A Werewolf In Under-Town

Lycanthropy Mutation Tree

Attack Lvl 15

Canines Lvl 2

Claws Lvl 15

Demon Claws Lvl 15

Sharpness Lvl 15

Convex Edge Lvl 5

Burning Edge Lvl 1

Bone Claws -

Defense Lvl 15

Tough Bones Lvl 5

Reinforced Bones Lvl 2

Enhanced Evasion Lvl 2

Utility Lvl 15

Partial Transformation Lvl 8

Limb transformation Lvl 4

Regeneration Lvl 28

Limb Regen Lvl 3

Pain Suppression Lvl 5

Points: 230

General Tree

Toughness Lvl 30

Thick Skin Lvl 15

Skin Resistances Lvl 5

Skin Durability Lvl 3

Dermal Armor Lvl 5

Shifting Plates Lvl 2

Reflexes Lvl 25

Quick Hands Lvl 15

Manual Dexterity Lvl 3

Shadowboxing Lvl 3

Quick Feet Lvl 5

Slide Move Lvl 2

Mind Lvl 25

Enhanced Focus Lvl 5

Perception manipulation Lvl 2

Mental Defense Lvl 5

Psychic Barrier Lvl 3

Points: 307

Shaggy grimaced as he looked at his points. They weren’t horrible. But he had seen them higher. Still, though, they would give him the edge he needed when fighting Cog. At least, he hoped. As he set about assigning his point values, Shaggy ignored the mad mutterings and annoyed shouts coming from nearby.

They had returned to the bar slightly before Vlad and Roald. The young technopath had been deep in thought and the vampire and his brood looked annoyed. Apparently, their trip hadn’t been as fruitful as Shaggy and Levy’s. Of course, their success was diminished because Ren was rhino-napped, but Shaggy considered it a win.

Slink had been more pragmatic about the loss. He assigned Dave to watch the tunnel until Ren respawned or came back. It had only been around thirty minutes, though. So Shaggy figured their friend was either still fighting for his life or fucking around in Deathville. Shaggy was fifty-fifty on whether the big man was still kicking. The Quinica were tough, but so was Ren. Then again, he was alone.

“I don’t know what you want me to do! My powers only work so fast!” Roald yelled, breaking Shaggy from his menus.

“I want you to find our damn friend!” Vlad yelled back. “Not only is he captured, but he was grabbed by the QUINICA! The people we are currently at war with. Who knows what they could pull from his head!”

Shaggy tilted his head, confused. “Wait, do the Quinica have mind-reading capabilities?”

Vlad threw up his hands. “Who knows? We just need this NPC to go faster! There’s an exciting adventure happening and, once again, some of us are missing out.”

“Dude, Ren probably got capped the second he appeared wherever the Quinica are hiding. He’s probably rezzing right now.”

“Or he is fighting for his life against an army of fake vampires. In an epic showdown with their leadership.”

Shaggy rolled his eyes and looked back to his trees. Vlad’s FOMO wasn’t his problem.

Attack Lvl 15

Canines Lvl 2

Claws Lvl 15

Demon Claws Lvl 15

Sharpness Lvl 15

Convex Edge Lvl 5

Burning Edge Lvl 1

Bone Claws -

Defense Lvl 15

Tough Bones Lvl 5

Reinforced Bones Lvl 2

Enhanced Evasion Lvl 2

Utility Lvl 15

Partial Transformation Lvl 8

Limb transformation Lvl 4

Regeneration Lvl 28

Limb Regen Lvl 3

Pain Suppression Lvl 5

Points: 230

“Two hundred and thirty points. Not bad, really. But where do I want them?” Shaggy scratched his chin in thought.

His claws had just recently failed him. So the Attack Tree was a must. But where? After a few seconds of hemming and hawing, Shaggy dumped a hundred into the Base attack. His next evolution would be at twenty-five. So best to shoot for that. Unfortunately, the points didn’t quite get him there.

Attack Lvl 18*

One hundred points got him three levels. Shaggy grit his teeth and bit back a yell. He didn’t need to add to the noise of Roald’s already crowded workshop. Deciding to use the remaining one-hundred and thirty points in bulk as well, Shaggy looked for a good choice. His defenses were good, same with his Regen.

“Transformation could use some love. But what exactly does that entail? I mean, I got limb regen by sheer force of will.”

Once again deciding to say ‘fuck it’ and see what happens, Shaggy dump everything into transformation. Hoping for something. But, once again, he was let down. The points only took him to level thirteen. Five levels wasn’t anything to sneeze at. But it didn’t get him a new evolution. Shaggy rubbed his temples and looked around the room.

Levy and Roald were huddled near the mass of Quinica equipment, studying and picking at it. Vlad was still stomping around angrily. Sylus was selling what he could to the few lackeys in the store. Vlad’s vamps were waiting out in the hall. Initially, they had all rushed inside. But Roald and Sylus still needed to do business. So Vlad had his cronies wait outside. But that just meant they were now blocking the door.

“Vlad. Stop pacing and get your sycophants to clear the door. We got Lackeys that need gear.”

Shaggy saw Vlad’s face shift into a sneer, and he waited for the vampire to start yelling again. But instead, the sneer cleared and the Vampire just nodded tiredly. As Vlad walked by him, Shaggy gave his friend a quirked eyebrow. But Vlad just raised a finger in a ‘one moment’ gesture. Shaggy shrugged and went back to his trees.

Toughness Lvl 30

Thick Skin Lvl 15

Skin Resistances Lvl 5

Skin Durability Lvl 3

Dermal Armor Lvl 5

Shifting Plates Lvl 2

Reflexes Lvl 25

Quick Hands Lvl 15

Manual Dexterity Lvl 3

Shadowboxing Lvl 3

Quick Feet Lvl 5

Slide Move Lvl 2

Mind Lvl 25

Enhanced Focus Lvl 5

Perception manipulation Lvl 2

Mental Defense Lvl 5

Psychic Barrier Lvl 3

Points: 307

Shaggy grinned this time. There were a few within Evo range. But he didn’t see how they would evolve. Some might be dead ends. Like Pain Suppression. He could still level it, but it hadn’t evolved at all. Shaking his head, Shaggy started at the top with Skin Durability. It was currently level three. So he started dumping points and waited for the number to tick up.

Skin Durability Lvl 5

Points: 232

“Seventy-five points. Not... bad…” Shaggy hedged as he went back to work.

Once again, he waited as the little green evolution square started to shift and morph. Eventually, two separate blobs formed off of the first. Meaning he now had a choice again. However, one of the two choices glowed green. Meaning it was a part of his demonic powers.

Skin Durability Lvl 5*

Rawhide

Demon Leather

Shaggy couldn’t keep the grin off his face. He didn’t even bother reading what either choice was about. He just slammed a few points into Demon Leather and never looked back. Shaggy felt his skin grow slightly itchy, and he scratched it as he moved to Shifting Plates. It sapped another fifty points off of him before it started to bulge and evolve as well. Unfortunately, it only had one offshoot.

Shifting Plates Lvl 5*

Defense Lvl 0

Shaggy raised an eyebrow at the simple name. But he bumped it up to one and kept going down the list. He had one-hundred and sixty points left and five more skills to get to level five. But it wasn’t to be. He got both Manual Dexterity and Shadowboxing to level five. But Slide Move proved to be too much of a point vacuum. It gobbled up his remaining points and didn’t even get to five. Worse yet, Manual Dexterity and Shadowboxing didn’t even evolve. Bringing up his General Tree again, he looked it over as he scratched at his wrist again.

Toughness Lvl 30

Thick Skin Lvl 15

Skin Resistances Lvl 5

Skin Durability Lvl 5*

Rawhide

Demon Leather Lvl 1*

Dermal Armor Lvl 5

Shifting Plates Lvl 5*

Defense Lvl 1*

Reflexes Lvl 25

Quick Hands Lvl 15

Manual Dexterity Lvl 5*

Shadowboxing Lvl 5*

Quick Feet Lvl 5

Slide Move Lvl 4*

Mind Lvl 25

Enhanced Focus Lvl 5

Perception manipulation Lvl 2

Mental Defense Lvl 5

Psychic Barrier Lvl 3

Points: 0

Overall, not bad. He’s health pool wasn’t getting any bigger, but he was overall tougher and, hopefully, his claws were upgraded again. Shaggy was wondering what Demon Leather did for him. But Vlad’s shocked gasp made him drop his menus again. He found the pale player looking him over with an exasperated face.

“Now, what did you do?”

“What do you mean? I just evolved some stuff. Did it have a physical effect?”

Levy looked up from her work and chuckled as she saw Shaggy. “I’ll say it did.”

“Well, what the fuck did it do and why is my skin so damn itchy?”

As he asked, Shaggy glanced down at his arms and got startled. He should have known the demonic choice would have some sort of cosmetic effect. Almost all of them did. Green claws, black sclera, and now skin that was practically red.

“You were always kinda tan, Shaggy. But this is another level.” Vlad smirked.

“Demon Leather evolution for my Skin Durability. I figured the demonic choice would be better than the regular one.”

“What?!” Levy said as she walked around the table she was working on and marched over.

She peered down at Shaggy’s skin and muttered a few words. Her hands glowed, and she rubbed them along his arm. Shaggy found the sensation odd. It was like there was an added layer to his skin. Pushing back against whatever magic Levy was using. He imagined he was a little more resistant to magic now. At least, he hoped so.

“Love, I think you are going to want to keep this quiet.” Levy said cautiously.

Shaggy groaned as a thought occurred to him. “Demon leather is highly prized and people are going to want to skin me, aren’t they?”

Levy bit her lip and nodded. He could tell she was trying to look empathetic, but the smile in her eyes was obvious. Shaggy wanted to slap himself in the head. Of course, Demon Leather would give him demon skin. That should’ve been obvious. Then again, how was he supposed to know that demon skin was some kind of commodity? Shaggy looked over at the other three people in the room.

Sylus was thankfully helping noisy customers and far enough away that he probably didn’t hear anything. Roald had his face down in the pile of Quinica tech. While Vlad had that far off look in his eyes that players got. He was clearly in his menus and maybe had heard nothing as well. Shaggy figured if anyone had heard, it would be better if it was Vlad. They guy was a bit of a whiner, but Shaggy doubted the guy would try to skin him. Maybe profit off Shaggy’s skin. Maybe ask Shaggy to skin himself. But the vampire wouldn’t do it himself.

Levy was still rubbing her fingers along Shaggy’s skin and looking at it lovingly. Shaggy pulled his arm free and glared at his wife. She had the good sense to look chagrined as she shrugged.

“Hey, I hear it’s a good potion ingredient. Also, you heal so fast anyway.”

“You are not cutting my skin off for alchemy, T! I don’t believe I have to say that.”

Levy looked affronted. “Oh, come on! We milked that one guy for his protoplasm back in that old game.”

“Please don’t phrase it that way and YOU did that. You and your army of crazy potion-makers followed that poor guy around till he quit, remember!? You are not doing that to me.”

“Pooh!” Levy pouted as she marched back to the table where Roald was.

Shaggy watched her go and sighed. He knew she would listen. Levy was a little headstrong, but she wouldn’t get too extreme. At least, not anymore. Shaggy said a silent prayer to the gaming gods for that old ghost-player and went back to his menus.

All he had left were the skills. Which he imagined had risen somewhat. Especially with him transforming so much more. Under-Town was a great place for it and it was so much easier now. Shaggy brought up the skill menu as he glanced up at Levy. He caught her grinning at him evilly as the menu filled his vision.

“… yeah, I’m just gonna ignore that.”

Skills:

Werewolf

Werewolf Senses – Beginner Level 5*

Werewolf Form – Beginner Level 3

Demon Wolf – Beginner Level 4*

Werewolf Speed – Beginner Level 4*

Werewolf Durability – Beginner Level 5*

Werewolf Bite – 5/5

Normal

Claw Fighting – Intermediate Level 2

Leaping – Beginner Level 3*

Enhanced Senses – Intermediate Level 1

Endurance – Intermediate Level 1

Fight Like An Animal – Beginner Level 2*

Pack Hunting – Beginner Level 4

Pounce – Beginner Level 3*

Shaggy nodded as he scanned through everything. There was growth in everything below intermediate. Which made sense. He hadn’t exactly been fighting anything too strenuous. Maybe after the Raid he would see some movement in the Intermediate skills. But for now, he was happy with what he got. Most of his Werewolf skills were almost ready to rank up. Shaggy dropped the menu and found himself face to face with Vlad.

The vampire was staring into his eyes. Forehead scrunched up in concentration. Shaggy raised an eyebrow.

“What ya doing there, Lugosi?”

Vlad snorted, but didn’t unscrunch his face. “I’m trying to read your mind. Which should be easy with you. But it is surprisingly difficult.”

“First off, go fuck yourself. Second, since when can you do that? Did you spend some points?”

“Yeah, you reminded me I had been putting it off for a while. Got some enhanced spawn stuff and dumped some into Utility that gave me a hypnotic stare. Which has a mild telepathic component. But it doesn’t seem to work or you’re just so empty-headed that there’s nothing to see.”

Shaggy snorted and tapped his temple. “Or I’m just prepared for that shit. Mental Defense and Psychic Barrier, bitch. You ain’t getting in here.”

“You want to bet?”

“Hit me with your best shot.” Shaggy said, balling his hands into fists and waiting.

Vlad stared back into Shaggy’s eyes, and the world went dark. Soon, all Shaggy saw were Vlad’s dark eyes. They stood out like twin moons even as the world around Shaggy dipped deeper into inky blackness. Soon, Vlad’s voice echoed in the dark.

“You want to give me your skin.”

The voice echoed around in the dark void until Shaggy felt the words slammed into him. He grunted as they rebounded and the world snapped back to normal. Shaggy’s head snapped back, but he righted himself in time to see Vlad stumble backward and fall. He felt the compulsion scramble at his mental defense for a bit before it vanished.

“Seriously, dude?” Shaggy asked as he rubbed his forehead.

It had felt like a Lackey had head-butted him. Not too powerful, but the force could move his head. Vlad grinned from the floor before he picked himself up. The vampire looked unapologetic as he dusted himself off.

“Hey, we need to start on our potion-making operations. We have the medical staff. They just need the equipment and the ingredients.”

“Yeah, well, they ain’t getting my skin, damn it. Y’all can just forget that.” Shaggy sighed as he glanced over to Levy and Roald.

They were both still engrossed in what they were doing. Although Levy seemed to be simply organizing the pieces now. She smiled at him.

“How ya doing, hun?” Shaggy asked, trying to move the conversation anywhere else.

Levy sighed as she separated a few pieces of tech and pushed others closer to Roald. “Fine. My scrying spell didn’t work, though. I’m not powerful enough and the items don’t really have a lot of personal connection to the targets.”

“Not to mention their wearers are dead. So that’s gotta stymie your spells.”

“Not really. The items have a psychic history that I can track. But it’s not my area of expertise. The trail seems to leave Austin. But I can’t track it from there. Which means I’m either not powerful enough or they are way out of range.”

Shaggy nodded before he slapped a hand on Roald’s shoulder. The chubby boy was in his chair, face bent over and nearly buried in the tech.

“What about you, Roald? Got anything for us?”

“Huh? Oh yeah! Sure. The tech is Poiinatte in nature so it’s pretty user friendly. Trouble is, they sell to everybody, so tracking the signal is going to be difficult. But building a shield against their teleporting should be easy.”

“So, that’s our first goal?” Shaggy asked, looking between Levy and Vlad.

The vampire scowled. “No. The first job should be locating Ren and porting to him. Roald, can you reverse some of this tech and maybe get us to where Ren is?”

Roald looked down at the pile of tech and scratched his smooth chin. “Maybe. Shaggy got us a full belt, so it should be a matter of finding the last used coordinates and activating it. Only…”

“Only what?” Shaggy asked.

“We only have the one belt. So only one of you can—”

“ME!” Vlad said aggressively, pushing Shaggy aside and jumping on the spot. “No way in hell am I letting the anime protagonist have all the fun. It’s my time to have an adventure, damn it. You stay here and deal with the minutiae of running this place.”

Shaggy smiled and shook his head. “Fine. You want it? You deal with it. For all we know, Ren’s already in Deathville. You could be walking into a damn deathtrap.”

“I will absolutely take that chance. I’m going to save Ren and rip the fangs off all those fake-vamps!” Vlad was panting now and looking a little crazy.

Shaggy shook his head and smiled at his wife. The Raid was going to happen any day now. A pleasant break sounded like just the thing. Although Shaggy was sure he was going to have to fight out his wife. She still was looking down at his ruddy skin with more than a little hunger. Shaggy took a step back as Roald spun his chair and presented the belt to Vlad.

“Okay, this should be ready. Just put it on and hit the middle button. I’ve calibrated it to take you to the last known jump point. Good luck.”

Vlad’s grin was full of malice as he strapped the belt on. “Oh, I don’t need luck. I’m going to fuck up everyone!”

After his exclamation, Vlad slapped the middle button at the center of the belt. Blue circles surrounded his form, and Vlad started to disappear. Shaggy grinned as his friend faded away. But then a snap hiss came from the belt and shot of electricity shot into a nearby wall. Levy and Roald ducked under the table as the blue circles turned red. Shaggy had enough time to see Vlad’s shocked face before a streak of red lightning tore into the vampire.

Shaggy watched Vlad turn to ashes and disappear in motes of white light. He couldn’t keep the chuckle from his lips as the smoking belt fell to the floor. Shaggy picked up the belt, feeling its heat against his skin. But it didn’t burn him, even as it still sparked and smoked. Turning to a stunned-looking Roald, Shaggy tried to keep from laughing.

“Umm, I don’t think it worked. You are gonna want to find out what went wrong before he comes back. Just, if you value your life, that is.”

Roald nodded dumbly before taking the belt from Shaggy. He even ignored the belt, clearly burning his skin as he turned back to the table and began studying the belt. Levy rose from behind the table and gave Shaggy an incredulous look.

“Did he just…?”

“Die from a teleporting belt? Yes, yes, he did.”

Levy grinned as they looked at each other.

“He is never living this down, is he?”

“No, love. No, he isn’t.” Shaggy couldn’t fight it any longer and burst into laughter as Roald hurriedly tried to fix the steaming belt.