Hyeon's Awakening...Sort Of

He was going into shock as the predator waited for his life to end. Fenrir's wolf was probably waiting for him to die so he could eat his soul; something that it desired since the beginning.

The freezing downpour soaked him to the bone. That's not an understatement since rain seeped into his open wound where Fenrir chewed into his shoulder. Was his arm even attached anymore?

Hyeon was too drained to put up a fight against his animal spirit. If he wanted to stay alive, there was no other option.

It waited for an answer.

Before giving in, Hyeon weakly laughed to himself, *It's not like you asked for my permission last time.*

He went limp.

After a few moments passed, the canine let go. Hyeon's maimed body fell to the flooded grass. He was still breathing. Once satisfied there was some life left in him, Fenrir's size grew larger to gulp him down more easily.

Technically, the body doesn't need to be eaten to consume its soul, but the wolf's instinctual drive was over-stimulated to distinguish between the two. His wide jaws with dripping, hot saliva were about to chomp into the prey's head...

...When Hyeon's good arm struck out to squeeze the bridge of Fenrir's nose.

"What big teeth you have," he said. The hand gripping Fenrir's muzzle steamed from becoming scalding hot. The wolf howled and stumbled away. His paw rubbed at the nasal area. Multiple strikes of lightning lit up the sky.

Hyeon sat up and examined the injuries on his upper torso. Deep holes penetrated his back and pectoral muscles. The internal damage was going to be a problem. By the feel of it, there was a dislocated shoulder, a nicked artery, and most likely a punctured lung. With his weakened state, he wasn't strong enough to heal as fast as he'd like.

He clenched his teeth together and made a "TCH!" sound in annoyance.

"In the future, you shouldn't be so violent against this body. The poor thing is going to suffer later." He casually stood, not noticing the blood loss and mangled pain.

Fenrir circled him from afar to study his foe.

Hyeon nodded at him. "Fenrir, grandson of Odin. It has been quite a while to talk properly."

Fenrir snarled.

"Ah, right. I suppose you wouldn't remember me before being confined here, but that's probably for the best. Do you mind if we discuss the corrupted and unnatural program you started? I'd rather not quarrel at this particular point in time."

At the words, Fenrir's size increased to resemble a semi-truck. Smoke rolled off his fur. The back of his throat glowed yellow like a dragon about to shoot a belly full of fire. He lowered his haunches into attack mode before breaking into a barreling run at Hyeon.

"Ugh," he groaned at his failure to communicate. "My apologies, little half-human. This might cause you to sleep for a long period since you aren't ready to accept me yet."

He looked at the raging sky above and sucked in a big breath.

A surge of fire swelled inside of him.

BOOM!

_______________

[Shika's POV]

The trio watched the confrontation from a garden veranda. They were far enough to not get caught in the scuffle.

The centipede spirit, who remained nameless, rocked back and forth on the moist, tiled floor while singing children's lullabies to himself.

Sani and Shika were standing behind the new servant. They saw Hyeon talking to Master Fenrir, but the storm drowned out the discussion. Shika noted Hyeon's dire condition. The poor guy was always getting hurt.

"Shouldn't we step in?"

"No," Sani ordered.

Fenrir and Hyeon were obviously not in the best shape, but they could still harm each other. If people could gamble on this match, everyone would place their money on the wolf.

*I can't let this go on, knowing the outcome.*

Shika started to leave the veranda, but Sani pulled him back forcefully.

"I said no!"

Something wasn't sitting right with Shika. Sani was known to the Navajo as Áłtsé Hashké, or Coyote to outsiders. Why wasn't such an influential figure trying to keep the peace?

Nothing about it made sense. To do these initiations, an agreement was established with Mount Olympus and other big-league deities-there would be a witness. To stop the wolf from losing control like it did today, the witness should be someone with an equal or higher power to Fenrir. If this rule was broken, the gods would end Festr Castle without hesitation.

Master Fenrir would never risk that.

So who was the witness?

Shika thought about Sani's incompetence to subdue Master Fenrir in the gymnasium, who was already present when he and Hyeon arrived. Earlier, he thought it was fishy how Sani told Hyeon, who has zero real-combat experience, to walk to his likely death.

Then it clicked.

"Y-you were there to help with this demon's induction. I don't understand. Why didn't you help the Lord repress his animal when he needed your assistance?"

Sani didn't look at Shika. "Well, aren't you a smart cookie. I needed to confirm my suspicions. To do that, an extreme situation was required."

"To confirm what?"

BOOM!

There was a minor explosion. The blazing heat from the burst reached where they stood. Shika covered his face to protect himself. Centipede squealed and rolled into a ball. Sani didn't move an inch despite his glasses being blown off.

After a fit of coughing, it dumbfounded Shika to see Sani with an insane grin. His normally high-class manager had a mischievous but excited look in his eyes. He grasped his rust-colored hair and giggled like a kid who got the latest gaming console for Christmas.

"YES, I KNEW it! Everyone said it was impossible for them to return! His form isn't complete but this changes EVERYTHING!" Sani exclaimed and gleefully punched the air.

Shika squinted at the explosion's source. The torrent of ash made it difficult to see through. Hyeon's outline was barely detectable except for his small pair of fiery wings. They were a beacon of light amidst the chaos. The sparks that once erupted from his palms were now flickering with flames.

The soul energy emitting from him was overwhelming. Is this what the Lord sensed when Hyeon first arrived in the southern lights?

Sani spoke softly at the scene unfolding, "The phoenix awakens."