The distance from the Student Center to the Arts building was only about 50 meters, prior to the Integration. Now, with the adjusted topography and slight incline to its new location, the distance had easily doubled.
Henry and Michael moved ahead of the others as they scouted out the area. The swordsman walked quietly behind the man-turned-wolf, only slipping past him to peek through openings too small for the professor's enlarged canine form.
Despite the original marching order, Sylvia had moved ahead of Adam with her spear clenched tightly in her grip. Adam could see a pale red glow through her skin as she cycled her mana through her body. He wasn’t sure if there was a purpose to her actions, but it reminded him of a nervous tick, like tapping your feet or spinning a pencil while you took a test. Regardless, Syl had moved in front of him while Emi and Otto walked behind.
The group moved as quietly as possible through the rocky outcroppings, following the tracks the best they could. Rather than move through the courtyard towards the front of the Arts building, they had elected to move to the nearest side of the building before engaging with the monsters out front.
Henry and Emi had followed this path previously, when they first found the tracks that lead there.
The plan was for the group to get close enough to the building that they could assess whether entering to find survivors or staying outside to fight monsters first was the best choice.
Either way, Adam’s group had decided that they needed to fight the monsters. With the adjustment that the world was going through, they needed to adapt with it. If monsters wanted to kill them, then the monsters needed to die.
Everything was going well until they had to pass between two exceptionally tall outcroppings. Henry and Michael managed to slip through the gap with no issues, silently creeping out the far side.
At this point, the group had made it as far as Henry and Emi had previously so, the two forward scouts kept their eyes peeled, hoping to see the monsters they knew were nearby.
While Henry stayed stationary, Michael slowly crept further towards the building, following a strong scent. The majority of the scent was of iron with a tinge of something sour, a scent that Michael had begun to identify as fear; the scent of blood. The rest of the scent trail could only be described as some sort of earthy musk.
Following his enhanced nose, Michael moved past some smaller boulders, laying eyes on the source of the scent of blood. Five human bodies were strewn across the ground. Claw and bite marks covered the torn bodies, making it clear to anyone that they had been killed by some sort of animal.
Looks like some kind of monster is still here, Michael thought. There were no animals that were indigenous to this region before the Integration that could have destroyed a human body like this though. While two of the bodies were simply disemboweled, three others were torn limb from limb. The beast, or beasts, had fed on the remains and somehow, Michael’s instincts told him that it had been recent. He didn’t want to surprise the others with the sight so he turned to make his way back to Henry.
At several previous junctions, Henry had conveyed their findings back to the others, directing them away from the worst that he had come across; however, this time, when Michael turned back to his old student, he tensed and, for the first time, let out a loud bark of alarm.
Leaping from the top of a nearby stony piller was a large scaled monster. Its brown and gray scales helped camouflage it, allowing it to avoid detection. The man-turned-wolf watched its silent descent upon its prey; an unsuspecting Henry, crouched beside a neighboring boulder, studying tracks in the dirt.
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Henry crouched down to study the track that he saw in the dirt before him. He had little to no experience hunting and tracking animals but even he could notice the deep impression of a clawed foot in the moist dirt. It looked like an oversized house cat had walked through this area previously. Beside it was a similarly sized print left behind by Michael, slightly wider than the new print but smudged in appearance due to the shaggy fur that jutted between the man's new paw pads.
Damn, those claw marks look deep, he thought, deeper than Michaels. Henry knew that they would have to face monsters at some point soon, and he was prepared for it, but… it was still a scary thought. Suddenly a loud bark pierced his skull, causing him to whip his head towards where he had last seen his former professor. Shivers ran down his spine as he lost his balance as he saw the white wolf charging towards him through the open space, making no effort to keep himself hidden.
“Oh, SHI- AAAGH” Henry’s surprised shout changed into one of pain as white hot blades seemed to slice across the left side of his face and neck. The fact that he had lost his balance saved his life. Rage flared through Henry as he rolled away from his attacker. Drawing his jian, the chinese straight sword that was his only true weapon, Henry spun on the balls of his feet to take on his opponent.
Crouched in front of Henry was a large… cat? He wasn’t really sure what it was but it was clearly feline in nature, despite the fact that it was the size of a bear and covered in rich brown scales. The creature was in no hurry as it stared at Henry and lifted its paw to its mouth. A long black serpentine tongue flicked across its claws, licking away his blood.
The cat breathed out a rumbling growl before launching itself at him once again. Luckily, his back up had arrived, Right as the beast threw itself at Henry, Michael appeared in a skidding slide through the space it had just vacated. The creature's long tail proved to be a hindrance when the white wolf snapped his jaws around it and heaved backward.
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The cat hissed in rage and spun as its body was pulled away from Henry and back towards Michael. A taloned claw swiped across his muzzle forcing him to release his grip, dropping the creature to the ground between them.
Flanked on both sides, the beast would have to fight, something its opponents were more than willing to join it in. Blood streamed from their injured faces as they leapt towards the beast, intent on killing it before more showed up.
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A loud bark echoed as Adams senses alerted him to danger.
“What was that?” whispered Sylvia.
Otto rushed forward towards the sound saying, “I think they’re under attack!” Adam could hear the adrenaline causing his voice to shake as he took off towards their friends.
Before he passed Adam though, a shadow seemed to dart by overhead, setting alarm bells ringing in Adam’s mind. A similar amount of adrenaline caused him to throw his large frame towards his friend, knocking him over a small rock formation just as a falling creature landed upon Adam’s back. Wicked claws sunk into his upper back as he roared out in pain.
Screams and curses from his friends were drowned out by the sound of the creature’s snarls as Adam attempted to buck the beast off his back. His new frame didn't allow his forelimbs to reach his back, like they would in his human form, proving them ineffective in removing the monster.
A voice cut through the sounds of snarling and his own roaring, “Duck down Adam!”
Sylvia and Emi had somehow managed to get around his thrashing body to where Otto had fallen. Standing atop the rock that the big man had fallen over, Sylvia stood with her spear poised to strike. Her hands shone with a pale red light while her spear emitted an almost neon blue light along its edge, blending into a lavender color near where she gripped it.
Seeing her ready to attack, Adam turned his body so she would have a better shot at the beast on his back, and dropped into a low crouch.
Letting out a yell, Sylvia stabbed forward with her spear, connecting with something upon his back. A loud bang followed by a small percussive burst forced the beast to fall off the far side of Adam’s body, dangling off of his tall frame by its front claws.
Now that it was in reach, Adam was able to reach it. With a painful yank, Adam was able to cross his body with his front paw and pull the beast the rest of the way off his back, slamming it into the ground before him.
He didn’t know what to expect but he definitely didn't expect to see one of the creatures from the Trial. Under his paw was a large feline creature covered in grey and brown scales. Unlike the scalecats he had seen before, Armored Sabercats, he corrected himself, this one was larger and looked like its scales were made of stone.
The beast hissed beneath his paws and bit into his foreleg, drawing blood. Its hindlegs bucked up from the ground, claws flashing, as it unsuccessfully tried to disembowel him. This being one of the first times Adam had used this form, he was learning more about its capabilities each second. His shaggy black fur that covered the underside of his body seemed to function as a form of natural armor, which helped keep the damage done by the sabercats claws to a minimum.
Despite being smaller than Adam, its strength was considerable as Adam had to use both of his front paws to hold it down.
What the hell am I supposed to do with this thing?! He thought as he forced it into the ground harder. A fire raged in the beast's eyes as it roared against his paw and bit down harder.
A loud CRACK rang out as pain lanced through Adam’s mind. In a fit of his own rage, he reared onto his back legs with a bellow before slamming them down onto the creature below him. Its chest caved in as another flash of pain raced through Adam’s foreleg. In its death throes, the sabercat attempted to latch onto his leg again but was abruptly stopped when Adam’s roaring maw of tusks and fangs closed over its head, promptly crushing its head between his jaws.
With the death of the sabercat came a series of blue flashes before Adam’s eyes, flashes that were dismissed before he read them. His elevated senses flooded him with a desire that he had been holding off on since before the Integration: hunger.
He couldn’t stop himself as he recognized that the beast he had killed was a source of food for him. A dull pounding pulsed through his mind as he swallowed the remains of the creature's head before moving to other parts of its body. First its head, then its arms, its torso…
Movement towards his meal had him growling and whipping his head towards it.
A large human held a stick towards him, two others stood behind it as if protecting them.
He blinked… Otto. There was Otto staring at him as if he was a monster. The dull pulsing began to subside as he realized he had been about to attack his good friend.
With a shake of his head, he stood tall and stepped back from the corpse of the monster.
“Hey man, can you hear me now?” Otto asked him.
Adam nodded his head.
“We need to move!” his friend gestured towards the sounds of more fighting.
Oh shit, I can’t believe I forgot about the others, Adam thought in shame.
“Let’s get going before more show up” Otto continued, “Go ahead and see if you can help them. We will catch up.”
Adam nodded again and started loping towards where Michael and Henry had gone. Bolts of pain flared through his left foreleg each time the likely broken bone in his paw touched the ground.
As he distanced himself from his friends, he noticed that each of the items Emi had made was emitting the blue light from before just like Sylvia’s spear had been. Probably a skill that she had. His appraisal of the items drew his attention towards his other friends standing beside Otto as he left.
A sour scent filled his nose as he looked at them. Sweat beaded across their skin as they held their weapons in a white knuckled grip as they stared at him. Fear etched across their faces. Beside them lay the desiccated remains of the sabercat he had ripped apart and eaten in front of them.
His head sagged as he turned away. He knew. There was no going back now. He had scared them more than the initial attack did. What they saw leaving wasn’t their friend that they had semi-jokingly put a collar on. It was a monster.
A weight settled around his shoulders as he turned the corner, his heart heavy despite the perverse feeling of contentment he felt in his stomach. His hunger had diminished. For now.