Vefir finished his investigation and attempts at healing, and then we knew that five of the pack had died, none of whose names I knew except Traak, a hunter from Tieran’s pack. The pack, in total, now numbered 50, after the casualties from the ambush on Took’s smaller pack and this time. Even with the dead bodies of my subordinates laid out in front of me, I didn’t mind the price paid. We had made the wolves pay for their ambush, and we would have more food than we could eat for days. With what we had done, the rest of the wolfstags’ pack would either flee after the reduction of numbers, or, if they had somehow grown to a massive superpack of hundreds, then they would seek revenge.
Either way, it would be in our best interest to take time back at the den to rest and recover. The seven heavily wounded but still living keelish would need help to return to the den, and I refused to leave a single body here for scavengers. I began issuing out assignments for who to carry what, where and how, but before too long, Sybil took over the assigning of duties for me.
As Sybil gave instructions, I noticed Shemira standing next to her before playfully leaning against my stoic Beta. Sybil turned to Shemira and leveled a heavy gaze at the joking keelish before pulling away. Shemira bumped happily against Sybil a couple more times before Sybil finally whipped her tail at a small wound on Shemira’s leg and Shemira, with a whimper of mock pain, retreated, but not far.
The complete change in their attitude towards each other took me by surprise. I could remember them working together during the fight, but something more than that needed to have happened for this level of change to occur. The change in their relationship, however, didn’t matter now, and instead I set to helping the pack prepare to haul out the massive mountain of meat. With Took still at the den and the heavy wounds many of the pack had sustained, I would need to carry two wolfstags myself in order for us to return with every carcass. Glancing back and forth, I decided on two of the larger specimens, and since there was still time until we could leave, I began to wonder why the wolfstags hadn’t used any of their magic.
Even if they were magically talentless, they still should have had some capability to do magic, and that could have been the deciding factor in the fight. Idly, I decided to look at my [Quest] list, hoping to see if there was some change due to these “new” wolfstags, and I was surprised by what I found. I had, for some reason, completely ignored a flashing [System] notification this whole time.
[Quest completed. Growth achieved. Quest board updated. Status updated.]
[QUEST COMPLETE: Hunt 3 new species. Reward will vary depending upon the evolutionary level of prey. Base reward: Constitution, Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Magic +2. Progress: Mature Martanimis Terrorbird, Mature Scaled Deer, Mature Mistral Wolfstag. Variable reward bonus provided: Constitution, Agility, +4, Strength, +3, Intelligence, Magic +2. New Quest received.]
So, the reason that the wolfstags hadn’t used any magic was because they were Mistral wolfstags, the lesser elemental version of Voltaic. Their magic was wind manipulation, and usually all that they could do with that was cause themselves to move more quickly, which explained the speed with which they could burst out of the cover of the brush. At least the first one I had killed was an adult, giving me some boost to the bonus Stats I received. I idly wondered what the bonuses provided were by each of the prey I’d hunted, and no sooner than I’d thought that did another notification appear.
[Variable reward bonus breakdown: Mature Martanimis Terrorbird; Constitution, Strength +2, Agility +1, Intelligence +1, Mature Scaled Deer; Constitution, Agility, +1, Mature Mistral Wolfstag; Constitution, Strength, Intelligence +1, Agility, Magic +2.]
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I always managed to forget the ease with which the [System] would provide answers, but I resisted that naturally now. An easy answer wouldn’t satisfy or teach me anywhere as much as my personal discovery would have. Disregarding that though, with the [Quest] completed, I looked at my [Status].
[Status:
Name: Ashlani
Race: Young Sonic Magicblood Brood Alpha Keelish
Current quests:
-Hunt 3 new species. Reward will vary depending upon the evolutionary level of prey. Base reward: Constitution, Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Magic +2.
-Gain control of 15% of the entire swarm. Reward: Constitution, Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Magic +5. Progress: 4%
-Subjugate a group of at least 10 individuals with at least 5 Intelligence. Note: Cannot be keelish members of the user’s current pack. Base Reward: Constitution, Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Magic +1.
Titles: none
Stats:
-Constitution: 29+6=35
-Strength: 37+5=42
-Agility: 39+6=45
-Intelligence: 31+4=35
-Magic: 24+4=28
Skills:
Adversary: 2/10
Dominance: 29/100
Evolutionary foresight (Cannot Evolve)
Evolutionary Guide: (Cannot Evolve)
Exceptional Individual (Cannot Evolve)
Improved Bloodlust: Requirements Hidden
Innate Leadership (Cannot Evolve)
Innervating Address (Cannot Evolve)
Pack Tactics: 1/10
Sonilphon: 26/50
Evolutionary Possibilities
-Adult Sonic Magicblood Alpha: Survive 60 days. Progress: 30/60
-Young Sonic Magicblood Brood Alpha Khatif. Requirements: Evolution of Bloodlust Skill to Combatant’s Bloodlust, Evolution of Sonilphon, Brood Alpha race (Completed).
Other evolutions possible, but not currently foreseen. Progress further, and such possibilities will be presented to you.]
Regardless of the reason, I enjoyed looking at my [Status] and seeing the ways in which I progressed. The bigger the numbers were, after all, the stronger I was. Looking at the numbers, though, I couldn’t help but feel confused. If I was completely honest, as a human, my strength had been below average, but not by much. That meant that my Strength then was probably somewhere from 40-45, but I never could have ripped through wolfstags like I had here back then, and even after this [Quest] completion, I wasn’t that high in any of my Stats.
[The Administrator chuckles, pleased, before letting you know that the reason for that is because of your biological advantages, such as your natural weapons and defenses. Additionally, you have, since your hatching, spent every day focused entirely on honing your martial capability.]
A moon spent training with the bow or spear wouldn’t have granted so many benefits… but I understood. I’d never trained like I spent my days now. A human spent most of their time doing anything but training, but I hardly did anything else. In fact, I’d gone so far as to willingly return to an abusive teacher every day in the hopes of seeing any progress.
And progress I had, with this battle showing it. I had demonstrated tactics, an understanding of the enemies’ weaknesses, and planning before even making contact. As I began to feel a swelling of pride, I turned and looked at the pack, now fully ready to begin the trek back to the den.
Spread before me were scarred, powerful warriors. My subordinates. My companions.
“Today!” I cried out, “You all are my brothers, my sisters! My true companions! We were offered insult and paid it back in our prey’s lifeblood! We return in victory!”
As my words faded into the surrounding jungle, the pack echoed my words, “VICTORY BY FANG AND BLOOD!”