"Yeah," James's voice grew significantly softer, his gaze dropping to the worn, polished floorboards of the clinic. "Yeah, I did."
His thoughts drifted back to his parents. The last time he had actually seen his father was on his sixteenth birthday, and after that day, the line had gone completely radio silent.
It wasn't like his dad had just abandoned him out of nowhere; it was his birthday, and they were actively heading out to buy a cake when his memory suddenly cut to a complete blank.
The last thing he could explicitly remember from that night was the smell of blood, and a distant voice telling him everything was going to be fine.
Trying to piece together that evening felt like trying to read a book with the pages glued shut—a section of his mind felt purposely sealed, and the harder he tried to look at it, the fuzzier the details became.
Selene's ancient instincts picked up on the subtle, sudden shift in his aura. She watched as the warm, golden-brown hue surrounding him constricted, shifting into something quiet and deeply downcast.
She also critically noted how he referred to his family entirely in the past tense.
Putting two and two together, she immediately deduced that this was a conversational landmine.
"Oh…. I am so incredibly sorry, sugar," she said sweetly, her voice laced with genuine, deep-seated empathy. She genuinely hadn't meant to press on such a raw nerve.
"I did not mean to drag up painful memories for you."
She took a step closer, but James simply waved his free hand in front of him, offering a reassuring, small smile to show there were no hard feelings.
"No, it's completely fine," he said calmly, looking down at the heavy textbook under his arm.
"They're the entire reason I am who I am today. And while they might be gone… I don't mind talking about them. I actually prefer keeping their memory around."
He ran a thumb over the edge of the leather cover, figuring he'd probably finish reading the entire biology volume before the week was out.
Selene studied him closely, her pale eyes tracking a faint, nearly transparent shimmer rippling through the outer edges of his aura.
'I see,' she murmured to herself. It appeared his parents had left him with a far greater spiritual foundation than the boy even realized.
She reached out, resting her palm gently against his shoulder. Her touch was incredibly warm, completely devoid of the biting, metallic frost that defined Luna's presence.
"If you ever need a quiet place to clear your head, or if the weight of this new world gets to be a bit too much for your shoulders… my door will always be open for you, James."
"Thank you… Selene," he replied, a genuine sense of relief easing the tension in his chest.
His new baseline biology was starting to make him a bit more blunt and direct than he used to be, but he was truly grateful for the sanctuary.
"Now, you should head out," she instructed softly, giving his shoulder a gentle nudge toward the exit.
"Go get some actual rest, and make sure you dedicate time to training. You have a rather important appointment coming up in two weeks, after all."
The reminder hit James like a bucket of ice water.
Oh, fuck. That's right.
The mental image of Raze's veins pulsing with molten, glowing bloodfire flashed vividly behind his eyelids.
If he had to fight that psychotic berserker in fourteen days, he needed to gauge exactly what he was up against.
"Hey, Selene?" James paused near the threshold.
"Yes, dear?"
"So like… how strong is Raze, really?" he asked, looking for a concrete benchmark.
Up until this point, he didn't have enough statistical data on supernatural scaling to know where he stood.
Selene paused, tapping her chin thoughtfully as she mentally organized the pack's military hierarchy.
"He is exceptionally powerful for his age bracket, James. Within his specific vanguard barracks, he is easily recognized as the second strongest combatant—bested only by his unit captain, Garrick Ironfang."
James raised a curious eyebrow. Since he still lacked a structured understanding of how werewolf power levels worked, the titles were just empty words.
"Is this Garrick guy completely busted, then?"
"Very much so," Selene nodded. "Garrick possesses an extraordinary, high-tier mastery over his native Iron Magic."
James blinked. "Iron... what now?"
"Iron Magic," Selene clarified flawlessly. "It is a specialized, hyper-dense subcategory derived directly from traditional Earth Magic. Every living soul is born with a specific affinity for an elemental frequency." She paused, making sure he was retaining the lore.
"When it comes to primal elemental magic, most warriors possess an affinity for a single element. A few rare individuals can channel two, and true geniuses can manipulate four simultaneously."
James focused, locking the terms into his memory. "How many primary elements are there total?"
"There are six foundational elements: Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Darkness, and Light," she counted off. "And then, of course, there are their synthetic variants."
James's eyebrows shot up. "Synthetic variants?"
"To summarize some incredibly complex alchemical principles: if an element existed in nature before humans ever walked the earth, it is a Natural Element. If a mortal had to melt it, mix it, forge it, or construct it in a workshop first, it falls under Synthetic Magic."
Oh, wild, James thought, his inner anime nerd instantly translating the concept into familiar mechanics. So it's literally just a specialized Kekkei Genkai or an advanced bloodline trait.
"What about the wooden vines and thorns Caius was using on the shoreline? Is that the same thing?"
"Plant Magic is a dual-elemental subsection," Selene explained.
"It requires a simultaneous, perfect fusion of Earth and Water magic frequencies to actively manipulate organic flora and toxicity."
Okay, so baseline elements can be combined to create entire sub-disciplines, James realized.
To demonstrate, Selene opened her palm, and a vibrant, unearthly wildflower smoothly bloomed directly out of her skin before dissolving into green particles.
"But remember, munchkin, it isn't just about mixing the raw frequencies. The caster's internal intent changes everything. Intent is the exact boundary line between a lethal curse and a medical blessing."
James's ears twitched at the advice. He locked that away for later, but his mind immediately bounced back to the tactical matchups. "This Garrick guy… is he stronger than Kaela?"
He wanted to test a theory. While James knew he was nowhere near Kaela's bracket, he could tell she had been holding back an absurd amount of her real power when they met.
Now that he understood the mechanical concept of an aura and how darkness could be used to amplify kinetic strikes, he realized she had practically been playing with him in slow motion.
That theory was fully confirmed by the fact that she had effortlessly neutralized his full werewolf form without breaking a sweat.
Selene hummed, thinking deeply on the comparison.
"In terms of raw, documented destructive output, their combat metrics are fairly relative to one another. That should give you a decent benchmark to visualize."
James let out a small breath of relief.
Okay, that's actually salvageable. If Garrick was relative to Kaela, and Raze was distinctly below Garrick, then Raze wasn't some invincible god.
In his head, the pack's power scaling looked like a straightforward ladder: Aldric at the absolute peak, followed by Thane, Luna, Kaela, Garrick, and finally Raze at the bottom of the elite tier.
But then Selene instantly shattered his brief moment of comfort.
"Though, you must keep in mind that Kaela possesses an incredibly terrible habit of suppressing her true output," Selene added with a knowing, highly amused look.
"She intentionally restrains her magic just so she can drag out the duration and enjoy the thrill of a dangerous fight for a bit longer."
James's jaw dropped slightly.
How much do you have to love catching a fade to actively handicap yourself just to keep getting hit? That's unhinged.
Still, the data told him what he needed to know.
Kaela was a pure, high-output brawler who rarely relied on visible spellcasting, whereas this Garrick guy seemed to specialize in an absolute, ironclad defense.
It was a classic case of unstoppable force versus immovable object.
"What about Raze's specific fighting style?" James asked, leaning forward. "What should I look out for?"
Selene's lips twitched into a teasing, highly affectionate smile. "Look at you, actively mapping out your enemy's tactical profile. Aren't you a smart boy?"
She leaned back against her counter, her tone shifting into something clinically precise.
"Raze is a barbarian in the truest sense of the word. He is a pure, close-quarters berserker. He doesn't just utilize violence—he actively finds spiritual joy in the act of tearing things apart. The more physical trauma his body sustains, the higher his performance scales. The more brutal and bloody the engagement becomes, the better his instincts fire."
She crossed her arms, her voice dropping into a chillingly casual register that made the hairs on James's neck stand up.
"His pain tolerance is abnormally high, and he fights strictly for blood. In a standard conflict, he usually terminates his engagements by either completely decapitating his victim or physically crushing their heart inside their chest cavity."
James's face went entirely pale, his stomach doing a violent flip.
The absolute fuck am I hearing right now?
He began to seriously fear for his continued existence on this planet.
Noticing the absolute terror painted across his face, Selene let out a musical, ringing laugh, waving her hand dismissively to calm him down.
"Oh, hush, sugar. You have absolutely nothing to worry about in that regard. Your upcoming engagement with Raze is a strictly sanctioned pack trial. Alpha King Aldric will be presiding over the arena personally, alongside the high elders and the vast majority of the civilian population. Raze would never dare attempt a lethal execution in front of the throne."
While that was technically reassuring, it didn't completely stop the cold sweat dripping down James's spine.
"Are you 100% sure about that?" James asked, his voice cracking slightly.
"Because out there in the street, that guy looked like he wanted to turn my skull into a campfire marshmallow. If he loses his temper and actually tries to pull something lethal, what happens?"
"If he dares to violate the sacred parameters of a sanctioned challenge, he will be instantly executed by the Alpha King's hand right there on the sands,"
Selene said bluntly, her eyes glinting with the unyielding, ancient weight of pack law.
James blinked, completely stunned by the absolute severity of the rule. "For real? But… I'm not even a full member of this pack yet.
And not to be that guy, but I can actively feel the stares around here. The elders don't exactly seem to like me much."
Selene's smile turned a bit knowing. She knew he was picking up on the local politics; those old fossils on the high council weren't exactly subtle about their disdain for a turned human asset.
She reached up, gently booping his nose yet again to snap him out of his spiraling thoughts.
"While it might feel like you are an isolated outsider right now, munchkin, you are forgetting a critical legal detail," she said, her voice filled with absolute certainty.
"A week ago, in front of the entire assembly, Alpha Aldric formally announced that you were under his direct protection. By pack law, that means your life is anchored to the throne. It doesn't matter if you've been a wolf for two weeks or two centuries. If Raze were to take your life, the law views it exactly the same as the murder of a natural-born pack brother. And this family does not tolerate executioners in its own ranks."
James let out a massive, literal sigh of relief, his shoulders finally dropping three inches.
"Okay. Okay, good to know."
"And furthermore," Selene added with a reassuring wink,
"both Aldric and Enforcer Thane are more than fast enough to physically intervene and freeze the match the exact millisecond a strike becomes genuinely life-threatening."
Right. Because those two are absolute cheat codes, James remembered, recalling the bone-crushing weight of their raw presence.
"If you truly want to prepare your body for what's coming," Selene noted, gently guiding him toward the front door,
"you should go locate Caius. He can easily teach you the foundational elements of baseline physical enhancement. And if you wish to expand on the complex shadow mechanics Luna was demonstrating, Rowan is exceptionally proficient with darkness magic; he can show you how to shape the energy properly."
James felt a sudden surge of genuine excitement at the prospect of actually getting a mechanical tutorial, but a lingering doubt crept back into his mind.
He paused at the open doorway, looking back at her warily.
"Do you… do you really think they'll agree to teach me? Like I said, I'm still the new guy. Are they really that willing to just help out an outsider?"
Selene let out a brilliant, radiant smile, her pale eyes crinkling with absolute amusement.
"Oh, don't worry about that, dear. They are all as sweet as pie. Truly cute kids, once you get to know them."
Instantly, a vivid, hyper-detailed flashback flashed through James's brain, completely shattering the peaceful atmosphere.
He remembered the shoreline.
He remembered Talia smoothly slicing through those merman aberrations with an unblinking smile.
He remembered the way Caius's thorns physically drained the life force out of those creatures until they withered into husks.
He remembered Rowan slinking through the blood-stained mud like a literal demon of death, claiming the souls of God knows how many hunters without a single shred of hesitation
. The sheer, visceral carnage of that battle replayed in his mind like a horror movie reel.
A thoroughly wry, slightly traumatized look stretched across James's face as he stared at the sweet old lady.
Yeah… sweet as pie. Absolutely adorable.
"Even if you don't fully believe my assessment of their character," Selene added, her smile shifting into something more practical as she noticed his expressive face,
"they will still gladly teach you. If not for the simple merit of helping a newborn pup find his footing… then certainly for the long-term prospect of having a formidable new opponent to fight with a few decades down the line. Werewolves love a good investment, James. Now go on, get some fresh air."
A/N Next chapter will be out monday, hope i did a different job showcasing how elemental magic is split.
Stuff like spacial magic, i personally don't group them with the element, i prefer them in conceptual magic tier or something.