Chronos was currently glaring at his surroundings, confused about where he was and how he had even gotten here.
And why was he stuck in his werewolf form! He couldn't transform at all right now!
Huffing he started thinking back on the previous night. They'd gone to explore the secret den where he'd shown them the first level, a training hall for the trainees who were still working on their basic aura control.
Visited the second floor, a series of small chambers with uneven footing and practice dummies where they practiced the Fangbound Martial Arts.
Passed through the third floor, a hall where the older servants and members of the clan used their pressure to intimidate the younger members in order to train their will.
Then stopped to play around on the fourth floor, the environmental challenge floor that would take on different environments so they could train almost anywhere. Currently it was set up like a mountain pass and had given them some difficulty when the servants acting as villains attacked them.
Then they had dinner on the fifth floor where the sleeping quarters and food were stored. They'd had a lovely roast elk with a fruit bowl for dessert.
Then nothing!
He couldn't remember anything after he had eaten dessert.
Had someone slipped him something in the dessert?
He immediately denied that possibility. The entire estate would have to be compromised for someone to reach the fifth floor, not to mention slipping a drug into his food or dragging his body out of there without being noticed.
Sighing as he shook his head he took stock of his surroundings once more.
Right now, he was standing on a massive gray ball that was floating in an expanse of space. He could see other gray balls floating around him too, so it was very similar to the dreams he normally had.
But there was no black mist, nothing to chase, and he was in full control of his body. Unlike before when he was merely a passenger along for the ride.
He'd already walked around the gray ball he was on twice confirming that there was nothing close enough for him to jump to. And he didn't see any creatures here either.
Was he going to starve?
Probably not. If it really came down to it, he'd use the Lost Pup title's ability to open paths and escape like that.
Sensing his surroundings again he noticed that while his aura was being suppressed, he could still use his bloodline abilities in this strange space. Actually, they felt a bit stronger than usual right now.
So, this space must have something to do with his bloodline.
He could also tell that he wasn't in his mental space or the dream layer, this place didn't feel like either of those. But something was clearly wrong with his body as he kept feeling like he was standing in multiple places at once.
Swish! DODGE!
His instincts screamed!
Thunk!
Looking back a thin barrier he recognized as [Isolate] and was shaped like a spike was now protruding from the ground right where he had been standing.
Following the direction it had come from he saw a massive white wolf with blue runic patterns on its body staring at him. Under the wolf's feet were small [Isolate] barriers allowing it to walk in midair and around its head were several more of those spike-shaped [Isolate]'s.
Chronos felt a cold chill down his spine as he realized that controlling multiple [Isolate]'s at once meant that this wolf was far stronger than he was. He could barely maintain control over two barriers at once.
Not wanting to be rude and secretly hoping he could communicate with this creature Chronos called out to it.
"Hello there, I seem to have gotten lost. Could you help me?"
It stared at him for a few seconds then spoke, "Dondaei tah ninalie telafei."
Then it swiped its paw and the spikes were launched faster than Chronos could see.
DODGE!
Following his instincts Chronos barely managed to dodge this volley and immediately started running as fast as he could.
"Great, we can both speak but we can't understand each other. I doubt he's friendly enough to give me time to learn his language."
A hunting howl came from behind him forcing him to dodge again as spikes whizzed past his head.
"Nope, definitely not friendly."
Then the world around him twisted and he found himself running on a small gray ball somewhere else.
"And now I'm bouncing around this space with no control. Could this day get any worse?"
A howl and the sound of digging behind him told him it could.
He ran even faster while glancing back just in time to see the white wolf's head peek out of a hole in space close to where he had been.
At least now the gray balls were close enough for him to move between them.
Chronos was putting as much distance between himself and the wolf as he could while throwing an [Isolate] wall behind him, but when the wolf came close to the wall it blinked out of existence then back into existence on this side of the wall.
"Well shit. Sorry Gregory, I might not make it back from this one." He said as he threw a gray ball behind him then used [Isolate] to form a step and kept running.
The only thing in his favor was that the white wolf didn't seem all that eager to catch him yet. It looked more like it was enjoying the chase and wanted it to last for as long as it could before it caught up to him.
Chronos was gasping now, barely able to breathe.
He'd long since pushed his body past its limits, at this point he was running purely on desperation.
He wasn't sure how long he'd been running in this state, with no way to measure time he might have been running for days for all he knew. The only reason he hadn't been caught yet was because the world kept twisting around him then dropping him off somewhere else.
The white wolf however looked like it was greatly enjoying the hunt and had increased the speed of the spikes to the point where the moment they were launched they'd hit the ground.
Thanks to that his instincts had become much sharper and now he could dodge the spikes right before they were launched.
But he couldn't keep this up much longer, he needed to find another beast to occupy its time while he escaped. Not that it would take it long to dispatch most creatures, but every little bit helped.
While he was distracted the space in front of him twisted again then he found himself facing a floating fish that was as large as his mansion. It had large sharp teeth and looked like a massive barracuda.
The sound of scratching came from behind him just a second later as the fish turned to face him.
"You know sometimes I hate my bloodline."