CHPT 149: Got you.

"Son of a bitch! Those things bite hard!" Claude suddenly said as his adrenaline rush faded and the bite on his shoulder began to scream in pain.

"[Your body's probably fighting off the infection right now.]" Arne replied as the Wolves jogged over to Claude.

"Infection....that's right. Both Kobolds and Lizardmen have septic bites. Will I be alright?" Claude asked while he cautiously touched the armor over his wound that gushed with thick red blood.

"[Yes. It's only one bite. Your body will burn it up in due time. Just make sure to eat after tonight's run.]"

"Right." Claude replied as he looked over the corpses in the clearing.

The Kobolds seemed to come in with no plan other than to fight hard. Fortunately the Wolves fought harder.

Before he knew it, his attention was pulled back to the massacred remains of the Raider camp. The damage done to the area obviously wasn't done by Kobolds— at least not the ones he fought. The rips and spilled blood was almost nightmarish. The medium sized Kobolds had a capacity for violence— but this didn't feel like them to him.

"[Talk to me. Why don't you think it was the Kobolds?]" Arne asked in response to Claudes earlier assumptions.

He walked over to the Kobold he recently killed and took its weapon before walking back to the camp.

The rusted Morningstar he was holding was nothing like the spilled weapons around the camp. "Kobolds are crafty. If they ran through here they would have stolen the better weapons instead of keeping their beaten and rusted ones right?" He asked.

"[Thats true. Very true. But if this means something else is in this forest with the Kobolds— then it's something that may have an agenda because it seems to be choosing its battles. That's bad news Claude, whatever is in here or has been through here is intelligent and that makes it far more dangerous.]"

Claude thought over what Arne was saying, considering the possibility that there was something in the forest or just outside of it that was ferocious enough to completely obliterate the Raiders and smart enough to choose not to kill the Kobolds.

"Shape-Shifter?" He thought out loud.

Before Arne could answer, his ears twitched at the sound of string being pulled tightly behind him. The Wolves seemed to hear it as well because he heard them spin around and face the forest behind them.

Twip!

He moved instinctively and lunged to the side just as an arrow cut across the leather armor covering his arm.

He got up hearing the Wolves snarling in front of him towards the forest that the first batch of Kobolds came from.

In the distance, deeper inside the dark and thick greenery, he could see them. Numerous small shadows running and jumping through the dark. He could hear them snarling and snapping at him angrily while they continued hiding their numbers by running back and forth in the dark.

Another sound of a bowstring being pulled hit his ears, causing him to move without thinking again just as an arrow sailed past his shoulders.

This time when he landed he was quickly moving again to the forest on the opposite side of the Kobolds.

"Split up and attack from both sides! Frosty go with Shadow!" He said to the Wolves before they split and started running through the forest towards the Kobolds from both sides.

While he ran into the forest behind them, his mind raced to think of what to do about the Kobold with a bow.

"I need something to cancel it's range advantage quickly. Come on think!" He said just as he was approaching the Raiders camp.

His eyes fell on the spilled rack of weapons that covered the floor in front of one of the tents.

"Perfect."

He immediately found the solution to his problem laying in the grass reflecting the light of the stars off its shining silver blade.

"[Hmm. A spear. Are you sure you'll be accurate in the dark?]" Arne asked.

"Only one way to find out." He replied before sheathing his short sword and picking up the weapon.

He spun the weapon in his hands as verdant sparks ignited his eyes into green balls of fire. The darkness would be no problem.

The remains of the camp were behind him in seconds and not much later, trees and bushes surrounded him as he entered the forest.

As soon as he entered the area, he turned and made his way towards the sound of angry Kobolds.

He leapt over thick collections of bushes and slid under low branches at impressive speeds until he could see three of his Wolves fighting with the Kobolds brave enough to approach them.

A bowstring being pulled in front of him yanked his attention from the Wolves to the Kobold behind them that held a longbow made of tree branches and string. It's hungry orange slitted eyes honed in on Frosty with deadly focus.

Without thinking, he switched the way he held his spear and pulled it back behind his head before launching it in the direction of the archer.

FWOO!

The spear left his hands at intense speeds and whistled through the forest like a silver lightning bolt before it abruptly sunk into the tree above the archers head. The Kobolds in front of it didn't even have time to react.

THUNK!

"FUCK!" Claude cursed as the wood splitting crash of the spear silenced the— once ferocious looking Kobolds.

Even though he missed, the action showed the level of power he had access to in a split second. They immediately realized if they got hit with a throw like that, they'd get pinned to one of the trees in the forest without a doubt and die slowly.

In seconds, the Kobolds farthest away from the portion of forest Claude was in, fled. The ones that faced the Wolves tried to run, only for their ankles to get caught in their jaws and broken with little effort.

Claude's Prey Drive jolted him into action before he had any say in the matter. He was immediately jumping over the fallen Kobolds being overcome by Frosty and the Phantom Wolves and running after the other reptilian creatures that succumbed to their fear with his spear in hand.

He followed the scent of fear like a shark following a trail of blood in a sea of midnight blackness, the only thing to light the dark forest being his eyes and the stars. With every step, his body grew, his senses sharpened and his instincts strengthened.

By the time he reached the first Kobold, there was no more plan. No more rational thoughts. Only instincts and urges.

The spear in his right hand was immediately ignored as he gripped the back of the closest Kobolds head with his left and mashed it into the closest tree.

FWOO!

CRSSHH!

[+30 EXP]

It's snout caved into its face until he could see its jaws and teeth from where he stood behind it. Bright red blood splattered onto the tree bark and brought with it a memory of a time when he'd seen blood before in such a large quantity.

Tai's bloodied and broken face floated into his mind, reminding him of when they first met after being changed. Back then, the enemy Lupine blood threatened to make him go wild. The Kobolds blood was having a similar effect.

He snarled loudly and slammed the creatures face into the tree a final time before letting its body fall into a heap at the base of the tree and leaving to do something similar to the rest.

A cool wind blew through the forest as he ran, ruffling the trees and the light sheen of shining black fur sprouting from his face. It also brought a large wave of the Kobolds fear to him.

He was on them again in no time.

The closest one had no chance to dodge since none of them heard him approach.

Fwoo—

SHCK!

He finished the first one by jumping into the air and jabbing his spear into the creature's scaled back. He felt no resistance from the weapon cutting through skin and bone and withdrew the spear before he hit the ground.

Shlck!

[+30 EXP]

By the time the corpse hit the ground, his eyes were already locked on the next target.

With a low growl he reached out and wrapped his hand around the running Kobolds throat. The one next to it tried to speed up.

Woo!

SHCK!

"RAAAAAK!" The Kobold roared in pain as his spear punched into the back of its leg and came bursting through the front.

Shlck!

He withdrew his weapon from its hamstring/quad and leg swept it to the floor.

The one he held in his left hand swung backwards, it's nails split his skin and ripped off his mask.

"HSS!"

Swip!

[78% HP Remaining. (273/350)]

Claude's cloth mask fell to the ground in a shredded mess, revealing his semi-transformed face. His jaws bulged under his skin and his pointed ears twitched in response to every sound made in the forest. Short black fur ran along his jawline and covered the sides of his face all the way up to his eyes like an odd form of war paint.

He growled wildly at the Kobolds as they collected themselves, realizing they had no choice but to fight.

The first to attack was the Kobold with the hole in its leg. It hissed loudly before trying to run him through with its short sword.

Woo!

"RAGH!" Claude snarled as he sidestepped to the left and used his built up momentum to swipe at its face.

SHLCK!

He felt his claws run through skin and catch on bone before it stumbled backwards into a tree with three jagged lines running across its nose.

The next Kobold came in swinging at his face again.

FWO—ck!

Claude caught its hand and pulled the hissing monster onto his spear violently. Before he could finish the job, he heard the Kobold he just knocked into a tree nearby closing in behind him.

Shlck!

He yanked the spear out of his current opponent's stomach and dropped to a low crouch just as a clawed reptilian hand cut through the air above him.

Woo!

While the Kobold stumbled forward, he leg-swept it again with his spear causing it to fall face first in the dirt.

As soon as it hit the ground, he explosively leapt off the ground and threw his spear down at the Kobold on the floor.

WOOM!

SHCK!

The spear closed the distance in an instant and stapled the creature to the dirt.

[+60 EXP]

He didn't check to see if the two were dead after he pulled the spear out of the ground and took off.

[+120 EXP]

[You have Leveled up! You are now Level 14!]

[+1 Skill Point]

Claude received the notification just as he was approaching the remaining three Phantom Wolves, Ashe, Onyx, and Cali.

They were surrounded by a weakened circle of Kobolds armed with swords and daggers. The creature's ankles and thighs were lined with leaking bite wounds and scratches.

Claude continued running and joined in on the fight, immediately gaining the upper hand by running his spear through two Kobolds.

SHCK! SHCK!

[+60 EXP]

The remaining enemies were killed by the Phantom Wolves in a flash of smoke and teeth.

[+90 EXP]

The remains of the Kobolds littered the ground he stood on as he silently listened to the sounds of the forest.

"[Claude, are you with me? What are you doing?]" Arne asked.

"None of the Kobolds had bows. It's still here, I can smell it." Claude thought in reply due to the difficulty of speaking.

Among the faint panting breaths of the Wolves around him, he could hear the slight sound of a string being pulled and wood straining to the right of him.

Green energy flowed from his free hand as he turned to face the sound. He raised his hand towards the dark outline of the crouching figure.

"Got you." Claude growled as the branches of the trees it stood in front of lengthened and reached for the Kobold like bark covered tendrils.

In record time, the branches coiled and tightened around the creature, strapping it in place with nowhere to go.

"RRRRAAAAASSSSS!!!!!" The Kobold cried out one final time. It's hissing roar leveled across the area and echoed for an incredible distance.

"No more running." Claude said before launching his spear at the enemy.

TWOO!

SPLSH!

The spear hit it straight in its head and killed it instantly.

[+30 EXP]

***

A few minutes later, Claude emerged with a bloodied spear in his right hand and the Wolves walking closely behind him. Reptilian blood pinked their teeth and saliva.

He couldn't help but continue thinking about the Kobolds final scream. His ears still stung from it.

"What a horrific sound." He said once his teeth were back to normal.

After reaching the clearing again all he could hear was his feet faintly crunching over the grass and the sound of wind blowing behind him.

He froze after noticing the rhythmic sound of wind blowing was getting closer by the second.

"RRRRAAAGHHH!"

He spun around and looked to the source of the noise.

A hundred or so feet above him, a large pair of bat-like wings carried a dark scaled body through the night sky with silent power, sending large gusts of wind towards the ground with every swooping flap of its wings.

The monsters cold purple eyes reminded him of Samuel for a moment before it roared again and snapped him out of his hateful trance.

The creature's large wings blooted out the stars as it suspended itself in the air, only allowing Claude to see its glowing eyes.

Suddenly he heard a familiar sound from the creature.

Twip!

Shlck!

"ARGH!"

The arrow cut across his arm before he had time to react,

"Come on. Get back to the forest!" Claude yelled as he led the Wolves to cover.

Once inside, he was able to relax under the sound of the creature's giant flapping wings. He couldn't help but wonder one thing while stray arrows cut through the trees and sunk into the ground nearby.

"Arne, what the fuck is that?!"

"[Its an Urd. In other words, a much stronger Kobold with wings!]"