The Claw is preparing me for something, that much I am sure of. For what, I could not say, but it will be in my best interests to take precautions, in case I am forced to square off against the supernatural by myself. My greatest weapons at the moment are my mind, my years of physical training, and the Claw itself, unreliable as it can be at the moment. Improving my physical condition in a short timeframe will be a rather tall order, given the lengths I have already gone to, and the Claw is... unco-operative, at least at the moment. This leaves me with my mind, and while many a fool would take the use of their mind to mean honing it with new knowledge, the wise man hones their mind by truly putting it to work. The first dilemma, what am I likely to need facing off against supernaturals? Iron and Salt are a classic, known to drain power, cause burns, or just act as a distraction, they should be essential in my toolset. Holy Water should prove useful, for the subset of creatures weak to religious symbolism, and it can serve as an emergency water supply in a pinch, which leaves actual weaponry. Getting a silver blade through any form of security will be an issue, though I might be able to slip it inside the Claw's hollow interior, and it's much more versatile than dragging a wooden stake around, since the things only work on the damned vamps. The tooth the Claw picked up has some kind of magic on it, but trying to use it leaves me feeling like nails are scratching through my brain, trying to dig up things I don't wanna remember.

*there is a brown stain on the page, like someone has bled onto it*

I found out what that 'power' the weirdo was talking about was. The Claw's different now, a bit stronger, a bit faster, ever so slightly sharper, and it's burrowed into my damn shoulder. Damn thing's still twitching in ther- dammit, it punctured a hole right above what's left of the elbow, now there'sblood all over the damn page. The Claw's doing something, but I can't quite tell what yet. Hurts like a bitch too. When it first went in, it sort of unravveled into these tendrils of silvery metal threads, then it started digging into my stump and didn't stop until it had filled the entire thing, with none of the metal part outside. I'm lucky none of my neighbours were feeling like good samaritans today, cause I'm pretty sure I was screaming for most of that process, and I sure as hell don't want to be mistaken as patient zro for some magical plague or something. I especially don't want anybody knowing about the Claw, not until I'm sure I can hold onto it if anybody comes to take it.

The squirming's stopped now, the Claw seems to have finished whatever it was up to. Writing this left-handed is starting to give me cramps, so I'm hoping I can get the Claw to play nice and come back out, but I ai- *another brown stain splotches across the page, covering the end of the last word* The Claw came back out. I seem to be able to retract it at will now, like one of those impractical sliding blades that's all the rage these days, only this one doesn't have some stupid hinge that makes the thing weaker than my aunt Betty's fried tofu recipe, God rest her soul. Stopped hurting, too. Seems a damn sight betteer than walking around with gloves on all year round, even indoors, so I'll take it, but I have no idea what the Claw's gonna get up to next. Here's hoping it doesn't go too deep, next time it makes changes.