"Gah!" Hugh coughed up blood as his body hit a metallic wall. His whole body slumped to the floor leaving a bloody trail along the wall as blood oozed out of the many lacerations all over his bruised and battered body
"Don't tell me your done, dear son" Mr Wells said in a cold, low and mocking voice
Hugh looked up at the window far above the ground level of the metallic training area where his father and a doctor stood watching him.
Hugh staggered onto his feet, swaying left and right. He spat blood on the floor while holding his right arm. Currently he was facing 30 metal soldiers that looked like Animal beasts.
Animal beasts were animals that didn't die even after the virus infected them, mutating into feral monsters with an insatiable thirst for destruction
Hugh sighed as he looked around. Broken parts of the machines he fought earlier were scattered about. Hugh had been going through this hellish training since Friday evening, constantly destroying soldiers and being beaten to near death only to be healed by the doctor standing beside his father
'Damn him...' Hugh thought angrily as his sight blurred and ran towards the nearest soldier that looked like a giant cockroach. He jumped over the soldier and with his left arm, grabbed its wing then launched it at the nearest soldier and sent both of them flying just before a soldier that resembled a stag with another pair of eyes below Its first and multiple branching horns ran into him and impaled him through his stomach with its horns
With a flick of its head it sent Hugh flying into the air and another that looked like an ibex ran up the wall and jumped off using its hind legs to kick Hugh down to the ground
Hugh felt multiple of his bones crack as the ibex soldier's kick connected and his eyes turned white, the last thing he saw the sadistic smile on his father's twisted face. He fell to the ground motionless.
"Pathetic" his father said making his way out of the watching area "Get him to the infirmary"
The doctor nodded and followed after Mr Wells
******************************************************
"Make him proud..." a feminine voice called out
"MOM!" Hugh sat up abruptly, his breathing rough and fast. He dipped his hand into his shirt and brought out a locket which he held tight
'Mom...' Hugh opened the locket and in it was a picture of him and a silver haired and red eye woman with a beaming smile
"Good morning mom..." Hugh kissed his mother's picture "How was your night?" he asked
It was Hugh's ritual to talk to the locket every morning he could so that he wouldn't forget his mother
"Mom, it'll be the Wolf festival soon" Hugh smiled a bit "Your favorite festival and I promise to get your favorite street food hmm?" he asked with a sad smile
"It's been twelve years since you left mom..." tears streamed down his face "Why mom? why did you leave?"
Hugh's tears continued to flow as he entered into a quite sob "Mom I miss you"
Thirty minutes later Hugh is back to his stoic disposition and walked down a flight of marble steps into the entrance of his Mansion
"Master Hugh" a middle-aged man with a butler outfit bowed to him
"Mister Godfrey, please stop bowing and calling me master, your older than me. Hugh is fine"
"Very well sir Hugh" Godfrey replies
Hugh sighed and headed towards the dining room where his father was busy reading a newspaper.
"Aren't newspapers out of print?" Hugh grumbled
"They are" Vladimir replied in a stern voice putting an end to any other questions that may follow
Hugh sat at the farthest end away from his father. In a short while the cooks brought in an assortment of meals
Hugh filled his plate with the bare minimum that would at least last him through the morning and got on to eating
The room was dead silent as both father and son ignored each other not even willing to talk about the weather. The atmosphere was tense and sparks flew between them both when their eyes met
Hugh felt mentally drained and after eating got up and left the dining room glaring at his father on his way out hoping to leave and get some fresh air
"Your forbbiden from the house" His father said without raising his head from the newspaper
"And if I do?"
"You'll have yourself to blame"
Hugh left the dining room with building frustration, each step leaving a resounding thud
"Godfrey"
"Yes sir?"
"Initiate the next phase one"
"Yes sir"
******************************************************
"What is the meaning of this?" Hugh said harshly as two men wearing black suits bared his exit from his bedroom
"Sorry sir, your father has instructed us to keep you in your room until further notice"
Hugh expression hardened for a bit then relaxed and he showed a bright smile "Alright then"
Hugh went to sit on his bed in a meditative position
The guards looked at each other b as if to ask the other what was going on
Hours passed as the sun set over the horizon and moonlight filtered into Hugh's room
'Let's see how effective it is'
Hugh opened his eyes slowly and took in a deep breath. He came down from his bed and walked towards the guards
"Goodnight" he said in a cherry tone and burst into a sprint and tried to touch the guards face
Guards were quick to intercept and both took hold of one of Hugh's arms by his shirt sleeve and flung him across the room
"Sir did you really think we wouldn't notice?" a guard asked
"We didn't get this job for nothing" the other said
"It seems so..." Hugh said as he got up and a purple liquid oozed from his arms "But your gonna lose"
Hugh sprinted towards the light switch and turned off the lights in the room
"Much better don't you think" Hugh said with a smile
Hugh dashed through the darkness towards the guard nearest to him and elongated his nails to form claws coated with the liquid and slashed his arm
The guard didn't flinch and kicked Hugh's legs making him fall and grabbed his legs and swung him towards the other guard who kicked him in the face
Hugh flew into a wall but got back onto his feet relatively unharmed
"How are you feeling?" Hugh smirked
The guard Hugh attacked felt a strange sensation in his arm and saw that it was bleeding profusely and it felt numb
"What did you do?"
"Just a bit of experimentation" Hugh said with a wicked grin "I'm happy you decided to become my test subject"
Unlike the magic that beasts were bestowed, most morphs were bestowed a power known as an Ani-bility.
Ani-bilities were simply enhanced abilities that the original from where a morph received their virus
Hugh was a Hairy legged Vampire bat morph. Hugh was one of the lucky few that developed an Ani-bility. Hugh's Ani-bility was the ability to create the specialized venom of vampire bats that prevents blood from clotting which he aptly name 'Blood flow'
After experimenting with his ability it evolved and now he can create different types of venoms and toxins requiring him to change the name to 'Toxin'
The guard swayed from side to side before collapsing on to the floor.
"Paralysis was a success"
Hugh got ready to sprint toward the other guard, planning to take full advantage of the shadows, but as he took his first step a sudden explosive stinging feeling built up in his right leg where the guard had grabbed him and he fell to the floor
'What the hell?' Hugh could no longer feel his right leg and he felt a painful sensation coursing through his body
"Moon jellyfish sting sir, you'll be paralysed until you calm down" the guard said replying Hugh's thought
"I don't plan on calming down any time soon" Hugh used his arms to get him to stand on his left leg and with a powerful thrust from it sped toward the guard
Hugh suddenly stopped and was held upside down in front of the guard "Your father said to do what it takes to prevent you from leaving, even cut off your limbs, and I don't plan on letting you"
Hugh was smashed into the wall of his room repeatedly before being smashed into the floor
Hugh was bleeding from his forehead and his body felt heavy 'That Ani-bility takes a lot out of me'
From the guards back were several thin tentacles like those of a jellyfish moving around him. The guard moved toward Hugh "I believe that this foolish fight is over"
"You believe wrong" Hugh quickly sprang up to his feet and used his Ani-bility to cover his claws with the venom again
"Ugh..." the guards fired multiple of his tentacles at Hugh in order to put some distance between them and restrain him. Hugh ran towards him and slashed the tentacles coming his way and grabbed one and pulled the guard toward him
"Did you really think you could beat me?" Hugh said with a soul rending glare and slashed the guard across his chest leaving him to spasm on the floor
"So this is the power of a C rank morph huh?" Hugh said as his claws retracted along with the poison
Hugh walked toward the door "I should really be careful on my way out" he said as he slammed his door behind him
Hugh made his way through the mansion making sure to avoid the guards along the then he jumped down from the mansion's second story into the backyard and made his way towards the back gate into the forest
As Hugh made his way to the back entrance a dagger was thrown in front of him preventing him form proceeding further
"Well, looks like I've caught a jackpot"
Hugh looked at the gate and saw a figure resting on on the wall
"Who are you?"
A tall dark man wearing a black suit and dress pants with a blue undershirt showed himself
"The name's Jelani" The man took a bow "A D rank hunter"