My Tribrid System: More than a Monster

Chapter 110

”So how did you come to be? How are you part werewolf, part human? That’s what I wanted to know.”

”....”

Ray didn’t reply immediately, maintaining a facade of absolute calm on the outside as he stared directly into the eyes of the werewolf sitting across from him.

Inwardly, however, he was calculating his every move.

’What should I say?’

«What is my own business? Why are you asking me?» Bruce snarled loudly within his mind.

«Come on, be nice,» Elyon chided gently.

Ray just let out a weary sigh inwardly.

He opened his mouth slightly, about to offer a response, when Bruce spoke up again with a warning tone.

«I don’t particularly care, but just for your information, tread carefully. We don’t know what a werewolf is doing in the human world.

Looking at him, he is incredibly young, at least based on a werewolf’s standards. But still, until we know what he actually wants and seeks here, you need to be incredibly cautious.»

’Why are you repeating the same thing I already know? Foolish, useless werewolf,’ Ray retorted mentally.

”Well?” Felix raised an eyebrow, the silence stretching out far too long for his liking.

Ray exhaled deeply. ”What can I say? Whatever I tell you, it probably won’t be believable. Because even I don’t fully understand how it all happened.”

”Meaning?”

Ray just rubbed his temples and then his face; the gesture helped hide his shifting expression.

”Unfortunately, I don’t know the origin of this power. After an Aberrant attack that rendered me a total orphan, I just... awoke with this strength.”

Felix’s brow furrowed deeply as he stared at Ray with a confused expression.

’The smoothest lie is the one with a sprinkle of truth in it,’ Ray repeated to himself.

There was no way that he would ever tell anyone about the System or the mysterious rock that had granted him these strange abilities.

And regarding what he told Felix, it wasn’t a complete fabrication.

After the encounter with the Aberrants and the rock, he had been unconscious for days.

He woke up to find the System, which became the medium for his powers. So, it wasn’t entirely a lie.

Furthermore, it seemed like the werewolf was unable to pick up the scent of a celestial on him yet—likely because his control over that essence was still remarkably low.

«Or he is just too young to know about the celestials,» Elyon chimed in thoughtfully.

”I see,” Felix muttered after pondering the words for a moment.

”Perhaps you were exposed to an energy that granted you the power, or something similar. Or maybe your ancestors possessed the bloodline of a werewolf.”

”...”

Ray blinked for a few seconds, narrowing his eyes at the werewolf.

’My ancestors had the bloodline of a werewolf? Haha~ that is impossible because my parents were completely human. Tch! Just the ramblings of a stupid teen wolf.’

”Don’t mind me, I am just wondering. It’s actually very unlikely that you had werewolf relatives because if you did, you would be a full werewolf and not part human,” Felix added with a light smile.

Ray didn’t answer, simply continuing to stare at the teenager across from him.

”... Also; have you ever experienced any strange urges? Like a pull to... perhaps eat something specific?” Felix asked, causing Ray to furrow his brow in genuine confusion.

”Huh? Yes? I get urges to eat snacks and regular food. What are you even talking about?”

Felix quickly shook his head, his expression becoming more serious. ”I’m not talking about ordinary food or snacks.”

”Then?”

Felix paused for a few moments, scanning the library once more for any potential eavesdroppers.

He leaned forward, lowering his voice significantly.

”I’m talking about raw flesh.”

****

”Hell no! That’s absolutely disgusting. I can never ea...” Ray paused for a moment as his mind flashed back to a specific incident.

The gate. The death of the Aberrant. Bruce’s weakened energy and the pulsing heart of the creature.

From the corner of his mind, he had watched as Bruce devoured that Aberrant’s heart.

At the time, he had thought it was a strange, primal action.

Yet, he hadn’t dwelled on it, assuming maybe Bruce needed the sustenance to regenerate his physical form or something along those lines.

But after Elyon had healed his body and the others were occupied discussing how to escape the gate, his eyes had kept darting toward the Aberrant’s mangled flesh.

His foot had even moved a fraction of an inch toward it if it wasn’t for his name being called out by the others.

Throughout the entire duration they spent in the gate before finally departing, he had felt a strange, magnetic pull toward that raw meat.

’Is—is that what he is talking about? Was that pull not just some weird attraction, but the primal urge to devour the flesh?’ He wondered, his stomach suddenly churning violently and threatening to empty the breakfast he had just eaten.

’... Oh, hell no. Not a chance. I won’t eat any flesh, be it human or Aberrant. That is absolutely disgusting.’

”Well? Have you felt it?”

Ray shook his head forcefully, swallowing hard to calm his rising bile.

”No. Never.”

”Oh,” Felix muttered, settling back into his chair with a thoughtful expression.

’Strange. Is it because he is still half-human? So there really is a genuine hybrid, eh? I wonder what father would do if I told him about this.’

”I have my own question to ask,” Ray said quickly, snapping the werewolf out of his internal monologue.

”Shoot.”

”What are you actually doing here? What is your mission in the human world? What is your goal, exactly?” Ray asked, narrowing his eyes as he leaned in.

”... Because I promise you, Felix; if you are here to add more problems for humanity, you will have me to deal with.”

’Huh?’

Felix was so taken aback by the sudden seriousness that, for a moment, he began laughing—totally unhinged.

His hand banged against the table repeatedly, accidentally shifting the position of the small noise-cancellation screen on the table.

”Hahaha~! Oh, no. I’m not here to cause humanity any trouble at all. I came looking for someone, and that is all.”

”Someone? Who is that?” Ray asked with a raised brow.

”Oh. It’s a certain favorite author of mine. I had read his first book and was halfway through the second when I saw that it was abandoned mid-way with the excuse that he had an issue to sort out. I wondered what the issue might be.

Now that I’m here, I realize that it could be this whole war with the Aberrants. I’m still determined to find him; then I’ll take him back to the werewolf world, lock him in my basement, and make him finish the book.”

Ray blinked a few times in sheer surprise at the teen werewolf’s... ambitious, albeit terrifying, plan.

”That’s—”

”Back to the werewolf world? Oh my gosh. You’re a werewolf?!”

A sudden voice hovering beside them almost screamed aloud, causing both boys’ hearts to thud painfully against their ribs in fright.

’Well, it’s a wrap.’ Ray panicked inwardly at the sudden, public revelation of their secret.