494 CHPT 494: Beast Spasm

Waking up was easier when you were being ripped apart by a wolf god in your dreams. And Claude always got to his feet the fastest. Especially from sleep. And especially, in his own snarling style.

CRUSHHH!!

Snarls accompanied by crumbling and ground-shaking. New.

Traveling from Astral Realm to the real world was jarring. Even more so than Tangent travel. It was involuntary— messy. An immediate change of temperature, pressure, sound, smells and even feelings. It took Claude a moment to come into his surroundings.

His eyes moved like struck eight-balls if they all held the same color. But he only saw when they finally stilled.

Brown bark. A million grooves and slits, never straight, sometimes touching— blending into a thicker groove that he could smell the animal fur and insects on. Like fingerprints.

He looked up the length of the tree, on the branches Loba looked down at him. Her incredibly long muscled body stretched out along a collection of tangled branches. He could see the Jaguar-spotted fur of her legs and belly in the morning sun. Shifting in the winds generated by her swinging tail.

She wasn't happy. Alert. But he didn't need to view her physical form to know that. The whole forest was startled.

"HSSssssSAAA…."

Claude looked to his left to find Diamondback and Frosty sniffing at his arm. That's when he noticed they couldn't get directly beside him because of the crater in the ground surrounding his arm.

"[I take it the night was….. rewarding.]"

Claude looked down at his arm as it lay in the crater where dust, dirt and grass slowly settled like earthen snow.

He lifted his arm. In the smoke it glowed faintly. It had that tingling as if it was asleep…. But also the muscles were sore. A bizzare combination of sensations to say the least.

Once out of the crater he could clearly see his arm. Where the armor and gear didn't cover his skin, his muscles glowed. Bright enough to breach the bronze sheath of his skin. A steady glimmer and pulse like northern lights.

Instinctively he flexed. The muscles in his forearm doubled and twisted beneath his skin as if cramped. Once they stabilized his left forearm was almost double in size….. and shaking with barely contained power. His skin was so tight it hurt.

He unflexed. The glow faded and his muscles shrunk back to normal size. Slowly, he called upon the muscles down his arm in a coordinated ensemble of muscular doubling to the point of being almost grotesque. It ended with the muscles in his fingers expanding his hand size like a balloon. If they could be filled with stone.

He reached down and grabbed the earth, feeling it crumbled like sand to dust.

"This is good…." Claude returned to his normal state. His heart at a heightened pace. Mana flowing through his limbs like dogs on the hunt. "But taxing."

"[I think an ability like this is best used with finesse. Train it during your freetime and by the next event you'll be golden.]"

Claude froze at that word, "…..What's with the emphasis on gold these days."

He got himself up off the ground as the sounds of Students in The Dugout fell on his senses.

"[Who knows. Maybe something of value is about to enter your life….. oh! Maybe— just maybe, it's a sign of you coming into yourself fully as a Gold Ranked Night Runner. Then again I'm not palm reader.]"

"That makes two of us."

The day had begun. New abilities, new ideas and of course. The next event.

***

Ra Stadium was filled no more than an hour after Claude stepped out of Predators Forest. Visibly tamer than before after the bloody riot.

He spent that time helping his friends warm up. Sparring, drilling, answering questions about Monsters. His parting message to them was listen to Ursula— because she'd be listening to him. Sure he couldn't fight, but even now. The Nine was missing, along with all the other prestigious Heroes who once sat among the stands. He could hear what they dragged back to the arena with them. He'd be the groups eyes and ears.

The Announcer flew in like a bird. His thick heavy robes fluttered like wings. Thick jewels sewn into the fabrics reflected sunlight and gave him a starry essence. Hard to pull off in daylight.

"WOOOOOOOO!!!!" He screamed into his enhanced speaker before landing on the center stage in a gust of winds and dust that got into the surrounding students eyes.

He carried with him a box. A large wooden box sealed with glowing chains and runes.

"[Looks important.]" Arne commented.

"No doubt." Claude replied.

"Some of you regulars already know what this box means. But for those of you that don't, allow me to introduce our next event." The Announcer smiled, his marked eyes and dark glossed lips glistened.

The Sunlandian Guards stationed at heavy drums picked up the pace to their tune.

"I GIVE YOU! The Tangent-Compromised Scenario Sequence…. Yes a mouthful, I know." The Announcer placed the box on the palm of his hand as he spoke.

"We're warriors as a Reborn people. We have an array of abilities all suited to help in SLAYING! These wretched things hellbent on changing the earth to their needs. Hell the gods choose us! Us! Not the Titans, not the Rakshasa of Indus, not the Dark Elves of Arthuria. US! Men, women and whatever in between!"

The crowd cheered in agreement. Claude searched for Samuel. He must've still been in the Infirmary section with Bengal. With his newfound freetime he'd make his way over at some point.

"But! With that in mind, injury is our best friend. Always present, always enthusiastic to fall on us. We must be sure we can push onward in moments like these. Moments when we're compromised. Because it's moments like those when a Slayer— a man, becomes immortal. To my students, let these people see you give it your all even when you're broken, and you will be immortal. I promise."

The crowd clapped. Some of the students suddenly reeked of greed like a pack of Goblins.

"This was what the Enforcers meant." Claude thought to himself. There were many Gloryhounds surrounding him in that moment.

"Now! Let's get into it. In this box, there is an array of Banes. They choose you, not the other way around. You can try to avoid it, but you will be expelled. You can try to steal someone else's, you will be expelled. You can try to swap afterwards and... well let's not be dumb. The slips falls to you, grab it and prepare. That is all you can do, understood students?"

"Yes, sir!" Everyone yelled.

Claude studied the area. The older students held a calmness the younger students lacked. Naturally, the younger you were the more you needed every tool in your arsenal. This was considerably more devastating to a first year than it was a third. And he could only assume some Banes were more harsh than others.

Warren shook beside Claude.

He grabbed his arm.

"Hey-hey, wake up. That scary shit won't help you."

Warren sniffled, "…..Man switch spots with Ursula, she's way better at the pep talks."

"I'm not joking, man. Now more than ever. You need to take some deep breaths and focus. Think about how you're going to support the others when you get your Bane. Remember your job, Maris tells you often."

Warren nodded.

"Say it."

He was taken aback by Claude's harsh tone.

"Say it now."

"Have their backs. Give cover fire….. sometimes Isaac wants me to boost his flames."

Claude nodded as he watched the announcer. "That's it. Think about how to keep that up once this Bane hits. And listen to Ursula."

Warren didn't seem removed of his fear, naturally. But hopefully he was thinking. Hopefully.

Ursula bumped knuckles with him on the opposite side.

"Let the Banes choose their Slayer!" The Announcer yelled.

Suddenly the drums took on a quick pitter patter. Coaxing the anxiety in the air.

The runes on the box began to glow. The chains rattled. The Announcers eyes began to glow silvery white.

Wind shot up from the earth.

The first Bane emerged from the box. A white and purple slip moving at blinding speeds towards the sky before slowly descending, executing hard cuts and twists before landing on a student in the Islandian Section.

The student caught it and immediately the slip burst into purple flames. The same chains and runes covering the box were plastered across his skin. He fell to his knees before quickly recovering with a grunt.

The Announcer cringed, "Ooh. Doubled weight. Rough."

The next Bane shot up into the air.

Then the next.

Then the next.

They waited in silent anxiety for another five minutes before it hit one of them.

Warrens fear could've drawn in all the wolves in the world as they watched the Bane fall. Slowly it turned and made its way to Isaac.

He grabbed the slip, face as hard as his armor even as he took on the Bane.

Some students puked, others began sweating profusely. Isaac looked fine.

He leaned forward to look at everyone, his newly gained Alchemsol Cloak shuffling over his armor, "Bane of the Offensive Element."

"No offensive Elemental Blasts….. that's not bad." Ursula thought.

Isaac nodded, "I've got a new game plan anyway. I won't need offensive fire."

"It would've sucked if Maris got it." Warren commented.

"Don't jinx me, Archer." Maris commented as the next Bane jumped out of the box.

Another ten minutes passed.

Ursula received the Bane of Weaponry.

Maris received the Bane of Lead Feet.

And Warren gained the Bane of the Arrow. Ironic considering the pep talk he just had with Claude.

And they didn't even get time to react as the Heroes returned with their finest captured Monsters.

The first to land in Ra Stadium with a chained and gagged creature was a team of Samurai from the Kumataiyo Isles. They all wore half masks resembling monstrous fanged faces. It almost matched the beast they had in chains before them.

It had four wings tied at its back. Skin as blue as the sky at dawn and fatless. No legs— the lower half of its body was almost serpentine. It screamed and Claude was drawn to the silky black hair falling over its face. It had tusked fangs like Frosty. Two mouths and four eyes all yellow.

"[Mana Shackle craftsmanship has improved in my absence…]" Arne commented on the thick metal binds around its neck and arms.

"First up! We have the Kumataiyan Yokai! A Tengu-Kappa Hybrid it seems. Spirit of the sky and water. This is complexity born from infestation on our world."

Hybrid. Like Claude. Like Ursula. Captured and turned into a challenge piece. A bird-like semi-aquatic horror. What if he or she was just trying to live like Piet…..

The Announcer was interrupted as another Bane exploded from the box.

Claude looked up, watching it fall into his hands.

The slip exploded. New magics danced across his skin before biting deep like a serpent, the weakening magic poisoned him instantaneously.

DING!

[Hex Acquired: (Bane of The Beast)]

"What the hell is that?"