“Tom, where did you get something like this?! Are you sure it’s alright to give this to me?” Gary had to ask, because he still couldn’t believe that the System had such a reaction to this thing.
“It's pretty cool, right?” Tom smirked. “You better accept it, because it wasn’t easy getting it out. I pretty much swiped it from work. Don't worry, I wasn’t stupid enough to do it in one go and it’s also nothing too precious, at least for NIRV’s standard. In fact, they won’t even miss it. It was one of those things they found when digging for fossils, but after a few rounds of experiments there was no link to any ancient beasts.
“Well, it has a wolf on it, so according to the notes, the researcher assumed that it was just a piece of art depicting what could have been a beast. Since it was gathering dust in the archives I thought it might be better off with you rather than getting auctioned off to some museum at some point. Anyway, I thought it would be a nice gift for you, to remember me, you know in case you forget.”
“Tom…” Gary replied wanting to make a joke that they weren’t a couple like that. There was no need for him to get the other a gift but there was so much on Gary’s mind because he doubted that Tom even knew what it was that had just been handed to him.
[An ancient item has been received]
[A Werewolf Artefact of the old]
[The Artefact cannot be activated with your current power]
‘It doesn't just have normal a wolf on it, this picture on the medallion is a Werewolf? Does this mean that Werewolves also existed back then, when the strong beats used to roam the earth?’
An image appeared in Gary’s head of Werewolves fighting against the large beasts. It seemed to make more sense than humans existing in his head, but the other thing was the fact that this item could be activated but stated he didn’t have enough power.
‘What does it mean by power? Does it mean that my level is too low, or is it something else? If it belongs to Werewolves of the past, then Werewolves should be able to open this thing. The next time I see them, I should have Kai or Olivia hold it and see if there’s any reaction.’
At the end of the day, Gary wasn’t going to refuse something like this as he placed it under his trousers. In the suit he was in, the pocket wasn’t really the best place.
“Are you sure that thing… is going to be comfy there?'' Tom asked.
“It's the only place I can put it for now.” Gary replied wondering how to make sure it would suffer in the middle of the fight.
“Alright.” Tom couldn't help but stare in Gary’s chunk area trying to see the outline of the object. “There is something else I wanted to warn you about. While working at NIRV they seem to be quite worried about this black liquid.
“It's a substance that is just like the Altered DNA and it can be used the same way, the only thing is, only a small amount of it needs to be used to be successful. Because of that, many groups have been researching it, not just NIRV, but there is quite a nast side effect, it makes the people turn into Crazed Altered.”
Immediately Gary’s mind went to the orphans in slough as well as a couple of redhead twins he had come across.
“Of course they're trying to get rid of the side effects because this could be a huge breakthrough in the Alterification process. People would no longer have to pay fortunes to become Altered! Of course, that’s only if they can complete it. Anyway, my point is, the black liquid's origin is from the beasts in the first place.
“There have been some cases when creating a beast from the crystal that a beast shows signs of being infected. Purple skin, dark eyes, and at times a bit of strange shadow floating from their skin. There are two things, these beasts that are infected are stronger than your average beasts, and the other point is, if seriously injured by these infected beasts there have been cases where Altered have turned crazed as well.
“So, while taking these lessons, if you ever come across a beast that looks like this, I advise you to run.” Tom suggested.
All of the information was interesting to Gary. Meeting Tom had taught him a lot. Now, Gary was starting to see the advantages of having people in different areas of expertise. Gary could gather information in the academy, Tom at NIRV, and Kai in the gang world as well.
“Come on, let's get out of here, before they think the two of us are up to something.” Tom suggested as he exited out of the toilet first, and then a few moments later Gary followed after.
‘How…did the Grey Elephant get their hands on the black liquid? Did they work with an organisation like NIRV? No, I doubt that they would want something like this to get out. Does that mean that someone is selling this defective liquid to the gangs for some extra money? I’ll have to update Kai about this and make sure none of it reaches Slough. Once was more than enough…’
As Gary was thinking this, he could hear a lot of talking coming from the scientist and more.
“Wow, impressive. This beast was harder than the last, we can see that, but in the end they managed to defeat it quite quickly.” James said.
Hearing this, Gary rushed to the glass, where he could see a beast that was unrecognisable as most of its body parts were torn. Apollo still looked to be in a transformed state as he was covered in blood, while Sty and Numba looked to have somewhat been injured, but it was clear that the two of them were still alive.
Judging by the wounds this beast that they had gone up against wasn’t as easy as the last, and once again Apollo had done most of the grunt work.
“It looks like that surprise lesson from Jayden had made him reach another level.” Crowley commented, and it was clear he was talking about Apollo.
“Alright, Blue team, it's time for you to get ready.” Crowley smiled.
Gary was excited. ‘A stronger beast than last time? Perfect, that just means, I’ll be even stronger afterwards!’
*****
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