*GASP* Kalon woke to see the corpse of the elder frost wolf right in front of him, he immediately backed away in shock. He couldn't believe it had actually happened. "It was real," he thought. His eyes darted to the sky, night had come while he was asleep.

"TERRANCE!" he thought to himself in panic. He got up quickly and broke into a sprint. He had no time to contemplate the things that had just happened to him. He left his friend alone in a forest that he had just been attacked by an A-Rank mana-beast in. Who knows what could have happened to his friend in his absence.

As Kalon ran he noticed something had changed. He felt faster and stronger than ever before. On top of that he had not even broken a sweat, despite him running at full speed. He wondered if it had something to do with beast-core his body absorbed.

In just two short minutes Kalon had arrived at the clearing where he had left Terrance. Just as he was about to break through the tree line and into the clearing, he heard a voice. "Did you hear that Edwin?"

"Yeah, go check it out for us Jeremy," Edwin replied with a commanding tone.

"O-ok, I'll call out if I need help ok," Jeremy replied with a hint of fear in his voice.

Kalon hadn't thought about it before, but not only could he hear things he couldn't before, he could smell and and see much better as well. He could see clearly despite the low light of the forest.

Kalon could see Jeremy with a torch in hand making his way towards him. In a hurry he hid behind a tree and stayed as quiet as he could. "How did they find us? Did one of them know how to track? Did I underestimate those pompous bastards?" He thought to himself.

He heard the cracks and snaps of Jeremy's steps on the forest floor. He was getting closer.

Just metres before Jeremy reached the tree Kalon was sat behind, he called out, "There's nothing here! I'm coming back!"

The boy then headed back towards the clearing where the other apprentices were waiting. As he joined the others Kalon stepped out from the tree he had hid behind and started to approach the clearing. He made sure that every step he made was as silent as he could make them. If he were to make a sound now, they would know something was afoot and Kalon would be done for.

Once the apprentices were in sight Kalon hid behind another tree and observed them closely. All five apprentices were seated around a boy covered in blood curled up in fetal position, it was Terrance.

"This is all my fault, I shouldn't have left him alone and I shouldn't have underestimated those nobles," Kalon said to himself full of self hate. "Those f*cking mage cowards, it wasn't even a fair fight," he thought as he gnashed his teeth in rage.

He then saw Terrance's body move, he was still alive. Albeit he was in terrible shape. Kalon's mind raced, thinking of ways to get his friend out his current predicament, "I need to lure them away, then I can circle back and get him out of there," he concluded.

Kalon then got up and started to walk towards the apprentices in order to get their attention. He was confident he could outrun them even if they enhanced themselves with mana, for he could now see clearly in the dark and had expert knowledge of the forest.

"Let's do this--" his thoughts were cut short as suddenly a magic circle surrounded him. "Trap magic, how? Such a rare form of magic, I don't know any such mages with this knowledge. I did it again, I underestimated them!" Kalon thought to himself as he started to despair.

"HAHAHA! Good work Rachael, I knew you weren't completely useless," Edwin exclaimed with a condescending tone.

The blonde haired girl known as Rachael gave Edwin a steely glare as the group walked towards the prey that they had just caught.

"Bring the other one Jeremy, I want his little friend here to watch him as he takes his last breath." Edwin proclaimed.

Jeremy then picked Terrance up by the arm and dragged him towards Kalon who was helpless to it all.

"Don't you dare! Edwin you coward, fight me! Fight me like a man!" Kalon screamed as if there was a fire lit underneath him.

"You slaves truly are stupid aren't you? Why would I fight you when I could simply kill your friend now and watch as you despair. It's truly glorious seeing someone break, seeing them lose what they hold dear," Edwin responded with a demonic smile plastered on his face.

Jeremy started to show fear on his face, Edwin was truly terrifying. To him this was just a chance to prove himself to his parents and master, but to Edwin this was the most fun he could ever have.

"You f*cking coward! I'LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR IT!" Kalon screamed once more while punching the invisible wall keeping him trapped.

"I'd like to see you try, little lamb," Edwin said as he pulled a dagger from its sheath and waved it as if to taunt Kalon.

Edwin then took the blade and held it to Terrances throat. Terrance in his barely conscious state started to speak. "I-it's o-ok Kalon, you---"

His words fell short as Edwin slid the blade across his throat slitting it clean.

"NOOOOOOO!!!!" Kalon screamed in horror.

Blood sprayed from Terrances throat covering the forest floor and seconds later, his body went limp. Edwin threw his body to the side as he licked the blade and then sheathed it.

Jeremy fell to his knees and heaved in the wake of what he had just seen, while the other apprentices observed the scene stone faced.

"AHHHHHH!!!" Kalon once again screamed as he unleashed a dozen punches in rapid succession unto the invisible wall.

[USER HAS ENTERED A STATE OF FRENZY]

[TEMPORARILY ALLOWING USE OF PARTIAL TRANSFORMATION]

[FROST WOLF]

As Kalon unleashed many more punches towards the barrier, the notifications that shrouded his vision were all but ignored.

The boy suddenly fell to the floor, pulling at his hair. "AHHHHH!" he screamed. The beat of his own heart echoed throughout his head, his muscles tightened and his pulse raced.

"What's happening to him?" Rachael exclaimed.

"I don't know, maybe his feeble heart couldn't take the burden. Hehe," Edwin said with a chuckle.

Unfortunately for them it wasn't a heart attack, what they saw next shocked them.

Kalon's pitch black hair started to turn snow white. His face started to adopt a more animalistic form, while still being that of a human. The sclera of his eyes became pitch black and his already sapphire blue iris' started to glow in the moonlight.

"A-a-a monster!" Jeremy yelled.

"What on God's green earth?" Edwin continued.

The apprentices looked on in horror as if they knew what he had just become would be their demise.

The white haired aberration stood, "A-oooooo!" it let out a howl and punched the invisible barrier once more. This time shattering the spell completely.

"H-how?" Rachael asked with a quivering voice.

The beast then looked to the apprentices and shone a wide grin on its face in anticipation of what was to come.

"RUN!" Edwin screamed.