Chapter 63: CHPT 63: Suspicions
CRACK!!
***
After Claude hit Drake, he quickly dropped the snake and it slithered away defiantly to the side of its defeated partner. He looked at his arms in surprise realizing he just swung a 250+ lb snake without thinking twice about it, he seriously hoped everyone attributed it to him using his (Beast Trait) skill.
He stood in the grass at the edge of the barrier looking at Drake who lay unconscious in the grass when Prof. Callista rushed to his aide and immediately started to use healing magic on his injuries.
During this time, he noticed the crowd wasn't completely silent. At first it was— as he expected, but eventually the sound of clapping repeatedly broke the collective quiet of the entire field.
*CLAP....*
*CLAP.....*
*CLAP....*
"LETS GO CLAUDE!!!!....you had me scared there for a second. BUT YOU ENDED IT WELL!!!! WOOHOO!!" Warren yelled across the field.
Claude turned to face the students and noticed him at the front clapping happily with Ursula at his side. The rest of the students looked at the two supporters of Claude with disdain and contempt.
Claude met eyes with Ursula and noticed how she looked at him, she wore a crude mixture of multiple facial expressions including; fear, confusion, suspicion and sadness. They came in uneven waves as if she was thinking over various things while looking at him.
He suddenly felt extremely exposed under her gaze as she looked from his leg to his face, when she looked there the expression of fear became dominant from his new appearance. He couldn't help but realize how painfully aware she was of how much he changed in that moment.
Quickly looking away, he found Isaac staring at him with an expression similar to the rest of the students.
"Poisonous fangs? That's.....scary." He said.
"Yea....i....uhhh..I think it's because my (Beast Trait) skill is a higher level than his. The increase in level must mean I take more traits from the animal." Claude said in reference to why Drake didn't also have fangs.
Isaac nodded his head thoughtfully before speaking again, "if you were a Beast Tamer this whole time, then why don't you have a....well a beast with you?"
"He's why.." Claude said while pointing at Drake before continuing, "Him and the rest of them."
Isaac was immediately confused at Claude's response, until he remembered how the students cheered when he was being crushed and the rumors about him. "They're purposely holding information.." he realized, suddenly his belief in Claude being a good mannered individual was revitalized and any previous doubt was more or less extinguished in that moment.
Isaac exhaled calmly and a small smile broke out on his previously stunned face.
"..Yea, alright. He got what was coming to him then." He said as he stood next to Claude.
Claude took a moment to understand what Isaac meant. But eventually he knew, Isaac understood. The first to understand since Warren and Ursula.
"Anyway, we got a nice win. Let's see if we can do it again." Isaac said.
Claude nodded without responding and rolled his shoulders anxiously as he thought about his next opponents.
"Dude.....don't leave me hanging in front of all these people." Isaac said.
Claude looked at him confusedly before he noticed his fist was outstretched to him.
"Oh.....Right." He said as he bumped fists with him.
***
"Well....that was an intense ending. But, now that Drake and Venom have been defeated, the Mob they faced will be the new survivors..." Prof. Brennan said before continuing, "The new Mob will be....James....Patrick and..hmmm...Rhyan!"
Claude watched as an auburn haired boy in light armor walked onto the field, he led his brown and blond haired partners— who looked to be two Knights, confidently. His hands began to steam as he sized up his opponents.
"Ahhhh, a fellow fire user." Isaac said with growing excitement.
Prof. Raizen waited for the three students to get to their spots on the field before talking. "Now. Before the next fight begins, Claude, Isaac would you like to use your one heal now? Or do you think you can endure another round?"
"C-Claude??" Prof. Callista said from behind Claude and Isaac.
His head turned slightly and he noticed the bewildered look on Prof. Callista's face as she helped Drake up from the ground.
***
She didn't recognize him at all. He seemed to change drastically in all aspects and somehow looked angrier.
"C-Claude....how?"
She felt her heart stop for a moment after she watched him turn his head in response as if he heard her. She was at least twenty feet away and she whispered it....while the Professor was talking. "There's no way he heard me." She told herself.
She suddenly began to replay the previous fight in her head— now knowing it was Claude who fought. The same Claude that used to get tossed around by Samuel and Tai only a few weeks ago. She couldn't help but think, if that were to happen now, it would probably end differently.
Watching him pace around on the field while staring at the new Mob like a caged animal, she found herself thinking about how she used to fear the idea of him getting true power, looking at him now told her he may have gotten a piece of it. The question was how?
***
"No" Claude said in response to Prof. Raizen's question.
"Alright. Mob, are you ready?"
"Yes, sir."
"Isaac, Claude?"
"Ready, sir." They responded in unison.
"BEGINNNN!!"
***
"Claude and Isaac are yet again, victorious!" Prof. Brennan yelled as the match ended with Isaac shoulder charging Patrick multiple feet into the air and out of the barrier.
"Now that's what the hell I'm talking about!" He yelled to Claude as they bumped shoulders in a show of masculine celebration.
The fight didn't last long, but facing the three students proved difficult since they were all skilled swordsmen and James was especially talented with his fire element— even for an Elemental Mages standards.
Claude stood next to Isaac under the slowly setting sun, Isaac was breathing fairly heavily, he learned to copy him so he didn't raise suspicion about his level of physical fitness. Anybody would look at him oddly if they found out he wasn't all that tired after being partially bit by a snake, squeezed until he was unconscious and then faced off against two sword users.
His nostrils flared as the smell of burnt hair seeped into his nose. He looked down at the source of the smell and noticed the front of his leather shoulder guard was somewhat burned and letting off white trails of smoke. The sight reminded him of the beginning of the fight when he was almost pulverized by a giant fireball James sent at his head.
"Fire sucks." He thought while waving the smoke his shoulder guard was generating away from his face.
***
"Ursula if you don't start smiling soon I'm going to think you've joined the students in thinking the worst of Claude." Warren said to her as she stood next to him with her burly arms crossed at her chest.
"I'm happy, but I'm also confused."
"Go on.."
"Well....he...he got bit by a damn snake..." Ursula said.
"And look at him still going, what a warrior." Warren finished her sentence jokingly.
"You don't seem to understand. Julian was out a few seconds after the bite..." she said.
"Yea but it looked like Claude was barely bitten." Warren answered.
"Even if only a little poison entered his system, it still wouldn't make sense for him to be able to fight."
"Maybe it didn't bite him, I mean he moved pretty quick."
"Aren't you an Archer?" Ursula suddenly asked.
"Well, yea."
"Use your vision skill and check dammit." She said impatiently.
"Alright alright, relax." He said as his eyes began to glow yellow.
***
Claude suddenly felt the hairs on the right side of his body rise, for some reason he felt like he should look towards the crowd of students. As he did, he noticed Warren's bright yellow eyes focused on him. Once Warren realized he was caught, he quickly looked away and began to scratch his head like he got caught doing something he shouldn't.
Claude didn't understand the situation until he saw Ursula hovering over Warren saying something, he focused his hearing to better understand,
"Warren.....Warren!...what did you see...did the snake bite him or not?" She asked.
"[That's one smart girl.]" Arne said out of nowhere.
"You sure she's not just concerned with my well being?....hehe." Claude replied weakly.
"[Maybe....but right now, she suspicious of how you could continue to fight after having poison in your system. I'm surprised she seems to be the only one that noticed. Anyway, you need to be careful not to give her any more reason to be suspicious of you, I fear that she is a woman of action.]"
"Shit." He said under his breath.
A few minutes later, Prof. Brennan began to speak again, "Alright, before the next round begins would you two like to be healed now?" He asked Isaac and Claude.
"[I know what your thinking tough guy, just take the damn healing. It'll erase the evidence of the snake bite and get Ursula off your tail.]" Arne said.
"But then Prof. Callista will see that I've been fighting this long with it. I'm almost positive that after that, Det. Cyrene will find out.....if she hasn't already." He said with a shiver.
"[God dammit, that's a fair point. Ok once class ends— if you still haven't lost, you need to run to the showers and then head straight to your room.]"
"Right."
"No healing." Claude responded to the Professor.
Isaac looked to make no objections so Prof. Brennan began to pick students to make up the next Mob.
"Hmmmmm....who's next..." he said while walking up and down the line of students.
Claude noticed movement in the back as Prof. Brennan paced, it was Samuel, every person he walked behind cringed or outright shivered like they were expecting to be hit at any moment.
"What the hell are you up to?" Claude thought.
He soon learned what Samuel was planning when Prof. Brennan picked the first student.
"Ahhhhh yes, Lance..." he said and then walked off to choose another student. In doing so, he missed Samuel stealthily walking over to Lance. Once he was behind him, he gently placed a hand on Lance's shoulder and whispered something.
Claude's nostrils flared as a strong new scent of fear flowed onto the field. "They're trying to get selected." He realized.
"[It appears they've grown tired of waiting.]" Arne added.
"Good."
Lance suddenly stepped forward and spoke to the Professor.
"Excuse me Prof. Brennan, I can't go....uhhhh.....I'll take any punishment you have to offer, but I can't go this time. Sir." He said shakily while avoiding eye contact.
"Woah there, relax. I'll choose someone else I guess. But you won't get to do this again." He said.
After he failed to select three more students, Prof. Raizen confirmed his suspicions that Samuel was intimidating them into quitting so he would eventually be selected. He looked over to Samuels previous spot and saw Tai standing with a mischievous grin on his face. "You two....." he thought angrily. He began to approach Prof. Brennan to tell him about the situation when he was all but stopped by a low growl.
He turned to where the sound came from and saw Claude at the edge of the barrier closest to the students. He looked at Prof. Raizen with pure intensity.
"He must understand what's happening as well." He thought.
He looked from Samuel to him in confusion. In response Claude shook his head violently— his hair flung all over the place in the process. Prof. Raizen soon understood that Claude wanted the twins to tamper with the selection for the next Mob.
"God dammit. Of course he does...still, I can't let that happen." He told himself as he began to walk towards Prof. Brennan again.
"ggRRRR!"
Prof. Raizen spun around again, this time he was sure he heard a growl. But all he saw was Claude— who was now closer to him. Isaac stood behind him with an odd expression on his face.
"NO!" He mouthed angrily to Claude. Claude held his gaze with the same intensity as before, it looked like there was nothing in this world he wanted more than to let Prof. Raizen allow the twins to tamper with the selection.
"Fuck. You guys better not kill each-other." He thought as he stepped back to his previous position.
A couple minutes later, Prof. Brennan announced three students to become the next Mob, none of them fearfully objected....this was the first group to do so.
"Alright....the next group I chose better not cop out or everyone's running until their legs fall off!!" He yelled to the silent students before continuing, "Alright....let's see....Samuel...Drew....and Tai!"
Claude watched the twins happily walk onto the field flanked by a well dressed Beast Tamer. The trio looked like they probably all had a childhood showered in wealth and fortune. The twins stretched and joked around with each other while they waited for the match to begin.
Samuel wore a new set of silver and black knights armor with purple accents, he even got a new sword that somehow looked more expensive than the last. His brother wore a white hooded cloak with expensive brown leather armor underneath, his scepter was held tightly at his side.
"What class is Tai?" Claude asked.
"Uh, I heard he was a Cleric or something, one of those magical classes." Isaac said.
"That actually makes sense, considering how often he follows Samuel around and agrees with everything he says, I guess in a way he's been his supporter his whole life." He thought.
"If he's a Cleric, this may be more difficult than I thought." Claude told Isaac.
A few seconds later, a four legged creature that walked behind the twins near Drew caught his eye. He smelled something similar to a wolf earlier but didn't think it was actually here on this field.
"T-that's a dog." Claude said in quite realization.
"That's a dog!!!?" Isaac said in surprise. He noticed he wasn't getting a response so he looked over to Claude and saw him squatting on the floor while staring at it intently, it didn't look like a stare filled with aggression but something else. The dog returned his gaze and held a similar expression.
Claude and the large long legged dog continued to stare at each other silently for a few minutes until it eventually bowed its head and broke eye contact.
"Dude...are you scaring it?" Isaac asked.
Claude closed his eyes and rolled his shoulders saying,
"We may have a new team member in this fight, Isaac."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
_Avatar0FFury_
_Avatar0FFury_ Hey thanks for reading!! Sorry I wasn’t able to upload yesterday, I got tied up with schoolwork. Anyway I hope your all excited for the final battle in the classes first game of Mob!! Also, thanks for the powerstones Adam_Ketchum, frenandoi, alex99 and Graveyard_Keeper!! Enjoy!
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