I Became A Zompirewolf

[Back to forge then?]

"There's no time for that." Ashton sternly replied.

Learning a new skill, especially one that would end up providing him endless weapons in future, was necessary. But not when war had been declared on oneself.

Vulcan wasn't running away anywhere, and neither was the workshop. For now, Ashton had to focus on dealing with the Phantom. Which, in his current state, might become a challenge.

[Then where are you headed now?]

"To train." Ashton nonchalantly replied while heading towards

[Define train.]

Ashton sighed heavily. In recent weeks he had been thinking about something. Ever since he left Earth, he faced situations where he had to flee instead of fight.

First on planet Euphoria and now Phantom was challenging him as well. At first, he couldn't understand why it was happening. After all, he had no doubt in his mind that he was progressively getting stronger and stronger.

Even on Earth, he had to evade some fights, but it was mainly because of the politics involved and not because of his weakness. But things were different now, yet he was being forced to back off more often than he would have liked.

"I was wondering why it was happening to me, and it dawned upon me." Ashton continued, "Ever since I reached a higher realm, I forgot about the things that got me here in the first place."

[What do you mean?]

"My tribrid genes. Ever since fighting the Hydra, I stopped fighting like a Zompirewolf. Instead, I subconsciously chose to fight like a Xyran or a space human would because those genes were 'superior'."

Ashton continued, "How often did you notice me fighting as I did back on Earth? Sure I used my summons now and then, but apart from that, my genes remained pretty much unused."

[Now that I think about it, you're right. If the foundation gets weak, no matter how lavish the mansion on top of it is, it's bound to crumble down sooner or later.]

"A weird analogy, but it fits in with the situation."

[Let me point out something else. Back on Earth, you also had to hide your genes so that no one got suspicious of you. But in space, no one would give a damn about you. No offence.]

"Exactly! I could have used my insignificance to go wild with the genes and test my limitations. Instead, I kept on wasting both my time and potential."

[It almost feels like someone intentionally made us forget about it. I mean, why would we forget about our most unique weapon? After all, there are a lot of humans and Xyrans in space, but there's only one Zompirewolf.]

Ashton nodded but did not respond otherwise. His head was already preoccupied with Phantom and his relationship with his father. Others might decline his proposal. Hell, they might even lock him up if he revealed his intention of capturing Phantom and not killing him.

Phantom had an immediate kill-on-sight order placed on him by countless crime-fighting associations. He was deemed to be so dangerous that no one wanted to take the risk of capturing him, only for him to escape from their grasp and wreak havoc.

That's why Ashton had to move in secret. Answers were more valuable to him than saving Eula and a few others. Call it unorthodox and selfish, but that's precisely what Ashton had in mind.

"I think no one would notice us here," Ashton mumbled and got naked.

[What the hell are you doing now!?]

"You want me to shred my clothes when I transform?" Ashton stated matter of factly and began transforming.

It was the second time he had transformed into a zompirewolf, but it still felt weird. The gigantic wings on his back lifted him off the ground, but since he didn't want to attract unnecessary attention, Ashton stuck to gliding over the ground rather than full-fledged flying over the ocean.

[You can fly with that bulky body of yours? Impressive. What's next?]

"Now we fight."

After getting the hang of it, Ashton decided to train while flying. But for that, he required a strong training partner, and thankfully, he knew a powerful opponent.

"Come out, Atlas."

"You called?" The mutated Xyran arrogantly asked.

Atlas was the only one amongst Ashton's summons who did not respect him blindly. Instead, Atlas only admired his "master's" strength, and it would appear even he had sensed Ashton had gotten a bit rusty, which resulted in his arrogant behaviour.

Usually, Ashton would have slapped the hell out of him for talking rudely to him. But now wasn't the time to waste on shit like that. But he made a mental note to discipline the fucker soon.

"I can almost feel your itch to fight just by looking at you once." Ashton remarked, "Let's get rid of that itch, shall we?"

Atlas didn't reply with words but with action as he launched himself at Ashton, his battleaxe hanging over his shoulder.

Under normal circumstances, Ashton would have stopped the attack with ease. But since he was training to achieve a new fighting style, he found dodging to be a good response, at least for now.

But it didn't appear Atlas would let Ashton off the hook so quickly. Using trees as footholds, Atlas continuously kept changing his direction in an attempt to confuse Ashton.

'Damn it! I didn't think he would use the surroundings like this.' Ashton panicked.

Although he had managed to dodge the strikes so far, with each attack, Atlas was getting closer and closer to him. Seeing no other way out, Ashton summoned Balmond and decided to fight seriously.

Clank!

The next moment the blade and the axe collided and kept clashing over and over. The loud sound of metal slamming against each other inevitably fell on Vulcan's sensitive ears.

"Hmph! These guard brats got serious about their training for once." Vulcan mumbled before continuing his work, "Maybe the future isn't completely hopeless after all... Unlike that lazy disciple of mine. Where is that moron!?"