CHPT 151: Personal Challenge.

After defeating the Urd, a cold front swept through the wild lands Claude and the Wolves traversed— causing their heated breaths to be visible in the night air. Despite this, he felt perfectly fine— aside from his confusion on how he survived falling from a cliff and landing on two feet.

His cuts were also doing fine, but he needed to eat to speed up his healing, as well as Frosty's. As he assumed back then, the PitWolf was hit inside the forest. Luckily, it was nothing Frosty couldn't handle. Just a graze to his shoulder that Shadow and Ashe kicked at profusely. He would be fine, which meant Claude would be fine as well.

"So, what was that?" He finally asked after he was finished studying the map while he traveled north through the forest in split shoes and ripped pants.

"[That was a glimpse of your next lesson. Although, most don't do what you did so early and randomly— I must say I was surprised when it happened.]" Arne replied.

"What lesson?" Claude asked as him and the Wolves vaulted over a tree that fell over their path.

"[Well. The second lesson of course. I initially just gave you a rough rundown of what Lupines are and what you need to do to stay in your human shape among humans as well as survive the Full Moon. That was lesson one. Lesson two began the morning you woke up after.]"

"Alright. Makes sense, no need to dump everything on me right away when you can just give me what's important at the time."

"[Exactly.]" Arne agreed while Claude looked back to notice the winged scavengers of the wild, circling above what he assumed were the Kobold corpses a mile or so behind him and the Wolves. In a few hours, all that would remain of the scaled creatures would be bones.

"So, what's the second lesson?" He asked.

"[Individual Transformation is the broader term for it. But the name changes depending on what the person needs to do to make it happen.]"

"What does that mean?" Claude thought in response after thinking it over for a while.

Arne was silent for a moment before answering, "[Think about it like this. As you know, the Transformation is the same for all Lupines of Romulus under the Full Moon. You change, find a way to act out your strongest and most important ideals while also succumbing to your predatory instincts. Now as you get stronger and gain more power over what you are, you can change at will— how that happens is different for everyone.]"

"...Right."

"[I can't help but notice how confused you sound....]" Arne pointed out.

"No— yea. I don't get it." Claude replied flatly.

"[Hm. Ok I'll approach this a little differently. When I was among the living, I was strong enough to rise through the ranks and become an Alpha of my own pack. But, I was always a little more wild and high sprung than others, so in order for me to achieve Individual Transformation I needed to center myself and concentrate intently. Afterwards, the Skill came to me in the name of (Half-body Focus).]"

A lightbulb went off in Claude's mind once Arne finished speaking. "Oooook. So it's almost like a challenge?"

"[Eh— in a way yes. It is similar to a challenge. A personal challenge that pushes you towards the ability of Individual Transformation.]"

"....And every Lupines way of getting there is different?"

"[Well, they're not all the same. But some can be similar in mind.]"

Claude checked the Raider camp map once to see if he was heading in the right direction before responding.

"Ok, then what's mine?" He asked.

Arne was silent again for a moment. "[Your a Potential, so you aren't very much like how I was. You use your focus and will as weapons. In a way you strong arm the bit of the transformation you have control over. So, in order to gain the Skill to transform individual parts of your body fully— and then completely at will, I assume you have to do the opposite.]"

"Opposite of control....and/or focus? I thought everything about being a Lupine of Romulus was focus and willpower?" Claude questioned.

"[Great job remembering! And yes— it is, that's what makes the skill so odd. None of us understood it but we took it along with its advantages.]" Arne said, sounding taken aback.

"What are those advantages? I don't see how it can be better than a complete transformation."

"[Well, being able to full transform individual body parts or groups actually has many advantages, Claude. Aside from quicker shifts and saving energy it also has a stealth aspect. It allows you to gain the true strength of a Lupine while also presenting as human. It's gotten me out of a couple tight situations.....and last time I checked— it just allowed you to take an Urd out of the sky and land unscathed.]"

"Fair point." Claude replied, deciding to sit with the information he gained and think about what things could be the antithesis of focus or control while he continued following the map further into the cold and dark wilds of the Angelos District.

***

After spending the next couple hours searching for Raider camps using the map Frosty stole for him, and his own enhanced senses, he found that they were all trashed. All of the camps he approached were massacred just like the previous ones. Nothing stolen, other than the bodies of Raiders and everything was ripped to shreds or soaked in blood.

There was one thing that stuck out to him though. Fur, small amounts of dull colored fur that he'd find in the grass near tents and beds. It smelled of wet dog and something perverse— sour almost. Not like the Lupines of Remus, but it was definitely off.

The scarce amount of information he gained from his search led him to one loose conclusion to think on as he headed back to SkyHaven to turn in the Quest Entry and start another.

Something animal in body and somewhat human in mind was hunting the Raiders exclusively. It could be one powerful individual or a pack of wild things executing some sort of plan. Usually nobody would have a problem hearing about Raiders being killed in large quantities, but Claude had a personal vendetta involving them— and whatever was running through them was in his way. There is no other way around it.

"Rikah is mine— including anyone that chooses to side with her."