In the silent night of Chruchville, lurking between the streets a man stumbled step after step forward. His hair was burned down to his scalp; he was missing his right ear and two fingers. Meanwhile, a splitting headache throbbed in his head like someone was hitting the inside of his head with a hammer. Besides all this, the man couldn’t help himself from chuckling.

"hehe-"

*slprut* Vomiting some blood the man leaned onto a house wall, holding his clumsy bandaged thigh with a hand. Slowly sliding along the wall down to the ground he knew that he didn’t have any power left. His vision started to blur and the relentless hammering of his head made it hard to keep consciousness.

Just as the man was sure that this was his end he heard a shrill shriek of a raven. Slightly looking above himself he saw a raven circling above him and he couldn’t help himself as a smile crept on his face. “It seems like I will not leave this world after all.”

Not long after, a boy with a small frame came from behind a corner. He wore a brown beanie that was barely able to hold his thick curly brown hair, while a long black coat reached down to his ankles, similar to the rapier that hung from his hip.

Behind him, a deep and strong voice shouted, “Ray! I told you to not go ahead-” Turning around the corner a bald, big, and brawny man - packed with muscles - stopped himself mid-sentence, as he saw the man leaning on the wall. Holding his heavy brown leather jacket which he wore over a black tank top he realized who was sitting there and broke into an overly loud laugh.

"PUHAHAHAHA" Holding his stomach from laughing too hard he said, “Haha- you,” taking a moment to breathe he finished, “Look like shit! What in the world happened to you? Where did that overbearing demeanor of yours go? HAHA-”

Feeling his vision darken and his head spinning he heard Troy's icy voice say, “Still strong enough to kill you. I hope you remember what happened the last time you disobeyed me, Bruno.”

Nervously gulping he said, “O-of course I know, I was just making a joke.”

“I hope so,” replied Troy absentmindedly. By now Ray was already standing before him and helping him stand up. Stopping his ability Bruno was able to see once again and without further jokes went to Troy and put him on his back. He didn't waste any time and carried Troy to their hideout.

His condition was critical and with some haste quickly reached their destination. Going into a house that looked as normal, as any other in the street they were greeted by a screech, “TROY! My beloved, what did they do to you!?” Rushing over Isabelle had a face of utter shock, as she carefully moved her finger along the burn marks on Troy's face.

With tears in her eyes, she said, “Troy, how could they do this to you? HOW dare they! Who did this? I will make sure to avenge you, I will torture them for all eternity. I will start by burning their head just like they did to yo-”

“Isabelle,” interrupted Troy calmly.

“Yes?” Isabelle asked with a delicate voice, not comparable to her outburst just moments ago.

“I can take revenge for myself, make yourself useful, and bring me the potion,” replied Troy with a serious face. Before she could even react an old man came from a corner of the room and with a brief bow gave Troy a vial of pure red.

“Thanks, Alfred,” replied Troy briefly before gulping the contents of the vial in one go. Afterward, he sat on the couch of the house in a mediating position and didn’t say anything further.”

"hehe"

Hearing the chuckle Alfred couldn’t stop himself from shaking his head in frustration, he had long given up on talking sense into this person.

“Now I’m even more interested in fighting this old man and teenager,” throwing one of his daggers in the air and catching it his gaze turned full of bloodlust, “I wonder if I could win against him.”

“Hahaha” Laughing like she heard the best joke in her life Isabella looked at Hakan mockingly “As if you could beat him. If Troy sustained such injuries you would be dead in seconds. You don’t even have an ability.”

Losing his laughter Hakan dashed before Isabelle, holding his knife at her throat, while simultaneously a hand with long and sharp nails moved before Hakan’s chest, hovering right above his heart.

At this moment both of them felt a cold shiver run down their back as an unsettling feeling invaded their mind. Feeling this they both immediately retreated back and nervously looked over to Troy.

“Did you all lose your respect before me?” Troy asked with a cold voice that resulted in both Hakan and Isabella trembling. They still remembered vividly their respective first encounter with Troy. There was so much more to his ability, than just blinding people.

There was a good reason why Troy and no one else was the leader. All five people present were nothing but normal and in one way or another crazy. The exact reasons why they are working together are different, but one point was the same for everyone… fear.

Most of them didn’t like to recount what happened, but it was truly a… terrifying experience. Frozen in place, both of them waited, what Troy would do, fearing to see… ‘that’ again. The longer they waited the more they trembled.

Then he finally whispered in a low voice, “Leave. I hope I don’t have to remind you of what happens when you don’t obey the rules?”

Nervously nodding their heads, Troy saw how a pearl of sweat trailed down Hakan’s forehead, as he left together with Isabelle. After he went back into his meditation Bruno came over to Alfred's side and asked, “What is he doing?”

“Undergoing his third transformation,” replied Alfred plainly.

Startled by the information he said, “But he is still conscious. I thought you lose your consciousness while transforming.”

Nodding his head Alfred said, “It seems like we were wrongly, then before us is someone who is undergoing transformation in full consciousness.”

“...”

Speechless Bruno felt a cold shiver run down his back, as he thought about the pain he experienced in the short time he was able to keep his consciousness.

***

The following night was for the survivors of the school sadly not easier and nothing but pure torture. After the second night broke in they were not greeted by another attack from the wolves, but a frenzied storm of random mutants. Be it cats, dogs, raccoons, foxes, or even boars, they all were running to the school, which painted a very strange scene.

The alpha wolf knew that the wall was hard to overcome and decided to lure the mutants in the surrounding to the school to tire Jim and the others out. For the first few hours, it was a fight against these random mutants who were attacking each other and everything around them.

They were way easier to kill, compared to the wolves but the battle was also a lot more chaotic and stressful. They were completely unpredictable in their behavior and seemed to act without any reason or teamwork.

After they finally disposed of the last mutant the wolves slowly began to make their way out from the shadow they were hiding in and attacked the wall again. This time the alpha wolf was a lost closer on the battlefield and personally commanded his pack.

This made it way harder to kill even a single wolf, as they would retreat if they were injured too much - they were protected by the other wolves - which was a big problem, as it was near impossible to kill one of these wolves if they didn’t hit directly on the head.

Their fur was too thick and the mass of flesh alone they had to penetrate to leave mortal wounds was too much to instantly kill them. Not that it was easy to get a proper hit when your range was limited and the wolves were nimble even on stairs and avoided many of their attacks.

The scariest part of this battle was when Jim and the others realized that every injury that wasn’t seriously deep, would be healed in a few hours just by eating tens of kilograms of pure flesh, organs, and blood. The previous mutants were used to heal their injuries and it was shocking how fast they could turn this flesh into energy and heal themself.

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With this, a stalemate broke out and neither the wolves nor the humans could inflict serious casualties on each other. With the alpha wolf commanding it was impossible for Solaire to hit his flames. He needed too long to prepare and the one time he tried to use his ability he only wasted his energy, while the wolves survived unscathed, apart from a few burned patches of fur.

The only fortunate event on that night was that neither Troy nor his group showed themself. This was on one hand good, and on the other very concerning. Good because it meant that they could focus on the wolves and concerning because they never knew when they would finally strike - this made the already tense situation only more nerve-wracking.

Always expecting an ambush, but never knowing when it would hit you was really not a pleasant feeling, and at the end of the second night it was apparent that they were not only physically but also mentally drained.

In the end, they only killed about half a dozen wolves and if this continues it would be clear that they would sooner or later go crazy or die of exhaustion. The good news was that they were successfully able to make something resembling an arrow. It was not perfect but good enough to distract the wolves and played a major role in preventing more injuries and deaths.

In contrast to the wolves, Jim and the rest had way bigger problems in healing their injuries. Similar to the wolves, every rank two of them was able to heal their wounds much quicker compared to what a normal human was supposed to, but it was still much slower in comparison to the wolves. They were already in the predicament of having too few fighters, but now some were unable to fight due to injuries and this shortage of fighters was felt very clearly on the defense of the wall and was not something they could ignore.

In total, the attack must have lasted for at least ten hours and only thanks for being summer and the night almost being empty of clouds were they able to see enough to defend themself somewhat. Nonetheless was their bad vision a big disadvantage compared to the wolves, who didn’t seem to be the least bothered by the absence of light.

They had to somehow replace the fighters if they wanted to survive and after some arguing they didn’t have another option, but to send people on the wall who were still at the first rank.

They tried to keep the casualties as low as possible, but some deaths couldn’t be prevented and another six people lost their lives. The only ray of hope they had was that after every death the survivors on the wall would absorb some energy of the fallen wolves and humans.

With this, a few were able to reach the second rank, which raised their survivability substantially. They were also getting a lot better at fighting and a small elite formed that was able to prevent most injuries and apart from the occasional rest was constantly fighting.

It seemed like the constant threat of death was a brutal, but rewarding teacher. The one person that excelled the most in this ferocious battlefield was Jim, as he was improving quicker than any other person.

With the help of his six sense, he was able to avoid most attacks and the wolves realized by now that he was the biggest threat they had to face. The only person in the school who seemed concerned about Jim’s fast improvement was Jake.

He had a good grasp of the battlefield and was not fighting but organizing the survivors and making sure that Troy or others wouldn't be able to sneak in.

At the end of the fight, Jake was certain that something was wrong with Jim and decided to talk with him. Going to the room Jim reserved for himself Jake knocked on the door.

“Jim?” Hearing the knock and Jake's voice Jim stood up from his meditation position and opened the door. “Did something happen? The beasts shouldn’t attack yet.”

“No, it's not that. You said that I should be more confident and tell you if something happens.”

Nodding his head Jim said, “Right, I told you that. Come on in, it's awkward talking on the doorstep.”

Following Jim, into his room, Jake sat on the only chair, while Jim got on his makeshift bed and asked, “So what do you want to talk about?”

Taking a deep breath to sort his thoughts Jake said, “I want to know what’s happening with you. And don’t even try to pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. I have known you all my life and your recent changes concern me.”

Seeing the serious expression on Jake's face the thought of lying quickly left Jim's mind and he sighed in frustration. “Fine, Fine!” Putting his hands in the air to admit his defeat, Jim's body posture began to sink in, showing how severe the matter was for him.

“Maybe I should have talked with you about this sooner. You want to talk about my fighting skills right?”

“Yes!” Giving Jim a firm nod Jake added, “The others may think that you are just talented and happy about your increase in strength but I know there is something different at play. Especially the last battle showed this clearly - your improvement is abnormal. Almost all of the other fighters fight to survive and are not good at it. They are barely able to avoid the wolves, but you…

Taking a moment to find the right words Jake continued, “Your fighting style is not something desperate or unrefined. You fight not to survive but… to kill. That is the best way I can describe it. It's not a real fighting style but more like you just follow your instincts, which resemble some mutants and it is not that you just try to survive, it seems like you are trying to actively find a way to kill your opponent.”

Hearing this Jim was taken aback at how accurately Jake noticed his problem. “I’m surprised you concluded this much just by observation. To speak the truth I know that something is happening with me but I can’t explain what and if it is good or bad. At first, I didn’t notice it myself but the past two battles have shown me that something about me has changed.”

Thinking for a moment he continued, “I’m not too sure if it just happened recently or has its origin at the beginning of this catastrophe. Even if our world has changed a lot in the past few weeks and we humans do adapt fast; it doesn't make sense for a teenager to get an instinct for killing.”

Happy with Jim opening up to him Jake asked, “Do you know what exactly changed?”

“What changed?” Taking a moment to think how he could describe this feeling Jim found the right words and said, “The best way to describe it would be that my mind changes when I fight.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?” Jake asked with interest.

“I mean in the past when I got into a brawl I always tried to prevent injuries on my and the opposing side. When I fought I didn’t really want to injure my opponent but teach them a lesson or win by restricting them. Now it almost feels like I switch personalities when I fight. In the past, I was relatively hot-blooded and was led by my emotions, which was the reason why I couldn’t control my power resulting in a few cases where I injured people more seriously than I wanted. Now…

Scratching his temple he said, “Now my emotions just don’t affect me at all. I still feel them but they don’t interfere with what I’m doing. No matter what; I subconsciously try to find the fastest way to kill my opponent. In some cases, I had to restrain myself from not letting one of our comrades die, just because it would mean missing a good opportunity to attack.”

Shortly looking in the distance and losing himself to his thoughts Jake thought for a moment, before asking, “Can you somehow control this?”

“To some extent, yes, but the longer I fight the harder it gets,” replied Jim. “In the end, I was really close to losing my control. I was willing to sacrifice someone just to kill another wolf. At some point, I just fall into a trance and I don’t want to know what happens If I can’t break free from it.”

“At least you can control it somewhat, are there any other side effects?” Jake asked with concern.

Nodding his head Jim explained, “This is where my real problem lies. Sometimes I have something similar to a vision or dream. In this state, I imagine the best way to kill everyone and everything around me as efficiently as possible.”

Shocked by this reveal Jake asked, “That is indeed concerning. Can you describe what you saw?”

With that Jim recounted every time he had this vision and what he did. Jake listened attentively to every single vision and after Jim was done said, “This is truly strange and I only have a hypothesis on its origin.”

“Really? What do you think is its origin?”Jim asked with newfound hope.”

“I believe that the transformation has somehow affected your subconsciousness. Your quick improvement in skill, otherworldly senses, these visions, and the recollection of previous battles, lead me to the conclusion that the transformation affected you more than physically.”

For the first time realizing how weird it was to recount these traumatizing battles to the smallest detail, Jim concluded. “This does sound plausible. It would at least explain this strange behavior. We know that the mutants are a lot fiercer after their transformation, so it isn't unlikely that it can affect us, humans.”

“That was my exact thought, “ agreed Jake. “We have no evidence of it not changing us subconsciously or even completely altering our brain or memories.”

Feeling relieved to finally find a possible explanation for his condition Jim asked, “So what are we going to do?”

With a completely straight face, Jaked said a single word. “Nothing.”

Taken aback by his answer, Jim asked, “What do you mean nothing? We have to do something with this information.”

“Okay, and what can we possibly do?” Jake asked seriously.

“We could…could…” Thinking about it Jim realized that they couldn't do anything. Even if their hypothesis was true they could do nothing to change or prevent it. They had no idea how exactly they were affected and to what extent. They had no information and were completely helpless.

Seeing Jim’s expression getting progressively darker Jake said with a smile, “Jim there is no reason to despair. Alone that we have this information is enough to do something against it. Just live your life and try to make the best of it. Even if you don’t find an answer right away you just have to keep going and searching. In the end, hope is something we will always have.”

Hearing this Jim couldn’t help smiling. Jake was right there was no reason to despair be it mutants, humans, or anything else nothing could stop him from finding his family. He will first survive these wolves and afterward, find his family, he had to. Even if his family was by now nothing more than a cold corpse, a bloody mess, or a pile of rotted flesh and bones.

“Who should we tell, about your… condition?” Jake asked with hesitation.

“Max and Solaire. The rest don't have to know. They have enough problems as it is and I’m somewhat of a ray of hope for them. I can’t crush their morale if we want to survive this,” replied Jim with resolution.

“You are right,” said Jake while standing up. “Then let's go and prepare for the third night. We still have time before they return.”