Unlike popular belief, transformation wasn't an ability. It was merely a change in the structure of genes and cells that allowed the user to unleash the true potential of their body. That's why, even if his mana links were clogged by something, Ashton could still use transformation to gain an upper hand in the fights.
"I don't care about you and your dirty tricks." Ashton coldly mumbled as his body began changing rapidly, "But I will take you down, no matter the price I have to pay."
Ashton grew bigger and wider. Although he wanted to trigger complete transformation straight from the beginning, ultimately he decided against it. A full zompirewolf transformation would alert Darjud and he could come up with plans to defeat him by observing the others fighting.
For now, Ashton decided to start things off with partial werewolf transformation and as the duels would progress and the difficulty would increase, he would increase the mutation accordingly.