Hey everybody. I sincerely apologize for the lateness of the chapter.

To acknowledge your question DkDax, I will be explaining why he does what he does.

I would like to thank all of you for your faithfulness to the story.

to AMP: I got your fluff bundles right here!

Drop a comment so I know you all enjoyed or not

And please leave a rating. It only takes a few seconds for you, but it makes my day. So enjoy.

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7 hours later

Abrum walked into the clearing with the katana by his side and a deer over his shoulder. On his face was a splash of blood and a huge grid. After five hours of perfecting his basic technique, he had become extremely hungry. Thus, he decided to fulfill his hunger and test out his new technique at the same time. If the deer on his shoulder was anything to judge by, the technique was wildly successful.

He walked to the middle of the clearing and put the deer down. Upon examination, there was an odd characteristic about the deer. The deer’s body was unblemished with a single cut. Everything was perfectly normal except for the head. There wasn’t one. Half of its neck and head had been completely severed with one clean cut. There was not a single jagged edge. The neck was leaking a substantial amount of blood.

Abrum started to gather branches for the spit and for the fire he would construct. As he was looking for suitable branches, his eyes passed across the fluff bundles (that was what he had taken to calling the sleeping guardians). They had slept throughout the course of his training. Originally worried about their condition, Abrum had checked upon them at regular intervals. Every time, their breathing and heartbeats were stable, so the worry that Abrum had originally carried was dropped, and he continued to train, pondering how to wake them.

Abrum began to construct the fire and the spit that he would later cook the deer upon. He receounted his successful hunt. It had only taken him an hour to find a suitable deer. After the deer was killed, he had done something quite strange. He had carried the deer, allowing the blood to flow and leave a clear trail of wet crimson liquid. He had taken many detours before coming back, leaving a trail of blood throughout the whole forest leading back to the clearing.

Abrum began to debone and skin the deer and taking out different herbs and spices. He cut the meat up into suitable pieces by half unsheathing the katana and using the exposed edge to make the cuts.

He put the three pieces of meat upon the spit, turning it at intervals and putting the herbs and spices upon it. As the delicious smell of roasting meat wafted into his nose, a smile crept across Abrum’s face.

‘That Superb Chef title almost makes things too easy.’ Abrum smiled as the smell wafted throughout the clearing and into the forest. He cooked on into the night. The meat took much longer than normal to cook because of the immense size, but cook it did.

Abrum smiled and rubbed his hands as the meat turned a lovely golden color, somewhat like chicken. The remaining blood dissipated and seasoned the meat even further. Abrum took the meat off the spit and was ready to eat.

He was about to eat, but he heard something rustling behind him. He turned just in time to see multiple white, fluffy streaks go right past him.

Abrum flipped over in a backwards somersault and onto his feet. He crouched and put his hand on the hilt, ready to draw his katana. But the sight before him was one that brought joy to his heart. On top of those pieces of meat that he had painstakingly cooked, were eleven fluffy wolves were ravenously eating.

He relaxed his grip on the blade and sat back down relaxed.

“Hey! Leave me some! I need to eat too!”

They all continued to eat except for one. The primal urge of hunger had left this particular guardian’s eyes. It perked its head up when it saw Abrum and padded over to him.

It rubbed its head against his hand and put its head in his hand. Happy by the gesture, he extended two fingers and whispered the activation phrase for one of his skill.

“Mark of the Moon”

A soft light emitted from the tips of his fingers and flowed upon the fluffy fur. It traced lines of silver across the fur. The lines mainly were upon the left side of the wolf. Above the wolf’s front left leg, the lines traced one filled circle and then fragments of an outline of a circle around the filled in one. Lines connected the fragments in intricate geometric designs. The lines then congregated into one big line that traced along the spine.

Abrum was able to hear the voice of the fluff bundle

“Abrum! Abrum! Dang, he can’t hear me…” The voice that rang out in his head was extremely familiar.

“Orthir? Is that you?” Abrum questioned in response to the voice.

“Abrum? Why is your voice in my head?”

“Telepathic communication capacity is a side effect of the blessing.” Abrum began to further elaborate upon the effects of the Mark of the Moon. By the end, Orthir’s eyes were sparkling.

“You mean that? You gave me all that?! Can you do that to my sisters and brother?”

Abrum cocked his head at this request.

“And where would they be?”

Orthir gestured over to the other 10 fluffy wolves ravenously devouring the meat.

“Those are my lovely sisters and my idiotic brother.” Orthir turned and barked a few times at the other fluffy wolves.

In unison, they all perked their heads up, looked at Orthir. She gave a few more barks and they all came over and sat by Abrum.

“They also wish to become vassals of the Moon Strider.”

Abrum was happy about this, until he realized something.

“How did you know about my class?”

“Originally, the forest was liberated from the forces of darkness by an Angaellis. One who bent the night to his will. He built a tower in the forest and entrusted our ancestors with the safety of the forest. We were to guard the forest and the tower until another Moon Strider arrived. We, that being me and my siblings, wish to serve under the Moon Strider as our ancestors did. Isn’t that right guys?”

The rest of the fluff bundles barked cutely in agreement. They used their fool-proof method to get Abrum to accept. The puppy eyes.

They tilted their heads down at the correct angle and looked up with those startling clear blue eyes.

Abrum shook his head in acceptance and gestured for them to come forward. Each came forward and each in turn received a Mark of the Moon. Each received a pattern identical to the one that Orthir received.

As each went up to receive their mark, Orthir gave their name.

“This is my brother Ugothir. These are my sisters Yula, Jula, Kula, Bula, Pula, Bothir, Kothir, and Lothir. Our parents weren’t the most original with names.”

Abrum patted each of them on the head as he gave them their marks. They were all very respectful. When Ugothir came up to receive his mark, he dropped a piece of slobbery meat before Abrum with a big innocent smile on his face.

Abrum gave a cramped smile, but fortunately, before he could pick it up, Yula and Jula had started to fight over it, yelling out telepathically “MINE!”

This is what Abrum gathered from the introduction.

Yula, Jula, Kula, Bula and Pula were from the same litter. They were the only survivor of their litter, so they were rather tightly knit. Orthir, Bothir, Kothir, Lothir, and Ugothir came from the same litter. Bothir, Kothir, Lothir and Orthir saw Ugothir as their little brother, one to be protected. Ugothir, despite his tough name, was a bit clumsy.

Abrum looked at the line of new fluff friends. In unison, he heard their voices in his head

“We promises, as the vassals of the Moon Strider, to serve you to the best of our capabilities. In return, we expect meals.”

Abrum nearly burst out laughing at their serious demands for meals. He gestured to what remained of the deer meat.

“Please help yourself.”

They all nodded seriously in unison and went back to eating. While watching them eat, out of sheer boredom, he turned on his aura sense to look at their auras. The outside auras were perfectly clear that they were happy. Their inside auras were nearly all white. There were splashes of deep black here and there, but for the most part, it was white.

Deactivating the aura sense, Abrum sat in a meditative position, and whispered under his breath

“Moonlight Meditation.” He wanted to absorb as much Moonlight Energy as he could before IT began.

The guardians were eating their fill, until Ugothir perked his head up.

“What is that? You all hear that too, right?”

All of the guardians perked their heads up and listened carefully. Indeed there was something amiss. The whole edge of the clearing was rustling, a bustling of activity. Abrum broke the meditation and stood up.

“You all pledged your loyalty to me in return for good food. I have upheld my end.”

The forest rustled and from the woods emerged wolves. They were not as big as the guardians, only about 3 feet tall from paw to head. However, there were many of them, nearly a hundred in total. They all had one thing in common, the look of madness was prevalent in all of their eyes.

Yula and Jula looked around in unison.

“Why are so many gathered?”

Abrum smiled and explained

“Hunger is an instinct that transcends thought. I only lead them here with the promise of food.” Abrum gestured to the trail of now dried blood that led from the edge of the clearing to the center. Abrum picked up a single piece of meat and shook it. Unable to resist the hunger, one of the wolves bounded from into the clearing running straight at Abrum. He threw the piece of meat up. The wolf jumped for it. When the belly was exposed, Abrum threw a punch at the wolf’s abdomen and whispered

“Purification.”

25 Mana Consumed

There was a small flash of light and the wolf went flying. Abrum grinned with relief.

“So they can still be saved.” He turned to his new comrades.

“Your families, your friends, you subordinates have all fallen under the infectious madness. Are you going to let this opportunity pass? The opportunity to save them?” Abrum shouted.

Each of the guardians looked to one another, and then stared back at Abrum with the same resolute eyes.

“Of course not!”

The guardians started to change. They were originally in their cute fluffy forms, which were only 2 feet tall and incredibly fluffy. They metamorphosed, they lost their fluffiness (I know, terrible right?). In its place was slick fur covering lean powerful muscle. Their cute round eyes turned into the eyes of merciless predators. Their legs grew.

They were now 6 feet tall from paw to head, menacing, and under Abrum’s command. Surrounded by these guardians, Abrum screamed out

“Fight against the madness! Free them from their mind’s shackles! Lead their minds towards sanity. Towards the Light!”

Goaded by Abrum’s screams. The mad wolves descended into the clearing. The guardians in unison raised their heads and gave a howl at the moon.

Thus it began.

Abrum rushed forward, his legs moving at incredible speeds due to his high agility. He was running in a crouched position. His head was level with the wolves’ heads. One bounded at him with its teeth bared, ready to tear Abrum’s flesh.

Abrum planted his left leg, and then quickly pivoted on it. Executing a round house kick with his right leg, he hooked the wolf’s head from behind and threw it to the ground. He then punched it in the side while saying

“Purification!”

25 Mana consumed

A harsh light emerged from his hand and the wolf went unconscious, but its madness was gone.

Another wolf came at him from the side, its teeth bared. Abrum used his legs to do a small jump backwards. Doing a back hand spring, he put both of his hands on the wolf’s back and did the same thing that he had previously done. He continued to do is routine of dodging, counterattacking, and then purifying. Out of the corner of his eyes, he was watching the guardians get to work. It honestly was astounding.

When the guardians were gripped by madness, they were only able to use basic skills. Those were {Bite} and {Scratch}. However, now that they madness was no longer prevalent in their minds, they could show all of the abilities of the Sanctum Lupis species. This roughly translates to Holy Wolf.

The howl they had executed before the fight was a skill called {Begin the Hunt}. All wolves had this ability, and it raised attack power and critical rates for 30 minutes. This was insignificant though because this fight’s aim was to purify the enemy, not kill them. The guardians just used this skill more out of instinct than out of necessity.

What astounded Abrum was their glowing paws. After ever swipe of their paws, there was a line of glowing light. This was the skill {Paw of Purification}, and attack that combined the strength of the guardian with purifying power. Ever swipe cured another wolf. Freed them.

This was not the end of their amazing power. While Abrum was dealing with his 13th wolf, he saw Orthir back away from the fight. She opened her mouth. Light started to materialize and crackle with energy around her mouth. A beam of light shot out at an amazing speed, hitting 4 wolves. They fell to the ground, purified. This was the skill {Holy Beam}, a skill that only dealt holy damage, which eradicated the darkness, and only left the wolves slightly burned.

Abrum smiled and continued with his work…

*Town of Hillshir*

Cala was getting ready to leave the town of Hillshir. She had spent a good amount of time there, getting to know the residents and learning what she could about the strange happenings surrounding the Succubus Subjugation quest.

She had been sent by the higher ups in the Apollo Guild to investigate the incident. The information she had gathered was rather vague.

The stories were varied between the women and the men. However, they all agreed he had left in the direction of the capital.

So Cala was packing up. She had made preparations to leave, however, she wanted to check the scene where the succubus was last reported one more time.

With her spear in hand, and her enchanted leather armor on, she went into the forest to see the scene for one last time.

As she approached her destination, she began to hear strange swooshing sounds and labored breathing. Cala slowed her approach and stealthily approached the clearing where the succubus was last seen.

Cala reached the edge of the clearing and she saw a sight that astounded her.

In the middle of the clearing, was a beautiful woman wearing a luxurious white flowing gown. However, the gown was tattered and dirtied. That wasn’t the most shocking part.

The woman was wielding a white and blue scythe. She was swinging it at amazing speeds. The way she wielded it was as if it was an extension of her body. Suddenly, she stopped her swings. The gown settled around her body and a golden tattoo around her neck was visible.

The woman turned around and looked straight at Cala with those startling neon blue eyes.

“May I help you?” Asked the Lilith.