252 CHPT 252: Hell Taming.....

Claude's sleep was far from pleasant. Instead functioning as a restless endeavor of nightmarish experiences he was forced to endure for one simple reason. Exhaustion. A wolf's stamina can only climb so high. He'd reached those heights, and metaphorically blasted through the ceiling.

So when the night fell, the only thing that was able to shake him from his Demon and death infested nightmares were the wailing cries of the roaming Monsters in the distance. Cries that mingled and mixed with the Monster that now resided inside of him. He could feel it, roaming, like a restless Lion.

The feeling persisted up until he exited the cave and felt the cold bite of the rich night air. The feel of the wind on his skin, the darkness, the scents of nearby prey. For the moment it took him out of his mind as the thrill of the hunt took its place.

With Frosty and Ashe at his back, he roamed the forest like he'd resided within it's green expanse for his whole life.

He moved naturally on refreshed limbs, pawing through dry grass and sand with fully healed paws made even more durable than before. He was ready-- they were ready. So, when the scent of a couple Deer filtered into the Wolven creature's noses, the hunt lasted a mere seconds.

A few hours later and Claude was back inside the cave, a completely stripped Deer carcass lay against the rock floor in the distance, while another lay nearby actively being devoured by the Phantom Wolves.

After Claude consumed his foul tasting cooked share of Deer, he spent the rest of his time tending to Ursula. She now laid against the warm hide of a freshly hunted Deer and he spent the rest of the time with her attempting to feed her Deer blood. Not exactly ideal, but nutrients are nutrients. And it was working so far. The wounds were healing, slowly but surely.

With no more blood dripping from the Deer pieces he held over her mouth, he was left sitting with the remains of raw Deer that made him salivate uncontrollably.

He growled in anger as he stared at the red meat in his hands before looking up to find one of the Phantom Wolves, away from the others, sitting calmly in front of him with it's baleful yellow eyes on the food in his hands.

The Phantom Wolves to most people probably just looked like six copies of shadowy oversized Dobermans with glowing eyes, but he knew them all.

This one in particular. A little taller than the rest-- lanky, one ear trying it's best to flop down in a dog-like manner beneath the shadows with it's tongue hanging out the side of it's jaws to further contribute to his overall goofy and playful look when he was relaxed. A look Claude watched fade in a flash whenever it was time for combat-- or food.

"Shadow.....always looking to eat."

The Phantom Wolf huffed in agreement.

"Up top...." Claude said before throwing the pieces of meat in the air for Shadow to snatch out of existence. By the time they were gone, he was heading out of the cave with a new to complete.

"Stay and guard. Don't come out no matter what you hear. I'll be back in a bit...hopefully." He said before leaving the cave with a partially eaten Deer leg in hand.

"[Time to tame the Demon dog?]"

"You know it."

***

The forest was quiet. Quiet in the way nights in the wild were. The immediate area was empty, but things roared and fought in the distance, sounding like they were both right next to him and worlds away. He'd soon be contributing to the roaring creatures of the night. But first, he needed to learn what he could about the new creature residing within him.

"Arne, what do we know so far?"

"[Hmm....Well, the message you were left with about the HellSlayer's Hound seems to be all we have to go on. It didn't say to tame some standard creature that every other HellSlayer would have. It didn't even call it a creature. Your system referred to it as your own inner ferocity needing to be restrained...and ultimately brought under control.]"

Claude paced around the forest, letting the cold winds ruffle his fur, "My inner ferocity.....so what? Will I be facing myself...like my true self?" He questioned while looking down at his fully transformed body.

"[I can't say no with complete confidence. You see, this HellSlayer power, it seems to work off symbolism in certain aspects. Like the glowing chain markings on your arm. Maybe this creature will have physical traits or abilities that mirror your own in a more abstract way then a simple carbon copy of a hellish beast coming forth in the shape of a Lupine.]"

"Dammit...this is a lot of variables."

"[Well, lets think of it physically. If it's your own inner ferocity-- your own inner wildness, what is that? It's you, in the heat of the moment, fighting in your true form-- a wild Lupine Beast Tamer of many traits. Your a high-speed fighter that works to avoid damage while giving it out and overwhelming your opponent. It's safe to assume this thing is going to be quite fast and having rending capabilities that match your own or worse. Hell, it may even have the ability to commune with animals.]"

"This all sounds.....problematic." Claude said while he nervously itched the glowing marking on his arm.

"[Indeed. But you aren't without your own advantages. Something tells me the thing your scratching will be of more assistance then we know.]"

"Right..." Claude thought before reading up on the new Skills he'd gained.

***

(The HellSlayer): You have earned the title of, The HellSlayer. You are the antithesis of HellBreeders and all Demon-kind. Your experiences with them has honed you into a slayer and gifted you with abilities made to quell their malicious spread. By equipping this Title, you gain a 20% boost to all physical stats against high ranking Demons and an extra 1% for every lesser Demon you face as well as an innate EXP boost.

(Hell Sense): Your days of being stalked and hunted by the HellBreeder have grown and honed your innate sense of true malice, giving you the ability to sense PureBlood Demons in a way nobody else but others like you can.

(Animus Nature): The inner animosity and hatred you harbor for Demons is potent. You can willingly bring it out of yourself with so much intensity that the Demons you're facing are drawn into a frenzy by it, making them predictable in combat.

(Malevolence Tether): Your own will and HellSlaying power made real. With Your Malevolence Tether, you can bind and restrain even the worst of Demons, and Tame the Hound of the HellSlayer. Your hate and anger towards all Demons ignites the tether, bringing it to a level of heat that rivals HellFire and gives your subjects two options. Submit or die. (Tether power scales off Strength and WillPower Stats.)

(HellSlayer's Hound)*UNTAMED*: Your inner ferocity and hatred for Demon's made living and untamed. HellSlaying Hounds are the wildcard of all HellSlayer powers and often take on many differing forms and skills all depending on it's user. But one thing is for sure, the Hounds have an insatiable hunger for all things malicious and will track it to the ends of the earth with their superior senses.

***

"I see why the book said HellSlayers usually disappear on the hunt for Demons....these skills make you damn near perfect for it." Claude thought.

"[You're not wrong....this power is quite the asset, Demons or not.]"

"This power WILL be quite the asset, I have to tame it first."

"[Indeed you do. I suggest you begin, we may be here until the sun rears its head once again.]"

Claude took a deep breath in through his nose and opened his jaws to let out a calming sigh, trying his best to ignore the burn of the marking beneath his fur, "Yea. Let's do this."

A few seconds later and he was ready. He'd spent his six Stat Points, two on Willpower, one on Speed and three on Health. Something told him he'd need to be a little higher in health for what was to come...

With everything set, all the was left was the activation of the Skill. A skill that would inevitably bring harm to him. With that fact in mind, he couldn't help but notice the stillness. The silence he only felt before combat abruptly raised the volume of his very existence.

"Ok....OK. Time to Tame." He thought before ripping pieces of flesh and activating his newly gained Skill, (HellSlayer's Hound).

FSHHHHhhHH!!

In an explosion of light, green energy exploded from his entire body-- almost like it was being pulled. Wispy spirals flew from his chest and shoulders painfully in a constant flow that only picked up in intensity. He roared and grabbed at his chest in a panic but the pain only climbed as the energy changed.

Changing from the beautiful vibrant green of his natural energy to a nasty shade of crimson. The red energy sunk into the earth in front of him, letting off electrical sparks and tufts of flame as the previously formless torrent of energy began to take shape.

It only took him a few seconds to understand what was happening. It was taking a piece of everything. The hate, the rage, the pain, the fear. All of it, contributing to the form of the HellSlayer's Hound.

He watched through pain-blurred eyes as the stream of green-red energy continued to mold and form itself into a Hound made to combat Demons.

In a matter of seconds, the creature had arrived.

The forest reached a new level of silence, as if life itself was heralding the arrival of a new creature.

Claude and Arne were silent for a much different reason. They didn't know what they were looking at.

It stood on all fours-- still and silent as a statue. It's legs were long, but powerful. The steady vibration of it's muscle was easy to see even in darkness due to the lack of fur. Instead, it's legs were wrapped in thick dark scales. Fire resistance. Despite this, it wasn't built like a reptile. It was built for both speed and defense. It's body was long and it held a deep chest full of powerful lungs. The only thing he could accurately compare it's body to was a Cheetah. But even then...

"[C-Claude...It's face..]"

He didn't bother responding vocally, instead settling with responding to Arne's fearful announcement with his eyes.

He let them roam from it's legs and up to the rest of it's body. If he was surprised before, there wasn't an accurate word for what he currently felt.

It wore armor. Natural armor. Over it's torso, the scales seemed to double, like natural plating made for absorbing damage and combating abrasions of all kinds. And even though it was just born, it looked like it had scarring. Lines of glowing red ran all over the double scales, cuts like his own. The only difference was, his cut's didn't steam and randomly spew bright red fire. More fire spewed from the triple slits in it's thick neck with every exhale. Gills?

"What the hell--....Is that some form of double breaths...lungs and gills?"

"[Claude....despawn that shit for gods sake.]" Arne commented, sounding as if he was about to throw up.

Claude ignored him, letting his eyes go higher.

In doing so, he was plunged deeper into a realm beyond surprise.

It's head was lowered, allowing him to see everything. The first thing he noted was the deceptively wolf-like snout. Long and lined with muscle. A bit odd since it's body was more cat-like. But, that was one of the more tamer aspects of its face. Above it's scaled snout and lips, he expected to find furiously glowing eyes like his own, but there were none. It had no eyes. None at all.

Instead, where it's eyes were supposed to be, a pair of black plated Gazelle-like horns stuck out and spiraled back up it's skull-- providing both adequate defense and offense. On each side, devilishly long canine ears with sharp points followed the horns ascension.

If those spikes weren't enough, he was finally able to see hair. Well not exactly. Upon further inspection, the creature seemed to have a mohawk of steaming quills.

All along it's head and down its back where the double-scaled armor split, a trail of eight inch long quills lay like a row of spikes trying their best to mimic hair-- if hair was on the verge of igniting.

If this all wasn't enough, the creature was waking.

It took in deep breaths, causing the gill-like cuts to open and it's powerful chest to widen. it's sense of smell must've been otherworldly because in a flash it looked right up at him as if it could see perfectly.

His heart skipped a beat.

The spikes along it's back stood on end and began spitting fire along with it's many open scars as it stood up to it's full height.

A height that placed it's head above his waist, with him being eight feet tall. Meaning the creature was the taller than every wolf in his pack.

"Yea, this is going to be a long night..." Claude whispered.

The Hound took a few steps back and opened it's jaws, revealing a mouth full of jagged teeth behind two canine incisors. As if the teeth of a Shark and a Wolf were forced to mix.

Before he could comment on it, a blast of flame exploded from it's mouth and headed straight for him.

FWIP!

His reflexes took over, forcing him to step aside and let the flame sink into the tree behind him.

It took him a moment to realize thats exactly what the flame did. It sunk into the tree, it didn't explode or dissipate against the bark. It sunk...stabbed-- pierced.

Claude spared a quick glance at the tree and found a black pole-like object sticking from the tree with a tip glowing red with heat. That wasn't there before. The creature didn't spit a fireball, it spit that...coated in fire.

"[It spits flaming javelins.....Claude...It's mimicking your spear throws...that's remarkable.]" Arne noted.

"....Remarkably dangerous." Claude replied before settling into a stance optimal for quick movements if needed.

"[True, one hit could be all it takes.]"

Claude's eyes flared as he activated (Malevolence Tether), and replied to Arne, "Perfect."

FWoo!

In an instant, his new tattoo's erupted in a tuft of flame. In the flames wake, a number of flaming chains spiraled down his arm to join as one on the floor, coiling like a snake. They vibrated faintly with power in the presence of the Hound like it already knew it's purpose.

The new weight felt odd on his arm, but it also felt eerily natural-- like he already knew what to do with it.

With a shake of the chain, he spoke to the Hound for the first time before attempting to tame his inner ferocity and hatred for Demons made real.

"Listen up. I need your help out here...and if your anything like me, this whole submission thing is going to be a pain in the ass. So, lets get to work. Let's run."