It wasn’t long as I stepped forward before Rulac stopped following. After I glanced at him, I realized that he truly was leaving me to enter into the beast’s den alone. I didn’t allow any feelings of trepidation to overcome me as I forced myself to immediately step to the entrance of the den before hissing out a greeting. Before I heard anything, a [System] notification flashed in my vision.

[Absolute Dominance skill is being exerted on you. Due to your System advantages and possession of the Dominance Skill, the effects are reduced. However, it is advised that you leave the influence of the Absolute Dominance skill as soon as safely possible.]

If I felt this way while still resisting part of the [Skill] and without even seeing Redael, it was no wonder that the rest of the swarm saw him as near to a god. A voice, surprisingly smooth and almost gentle, pulled at me.

“Come in.”

Without thinking anything consciously, I did as the voice bade. The first thing I noted was that, for the first time since I’d evolved most recently, I didn’t have even the barest hint of feeling superior to this creature. Even before Rulac, a small part of me had looked down on him, but with Redael, I felt… small. Insignificant.

Redael was smaller than Rulac, maybe five and a half feet tall, and nowhere near so broadly packed with muscle. Nor was he so lean and wiry as Histy, but instead, the only word that could come to my mind as I looked at him was statuesque. Redael stood taller than the rest of the swarm I’d seen, closer to an upright bipedal than the rest of us, and somehow, every inch of him oozed with power and majesty.

His scales were thick and wide, and covered with the scars of battle. It seemed that there wasn’t an inch of him that had been left unscarred by combat, but he still held himself proud and without any stiffness or discomfort. Also, Redael’s body heat seemed to be more intense than the rest of the swarm, his body glowing several shades closer to white than any of the rest of the swarm had, so far as I had seen. Finally, his hands. They looked familiar to me, with thick, wide scales that overlapped and, I knew, could latch together. His fingers were tipped with sharp looking claws, curving with an apparently sharp underside.

Redael was, as far as I could tell, a Bloodletter, but at least as highly evolved as I was and an adult.

I wanted to look at the rest of the space, see what he had in his personal quarters, but Redael’s presence remained magnetic, forcefully retaining my attention.

“You’re Ashlani. Glad you’re here.” Redael’s voice retained the smooth and gentle qualities from before, but now, seeing him, I could feel a constant hunger for violence beneath the exterior. Every one of Redael’s movements was deliberate and showcased the powerful muscles decorating his whole body.

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“I… of course I came.” I couldn’t help my tone from being slightly submissive, then spoke again, trying to regain some level of neutrality to my voice. “I do listen to the words of the Swarm Alpha.”

“You and everyone else.” Redael observed me for a moment before continuing, “I hear you took out a couple of those thunderfangs. Impressive. They’re some of the most dangerous beasts found in your den’s area, so keep your guard up, they’ll get you otherwise.” With a self-satisfied nod, Redael’s demeanor shifted and became deadly serious, his aura suddenly intimidating and oozing potential violence.

“I speak to every brood alpha that rises up, and tell you all the same thing. I am more than happy to beat you up, down, and sideways.” The soft warmth of his voice was suddenly leached away, leaving only cold, calculating aggression to accompany his newly serious and threatening presence. “You want to learn from me, you can try, and you’ll learn what you can from the beatings you receive. I’ll do that whenever you want. If you challenge me, though, that will be the last time. Either you win, or you die.” The pressure of Redael’s presence tried to force me to my knees or to retreat, but I was able to bolster myself enough to stand strong, barely able to maintain eye contact.

A slight smile played at Redael’s mouth as the faintest hint of the warmth from before returned to his words. “You grow into those fangs, and you’ll be a fine keelish. We follow the strong, not just the gutsy. Once you’re all adults, I’ll call you back.” With that, Redael flicked his hand and I was dismissed.

Walking in a daze, I exited Redael’s presence, and after a moment to gather myself, was able to regain some level of self-control. Finally I could feel the influence of [Absolute Dominance] fade from my mind, and I shook myself as I took hurried steps away from Redael’s personal quarters.

Looking around, Rulac was long gone, and I wasn’t sure exactly where I needed to go to get back to my area of the den. With a sigh, I began to, to the best of my ability, retrace my steps.

…

I drew no small number of eyes as I, an obvious adolescent, made my way alone out of the deepest parts of the den. No doubt that many or even most of those I passed knew the reason for which a juvenile member of the swarm would be called down to Redael’s lair, and I imagined that I could feel the calculations going through their heads as to if it was worth it to follow what I would be up to or whatever else. Regardless of whatever they were thinking of me as I passed, I made my way back to my den.

After a couple of missed turns, I finally found myself in an area I recognized and I finally internalized something that Redael had said: “my den’s area.” Were there other dens? There had to be, if there were 1000 keelish around. There wasn’t anywhere near enough prey to be had so nearby for that many adults to feed, and we hadn’t hardly seen any others beyond the guards from the early days. Maybe that could be a new option, later, to spread my influence.

After all, after meeting Redael, I still would overthrow his rule once I’d grown strong enough. He’d said that my first challenge would be my last, and I needed to gain every [Skill], Stat, and evolution I could possibly think of before that time came.