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Chapter 22: Fenris First Change

  Here's the chapter with grammatical errors fixed while keeping your writing style intact:

  A young Fenris kept stretching the collar of his shirt.

  “Would you stop that!?” Sarah snapped.

  “Sorry, it’s just this shirt—it’s suffocating me,” Fenris complained. “Do rich people and nobles really wear this all day? How do they keep from fainting?”

  Fenris was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with a very small collar. The garment seemed to be twice his size. He also wore black trousers and laced-up boots.

  “It’s only for tonight. Come on, endure it for me,” Sarah pleaded.

  Sarah, on the other hand, wore a bright red dress, though the shirt area was way too big. Her stomach was tightened with ropes, making her chest look bigger.

  Fenris stared up at her. She seemed so—womanly.

  Fenris knew she was a woman, of course, but he had spent years watching her work at the forge, pounding metal that even a man would struggle with. Seeing her dressed like this now was just… weird. Especially since her dress failed to hide her well-defined muscles.

  Fenris turned his gaze to his surroundings.

  The Asura mansion.

  Fenris hadn’t regained his memories, but he was pretty sure he had never been anywhere so fancy. The marble floors. The large statues. The bards playing violin to suit the guests.

  Fenris and Sarah weren’t the only ones in the mansion, of course. Others were dressed far more extravagantly than them, wearing all kinds of jewelry with their clothes.

  All silver.

  “When does it start?” Fenris asked.

  “I’m guessing soon. Be patient, Fenris. You’re not the only one excited,” Sarah said with a grin.

  A family walked into the room. All eyes were on them.

  “The Asura family,” Sarah muttered.

  A man, a woman, and two children of the opposite sex walked through the crowd. The guests in fancy clothes made way for the family in even fancier attire.

  They wore nobleman’s clothes made up of red and gold. All guests stepped aside as they walked up a staircase leading to a platform with two seats resembling thrones.

  The man and woman sat on their seats, with their children standing right next to them.

  “The Asura family thanks and welcomes you all to our humble home,” the man said.

  “Yeah, what’s so humble about this place?” Fenris muttered with an eye roll.

  “The battle between the werewolves still persists to this day. The hunters put their lives on the line to protect us from them every day, and we can help them. All of us. That is why my lovely wife and I have decided to host this party,” the Asura man declared.

  “Would the blacksmiths please step forward?”

  Four of the guests moved closer to the noble family. Sarah was one of them. They now stood before the crowd. Soon after, guards wearing red and gold uniforms stood by the sides of the blacksmiths, presenting weapons with both hands.

  “Confirm if this is the weapon you created,” the Asura man ordered.

  Sarah and the other three turned to their sides to look at the weapons.

  “It is, my lord,” they said in unison.

  “Very good.”

  The nobleman stood up from his seat and walked to the four blacksmiths, still on one knee.

  He first approached one of the blacksmiths, who had created an axe. He picked it up and swung it in the air a few times. It was obvious from the nobleman’s movements that he had never engaged in combat in his entire life, but none of the guests would dare make fun of him.

  They all preferred their heads attached to their bodies.

  The nobleman returned the axe to the guard and approached another blacksmith who had made a spear. Just like with the axe, the nobleman tried it. Nothing remarkable.

  He then approached the remaining two, who had both created swords.

  The nobleman picked up both swords, feeling them in each respective arm, swinging them in the air. Fenris, seeing this, almost laughed but was quick to bite his tongue. He didn’t want to get Sarah in trouble.

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  “You… woman,” the nobleman addressed Sarah.

  “Yes, my lord,” Sarah answered.

  “You made this weapon?” the nobleman asked, referring to the sword in his left hand.

  “Yes, my lord,” Sarah replied.

  “I’ve heard good things about your work from some of my guards, and they all seem to be true. Your weapon is light, yet it creates a greater swing than the sword in my other hand.”

  The blacksmith of the other sword clicked their tongue in frustration.

  “Your praise means everything, my lord,” Sarah said, grinning. Her work was finally getting recognition—from the lord of the city, no less. With so many influential people here, they would surely become her customers.

  “As it should,” Lord Asura said. “You forged this sword with silver, correct?”

  “It’s a silver-steel alloy, my lord,” Sarah answered.

  “Hmm.” Lord Asura inspected Sarah’s sword. “Let’s hope it does the job. Bring it in. NOW!”

  A few guards escorted a man in chains to the center of the large room. The man was bound all over, his body showing signs of broken bones and bleeding wounds. The crowd started to murmur.

  “Silence!” Lord Asura exclaimed.

  And just like magic, the crowd fell silent.

  “You all see this… thing as a man, but I assure you, it isn’t. It’s just a disguise. This is a werewolf hiding in the skin of a human. It deserves no sympathy.”

  The crowd began to whisper.

  “A werewolf? I’ve never seen one up close. It does look like a human,” a woman said.

  “It truly does. Which makes it even more frightening. Just how many victims has it claimed, pretending to be one of us? It makes me sick to think that someone I know could be a werewolf,” a man said.

  The Asura noble raised his hand. This was the signal for them all to shut up.

  “So don’t worry. Yes, this is a beast capable of ripping us all to shreds, but thanks to my mages and the Hunters’ Guild, it won’t be getting out of those chains.”

  Taking a closer look at the chains that bound the werewolf, they could all see runes—runes likely placed by one of the Asura family’s personal mages to make the chains extra tough, compensating for the werewolf’s strength.

  The werewolf also looked weakened and injured. It seemed he had been unlucky enough to run into some hunters responsible for his current condition.

  “Everyone, get back!” the Asura noble commanded.

  The guests did as he said, creating a large empty space, leaving only the guards and the chained werewolf.

  A skylight replaced the ceiling, allowing the full moon’s rays to pour through, landing on the guards and the werewolf. Then it began.

  The werewolf started to transform. His eyes turned golden yellow. His teeth elongated into fangs. His fingernails and toenails grew into claws. His body expanded, his muscles bulging, and dark fur rapidly sprouted from his skin.

  “Pyros protect us!” a woman screamed.

  The guests began to panic. It seemed the werewolf was about to go on a rampage.

  “Be calm!” the Asura nobleman ordered.

  The werewolf’s transformation halted as the runes on his chains glowed. He was now stuck in a partial transformation.

  "As I said, monsters hiding among us." The nobleman walked towards the werewolf and now looked down on it. The werewolf growled.

  "I will first test the woman's sword to see if it will finish this monster." The nobleman lifted Sarah’s sword in the air and was about to strike until—

  "AHHHHHHH!" They all heard a child scream and fall to the ground. Sarah turned her head to the sudden outburst and saw it came from Fenris. She rushed to his side.

  "Fenris, what’s wrong? Are you alright?" Sarah asked, fearful. He rolled on the ground, grunting in pain. Everything hurt. It was so much worse than the fever he had a few days ago. He could hardly form any words.

  "Fenris…."

  Fenris opened his eyes, revealing glowing yellow irises to Sarah. She fell on her behind and quickly crawled backward away from him.

  "No. No! No! No! This can’t be happening," Sarah said, with a tear rolling down her face. Just like the werewolf in chains, Fenris himself started to go through a transformation.

  His fangs and claws emerged. Gray fur started to appear all over his body. His grunts turned to screams. He looked at Sarah and the guests.

  He reached out his clawed hand to her. "Help… me," Fenris pleaded. But all he got were fearful stares from Sarah and everyone in the mansion.

  Fenris slowly opened his eyes and found himself in one of the rooms of the abandoned castle. More accurately, the room he first woke up in when arriving at the castle.

  "There’s no way I'm ever going to get used to this," Fenris said. He sat upright and inspected the arm Beowulf tore over and over again. He was annoyed at how much damage was done to him physically and mentally.

  Thinking about it wouldn’t do him much good except get him mad. He decided to think about something else.

  "Sarah," Fenris muttered. "I haven’t thought about her or that incident in years. I wonder why my mind started to dream about that moment."

  Maybe it was one of the few times in his life that Fenris felt genuine happiness and love.

  Buck barged in and smiled when he saw Fenris awake.

  "Rise and shine, sleepyhead," Buck greeted. "You sure took your sweet time. It’s those sheets, ain’t it? I get it. After years of sleeping on rocky surfaces and who knows what else, all it takes are a noble’s sheets to knock you out."

  Buck chuckled. "Come on. We have a big day today."

  Buck nodded his head toward the door and walked toward it. He stopped in his tracks and turned back to Fenris, who still sat on the large bed.

  "Hey, Fenris. Do you remember… what I told you after your fight with Beowulf?"

  "Truthfully, no. All I can remember was you picking me up, dragging me through the halls, and placing me here," Fenris said. "If I did hear something, my mind just picked it up as muffled sounds."

  "Oh… okay. That’s alright," Buck said, clearing his throat. "Anyway… aren’t you coming?"

  "In a minute. You were right about these sheets. It’s like I'm sitting on a cloud," Fenris answered.

  Buck laughed. "Alright, old friend, but don’t get too comfortable. Lycan won’t like it if you sleep all day," Buck said.

  He exited the room. Fenris waited until Buck was out of the area werewolves could listen to due to their incredible hearing. When he could no longer hear Buck's heartbeat and footsteps, Fenris clenched the sheets.

  "I’m sorry for what happened to you, Buck, but I’m not the brother you lost. I’m not your friend. I’m just here to fulfill my goals and nothing else," Fenris said.

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