Chapter 33: Persuade

Woosh. Woosh!

Without waiting another moment, Miles entered a dash. He would leap over rocks that came his way, passing by tree after tree as he ran.

[Ding! A new Skill has been created, Dash.]

'Now is not the time, but I'll take it.', Miles thought. His speed was much higher than a human's, but he hadn't had a chance to observe one yet to compare himself to them. Miles didn't know what stats humans had, but three of them were about to enter his view. What was the normal range humans had? Was it tens, hundreds, thousands maybe?

Miles wanted to find out. There was plenty of prey to hunt along the way as he dashed, but he knew now was not the time to hunt. His eyes landed on Rose, who was now ushering Victor and James to run away with her. They had one destination in mind, the train station of the little town below them. They hadn't a clue a fox was trailing them!

[Ding! A new Skill, Stalk has been created.]

'NOT. NOW.', Miles inwardly cursed. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this. In the long run, Stalk will also help Miles during his hunting sessions. He could now catch prey off-guard more easily.

Rose, Victor and James were now running as Miles kept his speed up. Thankfully he was still faster, and was quickly closing the gap between him and the trio. They left the hired arms in the dust. It was just them going down the large hill now.

Victor's ears perked upward, acting just like a beast's. It was as if he had sensed Miles arriving within their vicinity, despite Miles hiding away in the shadows again.

"Wait.", Victor suddenly said, urging Rose and James to stop running.

"What is it, Master Victor? We can't delay any longer. We're going to miss the train!", Rose complained, halting her running.

"...We aren't alone.", James also spoke out, realizing their new situation at hand.

"Huh?", Rose tried to ask. It was too dark out and she had trouble seeing. She didn't run out with any lanterns in hand, so it was completely dark out for the trio. Unlike Victor and James who had similar senses to that of a beast now, Rose was just a normal human.

"Grr....", Victor surprisingly growled. James saw his nails extend outward a few inches. His nails behaved very similarly to his claws, but unlike James, his powers were infused into his nails. It didn't look like Victor had developed claws yet, perhaps at a later time.

"Master Victor?", Rose uttered, not expecting to hear Victor growl like this. He started to exhibit powers very similar to James. She was starting to instinctively feel fear. She couldn't help but back away from Victor a couple steps.

Miles didn't hesitate, and proceeded to leave the shadows again. This was his first encounter with the future Wolverine and Sabretooth. 

A first encounter between man and beast.

Miles ignored a couple notifications sounding off inside his mind, carefully approaching the two brothers. It was a shame he couldn't talk in human tongue, he could only let out yips. He didn't yip during this moment, and just kept silent. 

"A...wolf?", James hesitated, before seeing a gray fox with tattered, white specks on its fur approach them. He didn't lunge forward immediately at Victor and James in hopes to catch easy prey since they were humans. The two saw Miles take a couple steps before his approach stopped. Victor and James remained on guard, seeing the gray fox before them not take another step.

"No. A stray wolf sighting is much more rare in these parts of Cold Lake. Plus their pelts are much thicker. Look, the fur on its body is much fluffier. A wolf's tail doesn't get that thick either. And see how wary it is of us? Get lost, beast!", Victor growled at Miles.

Miles remained wary, especially after he saw Victor brandish his elongated nails at him. Wolves wouldn't hesitate to attack humans, especially if they were preying on them due to hunger, but Miles was a fox. He was a much more wary animal as Victor had just stated.

Miles knew he had to play this right. This was his only chance to bring the Wolverine to his side. If he lost him now, he wouldn't have such an easy chance to locate him in the coming future.

Miles also knew he couldn't take several moments to get the details of each human present before him, so he went with who he thought was the most dangerous one, and decided to note his details down for later. Once Observe activated, it definitely shocked him.

[Status Window]

Name: Victor Logan

Race: Homo Superior

Age: 14/???

A male human born out of poverty. Often gets beaten by his father, Thomas Logan, due to lack of companionship after his mother passed away. Victor is often vengeful and feels rage, but has a hard time putting his feelings into action. Due to a mishap with the Howlett Family, Victor had already awakened his X-Gene. Contrary to his outward expressions, Victor treats James Howlett as his only family, and is very overprotective of his younger brother.

Level: 25/25

Health: 25000/25000

Stamina: 15000/15000

Strength: 2000 Endurance: 3000

Agility: 1000 Luck: 100

CRIT: 100% CRIT RES: 100%

Attack Damage: 8000 Toughness: 12000

[Skills]

 -Superhuman Strength, Superhuman Endurance. Delayed Aging. Healing Factor. Superhuman Luck. Superhuman Senses.

[Attacks]

 -Bone Claws. Nail Strike. Rampage. Berserk.

'Holy stats...', Miles inwardly cursed again, seeing such an inflation of stats compared to the Goose Leader he had fought some months ago. Miles wondered if he found a wolf, would it be around half of Victor's current stats?

Miles only had around 350 Strength, while Victor was over five times that. And his Endurance was even higher. Unlike Wolverine who boasted Agility, Sabretooth had much higher defenses. It made sense that Endurance was Victor's highest stat.

Miles took another moment to do a mental calculation. 'If everything lined up, I could only deal around 60% to Victor if I went all out. It looks like he has some damage and toughness multipliers like I do too. I don't know if his Skills can further improve that...', Miles thought.

Miles shuddered. Victor was only Level 25 too. Imagine if he faced Victor when he was Level 100 or higher. He didn't even know if his system could get that high. To say the least, the disparity was high between them.  He was not confident enough to take Victor down in one blow. If he launched his attack, Victor could very well go on a rampage, striking Miles down in a mere two or three blows. The potential reward wasn't worth the risk!

So Miles could only do what he originally intended to do, follow the guidelines of his active Mission. It only stated that he had to persuade Wolverine. He didn't have to attack the main characters of the world he was brought into.

Miles's eyes remained fixed on Victor, who was releasing low growls one after another, not taking a step backwards. He was instead blocking James with his own body no less. Just doing this action alone surprised both James and Rose. They hadn't a clue Victor would react like this.

Sure, a fox was far less threatening than a wolf or a bear, but Miles was still considered a wild animal with his new appearance. He wasn't a full-fledged adult fox yet, but his size was enough to be taken for one. He was around three feet now.

Miles tested the waters, and took a step out of the shadows, stepping closer to the trio. This caused Victor to flinch, letting his eyes land on Miles's spotty grey-white fur. It appeared very fluffy and he saw a tail sticking out of his backside. His jade-green eyes stared directly at Victor, as if Miles stared directly into his soul. He was unwavering, as was Victor.

"Stay back, beast!", Victor urged again. His blood started pumping through his veins. He wasn't sure whether this fox was currently out hunting, but from Victor's view, Miles was close enough to see him clearly.

'It really is a shame I can't speak in human tongue right now, perhaps in the future, but hopefully this will do the trick. I am similar to Victor and James. We all share claw-like abilities in some form or fashion. This should be enough...', Miles wondered.  

To Victor's surprise, Miles remained where he stood, and didn't advance. Rose remained panicked as she couldn't see well in the dark, but Miles's next action was clear to both Victor and James. All Miles did was reach one of his paws outward. Shhhiing!

The two heard a sound of metal being torn to shreds, causing the two to get distracted. Or more specifically, their eyes wandered downard to where Miles's stretched paw was now. The two saw bone-like claws very similar to theirs, except Miles's claws were wrapped in a golden hue. It was obvious that Miles's claws weren't normal.

"What in god's name...?", Victor cursed, seeing the grey fox brandish his claws before them. Victor didn't feel any hostility from the fox. His eyes stuck to the fox's claws like glue. They were both similar to Victor's elongated nails, and James's claws that were now back inside his fists. James couldn't help but look down at his fist in response to seeing the fox do this.

James then looked back at Victor.

"...I think this creature is like us, brother.", James uttered softly. Victor snapped his head, and his breathing became heavy, staring right into James's eyes again.

"Now's not the time to crack jokes, Jimmy. That's a wild beast. Snap out of it!", Victor yelled at James. Yet James proceeded to ignore Victor despite feeling a hard press on his shoulder from Victor's hands grasping onto it. James took in a deep breath, and shrugged Victor off. Steadying himself, James took a courageous step, and proceeded toward Miles. 

"Master James, don't!", Rose tried to interject, but Victor was equally surprised as he didn't see James ever become this determined before. Victor held off Rose by the hand, and decided to wait and see what James would do to the gray fox now within sight...