Vere continued to stare back and forth between all three who were in front of her: the large Austin, the charismatic Kai, and then there was just Gary. She had seen his display of strength against the other Altered, but she just thought there would be more to the leader.
"Sorry!" Vere apologized immediately and lowered her head. She had been quiet for a while now due to the shock and realized that it could come across as quite rude. "If you please allow me to, I wish to join the Howlers. I promise that I will become a useful and valuable member to you in any way possible."
"No worries; Austin already told me everything you did to him. Maybe you can train some of our restless youngsters as well," Gary replied back.
"I know our idiot may not seem capable," Austin butted in, which seemed out of the blue after the conversation was over. But judging by Vere’s reaction, Austin felt like he needed to say something. "But our leader is the most capable person there is.
"I, and the rest of the Howlers members, truly trust him with our lives. You might not see it at first, but as time goes on, I'm sure he will grow on you."
"Hey! Do I really give off that bad of an impression?" Gary complained back.
The group started to laugh; this is what Gary liked. He liked being with his friends, having nothing to worry about, while his family and the rest were able to enjoy their lives.
A few days had passed, and there was no news of what was happening with NIRV. It seemed like they weren't on their backs, and with this, Kai was satisfied that if they were to attend the next auction held by the Dark Guild, they would be able to buy as many Altered solutions as necessary.
However, before that, they needed to decide what to do with something else. In the Wolf's Club underneath where Kai's office would be, three young teenagers, close to being adults now, were looking at a large crate.
"I still can't believe it," Gary said. "You actually managed to get the crate of these things. The whole reason I wanted to get the factory in the first place is because of these."
Gary took one of the crystals from the crate, and when he lifted it up, his system had confirmed that it was a beast crystal. After eating so many of the basic-tier beast crystals, he knew they had no effect on his growth anymore, but he thought that they could use them for something else instead.
"So do you think you can do something with them, smart guy?" Kai smiled, as he patted Tom on the shoulder.
After accepting Vlad into the group, they thought that it might be best that they got Tom on the case as soon as possible. They knew that he might be busy, but even then, he would at least get some days off, and it was always good to have an excuse to see each other again.
"I can't believe it as well. You guys really did manage to get your hands on raw beast crystals," Tom said. "I'll be honest though, this is way above my level of expertise. Even if you did buy some equipment on the black market, I would be worried that I could never turn this stuff into Altered solutions for you guys to use.
"I'll look into it though, and try to get a mentor that can teach me. For now though, I think it might be best if you just sold them through the auction. I'm sure NIRV or some other company will be interested in buying them up. Although crystals gathered from the same area tend to be the same type.
"So that would cause them some suspicion if they did find out."
"We can't exclude certain people from buying these crystals either," Kai mumbled, troubled by what he had in front of him. He had a gold mine, but one that he was unable to use. "I could try to go to the other groups privately, but I'm worried that they would target us trying to find a source as well."
"I did have another idea about what we could do with them," Gary said. "I originally thought the same thing as you, but if we can't use them like that, then how about eating them."
The look on both Tom and Kai’s faces were in disbelief. They were thinking that Gary had gone mad.
"I know it sounds crazy, but I've eaten these crystals before. I think it might be something only werewolves can do, but when you eat them, you'll feel your body growing stronger. Elijah could vouch for me, but when he tried to do the same thing, it looked like it had no effect. Which is why I think it might just be a werewolf thing."
Kai picked up one of the crystals; he was thinking how crazy Gary was sounding right now, but would he have believed Gary if he had originally told him he was a werewolf? The whole situation was crazy, so opening his mouth and, transforming his jaw slightly, he bit down on the crystal.
It was a strange, crunchy texture, like putting a pile of rocks in one's mouth, but his powerful jaws made it easy for him to swallow. It didn’t take long after for him to feel the energy surging all around him.
Just gripping his hand tightly, Kai could feel the strength in his fist increasing.
"I can't believe it, Gary; this is going to change the whole gang completely. Me, Olivia, and Marie, we can become more stable than before."
Kai was already thinking about everything going their way, and with the Altered solutions, soon they would have an army strong enough to go against 2-tier cities multiple times and would be close to being able to take on a tier-1.
"There is something else I wanted to tell you as well," Gary said. "I think I'm ready. I want to... I want to take on Midwak during the day, and I plan to do it tomorrow."
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