Shaggy’s eyes snapped awake, and he jolted. His back hit the hard stonework of the dam and he stifled a groan. He jolted again when he realized Levy wasn’t curled up with him. But a firm hand on his shoulder stalled him from getting up. Turning, he saw Sybil’s face in the dark. The blonde-haired woman was grinning at him and she silently pointed down the tunnel. Away from the dam and the sound of rushing water. Looking around, Shaggy saw that the others were also missing and guessed that Sybil was there to point the way for him.
She nodded at his thoughts as he stood. Maintaining as much silence as they were capable of, they both slipped down the tunnel. Shaggy thought he could still hear a distant buzzing in the tunnel, although that might have been an echoing memory. They rounded a corner and continued for a short, quiet walk until Shaggy saw the others ahead. They were crowded around a small inlet in the wall, focused on something.
“Just break the damn thing.” Rita whispered.
Vick snorted softly. “That will make noise.”
“Can’t you magic it?”
“I’m still running low. The best I can do is tell you is that it’s not warded. Nor does it have any other magical protections.”
Shaggy crept closer, sure that his pack was aware of him. As he moved up to his wife’s side, he glanced at the door that was giving them trouble. It was a standard metal door set in the stone wall of the tunnel. Where it went, he had no idea. But with the buzzing of police drones still in the tunnels, it was probably better to get out of the large sewer tunnel. Sybil snorted at Vick’s attempts at lock-picking and shoved her way forward.
“I told you Tom should’ve been on Boss-watch.”
“Or you could’ve woken me up.” Shaggy whispered.
Levy sighed. “It was supposed to be a quick recon. But then we found this door, and we got distracted. Don’t worry though. You were only out for thirty minutes.”
Shaggy nodded as Sybil went to work on the door. He wasn’t sure where she got the tools, but the woman had the door open in seconds. She stood with a smug look as Vick rubbed a hand through his hair. Sybil smiled in mirth as the door swung open.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure you have other talents.”
They all gave quiet chuckles as Rita drew her sword and went in first. She practically pushed Shaggy aside as she did. He raised an eyebrow at the older woman’s behavior and looked questioningly at Levy. As he did, he noticed the small fairy girl was sleeping on Levy’s shoulder. Levy sighed as the other members of the pack followed Rita through the door. Levy moved closer and whispered.
“Some of your pack is feeling a little useless after that exchange. Those bots did a number on all of us. Also, this little one seems to feed on mana. So I figured that was the best place for her for now.”
“Any idea what they were doing with her?”
Levy patted the side of the small pack she carried. “Book says they were studying the portals and the different creatures that came through them. Some were summoned and others were ripped through. This little one was ripped into this dimension and then forcibly anchored somehow.”
“You can do that?!”
Levy shrugged as they moved into the small brick hallway beyond the door. “Apparently.”
Shaggy grimaced as he thought about the implications and wondered why K-Tech would study such a phenomenon. But his thoughts were interrupted be the sound of crashing ahead. instantly his claws were out, and he stood in front of Levy. His wife raised a hand, purple sparks flashing from her fingertips. But all they saw was Tom looking chagrined and raising a hand apologetically.
Shaggy could see that the thin man had opened a side door and knocked a few cardboard boxes over. Levy turned and locked the door they came through as Shaggy finally got a look at the hallway they were in. It oddly looked like a maintenance hallway. It had several doors on either side leading into little side rooms. As they moved, Shaggy saw into the room Tom had opened. It was an odd mix of box and pallets. Someone had been using the side rooms as storage. But it looked like it had been abandoned.
The boxes were old and folding in on themselves. The pallets stood empty, with random bits of junk strewn about the floors. As he glanced further down the hall, he saw Sybil, Vick, and Cekrass opening doors cautiously. He held his breath as they each entered separate rooms, but it didn’t seem like they found anything note. Rita came jogging from the other end of the tunnel and slowed to a stop in front of Shaggy.
The red-faced woman swallowed and spoke in a clipped manner. “Sir, the hall leads out to another doorway. I think it leads to another part of the sewer. What do you want to do?”
Shaggy grimaced at Rita’s forced professionalism. It just didn’t seem like Rita unless she was giving him shit. Her stony face hardened even more as she got a sense of what he was thinking through the link. She was about to say something when Vick interrupted.
“We should probably hole up here for a little while. The drones have gotten a little quieter. But we know they are still in the tunnels.”
Rita glared at him as Shaggy nodded. “That’s a good idea. We could all use some time to calm down and cool off. What happened was no one’s fault, and we all made it out with the loot and some extras.”
Rita huffed again but said nothing before walking off. Sybil and Vick glanced between Shaggy and the armored woman. Shaggy gave a quick nod, and they both followed the older woman into another room. Cekrass found himself a room and gave a short wave before he walked in. Tom shoved his hands into his pockets and glanced around the room. Shaggy and Levy stared at the slim man until he got the message and awkwardly backed out of the room. Shaggy sighed and shut the door before he sat on the pallet.
“I’m going to go through my sheet. See if I have any Evo points after that whole mess.”
Levy nodded as she checked on the fairy on her shoulder. “I’m going to check the doors and see what the drones are doing.”
“Hun, you heard Rita. They are still out there doing drone stuff. Let it go and relax.”
“Hmph! Fine. I guess I’ll study that powering crystal you got.”
Shaggy raised an eyebrow but remained silent. Levy reached into a pocket and pulled the pink crystal Shaggy had gotten from the house. She twisted back and forth for him to see the muted shine from within the crystal. Shaggy kept his eyebrow raised and continued to look at his wife. She sighed before explaining.
“It’s some kind of power crystal. It holds a good deal of energy or it can store memories. I don’t know which this was used for. But if I had to guess, it’s what she was using to open portals to the Fae.”
“Why the hell do that? I’m sure K-Tech has their own resources to open portals.”
Levy shrugged and studied the crystal. Shaggy groaned as he dove into his menus and brought up his Evolution Tress.
Lycanthropy Mutation Tree
1. Attack Lvl 15
1. Canines Lvl 1
2. Claws Lvl 15
3. Demon Claws Lvl 15
1. Sharpness Lvl 5
1. Serrated Edge
2. Convex Edge – Lvl 1
2. Bone Claws -
* Defense Lvl 15
* Tough Bones Lvl 3
* Enhanced Evasion Lvl 1
* Utility Lvl 15
* Partial Transformation Lvl 8
* Limb transformation Lvl 4
* Regeneration Lvl 26
* Limb Regen Lvl 2
* Pain Suppression Lvl 3
Points: 140
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* General Tree
* Toughness Lvl 25
* Thick Skin Lvl 15
* Skin Resistances Lvl 5
* Skin Durability Lvl 1
* Dermal Armor Lvl 1
* Reflexes Lvl 25
* Quick Hands Lvl 10
* Manual Dexterity Lvl 2
* Quick Feet Lvl 1
* Mind Lvl 25
* Enhanced Focus Lvl 3
* Mental Defense Lvl 2
Points: 220
HP: 311/311
SP: 337/337
Shaggy sucked in a surprised breath at the numbers he had accumulated. Apparently kobolds and death robots were worth a lot of points. Although who knew how those would translate into actual points in his abilities. Shaggy first focused on what he had been lacking when it came to the two K-Tech robots. Cutting power.
It wasn’t something he was used to. After Chromia, he thought he had been doing pretty decent with his claws. More so when he became a demon wolf. But he guessed some bots were just made of sterner stuff.
4. Demon Claws Lvl 15
1. Sharpness Lvl 5
1. Serrated Edge
2. Convex Edge – Lvl 1
2. Bone Claws -
He knew that Demon Claws were a huge point suck and decided to focus on the edge for now. Focusing, he dumped points into Convex Edge until it went up. When it finally ticked up to two, He stopped and checked his point total.
Points: 120
Shaggy blew out a breath. Apparently, the bots were good points all around. Deciding to leave Utility out for now, he focused on his Defense and Offense trees and started placing points. The points started disappearing until finally he stopped and checked his trees again.
2. Attack Lvl 15
1. Canines Lvl 2*
2. Claws Lvl 15
3. Demon Claws Lvl 15
1. Sharpness Lvl 10*
1. Serrated Edge
2. Convex Edge – Lvl 3*
2. Bone Claws -
* Defense Lvl 15
* Tough Bones Lvl 4*
* Enhanced Evasion Lvl 2*
Shaggy grinned. He felt like he had a good spread across the board. Although he still didn’t know if he should have put the points into Canines. But he had the left-over points and figured ‘to hell with it.’ Overall, his abilities got a solid boost and he could now move onto his General Tree. With the greater amount of points, he set about placing everything as judiciously as possible. He still felt like everything was worth it and he hadn’t had a useless ability or skill yet, so he tried for an even spread again.
* General Tree
* Toughness Lvl 28*
* Thick Skin Lvl 15
* Skin Resistances Lvl 5
* Skin Durability Lvl 3*
* Dermal Armor Lvl 3*
* Reflexes Lvl 25
* Quick Hands Lvl 15*
* Manual Dexterity Lvl 2
* Shadowboxing Lvl 1*
* Quick Feet Lvl 3*
* Mind Lvl 25
* Enhanced Focus Lvl 4*
* Mental Defense Lvl 3*
Points: 0
Shaggy sat back against the wall and grinned as he felt his tough plating brush against the stone. He felt bulkier, and he was sure he was heavier, too. He clicked on the Shadowboxing skill to find out about his new evolution.
Shadowboxing
Your hands move so fast that they blur the air as they move. Enemies who are the receiving end of your unarmed attacks have a harder time dodging your blows. However, make sure you mix it up, otherwise your victims will find your patterns.
Shaggy almost howled with glee before he checked his HP and SP to see how they had changed. But his face fell when he saw his SP.
HP: 386
SP: 337
No change in his stamina. Which meant that his endurance skill hadn’t gone up. He huffed angrily before he switched to his skills. However, what he saw made him jump as he not only got a Skill list but also pulled up a notification window.
Notice
You are now considered a full Werewolf. Your pack size has increased from five to seven, and you may now create werewolves. Please note that these will be genetic mutants and thus have none of the advantages of full-bloodied or magical Weres. However, they also have none of their weaknesses. The turning process is painful and can cause death if the recipient tries to fight the bite. Biting unwilling Players will not cause a change and will be seen as an attack instead of a Turning Bite.
Shaggy could feel the grin on his face. It was almost painful he wanted to tell Levy about it. But when he turned, he found his wife asleep against the cold stone wall of the room. Book laid open on her lap. He snorted as he got up and carefully laid her flat. Shaggy also moved the small fairy girl onto his wife’s stomach and moved the book back into his wife’s small pack. He would tell her later. For now, he wanted to see his Skills.
Skills:
* Werewolf
* Werewolf Senses – Beginner Level 4*
* Werewolf Form – Beginner Level 3
* Demon Wolf – Beginner Level 2*
* Werewolf Speed – Beginner Level 2*
* Werewolf Durability – Beginner Level 3
* Werewolf Bite – 0/5*
* Normal
* Claw Fighting – Beginner Level Maxed*
* Leaping – Beginner Level 3
* Enhanced Senses – Beginner Level Maxed
* Endurance – Beginner Level 4
* Fight Like An Animal – Beginner Level 4*
* Pack Hunting – Beginner Level 2*
Shaggy’s face hurt from smiling. He had forgotten about his Enhanced Senses being maxed out. But that was understandable. At least, he told himself that it was. Plus, with all the other benefits he had gotten, he hardly cared. He immediately ranked up the Senses and Claw Fighting to Intermediate level and clicked on Werewolf Bite. But all he got was another notification window telling him almost the same thing as the first one.
He could create five werewolves, and it would hurt. He could also now induct two more members to his pack, but they wouldn’t be full Weres. Which he guessed made sense. He didn’t want to give ‘the gift’ to somebody who didn’t fit in with the rest of his pack. Although he figured Ephemara was going to be a bit annoyed. She wasn’t here to accept the bite. Thinking about his Number One Henchman, Shaggy brought up his Lackey list and perused it. Which brought the smile back to his face.
* Cekrass Sslrisses
* Varanoid – Level 7
* Personality – Dimwitted
* Loyalty – 100/100
* Pack Bond Increase 5%
* Rita Crawford
* Human – Level 7
* Personality – Motherly
* Loyalty 96/100
* Pack Bond Increase 5%
* Tom Fash
* Human – Level 6
* Personality – Jabberjaw
* Loyalty – 83/100
* Pack Bond Increase 5%
* Sybil D
* Deighen – Level 6
* Personality – Stoic
* Loyalty – 90/100
* Pack Bond Increase 5%
* Vick Nash
* Human – Level 6
* Personality – Combative
* Loyalty – 86/100
* Pack Bond Increase 5%
While they had not seen large level improvements. They had all increased their Loyalty and Cekrass was ready to become a Henchman. Shaggy couldn’t contain himself. He rapidly tapped on the rank up button and watched the Lizard-man’s Loyalty reset to fifty. It was slightly bittersweet. But with Shaggy able to give his pack the bite, they were bound to be happy. It was what they had all signed up for. He looked over the changes on Cekrass’ listing and grinned.
Cekrass Sslrisses (Henchman)
* Varanoid – Level 8
* Personality – Dimwitted
* Class: Bruiser
* Loyalty – 50/100
* Pack Bond Increase 5%
He was surprised at the addition of a class. But he figured Ephemara had also gotten a class. Although he didn’t get to select Cekrass’ class himself. While he felt the Bruiser Class was self-explanatory, Shaggy clicked it anyway just to look it over in full.
Bruiser Henchmen
Bruiser Henchmen are the toughest of the tough. Need someone to break some kneecaps? Need somebody to intimidate a local store owner? Bruisers are your guys. They get bonuses to toughness and strength, putting them on par with some Enhanced.
Note: As this Henchman is part of a pack, with the added enhancements. He would be considered a Lesser-Tier Super.
Shaggy gulped as he read the notice over and over. If he understood it right, he just got himself a Henchman with lesser tiered Super-Strength. Shaggy wasn’t sure what the tiers meant or were, but he figured if Cekrass’ had been a brute before. He could probably cause some serious damage now. Shaggy pumped a fist into the air and silently cheered. He even did a short dance before he kicked a pallet and almost fell over. Once he was sure Levy was still passed out, he closed out all his windows and moved to the door. He was ready to make werewolves.
But a thought suddenly occurred to him. The notice said the process would be painful. Which more than likely meant there would be screaming. And screaming was not conducive to hiding. Which meant his pack would have to wait. At least until they were no longer running from the drones. Shaggy humphed and settled in. He was sure his pack would understand when he explained it to them later. They were an understanding group, right?