Kai watched as Isis explained to the woman what the players were and what were they doing to the world. He had many things to do in the game but nothing really could be really done because he was waiting for the puppies to be born and for them to have at least one day before they stopped drinking milk, and just then would he be able to evolve two Black Wolves to Dire Wolves.
“Kai, I finished the talk with the female adventurer and she said she will accept your offer and conditions.” Isis said to him, after she walked closer. “And I missed this fluffiness.” She said sinking into the fur on his back.
“You always do whatever you want…” Kai said sighing. “And the girl and boy? You were talking with them as well.” He asked the doll.
“I talked to them and explained that it would be good for the girl to have you bring her back to the village tomorrow.” She said petting Kai's black fur.
“You!” He said looking over his shoulders. “I'm no mount to be used like a horse! I'm a proud Boss of this dungeon.” He said shaking his body throwing the doll at the ground.
“Don't you want to listen to my plan?” Isis asked looking at Kai’s red eyes. “Don't you think it will be awesome to bring the girl back with you while having your subordinates following you inside the village?” She asked with a smile.
“It will be interesting but I am not a mount, so if she want to have my company she will be riding a Black Wolf.” Kai said looking at the doll. “I'll be moving on the front showing this glorious Boss I am.” He said with a smile.
“Then it is decided.” Isis said as she rubbed her hands. “I'll show at the village at that time… it will be great to steal your spotlight like that.” She said with a malicious smile on her lips.
“You're more fit to be a dark goddess than a true goddess…” Kai said but his lips too formed a smile. “I'll show the village my power and once I grow… they will fear me even more!” He said as he placed his paw on the ground with enough force to make a small tremor come from the impact.
“Then I'll be going, I have tons of things to do.” Isis said just to vanish and entered the bracelet on Kai’s front leg.
“Woman!” Kai shouted as he turned to the jail.
“Y-Yes!” The woman said as she stood up.
“You're going to start teaching me magic, my subordinates will have to wait until I am able to use it before they are to learn.” He said walking over the jail and with one of his paws he broke the stone bars. “You will continuously be surveilled by two of my subordinates.” He said and the two Wild Dogs walked to her side.
“Y-Yes…” She said taking a step outside of the jail just to sigh in relief. “And… c-can you call me by my name?” She asked him and Kai couldn't help but stop.
“Your name? That will only happen when I see you're fit to be talked with some respect.” Kai said as he walked to the two kids. “Kids, you go back to the carriage, I have a few things to do.” He said as he walked away leaving the three humans together.
***
Dawn watched the Wolf walk out of the room. “Do you have any idea what he will be doing?” She asked the girl, Laura.
“Nope, Mister Wolf does a lot of things and one of them is to take care of everything inside this cave.” She said opening her arms.
“What my sister means is that… Mister Wolf control this place… and he has strong wolves with… him.” The boy, who was the girl's brother said.
“I see… and boy, aren't you scared about your illness?” She asked looking at the Nathan’s white skin.
“I was scared… I always thought I would… die soon…” He said as his head fell but he quickly lifted it and a giant smile was on his face. “But then Mister Wolf gave my sister… some herbs, they helped me for some… time and now he is taking care… of me here.” He added and Laura couldn't help but nod.
“I knew Mister Wolf would be the right choice.” She said proudly and Dawn could only smile at the girl's actions.
“Then you will be fighting with a real goal.” She said looking at the kids, who nodded. “The illness will leave some weakness in your body after it heal but it won't be something major.” She said looking at the boy, who nodded his head.
“If I can run… I'll be happy…” He said with a smile.
The group continued to talk for a bit but soon they stopped to cover their ears as howls of pain could be heard all over the place and what scared them more was that they couldn't see why the wolves were howling like that.
They waited for a few minutes but soon it ended and only a proud howl, that shook all the cave could be heard.
“Is he mad?!” Dawn asked as she covered her ears as she remembered the first time she heard the thunder-like howl.
***
Kai stood at the entrance of the room the female wolves were giving birth and quickly saw as each female howled as the small puppies appeared and the count was great, from the 11 females, each had at least one puppy but two had more than one.
The female Black Wolf had 4 puppies and one of the female Grey Wolf had 3 and both were used as his strongest unit.
He watched everything in awe while feeling a bit awkward since the animals were showing the power only they had, it was the power to give birth to small ones.
AWOOOO!!
Not being able to contain his happiness Kai howled, making the dungeon shake but he did not care, it was to celebrate the birth of the minions he had waited.
Once he stopped howling he looked at the puppies and a small idea appeared on his mind.
‘I can make the growth of herbs be faster, this would this affect the puppies if I select them?’ He thought as he opened his menu and finding the growth spurt and he used it on the 16 puppies and he smiled as he saw that they quickly started to grow, even faster than normal.
He had to use 50 DP but it was worth because he would have the puppies grow until they reached half of the size they would have when the day ended.
“Go and bring food for the females! They will need extra food!” Kai said to the male wolves and they all walked to the place their meat was stored and just as they brought the meat for their ‘partners’ they ate it as the small puppies drank the milk that was being produced by them. “Don't stop! Continue to bring food for them until the puppies are big enough to eat on their own!” He said without caring about their supply. If needed they could always go out when the puppies grew a bit more so they could learn how to hunt.
“Mister Wolf, what-PUPPIES!” The girl's voice came from behind him and when he looked at her Kai saw that she had seen the small creatures that were drinking milk from their mother.
“Yes, this is what my great subordinates can do, they can grow in number just like this.” He said stopping the girl and her brother. “They're not ready, they were just born and have yet to start eating meat.” He said to the siblings.
“Mister Wolf… can I pet one?” The boy asked looking at the newborns.
“Not yet… their mothers’ are still in high alert and just after they stop drinking milk will you be able to pet them without a problem.” Kai said as he gestured to the kids to leave with his muzzle. “Go now, I'll see if I can make them go closer to you once they stop drinking milk.” He said pushing the kids away.
“But I want to see them growing!” The girl said and her brother quickly nodded with her. “They're growing so fast…” She said after a few seconds.
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It was right, the puppies had grown a lot since they were born but it was all due to Kai’s growth spurt on them.
“They will soon stop drinking milk and will be ready to start learning how to hunt.” He said a bit surprised of how fast they were growing.
“Then we can stay here, right?” The boy asked and his manners would let you think if he was truly ill or not.
“Do whatever you want.” Kai said sitting at the door just to notice the woman staring at the room, she was a bit away but close enough if she needed anything. “Woman, what do you want here?”
“N-Nothing!” She quickly said but Kai saw it, she was looking inside but she wasn't looking at the puppies or wolves, she was paying attention to the bags arranged at the end of the room.
“You want your weapon?” He asked and the woman jumped surprised. “Or the accessories you had?” Kai continued as a smile floated on his lips.
“N-No, I do not want them…” She said but her eyes betrayed her. She continued to peek at the bags.
Kai didn't continue to pursue the woman because he knew the two Wild Dogs were right besides her and were there to watch her and would stop her if she tried to ‘steal’ the bags and the items inside.
The group waited for nearly an hour and only after that time the puppies stopped drinking milk and they had grown quite a bit already, they had doubled their size and were starting to eat some chunks of meat.
“It is time.” Kai said as he lead the group inside. “Kids, only pet the ones that come to you, do not hold them in your arms.” He added as he touched each puppy’s forehead with his big muzzle and he did the same with their mothers’ which were a bit exhausted but with his touch he could recover them a bit.
Kai was engrossed healing his minions but he did hear the girl and boy playing with the small wolves.
They were happily petting them and the woman just stood at the doorway.
Kai left the kids play with the small puppies for a bit once he finished touching all the wolves forehead with his muzzle but the playing was cut short.
“Kids, it is time for the parents to start bringing meat and to teach them how to hunt.” Kai said as he walked taking away the puppies that were on their arms.
“But Mister Wolf-” The girl started but slamming his paw on the ground he made the girl stop talking.
“No but! You're only here because I let you stay here. This place is my kingdom and you're in the way of their learning.” Kai said heavily and he saw the woman, who was at the corner of his sight stop and sit. “Now, go back to the carriage, and woman, you are to look after these two.” He said as he gave a small howl and all the wolves followed him, but two puppies, a Black Wolf and a Grey Wolf, stayed a bit longer before they followed the group that had finally grown to 38, while two Wild Dogs were still keeping vigilance over the female adventurer.
***
Roran was down. He had been unable to move from his house for two day, and the quest paper was still red, he had yet to talk with the guild to upgrade its difficulty or to cancel the quest.
He and his wife had a great discussion at the day their kids vanished but now, all they could do was to sit and wait.
The village itself had a dreadful aura, they were all scared that they would be the next ones to have their kids taken by the big black and white wolf.
“Honey…” His wife called and Roran lifted his head. “You need to go hunt…” She said as she placed her arms around his head.
“I-I don't have strength to go and enter the forest…” He said shaking at the thought of entering the forest the wolf lived. “W-What will I do if I meet the Wolf and he decides that I'm the cause of everything? He will definitely kill me.” He said as tears fell from his eyes.
“Honey… Laura and Nathan… they are still alive, believe in it.” His wife said as she clung to his head, her arms too were shaking.
She was at home when that happened and the worst of all, she saw when the wolf opened its mouth to kidnap Nathan and after she followed outside he saw her daughter be taken away by him as well.
“We will find them… and they will come back to us.” She weakly said. “We have to believe in that.” She added as tears started to fell from her eyes.
“I-I just don't want to go and find that they…” Roran couldn't finish his words, he was too scared to say it. He couldn't help but think that it would turn real if he said it. “Y-You're right, they will be well.” He said holding the arms that were wrapped around his head with his shaky hands.
“They are intelligent, but Nathan is the one that makes me more preoccupied… his illness might be kicking and he will grow weaker with time…” She said letting her husband’s head go. “And you, you are going to the forest, they are alive and you will find them, that's for sure.” She said showing a smile to her husband, and it looked like their fight had never happened, but they knew that if the kids were to be dead they would go with them.
“I'll do it.” Roran said as he lifted his body from the chair he was sitting. “I'll call all the hunters and we will hunt that Wolf down, or at least make a way to truly know its strength.” He added as he walked towards the door with a determined face.
“Honey, make sure to protect our kids.” She said and Roran nodded his head.
“I'll make sure to do what I can.” He said as he left his house. “I just hope the hunters will accept my offer.” He murmured as he walked calling for the hunters, one at a time.
***
Kai watched the minions working to hunt rabbits inside the dungeon while showing to the small ones how it was done, and leaving some weakened rabbits for them to finish.
He had watched and had given some orders for the small ones so they could see that he was the one at the top of the group. He was the leader of this pack.
“It is time.” Kai murmured as he opened the menu and seeing the two oldest and strongest Black Wolves, he selected them.
They grew towards the next evolution, Dire Wolves. They were bigger, they were nearly two meters tall and Kai, who was the tallest of the group stood at two and half meters tall. His fur was even fluffier than before and it made his looks turn darker because it made difficult to see where the body ended and the fur started.
The evolution consumed 200 DP but he did not feel bad as he bought that. He was happy because he was now the Alpha predator wolf type. He was far stronger than when he was only a puny small Wild Dog that was only slightly bigger than normal.
“This is what I wanted.” He said, and his voice sounded weird to himself because it was much deeper than he was accustomed to. “This is the power of a true monster.” He said as he smashed his paw on the ground making a paw print to appear there.
Kai continued to look around the menu and stopped as he saw the next upgrade. It wasn't linear like it had been, but branched evolution.
“So a Dire Wolf don't only has an evolution but can evolve differently…” He said looking at the branched evolution line just to think how would he be able to evolve further and further. “Seeing this… it means that the more diverse is the strongest my dungeon will be.” He said smiling.
He stared at the branched evolution line but the names didn't appear and all he could do was sit down and think how he would evolve the races.
‘From the many games I played, I would say that it would be something related to magic or maybe turn humanoid… maybe a Kobold evolution would be good and it would enhance their thinking capabilities as their brain grows.’ Kai thought as he looked at the puppies eating the dead bodies they had helped to hunt.
He could have looked for the next evolution but he was afraid to see how much it would actually cost so he decided to let it go and sitting up, he walked towards the carriage while the calling for the female adventurer to come out.
“Woman, start teaching me magic.” Kai said sitting before the carriage but the woman was frozen solid. She didn't move when he appeared and just stared at him.
“N-No way… you grew even more!” She said after a few seconds of silence.
“Those are your first words?” Kai said mocking the woman. “I have evolved to the next race I'm not a Black Wolf, now I have finally evolved to be a Dire Wolf!” He said showing his fangs to the woman.
“A-A Dire Wolf wouldn't be this big!” She said before she closed her mouth.
“Obviously they wouldn't. I am an unique beast, I am a Boss! I am stronger, bigger, faster and more intelligent than my subordinates.” Kai said as light shined through his eyes making the red turn deeper and darker than before.
“I-I see.” The woman said looking at his eyes. “T-Then we will start by feeling the mana inside your body.” She said just to have two kids sit besides Kai.
They were inside the carriage as well and once they saw Kai they walked to see his fur and now they were there paying attention to the female adventurer as she explained how to feel their mana.
“Place your palms together and feel the mana that resides inside your body. It will be like a puddle of hot gas or liquid and it will be right besides the heart.” She said as she demonstrated how to do it.
Kai watched in silence but he didn't placed his paws together, instead he felt the core on the top of his head.
It was his Dungeon Heart, it was his ‘second heart’ and from where he felt he had the connection with the dungeon.
He closed his eyes and explored the inside of his body and he discovered two weird places and they were all full of a dense bluish fog that it almost turned into water.
One was right besides his chest and the other was right behind the Dungeon Core that was on his forehead.
“You will feel something weird in the place you find your mana, try to make it circle your body, if you can.” The woman's voice came and Kai slightly nodded his head and tried to make the mana run around his body but he couldn't make it stretch even after he had felt it.
“There is no point in this.” Kai said opening his eyes. “I feel my mana but it can't be moved.” He added looking at the woman, whose face was a bit pale.
“It's because it is your first attempt, it is already good to be able to feel the mana first, but it is time consuming and soon you will be able to start using magic… or discover your aptitude for it.” She said seriously looking at Kai.
“I can move it!” The girl said with a smile. “It felt like I was inside something really hot!” She said looking at her brother who was sweating at her side.
“I-I only felt something warm… and it disappeared too quickly…” The boy said tiredly as he fell backwards. “I couldn’t even… follow it…” He said lifting his arms. “But I felt it.”
“You shouldn’t feel it… with your illness your mana is totally exhausted…” The woman said looking at the boy with doubtful eyes.
“Boy, you have a good talent.” Kai said looking at the sweating kid. “But it is a shame you are sick, it would be great to have such a mage at my side.” He said praising the kid that was breathing heavily as he lied on the ground, yet was still smiling.