Chapter 361: CHPT 361: A Dream Full of Omens, A Victory Long Overdue.....
Claude's newest form of training had been the hardest yet. Harder than the initial hours of meditation he engaged in to see with his Natural Vision, harder than the practiced movements of Root Rising-- which eventually lead to Wood-Weaving. None of it required the precision and focus of what he currently practiced.
A fact that remained unavoidable as he fell asleep in the grass beside the metal pole sticking out of the ground full of finger thick holes. Out of the many holes, he was only able to manage growing the life within through one.
Druidry.....a very humbling path to walk-- especially when you have the voice of a fallen Shape-Shifter Alpha in your head telling you your a natural in everything else. A nice change of pace in way. But then again, it wasn't like he'd been non stop winning up until this point.
In fact, when slumber finally came to him. He found himself walking the cold confines of a place where he'd tasted his most profound failures.
A place that held many sceneries, many monsters, many histories and all the potential for growth one could imagine. It all sat within his lucidly functioning mind. Within his dreams, where the cold winds swept the loosely falling snowflakes into the foggy moor's and black nightmarish marshes lined with puddles made by the prints of something bigger than humanly imaginable.
Fenrir was back...
Claude hadn't walked within the Astral Realm they shared in over a month-- and even so, he could tell things were different. Small details. For one it was colder, the absence of light was almost unnatural in the way it swallowed up every crevice and corner of the night. The beginnings of a rising sun sat frozen off to the left of his domain, hiding behind the cover of forestry and mountains. Hiding from the god that would one day consume it. Despite the coldness and taunting darkness, wetness was still prominent--- even more so as Claude ventured towards the monster of the marshes. The cold grounds gave under his feet, submerging them in ice cold black water that rose up to his shins.
The sight chilled him in a way no intense weathering could. It chilled him because of the obvious implications.
The colder weather, the beginnings of winter, the rising water, the cowering sun.....and the many mutilated bodies of high level Monsters. It all looked so familiar...so ominous...
Fenrir was practicing-- warming up. Setting the stage for Ragnarok.
Whether it would come in a month or a decade. It seemed his lifetime would in fact be the time. But then again, a Lupine's lifetime was a naturally long one.
The fear of Ragnarok and Fenrir's emergence was one reignited within his mind as he took the stroll through what could one day be earth as he reached his mountainous training center where Fenrir watched judgingly at it's peaks.
He'd fallen off the mountain enough times to never forget the cold winds, the burning eyes watching him fall before he splattered against the cold stone floor below.
He'd never been more eager to return. More eager to see how he'd grown in Fenrir's absence...
***
BOOM!
"HAh!....you are different, cub! You have grown....I'm sure you'll taste just as delicious." The Troll spat it's foul smelling breath at him from beneath it's moss-like covering of hair following another smash of it's club. It's heavy breaths spoke of how ran down it was.
Claude didn't bother replying, instead focusing on leaning into the speed and control his fully transformed legs granted him.
Despite the dozens of rows of spikes jutting from the stone floor due to the Troll's runned club, Claude hadn't been hit once. Only grazed in a few places that did little to slow his powerful legs or the steady twisting growth of the wooden tendrils he'd wrapped around the stone spikes, giving him equally fast access to his element as the Troll. It hadn't seemed to notice, just like it wouldn't notice what he had planned next. Hopefully..
Without engaging in the creature's banter, settling with the fact that he lacked the quick thinking and charisma to make it benefit him, he charged the stone skinned brute straight on with his wooden spear raised.
His speed far exceeded the Troll compared to their last meeting, but it's power and defense was still nothing to ignore. He needed it to be compromised before he went for any finish.
With that in mind, he reached the Troll in a second, eye's flashing to the muscles in it's shoulder that bulged as it prepared to swing at him.
With a swipe of his freehand, a wooden tendril snaked out from behind the stone spike to the left of him, rising up as a step for him to take and leap over the creature.
FWOO!
He sailed over the Troll in a blur of black and hit the ground with a soundless roll behind it. As soon as he stopped sliding across the stone floor, he rose and threw his spear at the Troll.
FWSH!
SHLCK!
The wooden spike darted through the air and sunk into it's back leg. In a rush, he dashed backward, landing in the Troll's homespace that resided on edge of the mountain platform, bordered by tree's and grass. He only had one shot to try what he was planning.
His right arm fell and connected with the small patch of the grass, allowing his Ancient Markings to soak up the pure and untainted Nature Magic, causing it to glow and light up their battleground in a dull green vibrance.
Before the Monster could fully turn to face him, he removed his hand and aimed it at the spear stuck in the Troll's leg, closing his eyes to see the faint remnants glowing cracks and fissures remaining in his discarded natural weapons. Just like his training only hours before.
With little else to do, he sent out a poorly controlled wave of raw Natural energy, watching as it reached the spear and caused it to sprout sharp blade-like branches from within the Troll's leg, ripping up it's tendons and portions of it's knee.
SHLCKSH!
"AAAA!!"
If he was more controlled, the spear wouldn't have exploded from only one side. But, beggars couldn't be choosers, and he'd made the Troll physically compromised.
"Good enough.." He growled before taking off even faster than before, now with a thick wooden spike from the tree behind him following like battle hungry serpent.
He reached the Troll not long after, swiping at the side of it's face from behind with his claws followed by the wooden spike ripping off it's giant bumpy ear.
FWOO!
SHLSH!
He skidded to a stop in front of the Monster just in time to see it's heavy hammer-like fist rocketing towards his face. His reflexes took over, forcing him to move before he regained his composure and entered the fluid movements brought on by Wood-Weaving, leading him to twist and trace around the Troll's outstretched arm, locking it in the coiling wooden tendrils that followed his movements.
Before it could swing with it's other hand, he front kicked it in the chest and activated (Second Frenzy), unleashing a barrage of slashes and kicks on it's chest and face. Ending the violent sequence as he used his Element to call the wooden spike back into action, following the path of his fist that sent a double damaging uppercut to it's crudely underbitten jaw.
CRACK!
As soon as it's head left his fist and it's arm broke free from the cracked binds, the wooden tendril plunging through the bottom of it's jaw turned, exiting it's mouth and taking the entirety of it's lower jaw along with it.
SHRIP!!
"AAC--!"
THud!
The Troll hit the ground flat on it's back, still trying to talk while it flailed on the ground and tried to get up.
Claude crouched at it's feet, bunching up the muscles in his Lupine legs before catapulting himself at least twenty five feet into the air.
FWOO!
He fell through the air silently, slamming his feet into it's chest so hard he could hear it's sternum crack. Not quite as good as the friendly Satyr yet.
CRCH!
It's hulking left arm rose and grabbed his right, just as he aimed his left hand at the remaining bits of it's face, feeling the dark glow of the black symbol in his palm.
The deeper darkness meant shadows were everywhere. The home to the dark was everywhere.
In a flash, the head of the Phantom Legion exploded from his palm with it's many glowing eyes aimed at the Troll that it dug into, bitting away at it's eyes and scalp until it's jaws crunched through skull and pieces of brain squirted onto the cold stone floor.
SQLCH!
"RRrrrr..." The Phantom Legion snarled and shook the dead body before sinking back into Claude's palm and out of sight.
[+300 EXP]
[14 Stat Points Availble!]
[DING!]
[You have Completed an Important Quest Given by your god! Your likeness and Favor in His Eyes has Grown!]
When the messages from his System screen faded, he realized his back was sweating profusely and his legs were shaking.
A deafening howl split the silence, sounding like a wolf and entirely like a giant Monster unlike anything he'd heard. But, he understood it.
Before leaving, he looked past the Troll's corpse and down towards it's club, forcing himself to remember the insignia on it that still glowed with magic.
Soon after, he left, beginning to speedily scale the mountain to reach it's apex where Fenrir resided.....
Where he'd get explanations for Fenrir's disappearance. Where his reward resided.....
At least one of those things could be to his benefit. But the other could casually result in the world ending much sooner than he's ready for....
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
_Avatar0FFury_
_Avatar0FFury_ YO! That Troll got turned to a pack at record speeds. Then again, Claude is like 25 stat points(+Lunar Evolution) since their last encounter. Was that a realistic showing of growth or did it feel comically easy? Feel free to lmk and thanks for reading, also thanks for the powerstones frenandoi, alex99, warriorwolf, TheLucidParagon, Krissch_, Bop_, Sonius, Bonb_Crusher, AnnabelleXD, Black_Rabbit4378, shadowwolf1928, Ominous_Reader, Alex_Walk, Shazcam, NLinCH, Amith_Sydney, Zombireno, Bored_Seoule, Arameus, TenkuKugan and Wildwolf821
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