Driven by the desire for power and survival Vars grabbed the best weapon he could think of, a tree branch.
After setting his goal for himself Vars noticed the closet branch happened to be 15 feet in the air. Not willing to wait he acted jumping up as hard as he could ripping the branch off. It was about a 3-foot-long branch that was thinner at the end and thicker at the base having a sort of club shape.
Not willing to waste any time thinking about how he just did what he did Vars placed the leech on his shoulder and decided to sneak up on the skeleton as quickly and quietly as he could.
As Vars was making his way to "help" Snow the Alpha noticed what he was doing out of the corner of his eye but didn't say anything. He had been mostly dodging around watching out for everyone else but now that he had seen Vars, he felt it was due time to end this.
The Alpha ran chased by the two zombies into a clearing about 100 feet away from the others. Once he made it he stopped running and turned around prepared to face his daughters for the last time. As the zombie wolves finally caught up to him they began to surround him.
"Girls, papa is sorry that this happened to you but I will put your souls to rest now." the Alpha said with a voice full of sorrow. Looking at what had become of his daughters he was full of anger and pain. Finally ready to do what needed to be done he unleashed all of his fury. The shadow under his body twisted and crawled all over his coat as if he had control of it.
'At least something good came out of all this mess. Maybe it will be I that rules this planet' he thought as the shadow began to form axe blades all over him. They were on his head, shoulders, knees, the tip of his tail, and his claws also had shadows covering them making them 2 inches longer and sharper.
Not wanting to see his daughters like this any longer he put his years of hunting and fighting for their territory to use. He and the oldest of the two daughters charged forward right at each other.
Being a zombie her movement was rigid so the Alpha was able to close the distance between them faster. 'Maybe these newfound abilities will allow me to use my imagination a little bit more' the Alpha thought as he put his thoughts to use.
Right when he crossed half the distance between himself and his daughter, he jumped and twisted his body horizontally. He then bit the end of his tail and curled himself into a ball with the shadow blades facing outward. The buff that Gaia said animals received was not a joke. The Alpha's momentum was so great he tore through the zombie wolf cutting it into minced meat.
Coming to a stop he shook off the guts and turned to the remaining zombie saying, "Even though that used to be my daughter that just felt so... good. I think I'll call that move Shadow Spinner. Well, I think I'll use you as a practice dummy. I promise to be careful."
While the Alpha was almost done taking care of the zombie wolves Vars was beginning to put his plan into action. When the Alpha took off with the 2 zombies Vars was about 15 feet behind the skeleton. Inching closer and closer waiting for an opportunity to put his baby brother out of his misery.
When Vars made it about 5 feet closer he decided not to wait any longer, before he lost the element of surprise he dashed forward as fast as he could. The only thought on his mind at this moment was making sure he didn't have to fight this thing in a head-on battle.
He covered the distance in 2 seconds way quicker than he expected. Finally noticing his presence the skeleton looked behind him but it was too late. Vars raised the branch above his head and swung down so hard that a strong gust of wind accompanied it.
*CRACK*
The skeleton wobbled for a second before collapsing to the ground. Its cranium had a deep crack in it with a hole in the middle. Vars decided to hit it one more time for good measure.
After the last hit the skeleton's head had the top of it inside itself. The once-moving skeleton became nothing but a pile of bones. Vars waited to make sure that it was dead and that's when he noticed green motes of light coming up from the body flying towards him.
{You have collected the essence of a Lv. 1 Wolf Skeleton. You've gained +2 strength and endurance.}
After this little message appeared in his vision Vars was reminded of the talent he was supposed to get from his first kill. He started digging through the bones and that's when he found it. It looked like a bus token with gold on one side but it was black with a skull and bones on the other.
When he picked it up another message came in his vision.
{Talent: Lord of Bones
Gain the ability to control bones. The users' bones and flesh also gain enhanced regeneration. The range of abilities of this talent depends on intelligence and imagination.
If you wish to learn this talent crush the token.}
'Bones huh? I think I can do a whole lot with that.' Vars thought with a smirk as he squeezed the token. It became a golden orb that was absorbed into Vars. A split second after this Vars flinched. In that split second, all of the basic understanding he needed for his new power flooded his mind. What was a second to the world felt like 5 minutes to him.
'Geez didn't think learning something new would hurt. Although, I should be able to use this power to become the Sovereign. The stronger I become the more outrageous things I will be able to accomplish with this one talent alone. I will have to make sure the rest compliments it well.'
After gathering himself he walked over to Snow. She was very shaken up and skittish as she stared at the pile of bones that was once her baby brother. He kneeled in front of her and rubbed her head in an attempt to soothe her.
"Snow I know things are crazy and out of control right now but this is the reality. We might not even make it out of this alive, but I found a way for us to avoid it all," as Vars finished his statement he brought out the parasitic leech.
"I found this thing in the bushes over there when I was hiding. It's called a dream leech and it can save us from this. It can make dreams come true, but there is a catch. It has to burrow into our minds to use it. If you want to bring everyone back this is the only way."
Snow looked at the leech warily due to its appearance before looking at Vars in the eyes. His gaze oozed a feeling of confidence and solace. After seeing the look on his face her mood changed to one of sudden resolution. After seeing how confident her big brother was she decided to follow his lead.
She nodded her head and then held it down so the leech would have easier access. Vars picked the leech up and placed it on her head. The leech then crawled to the middle of her head before it placed its suction-like mouth right in the center.
Snow winced in pain before she breathe a sigh of relief. "The pain isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. The center of my head is numb and the rest just feels like a bad headache. Hopefully, this works and we can all be together again," Snow said as she laid her head on her paws and closed her eyes.
Vars looked at her with eyes full of pity. She was not prepared for regular Narkaz let alone this more gruesome one. He stared at her for a while as she closed her eyes before walking over to the pile of bones to prepare for the fight. He knelt in front of the bones and stuck his hand out while closing his eyes.
He began to feel for the Cosmic Energy flowing inside him like instructed and urged it toward the bones. After he learned the talent he was shown the basics of his newfound power but Vars knew that being told how to do something and doing it can be two completely different things.
The hardest part was directing the energy where he wanted it to go. Once he got a good grasp of the concept he willed the energy to shape the bones in the image he had in his mind.
It didn't take long for the Lord of Bones talent to show its power. The entire skeleton began to rise and reshape itself into armor while being placed on Vars. The skull became an all-white baseball cap. It had the shape of a wolf's claw marks going through the moon etched on it.
The wolf's ribcage wrapped around his upper body with ribs interlocking and filling all gaps creating a white tee engraved with a howling wolf in the center. He willed the bones to be sturdy but semi-flexible so that he can retain full movement.
The forearms and front paws began to combine to cover his arms and hands. The forearms of the wolf wrapped around him from the wrist up to his shoulders and over his back. They started to form a sort of sleeve that covered his arms until fully shaped into a white puffer jacket. The paws covered his hands forming gloves with the claws from the wolf becoming small spikes in between each knuckle.
The same went for the legs. As the bones twisted and morphed together they began to crawl up his legs. Once the white glob reached his waist it started to flow back down constructing his last pieces of clothing. It was a pair of baggy joggers. He decided on a pair of flip-flops for footwear. They looked like regular flip-flops except for the wolf claws which are used to separate his toes.
To add the finishing touches to his new ensemble he wrapped the spine across his chest like a satchel. After, he did a couple of exercises to get familiarized with moving in his new armor. As he finally settled in he couldn't help but smile.
"This was definitely worth the risk."