CHPT 64: No Control, No Victory

The setting sun sat like an orange ball of fire over the top of the west side of the University and cast its orange glow over more and more of the sky as time passed. The intense and clear blue portion of it stretched across the field, giving enough light to show the fierce staring contest taking place between Claude and the twins.

"Get rid of the support first.....keep Drew in and defeat Samuel next." Claude repeated his game plan over and over in an almost psychotic manner while his lust for battle rose to new heights.

"So, I was thinking we get rid of Tai first and then Drew since they're probably the weakest in combat...although Tai is a frighteningly good fighter for a Cleric." Isaac said, in the process Claude was brought back to reality.

"No."

"What? What do you mean no?" Isaac asked.

"We need Drew to stay for as long as possible." Claude said without looking away from the twins.

"Why?" Isaac asked.

"I'f I'm right about something, then he'll help us win." Claude said vaguely. Even though Isaac was one of the very few students he didn't have a problem with, simply laying all his cards out on the table wasn't a good idea.

Isaac scratched his jaw line as he seemed to engage in an internal conflict. Finally with a defeated expression he said, "Hm, obviously you don't want to go into detail, so I just hope your right because if I get bit by that dog it's your fault."

Claude nodded while they continued to anxiously wait for a few more seconds. Suddenly Prof. Brennan spoke.

"Ok everyone, this will probably be the last match of the day, so, give it all you've got guys! Now, I think it's time we got this started..."

The students that were excited to see a fight began to cheer excitedly while the others nervously spectated. Warren and Ursula were somewhere in the middle, but Ursula's suspicions and fears rose above any other feelings she had at the moment.

"Mob!! Are you ready?!" Prof. Brennan asked.

"Yes, sir!" Tai answered.

"Isaac and Claude, are you ready?"

"Ready."

In the few moments before the match would begin and intense violence would commence, Claude saw a flash of the old Samuel— in the Deviant, ready to mercilessly kill him and Ursula. The image quickly faded away and he was left looking into the glowing purple eyes of the new— transformed, Samuel. He smiled at him malevolently. His smile started a volley of thoughts to fire off in Claudes mind.

"He doesn't regret his actions— he doesn't regret anything! In fact, he would've done more if he could."

Claude snarled angrily at the thought, he felt his teeth sharpen and push up against his lips as they turned into deadly fangs.

His thoughts were interrupted by Prof. Brennan announcing the start of the fight.

"BEGINNNN!!!!"

WOO!

Samuel and Tai burst from there previous positions without considering to try and hide their new level of overall physicality as Lupines. Impressively, Drew ran fairly close behind with his dog at his side.

As Claude watched them run towards him, he felt the rush of adrenaline coursing through his heart and muscles. He had to fight to stop himself from transforming and unleashing the insurmountable amount of hatred he felt for them and the rest of the students.

"[Stay focused, Claude. What made Lupines of Romulus so powerful was their ability to have control. If you lose your control, you lose the battle.]" Arne reminded as the Mob continued to get closer.

To everyone's surprise, one of the Mob struck before they were in the barrier.

Samuel ran in front of the rest of the Mob, his left hand expelled an infinite amount of thick black smoke like a chimney until suddenly purple sparks flickered and sputtered into a black and purple ball of fire that sat in the center of his palm. Without a second of hesitation, he swung his arm wildly and the dark flame blasted from his hand.

FWOOSH!

It spiraled through the air straight for Claude's face. He sidestepped and let the ball of fire whiz past him without breaking eye contact with Samuel.

"Ahh!" The students gasped quietly at how close the flame came to Claude's face.

"Change of plans..." He muttered to himself before speaking to Isaac, "I got Samuel."

"Alright, I'll take Tai...but what about Drew and the dog?"

"I'll take them." Claude said.

"Alright, but if you need help let me know." Isaac said.

Soon after, the Mob entered the barrier. Drew's dog entered the barrier and as it got closer to Claude, it became more submissive and timid in nature. The way it was acting didn't look right on such an imposing creature. The dog looked similar to a Doberman based off of its color pattern and long pointed ears. But, it had striking yellow eyes and a longer section of rough black hair that trailed the length of its back like a wild Mohawk.

Before Claude could look at the dog any longer, Samuel charged him. At the same time, Tai and Isaac engaged in battle.

"Stop daydreaming and fight!" Samuel yelled as he swung his sword at Claude's head.

SWOO!

CLANG!

Claude's shortsword clashed loudly with Samuel's black and silver broadsword, he could feel their difference in strength as he strained against Samuel's newfound boost of feral power. His feet slid through the grass and dirt as Samuel pushed him further and further towards the edge of the barrier.

"Doesn't this remind you of something?" Samuel asked smugly.

"Yea, only it's gonna end differently this time....it has to end differently!" Claude thought angrily as he bared his teeth at Samuel.

Before he could use his skill, (Beast Assistance) to even the odds. Something peculiar happened.

Samuel's smug grin left his face as he began to hear an intense growl rumbling from behind him.

GrrrrrRRR!!!

He turned to see what it was while he was still sword to sword with Claude. In that moment, Claude took his right hand off the handle of his sword and sent his fist hurling towards Samuel's face.

Crack!

His fist connected with Samuel's cheekbone and sent him tumbling backward. Before he had time to react, Claude jumped into the air and delivered a spinning back kick to Samuel's chest.

"Uagh!!"

His foot slammed into Samuel's armored chest and sent him flying onto his back.

The crowd stared on silently.

Samuel laid face up on the grass, he suddenly remembered the first time Claude knocked him on his back like he was now, "Stupid bastard! Playing around with me and pretending he was weak when he's been a filthy monster this whole time. I'll kill you!" He thought angrily.

The growling stopped once Samuel hit the ground. A few seconds later, the intimidating looking dog trotted over to Claude, it's long pointed ears were pinned back against its head and its tail hung low in between its legs as it came up to him.

"[So, your, (Canine Affinity) is finally being put to good use.]" Arne said.

Claude smiled in response.

The dog was tall, it was almost up to his waist on all fours and it had a decent amount of muscle on it. It would probably look like a stick next to Frosty, but he hoped that meant it would be more agile.

"Come here." He said to the dog. In return it slowly came closer. He held his hand out for the dog to smell and it began sniffing him furiously. After it was satisfied, he let his hands run through its short and thick fur until it relaxed.

"G-Gordon?...what did you do to my dog!" Drew asked in shocked anger.

"Gordon huh?" Claude said as he continued to pet the dog under the loud noise of clashing metal and grunts of effort from Tai and Isaacs fight.

Claude looked up from Gordon and met Drew's eyes.

Drew's blood ran cold as the wild heat of his anger was flushed out of him by Claude's calm hate filled eyes. The bright green orbs burned through him and froze him in place at the same time.

Claude activated his (Beast Trait) skill as he stood up from his crouched position in front of Gordon. His eyes glowed green and he grew medium length white claws and fangs that became visible once he responded to Drew's question.

"I did nothing to Gordon, you're just not in charge at the moment." He replied. While he spoke, Gordon stood at his side and snarled at Drew and Samuel who was just getting up off the ground.

"Nice cheap shot, bitch." Samuel said angrily.

"I'd be happy to give another if that's what you want, or are you ready to keep your eyes on your opponent?" Claude said.

"I'm going to enjoy turning you to ash!" Samuel yelled as he charged at Claude.

Claude said nothing in response to Samuel and instead snapped his fingers while pointing at Drew, "Keep Drew busy for me." Quickly after, Claude and Gordon charged into battle.

Woo!

Woo!

WOO!

Samuel swung repeatedly, his sword continued to slice through nothing but air until he was slicing and stabbing wildly as he succumbed to his anger. His anger soon triggered his own form of devilish desperation that appeared clearly in the way he began to fight.

He faked another swing at Claude's head and instead swung at his leg.

Shrip!

"ArRgh!"

Claude roared in anger after Samuel's sword swiped a thin line of red through his leg, the cut ran over the area the snake bit him and in doing so, it brought the pain of the bite back to life with a powerful stinging and burning sensation.

Samuel smiled and his eyes began to glow at the sight and smell of Claude's blood leaking down his leg.

"Eyes up dumbass!" Claude said while swinging at Samuel's head.

Samuel moved as fast as he could, but was unsuccessful in completely missing the strike.

The tip of Claude's blade sliced into his cheek causing him to spin away in reaction to the pain. He turned back to face Claude just in time to see his blade heading for his face, he dodged and sent another low kick to Claude's damaged leg.

Woo!

CRK!

Claude grunted in response to Samuel's armor covered leg connecting with his upper thigh. His eyes flared in anger from the smile on his face.

At superhuman speeds, he delivered an impressive combo of attacks driven purely by anger. He swung in multiple directions and variations, all of which were dodged or blocked by Samuel except for his final attack.

From the previous attacks, Samuel was pushed a few feet away from Claude. With all this space Samuel tried to generate his dark orb of fire, but Claude was too fast.

He closed the distance between them by zigzagging across the field like a giant predatory rabbit, confusing Samuel and making himself near impossible to hit in the process.

Before Samuel knew it, Claude loomed over him as he sprang into the air, his clawed hand blotted out the sun as it came crashing down and slashed him across the face.

SWOO!

"ACK!"

Samuel tumbled backward with his hand over his face. He took it away and noticed the entire palm of his glove was covered in bright red blood.

The students gasped as they looked at the three thick cuts that ran down the left side of Samuel's face.

Claude stood across from him with a maniacal smile on his face that revealed his fangs to everyone. His nostrils flared from the disgusting and alarming smell of Lupine blood under his claws, the smell caused the grips he had on his control to loosen greatly. He felt his heartbeat increase and slowly images began flashing in his mind. First his father, then Samuel and Tai. The images came in a repeated sequence over and over until his body was merely a holding cell for the hate filled monster that occupied the space within.

"Your gonna pay for that, you filthy mutt!" Samuel snarled as he brought his blade in front of his face and closed his eyes. Purple energy began to emanate from the base to the end of his broadsword until the entire blade glowed an intense shade of purple created by his Aura. The Aura around his blade was thin, but it waved and rippled in the wind like an ethereal flame. At the same time his body was enveloped in an odd blue glow. Suddenly, a few of his slash wounds mended themselves back together.

Claude looked over to Tai and saw him standing a few feet away from Isaac— who was heaving with exhaustion. Tai winked at Claude smugly for being able to heal Samuel even though he was occupied. But before he could say anything smart, a giant mass of red energy collided with him like a battering ram and sent him flying out of the barrier.

BOOM!

"WAOAHHHH!" The students were awestruck at the speed and explosive power behind Isaac's (Shoulder Charge) skill.

After he used it, he had zero mana left over and his exhaustion began to fully set in. He took a couple steps with his cutlass still held tightly in his hand before he passed out on the field.

Claude was still in the partial process of being tortured by his own memories when he saw Samuel's sword begin to glow with the use of his Aura. He growled in response and crouched low while switching the grip on his sword to reverse to fully utilize the benefits of his speed.

"Come on Claude! Let me slice your head off you filthy animal!"

***

Prof. Raizen watched the fight between the two with growing interest, he noticed Claude's skill seemed to increase everyday. Even with his clear disadvantage, he was keeping up with Samuel who would probably start getting scouted by guilds soon, if he wasn't already. The only problem with the fight was; it looked like it wasn't going to end well. Samuel's eyes were basically screaming with disgust and killing intent while Claude somehow looked to be completely devoid of all human characteristics.

"Class is just about done, but I personally think we should end it here. I mean the boy got Drew's dog to attack him." Prof. Brennan said in Prof. Raizen's ear.

Prof. Raizen looked over to Prof. Callista to see what she thought and noticed she was standing alone with her hand over her mouth— it shook aggressively as she watched the fight.

"Yea, let's wrap this up." He said to Prof. Brennan right when Samuel's blade began to glow purple.

***

Claude heard Samuel call him a filthy animal and growled angrily in response since he was incapable of human speech at the moment.

"GRRR!!"

They both sprang from their positions soon after.

Claude ran low to the ground with his clawed hand in front of his face and the hand that held his sword behind him.

Samuel ran with his sword leaving a trail of purple light in his wake like a deadly flaming glow stick.

"ARRRRRR!"

SWIP!

Samuel swung wildly at his opponent and to his surprise he didn't feel his sword hit anything as he rolled and tumbled due to how fast he was moving.

Claude ducked and rolled under Samuel's blade and bounded past him at supernatural speeds. He headed towards Drew who was occupied with avoiding his dogs attacks.

Drew dodged another one of Gordon's attacks, immediately after, Claude was at his side kicking his legs out from under him.

While Drew was in the air, Claude pressed his hand on Drew's chest and slammed him into the grassy field.

Thud!

His body loudly slammed into the grass and the air immediately left his lungs. As he gasped for air, he looked up and saw Claude staring at him wildly, his long black hair cast a shadow over his face causing only his green eyes to be visible beaming down at him.

Claude was moving purely on instinct at the moment. The only reason he attacked Drew was because he was drawn to the smell of his intense fear, its smell was enough to make him crave more. He could get more by killing him, ripping and tearing into every inch of his body until he stood in a field of crimson madness.

Drew tried to move under Claude's pressing hand and in response Claude growled and snapped at him. The action got a new wave of the electrifying smell rushing into his nose like a tidal wave. Before he could act on the effect the smell had on him, a familiar feminine voice spoke to him indirectly from the crowd of students.

"No.....please no.....god dammit!! No!" The voice said.

Claude's ears rung as he heard the voice. It seemed to cleanse his mind— not fully, but just enough to make him see. He quickly looked down at who he was holding and saw Drew shaking under the pressing force of his hand...his hand.

"[Claude....Claude!]" Arne yelled in his mind.

"I'm here....my hand....SHIT!" He thought while looking at the short white claws on his hand that were beginning to turn black and lengthen.

He quickly used his Nature element to manipulate the grass and bind Drew to the ground. He then turned to face Samuel, now with Gordon growling madly behind him.

He noticed Samuel's nails were going black as well and he wasn't speaking anymore— he even lost his confident grin. They were both on the brink of exposing themselves....over a class event. Although it was only a class event, the victor of this battle would have the advantage when it became life or death in the future, when there would be no rules....no barriers or spectators. Maybe not even any swords, just tooth, claw and raw savagery.

"[Careful Claude, you won't be able to get your revenge if Det. Cyrene kills him after hearing he transformed.]" Arne interrupted.

"I thought he was controlled." Claude replied.

"[He is, but he's subconsciously forcing himself to transform right now. Little by little.]"

"Then I'll just end it right here. Gordon, hang back. I'd feel like garbage if I got you hurt." Claude said aloud, Gordon slowly backed away but continued to snarl at Samuel.

Neither of them heard the students or Professors calling out to them as they blasted from their positions at inhuman speeds.

WOOSH!

WOOSH!

Samuel yelled as his left hand was engulfed in purple fire and his Aura shrouded the blade in his right.

Claude bared his fangs while his own powerful green Aura burst from his hand and shrouded his shortsword. With every step he took, the grass under him grew ravenously and twisted into thick and sturdy vines, plants and bramble ready to move, grow and combine at his command.

The two opposing forces headed straight for each other with no plan other than to decimate the other. As the sun lowered, their swords glowed brightly— but nowhere near as bright as their eyes.

As they closed the distance between each-other, Samuel thought he was about to slay the young monster that played him for a fool. He didn't care that people were watching in the slightest.

Claude gained a sliver of hope, thinking he was finally about to defeat Samuel officially and get one step closer to avenging his father.

"I'LL KILL YOU!!" They yelled in unison as they entered striking distance. But before either could do anything, a blast of blinding white light shot down from the sky and crashed into the ground between them.

KRKABOOM!

The shock and impact of the blast was so loud that it sent them flying backward through the air. They were both unconscious before they even hit the ground.