Perhaps it had been because of how tired Gary had been throughout Friday, or it might have had something to do with him having gone to sleep before midnight when he would get new notification, but this morning he woke up well rested.
The absence of the annoying alarm that usually woke him up, long before his sister Amy, certainly also had a part to play in that. Stretching, Gary checked his status, already expecting to see some changes. Unsurprisingly, his Daily Quests had once again refreshed, but there was also a new notification waiting for him.
[Your bloodlust grows]
[10 days until the next full moon]
Unlike yesterday, there were no mentions of any additional stats due to it being closer to the full moon though. After looking at his phone, he realised that it was already 11:00 AM, meaning that he only had one hour before meeting up with Tom.
"Holy crap I slept in this late!' Gary cursed internally, getting dressed as quickly as possible before leaving the apartment. Thirty seconds later he returned, making sure to bring along Kai's phone as well this time.
——
Heading to the town centre where the library was located, Gary decided to run there. This method didn't use up any money and he found it to be a good way to check whether he might actually increase his Energy bar this way.
Energy and Health were both stats under the Werewolf System, so if he could naturally improve Strength and Endurance, why not those two? It was at least worth a shot… although it was mostly about saving money.
The library was three story building, and had been built at the edge of the shopping street, at the end of all the shops. It was primarily used by university students who actually had a hopeful future ahead of them. It was one of the few safe areas of town where the police regularly patrolled, which was why gangs left it untouched.
The gangs, In the first place, during the day didn't interfere much with the general business that would operate in the high street.
Gary's powerful eyesight allowed him to see Tom already waiting for him, but from the distance he could also see that something was wrong with his friend. Slowing down his stride his happy face quickly turned sour.
"What happened to you?" Gary asked.
Tom put on a smile and touched his swollen and cut eye.
"This…ah man. I was watching one of Kirk's Altered fights, and then as I went out of my room I wanted to try out his Tornado Kick. Stupid me, I fell down the stairs and banged up my eye on the banister pretty badly."
Although a fall down the stairs might explain some of it, Tom also had other markings on his body. Ignoring Tom's dislike for most physical activities, 'falling down the stairs' was pretty much the textbook answer someone gave when trying to hide something.
'Could it be trouble at home? No, his parents aren't like that. They treasure their golden boy too much to hurt him.' Gary thought. He knew that something was up, but Tom's behaviour made it clear, he didn't exactly want to talk about it. Given how many secrets of his own Gary was keeping from his best friend, he didn't feel it was right for him to push him on the matter.
"So what move was it again?" Gary asked, pretending to accept the explanation he had been presented, as they both entered the library together.
As with any library it was very quiet, so they kept their mouths shut until reaching the third floor where they could access the public computers. Tom searched up all the relevant books in the library that they might need.
Using the internet, he just looked up the pages and information they actually needed. Tom was reading through them all and writing down notes that Gary didn't quite understand, so for now he was just being used as a delivery boy.
Whenever, Tom would find a book they thought that could be of use, Gary would be asked to go get it, constantly going back and forth between, until finally, clicking his fingers and rubbing his good eye, Tom was satisfied with the research he had done.
"Alright, I believe I have learned everything there is to know about Alpha, Beta and Omega wolves." Tom claimed, folding his arms, proud.
"Let's start with what applies with actual wolves. According to the lore I found, it should more or less coincide. Still, take all of this information with a pinch of salt." Tom flipped the notepad he had brought with him, and opened a blank page. He then pulled out a marker pen and wrote the word Alpha.
While explaining, he would write out the points and explain everything to Gary.
"Wolves are creatures that often hunt in packs, so every pack has their leader. These are the so-called Alphas. A wolf pack usually has an Alpha male and his Alpha partner. These two could be seen as the family leaders.'
"Beta wolves are pretty much wolves that are under the Alpha. They could be their siblings, their children or even outsiders. However they all belong to a pack, following the Alpha or Alphas. Are you following so far?" Tom asked and Gary nodded.
"Okay, I get those two, but if an Alpha is like the leader of a gang, and the Betas are like his henchman and subordinates, then what exactly is an Omega?" Gary asked.
His Optional Quest told Gary to turn an Omega wolf into a Beta, but this was where his confusion was setting in. Assuming he himself was the Alpha wolf, was it referring to his siblings like Amy, or maybe his mother was the Alpha wolf and he and his sisters were considered Betas.
"This is where things get a little interesting." Tom answered, flipping his notebook to a blank page once again. "An Omega wolf is usually an outsider to a family or someone belonging to no family. Either way, they're usually at the bottom of the hierarchy. Essentially, after everyone else has gotten their food, the Omega has to eat whatever is left."
So far, if Gary was being classified as werewolf in these terms he wasn't sure what he was.
"I know you were talking about wolves, but werewolves are part human right. So how does this work?"
"There are quite a few rules here and it gets a bit complicated, but essentially a werewolf can turn another with a bite. Alpha wolves bite and turn those they wish to work under them, thereby creating Beta wolves. Once turned, the Beta wolves can also turn others making them into other Beta wolves that will have to listen to the Alpha...To an extent I should add but let's keep it simple for now"
Hearing this, a shaking realisation came to Gary's mind.
'A bite can turn someone…no…no when the system message came up saying I made an Omega wolf….'
Images flashed in Gary's head to the time he had lost it slightly. At one point during his fight against Billy Buster, his sanity had left him and he had only wanted to win by all means. As he recalled, he had ended up biting the guy.
'Yesterday, the news reported Billy was on the run and his parents were dead… Don't tell me… was I responsible for this by fighting him? Is he…really a werewolf now?'
"Wait, you said that if an Alpha bites someone they would turn them into a Beta, that they would have to follow them, so what about an Omega?" Gary asked, realising that something was strange about the wording of the quest.
"As for an Omega wolf, in most cases they seem to be wolves who have been kicked out of a pact. However, that doesn't always have to be the case. For instance, they could also be the only surviving wolf of a group. In a way, you could say that Alpha and Beta wolves are just Omega wolves who belong to a pack and have a hierarchy amongst themselves."
"If we take you for example, right now you would technically be a lone wolf at the moment, which would make you an Omega wolf. I assume if you were to bite someone it would make another Omega wolf."
"If there are multiple Omega wolves, I supposed that they would eventually try to form a pack. However, most likely they would battle it out to decide who amongst them would be the Alpha, making the others submit."
Gary was sure that Tom's guess was spot on, because judging by the Quest he was right. The system clearly stated that there was an Omega wolf out there and to start his family he would have to make it accept being the Beta wolf to his Alpha.
Until then, this also meant that at the moment there was another Werewolf in town and in ten days time, there is practically guaranteed to be a bloodbath.
*****
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