I Became A Zompirewolf

Unlike popular belief, transformation wasn't an ability. It was merely a change in the structure of genes and cells that allowed the user to unleash the true potential of their body. That's why, even if his mana links were clogged by something, Ashton could still use transformation to gain an upper hand in the fights.

"I don't care about you and your dirty tricks." Ashton coldly mumbled as his body began changing rapidly, "But I will take you down, no matter the price I have to pay."

Ashton grew bigger and wider. Although he wanted to trigger complete transformation straight from the beginning, ultimately he decided against it. A full zompirewolf transformation would alert Darjud and he could come up with plans to defeat him by observing the others fighting.

For now, Ashton decided to start things off with partial werewolf transformation and as the duels would progress and the difficulty would increase, he would increase the mutation accordingly.

Ashton's hair grew longer, till it reached the length of his back. Shinny black claws replaced his pale fingers while his canines grew to be bigger than they ever were. He did not form a snout, but he developed a couple of whiskers on his pallid cheeks. His bones readjusted themselves to make him lighter, faster and stronger.

All of these changes happened in a couple of seconds and surprisingly, Hydra's armour also changed its size to accommodate its user's new physique. Even though the transformation wasn't complete, it was the furthest Ashton had ever changed his form.

"Transformation... hm... The more I get to know about you, the more I admire you." Darjud shook his head, "Damn, I don't really want to kill someone as big of an asset as you. But the radicals have made it clear... if they want them to work for me, you will have to die. Truly a shame..."

As soon as he said that, one of the mysterious guards stepped out of the circle to fight Ashton. The guard did not waste any time and charged at his opponent. Ashton prepared to counter-strike, but the blow never came from the front.

When one of the guards engaged him from the front, another guard standing right behind Ashton had also prepared to attack him. Traditionally, a duel wouldn't start before the competitors came in contact. The guards decided to use this fact to attack Ashton by surprise and end the farce as quickly as possible.

Sadly, what they did not take into their consideration was a Werewolf's extraordinary sense of smell and hearing. The moment the guard behind him took a step, Ashton knew the one in front of him wasn't his opponent.

But instead of confronting the second guard right away, Ashton decided to wait for the last possible moment to deal with him.

The guard swung his sword at Ashton from behind, thinking he had the win in his bag. But a moment later, he was gagging on his own blood.

"How the hell..."

Leon mumbled absentmindedly while the rest of them were shaken. Only Darjud's and Jacklin's expressions remained unchanged. They weren't surprised. They already knew Ashton had some talents, the whole purpose of issuing a gauntlet duel was to unveil his talents so that they could take advantage of his mistakes when it was time for them to fight. All of it at the small cost of their guards' lives.

"Khuk... k..."

Strange translucent blood trickled down Ashton's claws as he pierced the guard's neck with his razor-sharp claws. The guard's body flinched as he desperately tried to breathe in vain. It was clear who had won the first duel... but what Ashton did next shocked everyone... even Darjud.

Using his other hand, Ashton ripped out a chunk of the flesh from his opponent and devoured it without a moment's hesitation. After that, he discarded the barely alive man and stood there, ready to face the next opponent. Only this time, no one dared to approach him.

"Sha, you're up next," Darjud instructed one of the guards who reluctantly stepped out.

Ashton could see, that the guards weren't being cocky as compared before. Sha's use of a shield was proof of that. As for Ashton, he flexed his claws and waited. The guards were strong, even then  Ashton's levelling progress was slow. At this rate, he would need to consume all of the guards before even unlocking the next branch of his evolution tree.

Sha bellowed loudly and charged like a mad titan. He was planning to use his small body to overwhelm his opponent with a series of quick attacks and then let him bleed out. A moment later, he swung his energy sword right at Ashton's neck.

Ashton was big but agile. He swiftly jumped back to avoid the attack and the following second, he launched himself right into Sha, with his claws in front of him like a spear. His strong legs gave Ashton enough force to pierce through the little shit's flesh. But Sha managed to get away with just a scratch... a bloody, bottomless scratch.

Ashton was taken a bit by surprise. Sha was quite a capable fighter. Ashton made a mental note of his capability. It would be good to have someone like him on his side.

'It would be a shame to lose someone like him... just because I'll kill him.'

[Why not resurrect all of them?]

'I don't wanna come off as greedy. Three of them are enough.'

[Darjud, Jacklin and this fellow. Quite a weird choice, I'm not gonna lie. But you do you. Just make sure you get out of here alive and well.]

Unlike Ashton, Sha could still access his inventory, which he did to use a potion. The wound was deep enough to not heal completely, but the bleeding had stopped. Once done, Sha once again charged at Ashton, but this time he was careful not to drop his guard.

He might have expected Ashton to fight back, as he had before, but Ashton had other plans. Rather than attacking him, Ashton kept parrying his strikes using his claws. Sha was pushing him back!

Upon watching Ashton back up, the guards began cheering Sha on. He felt a bit more confident and gave his all to break through Ashton's defences. Within mere moments, his efforts were rewarded as Ashton tripped over the corpse of the guard from before and fell over.

Sha took this opportunity and jumped at Ashton, planning to end his life by piercing him through his heart. But before Sha could execute his plan, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He looked down, to see a sword piercing through his stomach.

Ashton did not 'fall over' because of Sha's relentless attacks. He did so of his own volition. So that he could pick the sword of the guard he killed before and use it to kill Sha.

Sha collapsed as his innards fell out of his body, marking the ground with his blood. Ashton stood up, towering over a kneeling Sha. The latter opened his mouth to say something, but before he could Ashton trusted Sha's sword right through his mouth, killing him. Everyone gasped in horror as Ashton licked the blood-stained sword.

"Hm... he doesn't taste half bad." Ashton mumbled as he licked the sword clean, "Next item please!"

[Ayo, mind what you're saying!]