The night sky over the desert was unbelievably beautiful.
Countless stars glittered overhead, while a full moon hung unobstructed among them, its gentle light spilling across the entire desert.
Today was a good day—a day when the moon was at its fullest, and also a day most beloved by creatures of the darkness.
“Aidan, can I just put it on?” Ethan asked hesitantly as he looked at Aidan.
The moment Ethan had received the ring, he had intended to put it on.
But Aidan had told him to wait until nightfall.
Now that night had actually arrived, Ethan found himself hesitating instead.
“It’s fine. Just put it on.” Aidan took Ethan’s glasses and slipped them into his own pocket.
Then he stood beside him, spreading his hands with a relaxed expression.
“Are you sure I won’t lose control or something?” Ethan looked at Aidan with an uneasy expression.
After all, in mythology, werewolves were hardly portrayed as a dignified or rational species.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry. It’s perfectly safe. It’s different from the legends you’ve heard. Trust me.”
Aidan gave Ethan an encouraging look.
The werewolves in the Elder Scrolls, however, were indeed very different from those in mythology.
They could control their power and suppress their desires.
They were an exceptionally perfect race.
What was more, the ring Aidan had given Ethan was a high-end product made by Hircine himself.
Of course, if they were talking about things like dignity and appearances, vampires did indeed have a much better image than werewolves.
Aidan actually still had a vampire ring in his spatial storage.
But the important point was that Aidan had obtained the vampire ring by defeating a vampire boss.
Unlike in games, where you could simply pick up dropped equipment and use it, who knew whether there were any restrictions or taboos attached to it?
The Ring of Hircine, on the other hand, was something Aidan had obtained through a deal with the Daedric Prince Hircine.
On top of that, Aidan himself had once become a werewolf.
Therefore, he had chosen to give Ethan the power he understood best and trusted the most.
He really didn’t want to accidentally hurt Ethan.
“So I’m putting it on?” Ethan stared straight at Aidan.
“Go ahead. It’s fine.” Aidan thought for a moment before waving his hand.
To be honest, Aidan had thought about it for quite a while.
Aside from its appearance—which wasn’t particularly appealing to children or cute girls—the werewolf form was actually quite good in every other respect.
Ethan looked at Aidan, took a deep breath, then lowered his head and picked up the ring.
His hand trembled slightly as he slipped it on.
If this had happened a few years ago, Ethan absolutely would never have believed something like this could happen to him.
As a materialist and a renowned scientist…
Become a werewolf?
He must be dreaming.
With countless thoughts running through his mind, Ethan closed his eyes after putting on the ring and waited.
But after waiting for quite a while, he discovered…
His body…
Why wasn’t there any reaction at all?
Ethan opened his eyes and raised both hands, examining them from top to bottom.
There wasn’t the slightest change.
Ethan looked at Aidan in confusion.
Aidan looked back at him just as bewilderedly.
The two stared at each other.
“Aidan? Why isn’t anything happening?” Ethan said as he jumped up and down a few times.
Aidan was also somewhat confused.
He scratched his head.
This was his first time teaching someone else how to transform into a werewolf, and he had never used that ring himself.
For a moment, Aidan had no idea what the problem was.
“Don’t you feel any changes inside your body?” Aidan asked, gesturing with both hands.
Ethan closed his eyes and tried to feel for something.
“Nothing at all. Is this ring broken?”
Ethan extended his left hand, flexed his fingers, and stared at the ring.
“That shouldn’t be possible. How about you try looking at the moon again?”
Aidan couldn’t figure out what was going on either.
But the ring couldn’t possibly be broken.
He could clearly sense the enormous amount of energy contained within it.
Could it be because the rules of this world were different?
No, that didn’t make sense either.
It shouldn’t need the rules of the outside world to react with it at all.
Ethan stared at the moon for quite some time.
Still nothing.
The ring didn’t react in the slightest.
All that worrying beforehand had been for nothing.
Looking at Ethan, who still showed no reaction whatsoever, Aidan suddenly felt rather awkward.
Damn it, this thing from a Daedric Prince wasn’t reliable either.
“Well, Ethan, try it yourself for now. I’ll think about how I transformed into a werewolf the first time.”
Aidan spoke to Ethan before covering his head with one hand and walking off to the side to recall his memories.
Aidan was a werewolf too?
Hearing that, Ethan felt somewhat reassured.
After all, if Aidan was one as well, then he must know what he was doing.
There probably wouldn’t be any major problems.
So Ethan tried all sorts of things by himself.
But no matter what he did, the ring remained completely unresponsive.
Could it be because he had put it on the wrong finger?
Maybe it couldn’t be worn on the ring finger?
With that thought, Ethan decided to take it off.
But after pulling at it several times with all his strength, he couldn’t remove it at all.
Instead, his finger was rubbed until a tiny cut appeared.
“Hiss.”
That really hurt.
Ethan felt as though something had bitten his finger.
He watched in surprise as the blood on the ring, including the trace of blood around the wolf-head design, gradually disappeared.
Ethan stared at what was happening in astonishment.
Then suddenly, he felt something change inside his body.
A strange sensation.
What was happening to him?
Ethan looked at his hands.
His body was expanding.
A surge of power was flowing into him.
“Ai… Aidan…”
Ethan struggled to call out to Aidan, but the voice coming from his mouth grew quieter and quieter until, in the end, it became a low growl.
Meanwhile, Aidan was still immersed in his tangled memories.
Why can’t I remember anything about my first transformation into a werewolf?!
Aidan was thinking so hard that his head hurt.
Could those memories have been completely worn away over the endless passage of time?
But that didn’t make sense either.
He should at least have some impression of it!
Aidan closed his eyes and pondered.
He remembered that it had happened when he joined the Inner Circle of the Companions.
Vela, that straightforward and generous woman, seemed to have…
Made me drink blood?
Or did she make me drop some blood?
It definitely had something to do with blood.
But what happened afterward?
Why couldn’t he remember?
Oh, right…
He did remember that the next day, he was on a mountain.
And he wasn’t wearing any clothes.
Aidan remembered that part very clearly.
After all, he hadn’t had anything on him at the time, and Vela had even been standing right beside him.
It had been incredibly embarrassing, so the memory had stuck with him.
But why had he been standing naked on a mountain?
Aidan was still struggling to figure it out when he suddenly felt a chill around his neck.
And something was a little sticky.
Aidan raised his head and turned around.
“Eh? Ethan, you succeeded!”
Its powerful curves and smooth fur looked magnificent beneath the moonlight.
The tips of Ethan’s fur carried a faint golden hue, making him appear noble and almost sacred.
Damn, no wonder this was Hircine’s finest work.
He looked much better than the pathetic form Aidan had had back then.
Aidan couldn’t help sighing with emotion.
If his own werewolf form had looked this good back then, he probably wouldn’t have eventually chosen to turn back into a human.
“Come, come, wipe your drool. It’s your first transformation, so you need to get familiar with your body. Understand, Ethan? Otherwise, you can’t even control your own mouth.”
Aidan laughed.
“Think about when I first transformed. I wasn’t like you…”
Aidan suddenly froze.
He raised his head and looked into Ethan’s eyes.
Those two enormous, brilliant golden eyes within the giant wolf’s head were filled with savagery and bloodlust.
Aidan smiled.
“Ethan, you sure are handsome…”
“Fus Ro Dah!”
Aidan immediately unleashed an Unrelenting Force at him, sending Ethan flying.
Fuck!
Aidan hurriedly turned around and ran toward the Jeep.
He opened the door, got in, started the engine, and drove off.
This unknown-brand Jeep was genuinely impressive.
It could accelerate from zero to a hundred kilometers per hour in just three seconds.
In an instant, Aidan sped away.
Behind him, Ethan crawled out of the sand, threw his head back, and let out a long howl before charging after Aidan.
The Hircine-branded engine was truly extraordinary.
Zero to one hundred in just 0.1 seconds.
Fortunately, this was Ethan’s first transformation.
He still couldn’t properly control his body, which limited his maximum speed.
Otherwise, Aidan would have been finished.
Meanwhile, Aidan was looking at the rearview mirror with lingering fear.
A dark figure was following closely behind the vehicle.
Damn it.
Aidan had suddenly remembered what happened during his first transformation into a werewolf.
He had lost control.
That was why he couldn’t remember the circumstances of his first transformation.
And more importantly, the first transformation required a massive amount of energy.
Put simply, it meant consuming a huge amount of food.
But in this desolate, barren desert where not even a bird would shit…
Food?
Aidan certainly didn’t want to become Ethan’s food!
Just as he was thinking this, a blob of bird droppings suddenly fell from the sky and landed squarely on Aidan’s head.
Aidan looked up.
A vulture was “laughing” at him from the sky.
WTF?!
Aidan casually threw a fireball backward.
Bullseye.
The vulture instantly became a roasted chicken and fell from the sky.
Ethan, who was right behind him, suddenly leaped into the air and swallowed it in one bite.
A single roasted vulture hadn’t bought Aidan even the slightest bit of time.
Seeing Ethan become more and more accustomed to his werewolf body and his speed increasing faster and faster, Aidan could only silently mourn his own fate.
Long ago, Buddha cut his flesh to feed an eagle.
Surely today I’m not going to have to cut off my own flesh to feed Ethan, am I?!
No. That guy definitely wouldn’t let me cut off a little flesh and call it a day.
He’d probably just tear me apart!
Run!
With that thought, Aidan stomped down on the accelerator again.
The engine let out a strained, agonized roar.
(End of Chapter)