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Werewolves lurk after dark, they're nothing different from Vampires, aside from the fact that they feed on blood like Vampires do, unlike Elves who roam under the daylight and hide in their cocoons at darkfall. Despite that, Werewolves and Vampires have on thing in common, one of their ways to consume, is to feed on human or monsters' bodies, aside from gaining energy, they also absorb their genetics and fuse them with their own, allowing them to gain the skills and abilities that their food possesses. These significant characteristics are mostly shown on deep-forest monsters, for example, Werewolves, and other carnivores monsters.
This night, an extraordinary Werewolf with a kind heart and care for others, rescued an injured human from a giant green snake, the Basilisk, one of the Emperors of the deep-forests, who almost got eaten. The poison of the Basilisk was already spreading through the human's body, he won't be able to survive for any longer, and there was no way to detoxify him in the forests, neither does the human world have. The Werewolf laid him against the tree and gazed at him as he barely tried to grasp for breath only to live a second longer.
The half-dead human, huffed, raising his head as his eyes met the Werewolf's, his dried lips moved, sound barely coming out from it. "..." He raised a hand with half of his life and beckoned for the Werewolf to come closer. "...Come..."
The Werewolf leaned closer to the human as he kneeled down beside the dying man, with a hand on his knee. "Don't talk, I will think of a way to save you." He frowned, holding the hand of the man as he huffed slowly but heavily.
"It's okay...Even at the last moment, I'm glad to have met a nice monster like you..." The human smiled, heavy eyebags hung from his lower eyelids. "Listen... I heard that deep-forest monsters can merge with the genes that they consume... right? Does the toxic of the snake affect you?"
The Werewolf nodded, silently. "We can, and the poison of the Basilisk would be neutralized once it enters our body." After a while, the Werewolf gazed up at him again. "What are you implying, human?" His claws touched the hands of the man, curling around it.
"Eat me." Said the man, in a sad tone as he smiled half-heartedly. "...And replace me as a student of the worldwide University, to protect that one person I cared for the most..." He stopped for a heavy breath. "...You'll know, when you have my memories." He winced, covering his wound with his hand. The Werewolf watched as the face of the man flushed white, losing colour.
"Why should I?" The Werewolf frowned, touching the cold hands of the dying human with his. "Who is the one that you cared for the most?" After a while, he asked, talking the man's hand, placing his snout on it as he closed his eyes. The way that the man looked like made it hard for him to refuse his request, or order.
"Her name..." Huffed the man, his head drooping, feeling the remaining strength in his body draining away. "is...." But before he could ever finish, his last breath took his soul away, leaving his body with eyes half-open, gazing softly at the Werewolf.
"Aiko."
He approached the him, opening his jaws, swallowing the dead man piece by piece. As time passes, he looked more and more like the lifeless human lying before him. Now, the Werewolf, had silky black short hair, long bangs, with strands of white dropping from the top of his head. His wolf snout shortened into the nose and mouth of a human, with exact same facial features as the dead man. The only thing that hadn't change, was the fact that his wolf ears were still standing on his head, and the slit pupils carved within his now navy blue eyes. He gazed down at his claws, which was now five fingers with short nails like a humans'.
I shouldn't be doing this.
He stood up, carrying the body of the dead human in his arms, surveying the depths of the forest and making sure no one was there to see him. With his now naked human body, barefooted, he stepped into the deep forests, leaving the pool of blood staining the tree behind.
The Werewolf reached a giant tree standing erect in the middle of a large ring of blue rose bushes, the heart and core of the whole forest. He placed the human down, beside the tree, and watched as it curled its' vines around the dead body. The Brightwing Tree will bring blessings to his soul and allow his body to stay safe forever, and that's the greatest thing the Werewolf could've ever done for him. He knelt down before the tree and placed a hand on the dead man's cheek, caressing him softly, gazing deeply at him.
Thank you, and goodbye.
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Story begins
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Aiko brushed her bangs backwards, her gaze sharp like blades through the dim lights of her bathroom. She felt real tired, after the battle she had with the monster, even through she made sure that she had plenty of rest after that. She heard someone's voice, someone who was good friends with her and Bondo before the last semester break, someone who was rumored to be lost after heading into the deep forests.
Someone who liked her.
A splash of freezing clear water crashed Aiko's face, sending water droplets everywhere, damping her shirt and hair. She looked up, her reflection in the mirror stared back at her. An early morning had she just taken her bath, there is about an hour before her first class session. She cannot let her memories get the any better of her, focusing on her studies and succeeding as the best is all that she wanted to do and have to do, for the sake of her single mother.
There were times when she wanted to ask her mother about her father and why would he abandon them in the first place, but seeing mothers expression every time they spoke about him made her unable to. Her mother looked like at the verge of crying one time when she blamed her father for not coming home, when she was still young and naive. From then on had she learned, not to mention her father ever again.
Aiko exited the bathroom, a white towel hanging over her neck, separating her wet hair from her shirt, treading towards the living hall. Her hand reached for the television controller laying on the coffee table beside the large comfy-looking sofa, switching on the television. The morning news was speaking about the monster incident that happened yesterday, but all of a sudden, a blood red title appeared on the giant screen.
"Death of the King"
Aiko paused, her eyes widened in disbelief. The King of the world, the only person that could balance the chaos between the human race and the Mirror monsters. If the King is dead, then what would happen to those people at the borders, who were barely surviving despite the balance of the King? She shuddered, unless a new King is chosen, else the world will descend into chaos, it's just a matter of few days, worser, a few hours time.
How did the King die? That's the problem, was he assassinated? Who would do that. Or was he killed by the Mirror monsters? That's likely impossible too, he had powerful rankers beside him, not to mention he is the most powerful person himself. Only one thing came to mind, the Blue Whale Corporation, nourishing extraordinary beings and have them be the most powerful in the world, the only humanity threat to humans. They are the enemy of the King, although they don't directly say it to the King's face, but deep down they're unhappy with the fact that the King is controlling the population of the Mirror monsters, and restraining them from roaming in the cities. Which makes them harder to find one for experiments, and they had to go all the way to finding a regular animal as a tool, reducing the powerful children that they're able to give birth to. And that could be the reason to why they are one of the suspects of killing the King.
It's close to sunrise, Aiko switched the television off and went to dry her hair before changing into her usual clothes for class. Passing by the mirror, in a split second, her reflection turned and looked at her, its' eyes flashed a vibrant parakeet-green, but Aiko hadn't notice it.
Urchin's prophecy flashed through her mind, "Until one day, the sun will fall and the blue moon will shadow across the world. Shall the next sun and their stars be found or the world shall submerge in eternal darkness."
"The blue moon, must've meant the Blue Whale Corporation..." Aiko thought, slipping into her shoes as she locked the door. "And the sun, it must be the King, the 'Sun of the Century'." She stopped at the lobby, waiting for the elevator to arrive. "Then who is the next 'sun'? How can we find them?" She tried looking for the answer in her brain, but it seemed like Urchin had never said a thing about the next King. "Tsk."
+
Aiko pushed open the heavy sliding doors and stepped into the classroom, a total silence hit her. Everyone wore either a worried or scared expression on their faces, some were sobbing in silence, no one dared to utter a single word. Aiko knew, the fact that the King is now dead, brought a heavy impact on the people of the kingdom, who all relied on him. Aiko, too, felt as if someone had threw her into a hole with no way out, but despite that, Urchin's prophecy still bugged her.
"Aiko!" Bondo's call for her broke the everlasting silence in the class. "Do you know what happened yesterday-"
"Yes, I watch morning news Bondo." Aiko snapped, before he could even finish. "But isn't it weird? To have left all of a sudden." She crossed her arms, gazing out from the window.
"I heard that he has been weak for quite some time, it was until yesterday midnight a clear-blue eyed black figure snuck into his quarters and bind him to death with Silk." Said Nanao, emerging from the crowd of silent girls at the corner of the classroom, her fiery-red hair seemed to be in a darker shade today.
"How'd you know?" Aiko frowned. "It's not like you work for the royal family or something."
"My father is a government, Aiko. The culprit took his own life next to the King. Several Silk users confirmed that it was a life-binding curse that attached the killer's life with the King's. And that's why the King died as soon as the killer took his own life." Replied Nanao in a worried tone.
Aiko did not reply, the word "Blue Whale Corporation" rang through her mind like a torn train. "It has to be them." She thought, walking to her seat at the corner, where the wild winds flipped the curtains, as the sun slowly rose from the horizon.
The new teacher for the third year in NUOR, knocked politely on the door before entering, with an armful of books and papers. He had hair in the shade of umber-brown shifting to tawny-brown at the tips, and eyes in seafoam-green covered under a pair of rectangular black glasses. The only thing standing out on him other than his eyes, was his attire, he wore shamrock-green robes tied together with a black tie, with a large white lab coat on the outside, Aiko could see vague shapes or serpent scales on his skin.
A Shapeshifter.
"Good morning, students." He smirked, revealing two snake-like fangs on either side, his eyes glinted as they met Aiko's. Aiko flinched, for a brief moment, she saw slit pupils in black within his eyes. "I will be your class teacher for the new year, my name, is Tsukuyomi Ryu." His smirk cracked into a cocky smile.
"What is a Shapeshifter doing here...?" Aiko mumbled, clenching her fists underneath the table. "High ranked Shapeshifters only appear in deep parts of the forests, where half-beasts and full-beasts exist. So why is he here, appearing as a human?" She frowned, biting her nails unconsciously. She moved her gaze from the table to the man at the stage below, he was writing letters on the blackboard, his fingernails were exceptionally long, and the tips of his slender fingers were adorned with barely visible green scales.
"Today, we will be talking about beasts." Tsukuyomi smiled, tapping on the blackboard as he finished, his green eyes reflecting every single student in the class. "Anyone knows the definition of these beings?" It was something that they hadn't learn before.
Surprisingly enough, someone raised their hand up high, it was unexpectedly Nanao. "Beasts are nothing different from animals, they come in all kinds. Beasts are divided into half-beast and full-beasts, they are able to absorb the genetics of the food they consume." Nanao said, gazing sharply at Tsukuyomi as she stood tall. "That is also where mutated monsters come from."
"Well said, well said." Tsukuyomi clapped his hands, grinning happily.
"Sometimes they have characteristics of mankind, even if they hadn't yet consume their genes." Aiko stood up. "These beings are almost the same as those who consumed human genetics, they're called..." She moved her sharp gaze at Tsukuyomi. "Shapeshifters."
Tsukuyomi sneered, gazing back at Aiko with his slanted eyes. He seems to be displeased, judging by Aiko's insult, that is. "That's correct also." After a while, he nodded reluctantly. "But it'd be best to not mention that term in front of others, might they actually be one of them."
"And that would be you." Aiko thought, sinking down into her seat as she glared at the man. "What can you even do? Transform and kill me?" She frowned, crossing her arms.
"Mr. Tsukuyomi's presence somehow feels ominous..." Bondo whispered to Aiko. "...It feels as if he is not human."
"Hush." Aiko snapped under her breath. "He might be able to hear you."
"Alright, let us begin today's lesson." Tsukuyomi clapped his hands for everyone's attention. He smiled as the whole class stared at him. "That's right. That's right" He nodded.
"So for today, as I've said just now, we will be talking on the topic about beasts." Tsukuyomi smirked. "Including about their weaknesses and strengths."
For the next few hours, Aiko spent her time listening to Tsukuyomi, while writing down whatever necessary. "A shapeshifter teaching us how to defeat beasts? What a joke." She scoffed, rolling her eyes.
+
"The lesson after recess will be a joint training together with the rest of the third year classes." Tsukuyomi closed the heavy book in his hands and placed it nicely on the long table next to him. "Be punctual." He said, waving his hand as he walked out of the classroom.
"Joint training?" Aiko slowly stood up from her seat, "It's a long time since we've done that." She folded her arms, staring at Tsukuyomi leaving.
"I heard sophomores used to have joint training with other divisions when they about the take on a task." Bondo replied, following behind Aiko as they headed towards the cafeteria in the west main building. "Do you think they're going to send us out for a mission?"
"Perhaps." Aiko slapped her student card on the identification device beside the sliding door leading to the west building. "But it wouldn't be a good idea to, since we've never directly fight those monsters alone before." She shrugged.
"I mean, WE technically did." Bondo pointed out.
Aiko returned him with a fierce glare, "Do not ever speak of that incident." She snapped. "Students are not supposed to fight monsters unless being sent on a mission, that is a rule we can never afford to break." She jabbed a finger on Bondo's chest, irritated. "Do not ever let the cat out of the bag, Bondo." She warned.
"...Got it." Bondo muttered, backing away. He had never seen Aiko that angry before. "What... happened to you?" He hesitated, eyeing Aiko cautiously.
"Nothing happened." Aiko replied, "We have half an hour to finish lunch." She strode into the cafeteria, frowning unhappily.
"It's clear then." Bondo thought, "There's definitely something bothering her, but it must to be something she couldn't share."
+
Aiko pushed open the door leading to the east building rooftop and stepped in, with Bondo following behind. The joint training, based on Tsukuyomi, will be held in one of the largest empty spaces of the school, the rooftop of the east building. About three separate teams had already been there when the duo arrived.
"We're early." Bondo remarked, gazing around in awe. "I wonder what are we going to do today..." He spun Silk on his fingers and played around with it, glowing faint blue. "Gaining full control over large amount of Silk is hard."
"Do not play with it." Aiko tapped on his shoulder. "You would never know when you need it in emergency situations." She muttered under her breath, but she was sure Bondo heard it. "But you have a point, it's because our ranks are not high enough." She crossed her arms as Bondo retracted his Silk. "Even if we work hard, there's no guarantee that we can rise up to high ranks."
"Isn't it unfair?" Bondo scoffed, agreeing with Aiko's words. "That those born with talent can achieve their dreams easily while those who that weren't, fails to even touch their dreams."
"..." Aiko did not reply.
Bondo unsheathed his sword and swung it a few times, the word "Time" carved on it glowed faintly. "I hope- I really hope, one day I can become a swordsmaster." He touched the blade of the sword as he spoke. "Aiko, spar with me." He pointed the tip of his sword at Aiko.
Aiko levered her right hand and with a bright glow of spring green, she summoned a wooden sword with Silk, one of her weapons, made with the planks of the Overworld Tree, engraved with the name "Warden". "I will not go easy on you." She narrowed her eyes at Bondo. "No Silk-using allowed." She added.
Two swords clashed with each other, silver sparks and wooden flakes flew from the collision. Bondo sliced the wooden sword into half by altering his sword body to a perfect angle, he thought he would win that easily, but what's unexpected, Aiko's wooden sword regrew itself. Warden, the wooden sword with the ability to connect with nature and regrow it's broken parts to make a fine new sword, each break makes it even stronger than before. Aiko smirked, she dashed towards him and swung her sword at his. With angle and grace, the hit was enough to make Bondo's sword fly from his hands and vanish back into his blood with a soft sparkle of blue.
"That's... unexpected." He mumbled, staring at his trembling hands.
"Do not underestimate the power of nature." Aiko scoffed, melting her sword back into her veins. She clenched her fists and released them. The aftereffects of wielding a sword higher than her level is more severe than she thought, that was also the reason why she rarely uses Warden.
"Did you really not use any Silk?" Bondo raised an eyebrow, doubting. "That hit was... awesome." He rubbed his aching fingers.
"No." Aiko replied. "That was an A-rank weapon passed down from my mother."
"An A-rank...?" Bondo's eyes widened. "But you're just..."
"I know. That's why I don't use it much." Aiko interrupted before he could finish.
She knew better than anyone, the aftereffects of using a weapon or artifact of a higher rank than themself, it was arduous to endure. Some simple cases are the hands feeling numb, but if one were to really overuse the high-ranked weapon for a long period of time, they would lose control of themselves and sunk completely under the backlash of the weapon's power. They will feel like their souls are being torn apart forcefully, but on the outside, no one would see anything wrong.
"..." Bondo glanced at Aiko. "Whichever it was, you must have your reasons." He muttered.
"What?" Aiko was so deep in thought to the point she didn't hear what Bondo was talking about. "Pardon? I didn't quite catch that."
"...It's nothing." Bondo smiled briefly. "Let's go, they're gathering." He turned to leave.
"All rankers present, gather!" The teacher holding a speaker shouted, waving his hands high up in the air so that the students could see him.
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Vocabulary
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Brightwing Tree ~ One of the saplings of the World Tree, featuring LumiSilk.
Shapeshifter ~ Beasts / Half-beasts that can transform into human