eyes, he could see the hazy outline of running figures riding antlered creatures in the distance.

"No breaks…." Claude got up with a pained groan.

As he inhaled, their smells rode the winds. Animal hides, old berries and something sour.

"[Greed. You're smelling greed.]" Arne provided.

"Goblins….. given the terrain and the fact that they're riding caribou, they're Steppe-Orcs. Also known as Polar-goblins. Bigger. Suited for snowy climates. I'm really not in the mood..."

A volley of arrows fell around them.

Frosty barked defensively.

"But I'm hungry….. and Samuel and Tai are in the University with Ursula and Naz. I have to get back."

Claude got up. As hard as it was, he got up.

Frosty snorted in his direction and turned his head, motioning for Claude to climb back on his back.

So, Claude did.

Then, the two rode into the snow preparing for battle.

Preparing to survive a future they didn't yet know.