My Almighty Werewolf System

Chapter 2

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A pillow smacked Kai in the face.

“Up, wolf-boy. The bell already rang!” Jace stood over him with hair like a fried storm cloud and a half-eaten granola bar in his mouth.

Kai blinked, groggy. “Huh.......what bell?”

“The one that means we’ll be roasted if we don’t move. Come on!” Jace threw a hoodie at him. “Every faction’s headed to lectures.”

Kai’s blanket clung to him like a second skin. His ribs still ached from yesterday’s welcome party, and the memory of laughter still echoed behind his eyes.

“I don’t even know where to go,” he muttered.

“Exactly why I’m your designated tour guide-slash-fellow reject-slash-idiot,” Jace said. “Let’s move before the corridor spirits come alive.”

They slipped out into the hallway just in time to blend into the morning chaos. Kai followed Jace closely, hood up, hands in his pockets. His shadow trailed behind them like an ancient curse, longer than the others, darker than physics allowed.

Even in this noisy swirl of half-human students, some with antlers, some levitating, one casually on fire, it still drew glances. Nervous ones. Some muttered. One guy growled. A girl on a floating board glided past overhead, her eyes glowing purple, sparks trailing behind her like fireworks. Two students levitated a third in midair, arguing about spell mechanics.

Kai couldn’t keep up. “You didn’t tell me the school turns into a circus after sunrise.”

“Oh, this?” Jace gestured casually. “This is homeroom. Come on, stay close. Your shadow’s already declaring war on everyone in a ten-foot radius.”

Kai’s stomach clenched. The wolf-shadow that stretched behind him didn’t walk......it prowled, alive and wrong. The moment they entered the path leading to the East Wing, heads turned. Conversations paused. Some students stepped back. Others glared like he’d insulted their bloodline.

“Why is everyone........?”

“Because they see the shadow and assume you’re some Alpha heir here to dominate,” Jace said without slowing. “And since this place is half territorial politics and half prison-yard chaos, that’s not great.”

They ducked down a lower hallway, footsteps echoing. Kai tried shrinking into himself, but the damn shadow refused to behave....it flickered across walls, snarled through windows, snapped at torches.

Every corner they turns is full of abnormal students; it seems like an abomination to be normal in such a world like this.

“Those glowing red tattoos? That’s Bloodbound Arcane Faction. Don’t mess with them unless you want to get hexed through your breakfast.”

“And those twins levitating their books?”

“Psychics. Can read minds. Bad at personal space.”

Kai nearly bumped into a tall, gold-scaled lizard boy who hissed something in Latin. Jace yanked him aside.

“Draconian Studies. Always mad. Don’t ask why.”

And just as things started feeling survivable............

“We split here,” Jace said suddenly.

“What?”

“I’ve got Arcane Theory. You’ve got... Fang & Form 101.”

Kai’s stomach flipped. “You’re leaving me?”

Jace gave a sheepish smile. “Just for now. Meet me by the fountain after class. You’ll be fine. Just... maybe keep your shadow from barking at anyone.”

They bumped fists, Kai’s hand trembling a bit and then Jace was gone, swallowed by a hallway pulsing with runes.

Kai turned toward a door marked WEREWOLF DIVISION: FANG & FORM and pushed it open.

The room smelled like pine needles and sweat. Desks formed a rough semi-circle around a giant training ring; the floor padded with enchanted mats. Moonlight streamed through a skylight, though it was still mid-morning.

Dozens of students filled the seats, some lounging, others sparring lazily or sharpening claws against the wall. No one looked particularly friendly.

Kai slipped into the back, head low, trying to be invisible.

“Yo,” someone muttered from a row up. “Is that the Shadow freak?”

“Thought he got smacked yesterday.”

Kai ignored them. His ribs still ached from Ryder’s welcome punch, but the sting of public humiliation was worse. The memory of being kicked across the courtyard still throbbed.

Kai focused on not existing, and then the door boomed open.

Everyone went still.

The lecturer walked in like a thunderstorm in boots.

He was built like a cliff, gray beard braided down his chest, a scar over one eye. He looks well built like a bully who eats freshmen for snacks. No student would like to mess with someone this giant.

“Name’s Professor Grath,” he said, voice rough like crushed gravel. “I don’t do theory as you all know. I don’t do crying. I teach survival. If you want hugs, transfer to Rainbow.”

The students snorted. Kai sank lower.

Grath began pacing. “Lesson One. Every werewolf has a distinct primal form, shadow, claw, or blood. But most importantly, all wolves must have the ability to fully or partially shift. Some can scent minds. Most of you are worthless until proven otherwise.”

Grath continued, pacing like a stalking beast. “Werewolves vary in shadow traits. The ancient packs carried distinct lineages. Shadows, when exposed, reveal dominance, bloodline... and curse.”

He stopped. “Now, identifying threat levels. Anyone can talk big. The body lies but the shadow doesn’t.”

He turned, looking all around for a good example to demonstrate to the class. Kai immediately hides his face under his hoodie, but the shadow did otherwise. His shadow stood up on the class walls, with a daring and growling stance.

“You. Back row. Hoodie. Stand.”

Kai froze.

“I said, stand. Let’s see your shadow.

Kai’s breath hitched as he rose slowly. The class gasped.

His shadow stretched forward on its own. Huge. Wolf-shaped. Its jaw open in a silent howl. It moved independently.

Grath stepped back.

“Fascinating,” he murmured.

“This, class, is a prime case of shadow dominance. See the fangs? That’s not projection. That’s heritage.” He stepped closer, sniffed once. “Smells wild. Unclaimed.”

Ryder’s voice rang from the crowd. “Looks like a mutt trying to wear an Alpha’s coat.”

“Yeah,” came another voice, Joseph, small-framed, scrawny, voice shaky but rising. “If he’s so dangerous, let him fight someone.”

The room buzzed.

Grath grinned like a wolf shown a rabbit. “Good idea. Joseph. You’re ranked dead last. Mutt here’s not even on the board. Let’s fix that.”

Kai took a step back. “I don’t want.......”

“It’s not about want,” Grath cut in. “It’s about proving you belong.”

“Granted,” said Grath, already stepping back.

The mats lit up.

Students whooped and banged on desks.

Joseph stepped into the ring.

“Kai,” Grath said coolly. “Shift or stand there and be meat.”

He stepped forward on legs made of noodles.

Joseph came fast, full of desperation and fear-fueled energy.

The boy was lean, and while he didn’t have size, he had had his wolf form ready. Kai watched him helplessly as Joseph’s fingers change to claws and his teeth to fangs. His speed totally outmatches kai’s. He ducked low, swept Kai’s legs, then lunged.

Kai crashed onto the stone, air knocked out. His vision swam. The shadow rose to strike but fizzled like smoke. No shift. No power. Just pain.

Joseph growled and landed a punch square into Kai’s ribs. Then another. And another.

Kai tried to block...... but he failed, Joseph was just too fast for him. He struck once, wild and wide. Joseph dodged, hooked him hard, and Kai dropped to his knees.

“Nothing but bark,” Joseph spat, panting.

Grath raised his hand. “Winner: Joseph. Rank increase to #39.”

Laughter. Cheers.

Kai lay on the floor blinking at the skylight. Then he got up, held his stomach, and stumbled out. Cussing as he walked out of the scene, the humiliation was too much for him.

He didn’t stop until he hit the Rainbow Dorm. The hallway spun. His face throbbed. His heart? That was a deeper wound.

He slammed the door and locked it.

Then he sank to the floor, curling into himself.

Tears came.......sharp, sudden, humiliating.

“Why am I even here?” he whispered. “They brought me to this place... for what?”

He thought of parents he couldn’t remember. Names he never knew. He only had a locket.

Kai yanked the pendant from his neck. His hands shook. It was the only thing he’d ever had left with him as a baby at the orphanage. A simple obsidian stone in a bronze claw.

He threw it across the room.

It cracked against the wall and split clean down the middle.

And just then, Light erupted out of the broken pendant and saturate everywhere.

A hum filled the room like a thousand bees trapped in a speaker. The light wasn’t normal. It buzzed, glitched, like it couldn’t decide what it was.

Symbols began spinning in mid-air.......floating code, made of sound and light. Some words made sense. Some didn’t. All of them carved into his brain like fire

A voice echoed inside his skull, robotic but ancient.

[GENE IMPRINT RECOGNIZED...]

[SYSTEM CALIBRATION INITIATING...]

His limbs locked. Eyes rolled back.

[SUBJECT: KAI DRAVEN| STATUS: INCOMPLETE LINEAGE]

[AWAKENING DORMANT PROTOCOLS...]

Data slammed into his mind, words, runes, memories that weren’t his. He gasped for air, body jerking.

[WARNING: SHADOW SYNC UNSTABLE]

[ LINEAGE: UNKNOWN]

[BLOODLOCK: BROKEN]

Kai clutched his head as the data drilled into him.

[ACCESSING ARCHIVES…]

[ ERROR. ERROR. ERROR.]

 [SUBJECT STABILITY: CRITICAL.]

“No.......stop,” Kai groaned painfully.

[DNA INTEGRITY: UNLOCKING CORE]

[WARNING: SHADOW SYNC UNSTABLE]

Then......blackness.

His body dropped.

The last thing he saw was the glowing emblem of a moon wrapped in flame.