The Howlers Rise E-Book

JKSManga

• Herausgeber: Podium Publishing
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: My Werewolf System
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 581

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

A teen lycanthrope learns that being a leader means much more than just being a killer as the action-packed LitRPG fantasy series continues . . . Living with an advanced Werewolf System hasn't always been easy for Gary Dem. But it sure comes in handy. Without it, he would never have been able to take on—and literally devour—a lethal Altered and live to tell about it. With his new rank and abilities, Gary and his gang, the Howlers, are primed to finally wipe out the last remaining competition in Slough. As long as he can control himself and his growing werewolf pack, things might just turn out all right . . . But it's not bloody likely. Someone caught Gary and the Howlers' recent brawl on video. That means now everyone knows who Gary is, even if they don't know his beastly secret. It also means a lot of unwanted attention—and trouble. And that means someone is about to try and kill him . . . again. The fourth volume of the hit progression-fantasy series—with more than five million views on WebNovel—now available on Audible and wherever ebooks are sold!

Leseprobe

JKSMANGA

To every reader who has supported this journey, thank you.

Your belief in this story is the reason this fourth book, and many more, can exist. I’m grateful you’ve come this far with me.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission from Podium Publishing.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2025 by Kawin Jack Sherwin

Cover design by Husa

ISBN: 978-1-0394-8000-1

Published in 2025 by Podium Publishing

www.podiumaudio.com

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 NO LONGER A KNIGHT

CHAPTER 2 A SPECIAL UPGRADE

CHAPTER 3 THE NEXT LEVEL

CHAPTER 4 NO LONGER THERE

CHAPTER 5 HOWLERS NO MORE

CHAPTER 6 THE HUNTER CLASS

CHAPTER 7 GETTING A CRYSTAL

CHAPTER 8 INFECTED ALTERED

CHAPTER 9 THE FUTURE OF SLOUGH

CHAPTER 10 TIGER VS. WOLF (PART 1)

CHAPTER 11 TIGER VS. WOLF (PART 2)

CHAPTER 12 A COMMON ALTERED

CHAPTER 13 THE NEXT STAGE

CHAPTER 14 CATCH THE RAT!

CHAPTER 15 THE UNDERDOGS BITE!

CHAPTER 16 TWO MINDS

CHAPTER 17 A CHANGE OF MIND

CHAPTER 18 A JUNK HEAP

CHAPTER 19 SHUTDOWN

CHAPTER 20 A LONG TIME AGO

CHAPTER 21 LOCKED UP

CHAPTER 22 WEAK

CHAPTER 23 ROT

CHAPTER 24 BUTTING HEADS

CHAPTER 25 FOUR YEARS AGO

CHAPTER 26 A CYCLE

CHAPTER 27 THE ABUSIVE MAN

CHAPTER 28 A BAD PLAN

CHAPTER 29 A MISTAKE

CHAPTER 30 DECISION MADE

CHAPTER 31 IN THE BATH

CHAPTER 32 FROM THE SAME TREE

CHAPTER 33 STRANGER DANGER

CHAPTER 34 THE FINAL STRUGGLE

CHAPTER 35 THE BITE

CHAPTER 36 ALPHA BITE

CHAPTER 37 ANOTHER TO THE PACK

CHAPTER 38 A TRAINED WOLF

CHAPTER 39 CLEVER WOLF

CHAPTER 40 HOWLING FORCE

CHAPTER 41 THREE BAD WOLVES

CHAPTER 42 HOLLOW

CHAPTER 43 FLAWLESS HUNT

CHAPTER 44 HOWLERS RULE

CHAPTER 45 A SECOND CHANCE

CHAPTER 46 HIDDEN SYSTEM

CHAPTER 47 UNIQUE CLASS

CHAPTER 48 A STAR PROMOTION

CHAPTER 49 A DANGER TO ALL

CHAPTER 50 THE AFA

CHAPTER 51 TROUBLED TALENT

CHAPTER 52 A SECOND CHANCE

CHAPTER 53 A DIFFERENT LEVEL

CHAPTER 54 THE FINAL FIVE

CHAPTER 55 GOING SOLO

CHAPTER 56 EXPLOSIVE POWER

CHAPTER 57 THREE SECONDS

CHAPTER 58 A SPECIAL HOWL

CHAPTER 59 THE FINAL FIVE?

CHAPTER 60 A SITUATION

CHAPTER 61 YOUR BACKGROUND (PART 1)

CHAPTER 62 YOUR BACKGROUND (PART 2)

CHAPTER 63 CRAZY

CHAPTER 64 THE HIGH RANKERS

CHAPTER 65 THE TOP OF THE TOP

CHAPTER 66 A PERSONAL PET

CHAPTER 67 PREDATOR (PART 1)

CHAPTER 68 A PREDATOR (PART 2)

CHAPTER 69 WHO’S SCARIER?

CHAPTER 70 A NICE MEAL

CHAPTER 71 MATCH UP

CHAPTER 72 RUMBLE

CHAPTER 73 YOU’RE THE PROBLEM

CHAPTER 74 AN ANNOYING FLY

CHAPTER 75 A SMALL MEAL

CHAPTER 76 LITTLE WOLF

CHAPTER 77 AN OFFER IS MADE

CHAPTER 78 TRAIN US

CHAPTER 79 STUBBORN

CHAPTER 80 LAST DAY

CHAPTER 81 HIT RANK 1

CHAPTER 82 THE NEW TOP DOGS

CHAPTER 83 THE GOAT AND THE FLY (PART 1)

CHAPTER 84 THE GOAT AND THE FLY (PART 2)

CHAPTER 85 A STRANGE RESULT

CHAPTER 86 BENDING THE RULES

CHAPTER 87 WHERE ARE THEY?

CHAPTER 88 EXPELLED

CHAPTER 89 DOUBLE STINGER (PART 1)

CHAPTER 90 DOUBLE STINGER (PART 2)

CHAPTER 91 RUNNING OUT OF TIME (PART 1)

CHAPTER 92 RUNNING OUT OF TIME (PART 2)

CHAPTER 93 EVOLVING

CHAPTER 94 A WAY IN

CHAPTER 95 ENTERING THE REAL ACADEMY

CHAPTER 96 INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CHAPTER 1

NO LONGER A KNIGHT

After his meal, Gary didn’t feel like he had been the one in control of his own body, yet somehow he had ended up at home. No longer in his gang clothes, not having met up with any of the others after the great attack, and no longer having the bag of strangers’ bedsheets.

There were a few people that Gary went to for help in times like these, but not a single one of them seemed available. He couldn’t tell Tom the truth, and Kai hadn’t picked up his phone, leaving him to once again deal with matters himself.

As he entered his apartment, he saw that Amy was safe; in fact, the areas of Chavley that he had traversed had shown no signs of damage. How that was possible when such a large attack had occurred, Gary didn’t know, nor did he ask questions. It was as if he didn’t even care about that right now. In fact, he didn’t utter a single word as he proceeded into their room.

Amy had greeted him, but he didn’t seem to have registered it. Seeing him in his current state, she knew that she would be unable to get through to him and decided to let him rest on his own in their shared room.

Maybe it’s best if I sleep in Mom’s room for today? Amy thought. Gary, were you really involved in what happened on the news today? You told me to stay in, so maybe you were just concerned for me, or it was all a coincidence, but … those “coincidences” are starting to pile up.

The next day, Amy was sure that Gary must have somehow been involved in what had occurred yesterday. Although her brother hadn’t openly appeared in the broadcast, Amy had recognized the other members of the Howlers; after all, she had seen them briefly at the Wolf’s Pool Club.

Part of her suspected that the green-haired leader was her brother, but a bigger part of her was unable to accept this possibility. Being in a gang was one thing; being an Altered was a completely different one. Ultimately, she came to the same conclusion as Tyler, that Gary must have simply dyed his hair to resemble that person.

As curious as Amy was, she had promised her brother she wasn’t going to ask again, and she intended to keep her word. Fortunately, she had never said anything about trying to find things out herself …

It was a normal school day, yet she had woken up before him and there was no food out on the kitchen table, as she had grown used to. The door to their room was still closed, and she hadn’t heard it open at all during the night.

He hasn’t done this before, but I’m not sure if I can make things better, Amy mused. In the end, pulling up her sleeves, she did what she could to help Gary out. She made a simple meal for herself and left a good portion for her big brother out on the table, with a small note underneath, before heading out to school.

It was the middle of the day when Gary realized that he had just been staring at his ceiling. It was hard to say whether he got even a wink of sleep.

Shit, I’m going to be late for … ah screw it, after yesterday I doubt anyone will care about me having missed one school day, Gary decided. He stretched his body and looked around. Hang on, what did I do with the bedsheet? … I can’t remember. How come I can’t remember?

The green-haired teenager had been completely on autopilot to the point that he couldn’t recall where he had put the loose bag filled with bones. He was mildly sure that he must have brought it home, but that might just be wishful thinking on his part. However, he wasn’t in the mood to worry about it for the time being.

Since Amy hadn’t cried out, she must not have found it, and judging by the time of day, his sister should be at school, leaving him with ample time to find it. He checked his phone to see if there were any messages from the others.

Unsurprisingly, none of them had written anything in the chat. However, there was one personal message from Kai.

Continue today as normal, will let you know more later.

Gary thought that maybe they would continue their attack on the Gray Elephants or the Underdogs, or whatever was left of them, anyway. With their leader gone, someone had to take over, and it was clear they would be scattered.

However, he would leave this stuff to Kai, since he would know best in the first place. There had to be a reason why they wouldn’t move out yet, so Gary opted to wait until evening to get an update.

He walked into the kitchen and saw some cooked food on the table. It had already gone cold, but there was a small note underneath.

Big bro, take the day off. Once I’m back, I’ll give you a massage to work your sore muscles out. You always look after me, so let me look after you for once.

Next to the message was a little doodle of what he could only guess to be his sister pumping her fist.

That note put a smile on his face, his first expression of emotion that day, but not only that, it reminded him why he had ended up in this crappy situation. He had done some crazy things, but he was doing all of it to make sure his family would stay safe.

Since he wasn’t going to go to school in the middle of the day anyway and didn’t really feel like doing anything else, he decided to check out his system.

Name: Gary Dem

Class: Warrior

State: Human (Alpha)

Grade: Knight

Level 18

Exp 502/3445

Health 100/100

Energy 300/300

Strength 23 (+1)

Dexterity 24 (+1)

Endurance 20 (+1)

His stats had gained a large boost compared to last time. Currently he had one extra stat point at his disposal, but rather than using it as a way to improve his body, he thought of something else.

1 stat point has been allocated to Health

Your base Health has increased to 110

During the fight with Kirk, he had realized the drawback of overly relying on Claw Drain to refill his Health. It was only useful if he could actually connect his attack, but otherwise it was just a drain on his Energy. His Energy was able to heal his injuries, yet the lost Health would only be replenished once he was outside a fight.

He had the skill Last Stand, but that was exactly what it was, something that should only be used at the last moment. Gary was pretty sure that if he hadn’t chosen that skill, he would have died twice already. He had chosen to increase his Health in the hopes of never ending up in those types of situations in the future.

One of his rewards for defeating the Altered was the option to learn one more skill. However, Gary was aware that he wasn’t in the right mind for that right now, so he decided to leave that till later, to select a good one.

Instead, he did something that he had been sure about doing from the beginning.

I have three Pawn points and a Knight point. I should be able to use the Knight point to directly upgrade my body to the next grade, so here goes.

1 Knight point has been assigned to increase your grade

6/5 Pawn points have been collected

You now have enough points to reach the next grade

Upgrade is now proceeding

…

CHAPTER 2

A SPECIAL UPGRADE

This was the first time Gary had consciously done something to increase his grade. Last time, he had simply selected his class, and it had surprisingly upgraded him to a Knight-grade werewolf as well. Since the change in appearance was mostly due to choosing the Warrior Class, Gary hoped that he would be able to gain the system benefits without any pain.

He wasn’t completely wrong. His body didn’t change much; he only experienced a weird feeling, yet he had gotten somewhat used to it given his frequent transformations. However, he was unprepared for the experience of what could only be described as his brain melting, like being constantly poked from the inside with a hot rod.

It was far more painful than when he had learned new skills; even worse, it lasted longer. He immediately collapsed onto the floor, grabbed his head, and instinctively clawed at it, but stopped himself as he realized that his hands had already transformed.

“Why does everything have to hurt with this damn system?” Gary screamed as he gritted his now-sharp canines in order to try to halt the transformation. He couldn’t help but scream at the top of his lungs to try to alleviate even a little of the pain.

“Arghhhh!”

How much time had passed, he was unsure, but as soon as the pain started to recede he knew it was over. As if to stress the fact, the Werewolf System sent him a new notification.

Your grade has been upgraded from Knight to Bishop

1/15 Pawn points to upgrade to the next grade

The first good thing Gary saw was that it had worked; on top of that, it appeared that the extra point had been carried over. However, he was still clueless as to just what going up a grade did for him. After all, Pawn points could be exchanged for skill and stat points, and a Knight point was worth five of them …

Gary knew that according to the description of the Alpha Bite skill, he should now be able to create werewolves at the Knight grade. Similarly, he should also be able to invite omega werewolves at this grade to join his pack, since he now outranked them. Of course, he would have to find one …

Regardless, these features didn’t seem overly useful, at least not yet, so he hoped the system would share some insight that made his investment worth it. He didn’t plan on turning any of the others, not until he knew what would happen to Olivia on the night of the full moon. He wasn’t going to subject the others to what he had been through.

Checking out his current rank, Gary saw that this information was already present, but there was now additional information below.

An alpha at the Bishop grade can select a class for all his Knight-grade werewolves.

Extra class choices may become available based on the werewolves or their current grade. Meeting certain conditions will allow werewolves to access Special Classes.

Gary thought this was quite the upgrade indeed. He knew that he had improved the most after selecting the Warrior Class. Essentially, it was a way to increase his pack’s strength. He also noted that Olivia’s grade had changed.

Howlers Pack

Alpha Werewolf: Gary Dem

Grade: Bishop (1/15)

Beta Werewolf: Olivia Pearl

Grade: Pawn (0/1)

“System, are you saying that I need to pay one Pawn point to upgrade Olivia to the Knight grade? Well, I do have the points, and I’m curious if she will have an extra option.”

Although Gary was excited about this at first, he paused to think things over. He still was unsure about what to do with Olivia. Sure, she had helped him out; in fact, he was certain that without her whip pulling Kirk’s leg in that final attack, he would have been the one who lost his life.

The Lady Boss had also helped the group and saved his sister. Whether she did that because she was simply following his established pack rules or not was another matter, but at least he knew she was somewhat loyal.

If I upgrade Olivia to Knight grade, she will surely get stronger. Even if her increase is as big as mine, I should still be leaps above her. After all, I got a big upgrade myself after yesterday, Gary reasoned. And if I do have to end up killing her, she will then be a Knight-grade werewolf, which will probably end up giving me another Knight point. That would be exchanging one point for five; it’s a win-win situation.

In the end, Gary convinced himself to do the upgrade, though much of the decision might have been to satisfy his own curiosity. Pressing her name, he granted his point toward her.

Congratulations, one of your beta werewolves (Olivia Pearl) has been upgraded to Knight grade

You may now select her class

Hunter Class (Recommended)

A Werewolf Hunter is fast, agile, and sneaky. It focuses on killing its prey quickly, out of sight and from the shadows. It is able to track its targets from a great distance and has great focus.

Class perks include: More and better marks, improved tracking.

Protector Class

A Werewolf Protector boasts one of the sturdiest bodies of its race. It uses its own body to shield his pack members from any harm, making sure that they will survive.

Class perks include: 1 extra point in Endurance upon each level-up, faster healing.

Warrior Class

A Werewolf Warrior could be considered the vanguard of its pack. It leads its pack into battle with its strength. It has exceptional fighting ability and courage, but it is because of this trait, and his role, that this class boasts the highest fatality rate.

Class perks include: Wide range of skills to select from, large Energy pool

Gary was a bit disappointed to see that her choices were the same as his. He had hoped for some variety, if only to learn more about werewolf classes. After all, the system had intrigued him with the possibility of those Special Classes.

Under Olivia’s name, the system now showed Grade: Knight (0/5). He was tempted to upgrade her further, but that wouldn’t be wise. Not to mention, he lacked the necessary Pawn points.

The system recommends the Hunter Class, and I can’t really picture her as a Protector or Warrior Class, Gary thought as he selected it. He realized that perhaps he should have texted Olivia beforehand, but it was too late, as her body was already starting to change. Where she was or what she was doing, Gary could only hope she would be safe.

Your Beta Werewolf (Olivia Pearl) has successfully become a Hunter Class Werewolf

Since Kai seems to be busy, I should meet Olivia and find out for myself how her Hunter Class works. Maybe now she will have something like a system, or maybe becoming a Bishop grade has some other benefits I was unaware of, Gary thought.

Then he received one more notification after becoming a Bishop-grade werewolf.

New Quest received

Going up in the world

Reach Level 25

Quest reward: 1st Class Promotion

CHAPTER 3

THE NEXT LEVEL

Once again, it looked like the system had given Gary ample incentive to concentrate on leveling up. Seeing how much he had benefited from becoming a Warrior-Class Werewolf, a class promotion, which should allow him to choose a higher-tier version of that class, would surely make him even more powerful.

I wonder how strong I can get? Gary thought. So far, each of the grades has corresponded with chess pieces, so queen or king should probably be the highest I can reach. If each new grade allows me to go up a class, just how many class promotions will I need to reach or even surpass someone like Jayden?

As Gary thought about this, his excitement quickly faded. From what he had seen from the White Tiger Altered, he had a hard time imagining himself beating Xin’s brother, even if he became twice as strong as he currently was. Gary had already had a hard time against Kirk, and he was sure that Jayden had yet to show everything he was capable of.

The real question is, how do I even level up to that point? The 50 Exp per day from the Bond Marks is nice and all, but it would simply take a lifetime, especially since the Exp requirement increases with each level. The only other way I have gained Exp so far is from starting fights or running into tough situations.

Gary didn’t think he would be doing any of those things soon. After the Underdogs and Gray Elephants were dealt with, Slough would be a pretty safe place for his family. He had already solved the money issue, and would solve it even more after successfully taking over both of the big gangs. Of course, there was still the issue of how exactly he would explain the whole thing to his sister, as well as to his mother once she woke up.

Wait, there is still the matter of who this Werewolf System actually belongs to. If we take over the Underdogs, then whoever the owner should have been might come to us … I’ll just have to be strong enough to protect everyone when the time comes, and some smaller gangs might make their move. Like those that were at the meeting with Ben Clove.

Gary decided that it was best to use his extra Pawn points. At the moment, he only had two more left. This wasn’t enough to allow Olivia to reach Bishop grade, much less for himself to reach his next grade. Since it was so far away, and he believed that more fighting would be coming his way soon, he decided to use them on himself.

Would you like to convert 1 Pawn point into stat point(s)?

Yes

3 stat points have been granted

Gary was happy to see that the conversion granted him more than one stat point. However, now that he seemed to have figured out the importance of his grade, he understood how precious those Pawn points were, making him question why he got relatively few of them. What’s more, the last time he had converted a Pawn point, he had received three skill points, which he would have assumed to be more than stat points.

Alas, as the saying went, beggars can’t be choosers, so he converted his last remaining Pawn point as well.

Would you like to convert 1 Pawn point into stat point(s)?

Yes

2 stat points have been granted

He was slightly surprised that he ended up receiving fewer stat points this time. Either each Pawn point wasn’t worth the same amount, or more likely, the conversion might not be fixed but have a random element to it. He would have to further test it to find out, yet Pawn points weren’t exactly a resource he could freely acquire.

Nevertheless, he had a plan for what he wished to do with his five stat points.

5 stat points have been allocated to Health

Your base Health has increased to 160

Just like the one stat point he had received for reaching Level 18, he had put all the others into Health. So far he had yet to find a reliable way to increase his Energy or Health, whereas the other stats could be obtained organically or through eating beasts, and apparently Altered as well.

Now with everything done with his system—apart from selecting a new skill, which he was postponing to another time—Gary was the strongest he had ever been.

He stood up and jumped up and down on his toes, just like Kirk before he started his Altered matches. Once Gary had warmed up enough for his body to feel loose, he threw a couple of punches as fast as possible.

He continued throwing punches, one after another, and eventually stopped with his fist out. He could hear his fists cutting cleanly through the air, and he hadn’t even used Controlled Transformation on himself.

This body is amazing … If I were to use my full strength at school, everyone would definitely assume me to be an Altered. I better start holding back during rugby practice and PE lessons.

Continuing his little exercise, Gary started to do more, swinging his legs and doing a routine drill that he often practiced when training with Innu. Once again he was surprised at what his body could do now.

His speed had drastically improved, but the speed also gave more power to his punches. The fight against Kirk had opened his eyes to the importance of speed and how frustrating it could be to be unable to touch your opponent.

However, he realized why he was able to do such things in the first place. His Dexterity had improved by leaps and bounds, and it was all because he had eaten his idol—and then the reality hit him once again.

That’s right, the bones!

CHAPTER 4

NO LONGER THERE

Quickly, Gary began searching through his room; the last thing he wanted was for Amy to come across an assortment of bones, especially since Kirk’s head was also in there. The former would already be hard to explain, but the latter would make it impossible.

Gary spent an entire hour looking through every nook and cranny of the apartment, yet the improvised sack containing the bones was nowhere to be found. He even used his nose to look for signs of blood, yet he was unable to pick up anything.

Why can’t I remember where I put it … it’s like on the night of the full moon. I can’t remember anything for some reason. Did I just black out?

Gary was trying hard to replay the events of last night in his head, but there was no such luck. Since the sack definitely wasn’t in their apartment, the only thing he could do was go outside. He reached for his hoodie, but then put it back, realizing that he probably didn’t need it anymore, not after yesterday.

As he roamed the streets, Gary followed any scent of blood he picked up, searching for any clues to what he could have done with the bones. But he only managed to find some roadkill, as well as a man who seemed to have cut himself shaving.

He increased his search radius along the route between his home and the fighting that had taken place yesterday. Unfortunately, several policemen seemed to be conducting an investigation; they had blocked off the areas that had been attacked.

The biggest change he noticed was the absence of the Underdogs. There were no members in the area. Not needing to hide his face, check behind his back, or put his hood up was something he had never treasured before.

Now it was a freedom he had regained. Gary could finally walk around his own neighborhood without worry. This also meant that he could continue his search, albeit outside the closed-off areas.

Alas, the next few hours were uneventful, with not even a hint, even after retracing the last steps that he could remember.

Well, I guess if even I can’t find it with my nose and knowing where I should have passed by yesterday, then hopefully no one else will find him, Gary reasoned.

Since it was getting late, he decided to head home. Just in time too, as Amy entered their apartment a few minutes after he did. Gary welcomed her back and tried his best to act normal, saying that he’d had a falling-out with one of his friends the other day, which was why he wasn’t in the best of moods. Of course, Amy saw right through his lie but decided to let it go, just as she had done with all the others. She was just happy that her brother was somewhat back to his usual self.

Gary did a few things before he went to sleep. For one, he messaged Olivia. He had initially wanted to check up on his beta wolf after assigning her the Hunter Class to test a few things out, but thanks to his impromptu scavenger hunt it had gotten too late. The Lady Boss had received the message, but she left it on read without further reply. Gary figured that she must be pissed at him for not giving him any prior warning.

Unfortunately, Olivia wasn’t the only one who seemed to be ignoring him. He had constantly checked his phone waiting for Kai’s message, but neither he nor any of the others had sent anything.

Still, Gary took it as a good sign, believing that everyone had used today to recuperate. He would just ask Kai personally what had happened. For the first time in a long time, he was able to get a good night’s sleep.

Your bloodlust grows

10 days until the next full moon

50 Exp has been gained from current Bond Marks (5)

Exp 552/3445

In a way, Gary was hoping that the matters with the Underdogs and the Gray Elephants could be resolved before the full moon. That way, he would be able to fully focus on himself and Olivia during that period. Unlike last time, when it had annoyed him greatly, he decided to use the notifications as a type of calendar.

The next morning, Gary was the first to leave the apartment, excited to meet up with the rest of the Howlers. He wanted to learn what had happened to them after he had left and what the news was like in their areas, and, most importantly, he wanted to talk to Kai about their next move. Gary wanted to talk to the Howlers in person rather than over the phone, and that was why he hadn’t given the others an update.

Tom was still away on his special internship course, so the Howlers were really the only ones Gary would be able to talk to. When he entered his classroom, Tom’s seat was empty, of course. However, Innu’s seat was empty as well. At first he thought he was just early, but even when the lessons were about to begin, Innu still hadn’t arrived.

Did he take the day off? I guess it would make sense for him to take a few days off. After all, he knew those orphans personally. Damn, I’ve been thinking about my own situation all this time, without even stopping to think about him, Gary thought. Pulling out his phone, he sent Innu a message to try to cheer him up. However, before he could do so, the teacher entered the room.

“Okay, listen up, everyone. I have some news to share with all of you,” Mr. Grey announced. “Our recent transfer student, Innu, has decided to transfer out. I’m afraid he will no longer be with us anymore. Let’s all wish him the best at his next school … or whatever he wishes to do in the future.”

Gary stopped in the middle of his message. He couldn’t believe it. Why would Innu leave school because of what happened? Everyone started talking.

“Hey, do you think he really transferred to another school?”

“I doubt it. He was definitely the one on the news the other day! Even Mr. Grey seems to think that.”

“Yeah, he was with that gang, the black and gold one. What were they called again, the Howlers?”

“I can’t believe we had a gangster in our classroom all this time. We should have known; he had those weird bandages all the time.”

Crap, this is a big deal, isn’t it? Neither Innu, Marie, nor Austin had masks covering their faces! Everyone knows that they would have been involved in that fight. Crap, did the camera manage to capture my face when the mask fell off?

Gary realized that there was at least one person who certainly had seen his face that he would need to deal with. However, the fact that none of the students were talking about him meant it was unlikely that his identity had been revealed.

When the bell went off signaling that it was time for lunch, Gary sent a message to the group asking what was going on and why Innu had dropped out of school. Then he headed upstairs to Kai’s classroom.

But Kai was not in his usual place, staring out the window.

“Sorry, but have you seen Kai or Marie anywhere?” Gary asked one of the upperclassmen leaving the room.

“Kai … oh, we just got told today. Those two will no longer be attending Westbridge, apparently.”

Now Gary was sure that something was seriously up.

CHAPTER 5

HOWLERS NO MORE

The fact that every Howlers member except him had left Westbridge was no joke. Gary was now worried that something very bad must have happened to his friends. After all, he received a personal message from Kai just yesterday, but he had not been able to reach him.

If it had just been Innu who had decided to leave the school, he might have understood. After all, Innu had apparently been captured on film. But if all three had disappeared without any notice, something was definitely up.

Gary pulled out his phone and started writing in the group chat.

I just found out that everyone but me has decided to drop out or transfer. Why didn’t anyone tell me? Are you guys okay? Did any of you get hurt from the fight?

He was undergoing a mix of emotions: worry, mixed with anger, as well as the sting of abandonment. Lately, he had gone through so much with the Howlers, and he was prepared to go through thick and thin with them. Seemingly getting ghosted by all of them was making him fear the worst.

I don’t understand, aren’t I part of the Howlers as well? Aren’t I meant to be your friend?

Just as he was about to message each one of them individually, his phone vibrated, and he saw that he had finally gotten a reply from Kai in the group chat.

My bad, Gary, I was so busy yesterday that I didn’t get the chance to write to you. This is something that we all agreed on without you. Don’t worry, everyone is fine and well. Just enjoy your day at school and come to the Wolf’s Pool Club afterward.

Gary didn’t know how to feel about this. The pumped-up adrenaline in his body had faded, yet one of his worst thoughts had turned out to be true. The group that he had always felt like he had belonged to since he had founded it together with Kai had done something without him.

Why would they do that? Gary wondered.

Eventually the school day was over, yet Gary had barely paid attention to any of his lessons. His mind was too busy deciding how to react to his situation. Should he accuse them all of abandoning him? Should he pretend everything was normal?

Ultimately, he knew that worrying about it was just making matters worse, especially since he couldn’t fix something that had already happened. He just hoped that there was some reasonable explanation for their behavior.

If only Tom were here, then I would at least have someone to talk to about this stuff … stupid no-phones rule. At least he said he would be back before the full moon, Gary thought as he pushed open the door to the pool club.

It seemed to be as busy as usual. Plenty of customers had become regulars, and Austin’s friends were doing a great job waiting on everyone.

However, all the attention was on the latest addition to the team. White had quickly become the store’s idol, which most likely also translated to extra sales. Even now, nobody was paying him any heed, but a group of boys was staring at the waitress.

Other than Miss Degrace, Gary didn’t see any of the others, so he could only assume they were downstairs. He went into the storage room that doubled as Kai’s office. Walking down the stairs, he could already hear the voices of the other gang members.

He was a bit surprised when his nose picked up another presence: his beta werewolf, Olivia Pearl. Kai, Marie, Austin, Innu, and Olivia turned around, and they all gave him a smile. Marie had the awkwardest look on her face, though, seemingly feeling guilty.

“Guys … so do you mind explaining to me what’s going on? Please don’t lie to me. I thought everything was going our way for once, but should I take it that the Howlers are no longer a thing anymore?” Gary decided to be frank. Throughout the day, that was the worst possible outcome that he could think of.

Although it had never been his idea to create this gang, it had become something like a second family to him, so he didn’t want this to be the end of it.

“What? No, of course not!” Marie answered vehemently. “I’m sorry we kept you out of the loop. Let me explain, so these guys don’t mess it up, all right?

“I don’t know if you know or not, but it turns out that the gang fight was filmed. While they mainly focused on you against Kirk, all of us were shown. I was even recorded using knives. Admittedly it was in self-defense, so according to our lawyer, Mr. Vula, I shouldn’t get in trouble with the police, but there were consequences we had to deal with yesterday.

“Although our faces weren’t shown too clearly, those who know us should be able to recognize us. It was kinda impossible to go back to school, you know.”

Gary understood where Marie was coming from. After all, he had heard all his classmates talking about Innu, and none of it had been flattering.

“On top of that, with the Underdogs and Gray Elephants in shambles, we are the only big-time gang in Slough, which no one can deny anymore. This means that even if we wanted to, we wouldn’t actually be safe at school. In fact, we would probably endanger everyone near us just by attending.”

“That’s not the only reason,” Innu chimed in, stepping forward. “All of us have already decided, Gary. There’s no real point in us going to school anymore; it would just be a waste of everyone’s time. This is the life that we intend to live from now on.

“I have people who rely on me now, so I need to bring in the money so I can look after them. Not in the future when I grow older and get a degree, but now. Surely you understand, right?”

Indeed, as someone who had been in Innu’s situation not too long ago, how could he not sympathize. In fact, it was something he had been considering himself as well.

“Then I will—”

“No.” Kai immediately interrupted him. “Gary, there is a reason why we decided to do all of this without informing you, and that’s because, if anything, you have done far too much for us already. The others may not know the entire story about why you helped me create the Howlers, but I do … you agreed to my plans because you didn’t really have another choice if you wanted to continue your normal life.

“Part of the reason I gifted you that mask was so you had a chance to live that ordinary life, even if it’s just a lie. Gary, I asked everyone to keep quiet about it because I knew you would stop going out of solidarity, that’s just the type of person you are, but right now, the thing that is keeping you going is the fact that you could end up with a normal life at the end of this.”

Gary opened his mouth to reply, but in the end no words came out, because Kai’s words were true. He still wasn’t able to fully commit himself to this lifestyle. On top of that, if he did, it would mean dragging his family and close friends like Tom into this, and maybe he would even have to cut ties with them.

Marie’s mother was already involved, and then there was Austin, whom they knew little about but who seemed to have already considered this lifestyle. Innu had already said why he needed to do this. And then there was Kai, whose motivations weren’t quite clear to Gary. . Either way, they had more reason to do this than he did.

“I understand … I’m just glad that I will still see all of you.” Gary let out a sigh, and the others all smiled.

After that little talk, it was time the group got down to business. Kai gave everyone an update about the current situation. It turned out that the Gray Elephants were practically no more, and that included the territories they used to run. The few remaining members had disbanded, and without a leader, there wasn’t much they could do. On top of that, those who had tried to rally up had been attacked by an unknown force.

However, no one had taken over their territory, and no one dared to. Kai had assumed that was because of the Howlers. So it looked like their plan was working so far.

“Which means that the Underdogs are the only ones that we have to focus on, right?” Gary said, summing it up. “So when do we take them out?”

“There are a few things that I need to sort out before then. We need to get everything perfect, so we can get to Damion. If we don’t get him, the Underdogs will always be able to re-form. Right now, our best approach is to let some time pass and wait for the other gangs to choose a side,” Kai answered. “Don’t worry, it won’t be long. At most two weeks. That timeframe should allow Damion to call in every favor he might have, so that we can completely crush him.”

The others nodded, but Gary was a little worried. Two weeks’ time meant after the full moon. If Olivia turned out to become uncontrollable on the full moon, there was a good chance that he would have to kill her to protect the others.

Without the beta werewolf, he doubted the members of the Pincers would be as courteous as they had been so far. Right now, while the Howlers had Olivia, especially after her upgrade, they needed to attack now.

“Attacking the Underdogs will be dangerous, but there shouldn’t be too many members left. I’ve also placed a Mark on Damion, as well as Gil, so we can simply ambush them if the opportunity arises. With my upgrade in strength, maybe there is no need to put them in harm’s way. If we do it close to the full moon, Olivia and I should be strong enough to handle them on our own.

“You guys decided this all on your own without me, so I guess it’s time I start acting on my own as well.”

CHAPTER 6

THE HUNTER CLASS

“Is it your hobby to take adult women to the woods in the middle of the night?” Olivia asked.

She had met Gary in the woods, where he had told her that she was now a werewolf. The moon was shining brightly in the night sky, allowing the two of them to see, not that they needed it anyway.

She was currently in a new set of clothes that sported the Howlers’ color scheme. Because of their position in the gang, she wasn’t afraid to be recognized. Heck, if anyone dared to attack her, she looked forward to showing off her strength.

Still, Gary couldn’t help but notice that the clothing didn’t exactly look warm, not that Olivia seemed cold at all—yet the same could be said about Gary. One of the hidden benefits of becoming a werewolf was that their bodies were able to adapt to the weather conditions.

“No, not really, but I somehow feel quite comfortable here.” Gary shrugged. “Also, I’ve called you over to talk to you about some werewolf stuff, and this seems to be the perfect place for that.”

She couldn’t help but grin.

“Because it’s your big secret?” Olivia asked mockingly. “You should be aware that after what you did, all of them know, right? After all, they know who was hiding under that wolf mask. They all saw you fight that Cheetah Altered.

“The only reason your little buddies didn’t mention anything to you was because they’re waiting for you to be the one who brings it up first. Although, considering your fallout, earlier didn’t seem like the perfect time to ask you any questions anyway.”

This saddened Gary a little. Truth be told, he had avoided thinking about it, having been glad that nobody had recognized him at school. However, Olivia was completely right; of course the Howlers knew now.

Most of them had already put two and two together, but now that they had seen it live, there was no denying it. Ironically, Gary wasn’t an Altered. No, he was something a lot more menacing, and if the others found that they had almost died because he had been the one to create Billy, he wasn’t sure how they would feel.

Sure, Kai had seemingly forgiven him, but would Innu do the same?

Shaking this thought off, Gary decided to concentrate on the reason he had messaged Olivia after the meeting.

“Tell me, have you felt an urge that has been growing? A craving for blood or killing in the last couple of days?” Gary asked. “I need you to be honest.”

For a second, Olivia didn’t answer; she was thinking about whether to lie, but because it was such a specific question she thought Gary already knew the answer.

“Yes, but I haven’t really acted on it, unless you count the fact that I’ve been eating my steaks a lot bloodier than usual. In fact, it’s almost as if my mind is in two states. Every time I consider acting on it, I start to get a headache, forcing me to stop.”

Gary could only surmise that this was Olivia’s natural instincts as a werewolf colliding with the pack rules he had set up. It was good to know they were still in effect, but on the full moon he doubted that they would be strong enough.

He had a theory, and he was sure it was right. When the system stated that his bloodlust was increasing, it wasn’t his lust for blood itself. It wasn’t as if drinking blood or eating a human would calm him down.

No, what it meant was the act of killing itself. On the night of a full moon, all a werewolf wanted to do was hunt and kill anything it saw.

“All right, another question about yesterday: Did anything weird happen to you? Anything strange during the day at all?” As he asked this question, Gary put a little more hush in his voice.

This did not go unnoticed.

“You son of a bitch! I should have known that it was you who did that shit to me! You made me collapse in the middle of the department store! Do you have any idea how humiliated I felt from all those eyes staring at me as if I was a damsel in distress?”

She shouted so loud that Gary was sure even those on the street outside the woods could hear her.

“Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t consider your circumstances, but I promise it was in your best interest!” Gary was unable to look her in the eyes for a moment. Instead, he swept his gaze over the Lady Boss’s body. Not because he was interested in her or anything, but because he had expected some change in her appearance.

When he had selected the Warrior Class for himself, his body had changed drastically. He had expected something similar to happen to the beta werewolf, but at least outwardly there was nothing different about her.

Could it be that she didn’t change because I went with the recommended class? Did my body change because I chose something that I wasn’t suited for before that?

“Tell me, have you noticed anything peculiar about yourself? Any messages in front of your eyes, perhaps?” he asked.

“Now that you mention it, I did encounter some strange red smoke that day. It was very faint, though, and it smelled like raw food. I can still see it now, and it hasn’t disappeared since that day. Not sure if anything else is new,” Olivia replied, before giving the teenager another angry stare. “I didn’t exactly have the mind to find out after collapsing out of nowhere, you know?”

So she still doesn’t seem to have a system but can see its effects? Did she somehow set targets without realizing it or … Then a thought came into Gary’s head.

“Can you still see it? If so, can you point me in the direction of where it’s coming from?”

Olivia was still unsure what was up, but she humored the alpha werewolf and showed him.

It must be because she is a beta werewolf in the same pack. Now that she is a Hunter she can see my marks as well. However, it seems to be only my Forced Bonds and not the Bond Marks I have made. Not sure if I should be happy about it or not.

“Okay, let’s see how much stronger you’ve gotten, then,” Gary suggested with a smile.

There were two reasons he wanted to do this: to test out his own capabilities as well as Olivia’s. It was important to know the gap in strength between them; that way he could continue being the alpha werewolf.

Olivia wasn’t shy, getting into a fighting stance and holding her whip in her hand. She, too, wanted to know what these changes were. At that moment, her eyes lit up blue.

The beta werewolf (Hunter Class) is within range of the pack leader and has entered into battle

0/15 Marks available

The alpha is able to designate Hunting Marks for the Hunter Class.

The Hunter will prioritize those with marks

Extra Exp will be gained for marked targets hunted by the Hunter

The Hunter’s strength will increase when fighting against those who are marked

It was unexpected for Gary to suddenly get multiple notifications, but it looked like he had gotten some of his answers about what a Hunter could do exactly. It was just a shame that he couldn’t see Olivia’s stats, or whether she benefited from hunting these targets.

Either way, he could find out through a fight.

While Gary was distracted, Olivia lashed out with her whip and Gary grabbed it, catching it with his transformed arm.

“You’re faster than before,” Gary noted.

“And it looks like you’ve gotten faster as well!” Olivia shouted as she charged forward.

The two of them were huffing and panting as their training session came to an end. Gary had learned a lot through their small spars. For one, although his speed had increased greatly, this also meant that he used more stamina during a fight.

Which meant that if he wanted to focus on speed, it wasn’t wise to just increase his dexterity, because without increasing his stamina, he could only last a few seconds at full capacity.

However, one thing was clear during the fight: although Olivia had improved after gaining Hunter Class, Gary was leaps and bounds stronger than her. He was growing at a much faster rate.

Nevertheless, the Lady Boss had improved in more ways than one. Gary had pushed her significantly in the fight, and in the end, a rage had overcome her, causing her arm to transform slightly. Her nails grew and fur appeared on the top of her forearm. It looked similar to his Controlled Transformation, yet she seemed unable to control it, at least for now.

Without a doubt, though, the two of them were a force to be reckoned with, which strengthened Gary’s resolve about his next course of action.

“I’ve decided, Olivia, that tomorrow you and I will pay the Underdogs a visit and wipe them out.”

CHAPTER 7

GETTING A CRYSTAL

It hadn’t even been that long since Tom had begun his internship, yet all the things he was discovering at NIRV were unbelievable. He was tempted to share his new findings with the whole world, but he understood that it would lead to enormous trouble.

Still, he couldn’t help but search the web about how much of what he had found might be out there. Unsurprisingly, there were only a few rumors here and there that had a hint of truth about what Tom had witnessed. A lot of it was off the mark, and he even imagined himself believing some of these things before he had come here. It appeared that there were no whistleblowers telling the truth, not even on the dark web.

Either everyone was taking their NDA very seriously, or, and Tom was leaning more toward the second possibility, those who had tried to reveal information had been suppressed, never to be given a voice again. You can’t stay the market leader without dirtying your own hands; at least Tom wouldn’t be surprised to learn of any such news, not that he had found any.

Right now, he was looking into what appeared to be an empty room. The glass windows went all around the room, above the arena floor. The room was occupied by several people who were waiting for something. However, upon closer inspection, there was something very peculiar about this normal-looking room. There were numerous scratch marks on the metal walls, most of them quite deep.

Lucky me; from what Dad told me, I was sure it would be impossible to get permission to watch this, Tom thought with his eyes wide open, not even wanting to blink, as the doors on one side of the large room slowly opened. One could imagine how thick and reinforced they were, based on their slow movement.

Five people entered, yet there was nothing uniform about them; they looked like random people off the street. The only thing they had in common was a strange air of confidence.

These are the Recoverers … and … and I’m going to see a real beast. Not just a fossil, but a real beast in front of my very eyes!

Tom had often encountered them as he walked around the lab. Many of them looked like gangsters, though he had also encountered some whom he might simply overlook if he met them out on the street. According to his father, they had their own separate lives that NIRV didn’t really get involved with.

They could be gangsters, they could even be homeless. Regardless, when they were here, they were known as Recoverers. His father had said that they were Altered who had received NIRV’s services, on the condition that they would help out with retrieving the beast crystals.

His father had seen many Altered that were beyond the strength of those at the AFC, which surprised Tom, yet at the same time it also didn’t, not after everything else he had come to learn.

The door on the other side of the room opened as well, and a team of people in hazmat suits came in pushing a large fossil on a vehicle, which they then shoved into the center of the room. The group quickly left the room, and then it was time for the final part of the process.

The ceiling partially opened, revealing a specially made and designed clawlike object. Now descending was what Tom had only seen on video so far.

That … that should be the Nest Crystal!

Seeing it in person was completely different from the video itself. There was a certain mystical pattern inside the crystal that was hard to describe. It was as if part of space had been captured and placed there.

“The information that we extract from the fossil gets inputted into the Nest Crystal,” his father had explained. “I know it’s hard to believe, but the crystal is actually able to read the data. Sometimes it makes me feel that it has learned our language. So after we input the data they extract from the fossil, the crystal can do what it’s about to do next. As I said before, though, that’s not my department, so I don’t know the exact details.”

The claw that was holding the crystal started to turn red at its tips, and then it started to glow. At the same time, the Recoverers were getting ready. They had already begun to transform.

One grew to nearly four times the size of his regular self, with thick gray skin and a large horn on his head. Another had grown wings like an insect, flapping at a great speed, and hands that looked like stingers. The rest had turned into even more dangerous-looking creatures, though none of them resembled any earthly creature that Tom had ever seen, but rather something out of a nightmare.

A beam of energy from the Nest Crystal hit the fossil, and flesh and matter began appearing out of thin air, as if someone were 3D printing it, forming on top of the fossilized bones. Some of the bone structure that had been missing was starting to form as well, and soon enough the fossil was no more.

In its place stood what one could only describe as a primordial beast. Honestly, seeing the beast in its full form made Tom instinctively want to run away. He didn’t know if it was just this beast in particular or if the others were like this, but it looked beyond horrifying.

It was as big as a three-story building. It had the body of a centipede and the legs to go with it, but its upper half was lifted in the air like the body of a cobra, while on each side it had what looked like the wings of a bat. Its head was mostly a golden triangle shape, and it opened its maw to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth.

The Hunters got to quick work, with the large horned Altered charging in front. Considering his size, he was quicker than Tom had given him credit for, and he bashed into the beast before it could react. Its horn pierced through the beast’s body, and black blood came gushing out.

The beast let out a strange shriek, which stopped the other Hunters from charging in. It used its large maw to bite down on the large Altered, then started to flap its wings, preparing to fly upward.

However, before it could rise, the buglike Altered flew right through its wings, piercing the beast with its stingers. It then quickly flew to the back of the beast’s head and hit it a few times. The others joined the attack, overwhelming the monstrous beast. These Altered were strong, and they took out the beast fairly quickly. They extracted the crystal from the beast and presented it to all the onlookers.

With that, the fight was over.

Tom thought it was a good result, but his father looked disappointed.

“Did something go wrong?” Tom asked.

“Nothing went wrong per se,” his father answered. “In fact, I would see this as a good day. No Recoverers died today, but others might think this is a bad outcome. After all, this team wasn’t very proficient, meaning that the beast was too weak and likely didn’t have a strong crystal.”

Hearing his father explain this type of logic scared Tom a little. Though he might not have said so outright, it showed how little NIRV seemed to value the lives of the Altered. Of course, they could always create more, but to treat them as an expandable resource …

It was then that Tom had felt his phone vibrating, and he pulled it out to see some news about Slough.

“Dad, you have to see this!” Tom cried, shoving the phone in his father’s face.