Michael
The scent of stale salt water and blood filled Michael's nose as he paced around the ruined conference room. A fallen stack of chairs created a minor barrier between him and the monster.
Every step he took sent flares of pain through his bloody shoulders and hips, reminding the man of the damage he had already taken.
Earlier that day
The onset of this systemic integration of the world had initially confused him. As someone that spent most of his time researching the past, the futuristic and gamelike elements of the system were hard to understand at first. Unsure what would be the best choice, he simply selected the Path of the Beast pursuit because the system had shown that his compatibility with it was high.
After reappearing in his office once the Integration Stasis ended, he decided to try out his new skill. Unfortunately for him, his office had actually survived the changes to the world with minimal damage. This meant that the destruction it sustained from his body changing into a massive wolf-creature could only be blamed on himself.
The arrival of ominous system messages saying that they would be tested, forced Michael to deactivate his skill so that he could look for others. People would surely think he was a monster if he left while transformed.
A quick jog out through the remains of the Health and Science Building took him towards the center of campus where he had seen a changed landscape. He had not been able to focus too heavily on the new scenery as people were rushing across the campus in various directions, but it was hard to ignore the fact that somehow, the campus buildings were at a different elevations. After entering the courtyard, he planned to head towards the Administration building to find his friend Matthew Smith, the college’s Dean, but things changed when he heard an unearthly shriek coming from the Student Center.
His blood pumped and an odd sense of excitement caused him to move towards the sound, easily moving past the few students that were fleeing instead. His bestial instincts allowed him to sense that there was a dangerous entity within the building and a newly awakened part of him wanted to fight it.
The next minute and a half flew by as he ran into a couple familiar students that were exiting the Student Center. They gave him a quick rundown on what was happening inside, before he saw two more of their friends and the creature that was chasing them.
Stripping out of his spare gym clothes— his original clothes were shredded in his first transformation— Michael transformed into his new bestial form again. His new form was awkward at first but this time, he had no chance to overthink his unfamiliar body structure so he let his instincts take over as he charged the creature.
As he passed the students, he made eye contact with one of them and realized it was Adam Abrams, a graduate assistant that was working with Professor Greymore. In that brief moment, Michael recognized that there was something about Adam that called out to him. Something about the man felt… off. His animalistic instincts couldn’t quite tell if he was predator or prey, a ridiculous thought to have about another human but he couldn’t help it.
Those thoughts could wait though, as he leapt through the air and slammed into the monster that was attacking the young McCoy boy, carrying it through a set of double doors that led into a conference room.
Semi-rotted wood and heavy plastic flew as the two monstrous bodies crashed into the conference table and some rolling chairs, shattering the worn furniture on impact.
Present
Had it not been for his newly awakened bestial instincts, Michael would surely be dead. Michael had firstly, spent the majority of his life in academia studying ancient cultures; gaining understanding of combat only through the study of books, scrolls and ancient weaponry, so he had no experience with real life combat. Second, and most important, he had never been a wolf before.
If he let himself think too much, he would make a mistake and stumble over his own paws, get scared by his tail or snag his claw on something. By embracing the animalistic nature of his transformation, Michael had been able to hold the wendigo-esque monster at bay.
That said, the professor wasn’t the only one injured in their scuffle. Michael’s jaws were covered in black and green ichor from when he had clamped his jaws around the creature's side. Its legs and left arm sported multiple open wounds where his sharp claws had found purchase.
Michael’s hackles rose as he could sense that the monster was gathering energy for another attack. Black ichor lifted from the floor at its feet and attached to the spindly bone claws of the beast's right hand before it unleashed another unearthly shriek and slashed forward towards the crouched wolf.
He dodged to the side as the blades of ichor launched from the monster's hand, slicing through the obstructing chairs, past his side and into the wall behind him. This wasn’t the first attack of its kind that he had witnessed, either, as large gashes littered the walls and floor of the room from previous attacks.
With a burst of speed, Michael threw himself at the monster once more, slamming his body into it in an attempt to knock it prone.
Unfortunately, the creature bent low at the last moment and halted his forward momentum across its antlers, sliding a mere meter backwards along the floor.
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Stuck in such an awkward position, Michael growled at the beast and sunk his teeth into its already damaged left arm before yanking away as hard as he could, like a pitbull pulling on a rope. And in a style reminiscent to the aforementioned rope, the creature's arm was ripped apart at the weakest point: the elbow.
A wail pierced through Michael’s ears as the monster flew back against the wall, destabilized by the strength used to remove its arm from its body. The wail must have been a skill of some kind as its volume seemed to pierce the professor's brain, disorienting him, causing the room to sway and warp to his senses.
He spit the disgusting creature’s limb onto the floor and shook his head, trying to clear his head. It was too dangerous to be disoriented while fighting this unknown monster.
Looking up, he noticed that the monster must be more injured than he had previously thought as it made no attempt to further attack him. Instead, the beast was moving towards the door trying to escape back into the hallway!
GET BACK HERE! Michael attempted to yell at the creature but only loud barks and growls came out of his mouth.
Despite its grave injuries, the creature managed to limp across the room towards the exit. His vocalizations caused it to quickly glance back towards him as the doorway behind it filled with a shadowy silhouette.
The beast sensed something was wrong from the look on his wolven face and whipped its head around just as a massive clawed arm flew through the doorway and smacked into its torso, successfully knocking it off its feet.
The professor looked to the fallen pseudo-wendigo creature and noticed that the strike had done more damage then he had assumed. The supernatural hole through its stomach had been torn open further with its right side fully ripped through, leaving its upper body only connected to the lower body by the skin and flesh above its left hip.
Forcing its way through the doorway was a massive… creature. It did not resemble any single creature that Michael could think of, seeming to be made up of multiple different animal parts mashed together.
Oddly, despite the appearance of an unknown creature, Michael noticed that his senses weren’t screaming at him to run away. Whatever this thing was, it did not seem to be an enemy. While he didn’t sense any threat from the beast, he could still feel the weight of its presence. Hopefully, it truly was an ally because he didn’t like his chances with all of his current injuries.
After he sensed its presence, he fully took in its appearance. Awkwardly forcing its way through the double doors was an absolutely massive beast. It lumbered in, quadrupedal with bulky forelimbs like an ape, capped with rugged claws. Its shaggy dark fur did little distract from the size of the gaunt creatures frame, easily standing six and a half feet at the shoulder, roughly a foot above Michaels own changed head. Its face resembled that of a bear? Hippopotamus? Boar? It was difficult to say at a glance, but the large tusks and intense amber eyes commanded wariness. A deep rumbling breathing accompanied each of its eerily quiet movements, further punctuated by the swaying of its long undercoat.
Glancing between Michael and the downed monster, the beast seemed to recognize that the professor wasn’t able to fight anymore, as it made a curious gesture out the door with its massive paw.
From behind the beast came Otto, the computer engineering student, carrying a head sized piece of rubble in his hands. Michael had a hard time recognizing him at first as his skin had a subtle color change and he now sported a series of runic tattoos. Once he got a good view of the room he turned to the beast, “Holy shit dude, you are… terrifying.” The beast huffed out a breath before ambling towards the monster on the floor.
After seeing Otto beside the beast, Michael’s suspicions about it were confirmed. The shaggy creature was a person and he would bet that it was the graduate assistant, Adam. They had locked eyes briefly when he had run to tackle the monster at first and he sensed a… connection with him, in that moment.
Otto knelt down beside the man-turned-wolf, “Are you okay, Professor?”
He looked over at Adams hunched figure. “We can take care of the rest if you want to change back?” he unslung a bag from his shoulder, “I brought your clothes from outside in case you need them.”
A sense of safety enveloped Michael as he chose to transform back into his human form. The fur across his body shrunk and he felt the wind caress his bare skin as he collapsed onto his hands and knees. The wounds he had received in his canine form, transferred over to his human form as well. While they had diminished to match his new size and they still hurt, the wounds felt as if they had started to mend. Apparently, existing wounds were partially healed during the transformation.
As he changed back into his human form, Michael also noticed one other thing. When he activated his skill, he felt a light pull from somewhere deep within himself, signifying his use of mana. The interesting part was that when he used mana, the runic symbols that covered Otto’s body seemed to pulse a little brighter.
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Adam
A sharp hiss and a deep growl caused Michael and Otto to whip around towards the monster. While the professor was changing and getting tended to by Otto, Adam had approached the downed monster that once was Jessica. His overly large body was hard to get used to but the power he felt once he changed was… almost euphoric.
The noises that had attracted the others' attention came from both Adam and “Jessica”, as the fallen monster had slashed its one remaining hand at Adam’s forelegs, leaving four open gashes across the top of his right… paw? Hand? Foot? Needless to say, the weak attack caused pain but no serious injury. He slammed his left paw— being in his beast form, paw just felt right, even if his front legs were kinda hand-like— down onto the torso and upper right arm, pinning the monster in place. It tried to thrash around and bite at Adam’s forelegs, to no avail.
Adam stared down at the monster. The light in its eye sockets were mere wisps of sickly light, smaller than a candle's flame. It was dying. She was dying.
Tears formed in his eyes as he remembered the past year with her. She was someone that had made a difference in his life and now, Adam was going to put her out of her misery.
Rest, Jessica. It's over now. Don’t worry about the others, they know you wouldn’t ever want to hurt them. Adam spoke to her in his mind. He knew she was already gone but who knows, maybe in this new world they were living in, she would still hear him. His free paw moved to the monster's head as the tears spilled over, I’ll carry this weight.
He shifted his weight forward and felt his paw touch the ground once more. He heard a small ding sound in his mind as a small screen appeared before his eyes. For now, he ignored it and tried to forget the feeling of bone and viscera under his paw.
He fell back onto his haunches like a sitting lion, threw his head back and roared as the tears continued to fall.