Dezhong sat on the sitting room couch analyzing his werewolf system all over again and re-reading every single notification it had ever given him since he got it. The reason for this was so he could grasp a clear understanding on what it meant to be a werewolf, something that used to be an old folklore centuries ago.
He then went on to ask his system about its origin, how it was made, and why he got it in the first place but whenever he asked, it always gave the same reply.
[All will be revealed in time.]
After asking dozens of questions and basically learning almost nothing about the system's origins, Dezhong fumbled across one more notification that sparked curiosity in him. 'The Shadow King.'
"System explain who the Shadow King is again. Only this time, tell me what it has to do with me.'
[Young Prince. Not long ago, you encountered the Shadow King multiple times before accepting The Beast System.]
"I wouldn't say encounter, more like was attacked by him or it."
[The Shadow King was a powerful and fierce leader who ruled his subjects and protected them with one of the most abundant objects he could use, shadows. With those, he could make shadow clones, shadow entities, shadow slaves, and the accursed shadow demons. However, the king's powers were lost in battle and no one has ever been able to allocate his remains or where his power is to this day.]
"I thought you said I had an encounter with him.'
[Affirmative.]
"Is he not the werewolf power I have?"
[Negative! You saw the Shadow King but the werewolf inside you isn't him.]
[Repeat Quest: Grow stronger and learn more about the Shadow King. Having his strength added to yours will make you nearly unstoppable.]
"How do I find this Shadow King?" He asked but his sytem went silent and even when he asked other questions, it refused to give him answers.
'So much for learning about this Shadow King.' He sighed. 'But wait, if the system said that the thing I encountered was him, then there's a chance that I can have that communication with him. I just have to….' Dezhong felt a strong buzz on his right leg, signaling that he had received a message. When he checked who it was from, he saw a message from Blake which read,
*Dezhong, check the News channels please. It's about your father.*
The boy's heart sunk into his stomach as fear started to take over. He quickly fumbled to the remote and flipped through the channels until he saw the news about the beast, the people injured, and those being taken to hospital. Among those were his father who he saw lying on a stretcher with bandages on his head.
'Dad!! Is he…is he alive?' Dezhong's heart was already racing uncontrollably after the clip ended. The last time he was his father was earlier in the day when he dropped him off before leaving for his address and now, he was one a stretcher being taken to a hospital. 'What do I do now? I have to do something about….'
*BANG *BANG* *BANG*
A loud knock came from the downstairs door, almost scaring Dezhong off his chair. When he checked to see who it was, he saw two officers who were most likely there to pick him up. Before opening for them, Dezhong called Blake and left him with specific instructions before opening the door.
"Good evening..officers." Dezhong tried sounding as calm as possible. "What brings you hear? Is e-everything alright?"
"Hey, Dezhong," One of the two officers replied. "It's about your dad. He's been involved in an accident and we need you to come with us."
"What for?" Dezhong asked. "I mean, it's bad that my dad's injured but what do you guys want me for? Unless you're taking me to him."
"As you're one of his next of kin that's actually in Desper, we need you to be the one to say when we should pull the plug."
"Pull the plug? I-Is my dad that badly off?"
"Listen, kid," The second officer interrupted. "Just come with us and see. You'll understand where we're coming from."
Dezhong locked up the house and went along with the officers in their cruiser. The trip to the hospital was a long, quite, awkward, and boring one but he didn't care. All he worried about was the state of his father.
--------
[Few minutes later.]
"We're here kid." The first officer mumbled after they landed at one of Desper's many hospitals. "Now, before you go in, we'll need you to…." Dezhong didn't bother sticking around to hear the words coming out of the boring police men and instead ran to the reception.
Once there, he anxiously asked the lady for his father's room and ran to it as fast as he could. 'Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay.' He pleaded while speeding past doctors, nurses, and patients in the hallways.
"Dad! Dad I'm here." He shouted as he entered the room he was told his father was in. The room was pretty long and wide with a bed capacity of up to twenty patients. There were three doctors and eight nurses in total, each snapping their fingers next to the ears of the police men and women in the room, including Dezhong's father.
Chief Prince sat on the hospital bed with a lifeless countenance. His face was drained of all life, his spirit seemed gone and his eyes were emotionless and didn't move at all. The doctor next to him snapped his fingers, used a fog horn, and even screamed in them but Desper's Police chief didn't seem to respond.
"Dad?" Tears rolled down Dezhong's eyes as he walked down to his father. "Dad? It's me. Your son." The doctor stepped aside and let Dezhong speak with his father, hoping that something would happen. "Hey dad. Can you hear me?" Dezhong snapped his fingers next to his dad's ears. "Can you hear me?"
"I'm afraid he can't, young man." The doctor replied in a monotonous tone. He read from the sheet of paper in his hand and said, "Your father's ear drums were severely injured from the accident that happened tonight. He must have been in range when the beast let out a powerful roar. As you can see…." He showed him an X-ray image on a screen, "Both his eardrums have been scarred. We don't think they'll ever heal. I'm afraid your father won't heal from such injuries."
"Don't say that." Dezhong muttered in anger with tears rolling down his eyes. "Don't say that. My dad's been through worse. He'll pull through this. I just know it."
"Well, I'm sorry but we need to prep him for surgery." The doctor continued. "That's not the only thing that's wrong with him. He seemed to have over exerted his body's strength and the power of the crystals in his prosthetic arms. He burned every last bit of energy in his crystals and that can cause serious damage to a man of his muscle mass. He needs surgery otherwise he'll die."