"You never told me anything about this!?" Jason was a bit worried now.
Although Jason was much bigger and more buffer than Ashton was, he still couldn't help but break a sweat upon seeing Ashton's jet black claws. It almost felt as if electricity was running through him, straightening his short and curly black hairs. he had never had goosebumps like he was now.
He didn't know it, but it was the intuition of his body screaming at him to make a break for it. There was something off about this kid and he no longer wanted to get in the middle of the mess of his juniors. But it was a little too late to back down now.
When Nick and Nicole approached him for help, he thought he would simply have to roughen up a rowdy first year. Not someone who was better in shapeshifting than he was. Well, not only better than him but most of the second years.
"The hell did we know he could completely transform his limbs!?"
Jason wasn't the only one panicking. The Gruntas were the same. At that moment, they realised one thing, Ashton was not someone they could have messed with without proper preparation. And with proper preparation, they meant, with weapons to kill him.
Also, they could finally figure out why he was able to kill Lucas and the others. He was already stronger than most of them, coupled with the fact that he could transform his limbs whenever he wanted, made him a foe no first years could have taken care of on their own.
'Just who is this mutt? How the fck is he so strong?' Nick gritted his teeth so much all of them could hear the noise coming out of his mouth.
"Hey... are you fckers gonna keep chatting amongst yourselves or fight?" Ashton asked them while flexing his ominous claws.
Jason looked a bit worried for his safety even though they had not started the fight yet. Seeing the emotions of fear and confusion in the eyes of his opponent made Ashton chuckle.
He finally realised why the hell the mistress was so adamant about him learning at least a bit of transformation, during his training in Maddencreek. Even if his claws weren't as strong as his opponent, just manifesting them could cause quite a mental effect on his opponents. But only against those who thought they were stronger than him.
Just like it was happening with Jason and the twins. Intimidation tactics didn't always help while fighting against multiple opponents. But when they did, it was bliss and opened numerous paths one could take.
Either Ashton could have used this time to run away and live to fight another day, or he could have decided to end it all right then and there. No matter which path he chose, the shock factor would help him immensely.
'Who the hell wants to run away?' Ashton made up his mind and launched himself in Jason's direction.
A moment later, his full-powered punch landed on Jason's chin. It was one of the biggest weak points werewolves had and if an attack landed there with sufficient strength, it would knock most of them down.
How did Ashton know it so well? Because he had been the Mistress's personal punching bag during his 'training'. It was safe to say, there would have been next to no one who could have experienced getting knocked out as much as he did.
Ashton had tried to do the same with Hugo too when he kicked his jaw. But his placement was a bit off. As a result, rather than getting knocked out, Hugo ended up suffering from a dislocated jaw. However, this case was not the same as before.
Earlier, Hugo's undivided attention was on his target. Thus he was able to move a bit to protect himself on a whim or instinct.
But now, Jason and the twins were in a state of shock. Thus their mind was confused. As a result, they could not have anticipated Ashton's strike beforehand. As a result, Ashton's blow landed right on Jason's chin sending him flying into the wall behind him... right past Nick.
"Jason, you okay?"
Nicole immediately went to check on Jason. Only to realise he was out cold. Ashton's surprise attack coupled with the enhanced strength from his transformed hand, was more than sufficient to deal a decisive blow.
'Step two.'
Knocking someone in one blow was not an easy thing to do. As the punch or the kick had to land on an exact place. However, if one was successful in doing so, it would give them a couple of seconds to make their next move.
Why? Because it would take some time for the others to realise what just happened. It was during this time Ashton had to make his next move.
He immediately turned all his attention towards Nick and dashed with all his might. It was time to make the Gruntas realise why he was the S ranker and not them.
Ashton reeled back his hand to deliver another punch. However, mere milliseconds before his fist would have landed on his target, Ashton found his face planted onto the ground and his hands forced behind his back. He had no idea what was going on, but someone had just pinned him down on the ground.
'Were there more of them?' Ashton thought but a moment later he realised that wasn't the case.
Both of the twins were facing the same treatment as he was, and had their faces firmly planted on the ground.
"All of the culprits have been subdued. It appears to be some sort of scuff between first years." Ashton heard a masculine voice. It was the voice of the one who had him pinned down, "It appears a second year was involved in the matter as well. But he got knocked out by an S ranker."
His voice was followed by some sort of electronic voice. Although, Ashton could not hear what it said despite having his [Perception] skill stretched to the limit.
"No. The S ranker isn't a second year. He's from the first year. I know it sounds ridiculous but it's true." The man replied, "What do you want us to do? Let the S ranker go with a warning as usual?"
The same electronic sound could be heard again in the background.
"Fine.. We'll bring all of them into the Disclipnary committee's chamber."