The Lupine System-Chapter 145: Coming To

Coming To

"Oh my, this is quite the mess, isn’t it?"

Not too long after Theresa dragged Mike and Kris away, several groups of people arrived at the scene of the intense battle.

Of the groups there, there were four that stood out the most.

The first was Namor’s group, followed by Sunny Nerevas, then Kim Caedryn, and finally Seth Zevran.

’I’d heard rumors, but I guess the power of Fulgur Lightning is truly something to behold. Even now, after he’d left, I can still feel a faint interference in the air, and my ability feels like its moving through sludge.’ Namor thought and stared at his hands.

In truth, no one would have known that Kris was here as battles were taking place all over the designated zone for the event. Heck, even now, massive explosions were happening all over the forest caused by different sources. It was impossible to know who caused what unless the source of the damage was very unique...

Which applied to Kris, because while there were other Lightning users in their year, Kris was the only one who could use the unique yellow Lightning of the Fulgurs.

Moreover, when he used it, it had certainly been flashy enough to be seen from very far. So anyone who had even a bit of knowledge instantly knew who unleashed it. Hence the current situation.

"How about it, Namor? You must be pissed that you missed your target." A voice made Namor look up and grown slightly.

Kim Caedryn, one of the other Apex heirs gathered here. Her hair was blood red along with her eyes, and she had an air of elegance that was also sharpened by a sense of lethality which followed her everywhere she went.

Namor didn’t respond. Everyone knew what she meant, and it wasn’t Kris since, technically, everyone had Kris on their radar.

No, she was referring to how Mike and Kris were known to go everywhere together along with Theresa. If Kris was here, then there was a high chance Mike was here too, meaning he just missed him.

Namor didn’t reply to the obvious taunt. He glanced at the other two, Sunny and Seth. The former had a relatively plain appearance and could be easily forgotten, while the latter was shirtless and had wild hair, which was fitting, considering his nature. Both of them were talking in calm voices, which came as no surprise. Their families were somewhat close, and they could perhaps be called friends.

Not that Namor cared all that much.

Instead, he looked to the side and saw Agnes who was crouching, her brows furrowed as she inspected a patch of burnt ground that seemed different from the damage caused by the lightning.

"Anything interesting?" Namor asked blandly.

"... She was here too. It’s faint because the lightning removed most of the traces, but there are still some remnants of her energy," Her eyes narrowed. "She was here as well."

Namor nodded slowly as that confirmed one thing. They were indeed together.

He turned to his people.

"Spread out. This seems recent, so they couldn’t have gone too far." At the command, everyone gave affirmative shouts.

Seeing this, the other Apex heirs also began their own searches.

Agnes glanced at Namor from the corner of her eye. His expression was indifferent, and she couldn’t help but feel a bit of frustration. She could never tell what he was thinking, and with more time that passed, she felt like she was losing more and more of her autonomy.

’I just need to carry out my revenge. Then, when we return to school, I’ll work on rebuilding my reputation.’ She huffed and began her own search.

Meanwhile, Namor surveyed the area quietly.

’The surrounding damage consists of three types. Burns from elemental attacks, presumably from Agnes sister and Kris, deep holes and gorges, possibly from Kris’s chains, and then the most prominent, damage from blunt force. Mike is the only one who can inflict damage of that sort on such a wide scale. But these markings don’t add up. There are no remains of any beast.’ He rubbed his chin.

’The damage from flames and chains seem to have been at odds with the blunt damage. Could they have been fighting?’ The thought was a bit exciting.

’That said, if that’s the case and the other two were indeed fighting Mike, this much damage means the fight must have been going on for a long time, and they certainly weren’t playing. Was Mike able to handle both of them at the same time? Doubtful, from what I’ve seen, he’s still a greenhorn. Then again, the fact Kris ended up using his lightning which he’d obviously been avoided for so long means he was pushed quite a bit. So I can’t rule out the possibility entirely. Either way...’ His gaze sharpened as the corner of his lips quirked up just a bit.

’If they fought this much, it’s very likely that they had some sort of falling out. If we can exploit that...’ He looked into the distance.

’Perhaps... We can kill three birds with one stone.’

***

Sunlight filtered into the cave and landed right on Mike’s face, causing his face to scrunch up as he started to stir.

He put his hands in front of his face to block the rays, but the light had already done its job, and his brain was booting up.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and sat up. His vision was blurry for a few seconds, and his mind also felt sluggish, but he was quickly coming to.

’What... happened?’ He scrubbed a hand across his face as he tried to recall what had happened.

’The full moon was approaching... Kris bound me in chains and took me far away from the cave, and then...!’ His eyes widened abruptly as all of it hit him.

The transformation, the fight, the close calls, and Kris finally subduing him with that strange lightning.

’Wh-What...?’ He stared at his hands as the scene rushed through his mind. Part of him wondered how he remembered everything as he had clearly not been himself, but he was more concerned by other things.

He sat up abruptly and looked around, and he soon saw them.

In the corner, Kris was sat huddle up, face buried in his knees while his left arm was in a cast, and his side was wrapped in a special gauze that promoted healing, one of the items they’d discovered from one of the supply markers.

Not too far away, Theresa sat against the wall. A similar gauze was wrapped around her face where Mike had shredded her eye, and even more was wrapped around his torso.

’Oh... no...’ He subconsciously took a step towards them.

"Stop." Theresa said, her voice firm.

Mike opened his mouth, but she just stared at him with her good eye.

"We do not need you fretting over us. On the contrary, doing so will piss me off and probably make Kris cry again." She huffed.

"We fought, the situation has been resolved. That’s the end of it. My eye will heal with enough time, and Kris just needs a moment. You need to sort out whatever it was that happened to you, because I don’t want to fight... that, again for the next year at least." She sounded annoyed, but as usual, Mike could feel how she felt, and in reality, she wasn’t annoyed. Not at him anyway.

And that made it a hundred times worse.

He wanted to apologize, or get yelled at. Or... something. Theresa and Kris are the first people he could truly call his friends, and he almost killed them last night. Yet, they weren’t even mad at him.

His shoulders slumped, and Theresa just sighed.

"I don’t need to be able to read your mind to know what you are thinking," She looked up. "Honestly, a lot of it is our fault. You warned us on multiple occasions not to treat it lightly, but we just brushed it aside. What happened last night was just us paying for our arrogance." Mike’s throat tightened.

"... Even if I warned you... I still hurt you guys..." He said, his voice hoarse.

"Heh. We also hurt each other whenever we spar in the Academy. What makes this so different? It was just a life and death situation." She said lightly, like her bones wouldn’t be visible under the gauze if they got removed.

Her expression then turned serious.

"But, seriously. Put it out of your mind. You know as well as I do that you weren’t in control of yourself. We agreed to stop you regardless of the consequences. You can’t blame yourself for our choices." Mike looked down and clenched his fists. His lips trembled, and Theresa realized with a start that he actually seemed on the verge of tears.

She had NEVER seen him cry before.

"Hey, hey. Look at me." Her voice took on a gentleness that surprised even her, and Mike looked up after a few moments of hesitation.

"Listen to me. You’re alright. Okay? Kris and I will heal. We aren’t mad at you. So don’t take it out on yourself. If you start beating yourself up, that’s when I’ll get mad at you. You got it?’ The soothing words and thinks veiled threat seemed to do their job as Mike stopped spiraling.

"... Yeah..." He mumbled after a while.

Theresa was silent for a few seconds, then she sighed.

"... I need some sleep. If you want to feel less bad, be on the lookout." She finally said, and Mike perked up. Anything to help even a bit would be welcome.

Seeing that her words had the intended effect, Theresa nodded, then glanced down and looked away.

"... Also, you might need to wear something..." Hearing this, Mike blinked at stared down.

’Ah...’ His face flushed.

He was completely naked.