I Became A Zompirewolf

[Now that you're done with that, I have some important news.]

'At least let me wear my clothes first.' Ashton retorted.

After his duel with Atlas, Ashton realised something. There wasn't much he could do without his abilities. Although he strictly used the abilities related to his original genes, he still had to use them to defeat a summon.

Like his final fight on Euphoria, Ashton was worried that the Phantom might also use a similar trick to take his abilities away. That was the only reason Ashton was obsessed with fighting without his abilities.

It was a shame even Otiga was having difficulty locating the source of the 'Power-stripping gas', as Ashton used to call it. Even those at the mercenary Association had never heard of a substance that could preclude someone from utilising their abilities.

However, considering that the second seat holder managed to get his hands on something like that, Ashton couldn't ignore the possibility of someone like Phantom having access to such a chaotic device. After all, he was one of the deadliest assassins in the galaxy.

[The egg. It's about to hatch.]

"What egg?"

[It's not the time to joke. I'm serious!]

"What!?" Ashton shrieked, "But you said it'll take years for-"

[I know, I know, but I was wrong, or maybe something weird is happening. Whatever the case, just take the freaking thing out before something troublesome happens!]

All stray thoughts Ashton was having were immediately thrown out of his head. The egg he got after defeating the hydra was about to hatch at the worst possible time.

The creature from the egg could be enormous for all he knew, and Ashton was not looking forward to explaining to Eula and her family what a draconic creature was doing in their backyard. Keeping the beast on public display will expose him to the Xyrans.

[You got a minute, kid! At least, I think you do.]

'Argh! You should have told me sooner!'

[I JUST REALISED!]

'FUCK YOU!'

[PLEASE DO!]

'...what?'

[...The egg, focus on the egg!]

While Astaroth's words were... quite intriguing, Ashton had no time to waste. Without thinking about it, he spurted out his wings and rushed towards the workshop. The egg was tightly clasped in his hands.

The workshop was the only place Ashton could hide the creature from everyone else. Vulcan would ask him a plethora of questions, but it was the only answer Ashton had in mind.

His training with Atlas had made him used to fly around. Thanks to that, he could speed up more than he had ever before.

[Ahem, I don't want to rush you or anything, but... IT'S CRACKING!]

'Stop YELLING!'

Ashton did not doubt that many people would see him flying towards the workshop topless. He would probably be able to weasel his way out of such a situation compared to what would happen if the egg hatched right then.

Crack!

Ashton looked at the egg and noticed the solid black egg now had numerous white cracks on the surface. The creature could burst out of its shell at any given moment.

"Shit! Just a little more... Please!!!"

***

Meanwhile, inside the forge...

"Where is that brat? Tsk, maybe I was too lenient with him."

Vulcan wasn't pleased with Ashton's absence. Laziness to living beings was like rust to iron. It can make even the strongest people, when drunk in power, could crumble into nothingness.

While he didn't think Ashton was one to slack off, his absence made Vulcan doubt whether teaching him was the right decision.

"That's it. If he doesn't show up before I finish counting till ten, I might just have to kick him out for good." Vulcan huffed, "Or so I would like to say... Tsk, he's too valuable to be just thrown away. I'll figure out a way to punish him some other way-"

Just as he said that he felt something approaching the workshop at an alarming speed. The workshop was a sacred place for Vulcan, a place where uninvited guests were harshly dealt with. No matter who they were.

Without wasting another moment, he enlarged his hammer and swung it with... 1% of his strength. Any more than that, he would probably end up killing the intruder.

CLANK!

The timing was perfect. Whoever the person flying towards him was, was forced to meet the might of his hammer.

'Huhu... I've still got it.' Vulcan smirked before restoring the hammer to its original size, "Who the hell dared to enter the master's workshop without permission- Brat? What were you- why the hell are you topless? Good physique, though... For your age, that is."

"OUCH!" Ashton verbalised his pain while rubbing his head. Even pain resistance proved to be useless at that moment, "What the hell is wrong with you, old man? Your age finally caught up to you or what?"

Ashton's eyes widened a moment later once the pain subsided. The egg was missing! Ashton began running around the workshop like a possessed man, looking for the egg.

There were broken pieces of eggshells scattered around the place he 'landed', but there was no sign of the egg or the creature within it.

Vulcan had never seen Ashton panicking before. Something was affecting his disciple, and being his master, he couldn't just stand still and not do anything about it.

However, once he saw the eggshells, Vulcan gasped. After spending a better part of his life living with Precursors, he knew numerous things about them. One of which was about the guardian species that they used as pets.

Often, the dwarves gave up their smithy in favour of becoming tamers to look after them. While Vulcan's passion for creation was unmatched by literally anything, it would be a lie to say that the guardian beings never fascinated him.

It was the only reason how he was able to identify that the egg belonged to one such creature. But he vividly remembered the Xyrans destroying all the eggs because they could not tame the guardian beings. Then where did Ashton get his hands on one such egg?

"Oi brat... Be honest with me. Where did you get this egg from?" Vulcan's voice was calm, but his eyes were filled with rage, "If you lie to me, I swear I'll break my vow and kill you right now!"