N22, A Powerful Form

I could feel it after waking up, my body had changed.

I twisted my neck to take a good look at myself. The previously short fur had grown several times longer, it was especially noticeable on my now long bushy tail and the front part of my back, where the thick hair formed a short mane that extended to my neck.

‘It seems a bit stuffy but it should give some protection.’ I remembered the time I had bruised my body while escaping from that giant monster and all the injuries I received while fighting in the closed grounds.

The other notable change was my legs. They were more muscular than before and had thicker fur in some spots.

‘It’s a pity I didn’t get sharper claws, with these strong limbs I could do some serious damage.’

I got up, my body was feeling a lot lighter than before. All the fat that had accumulated in preparation for the change had been replaced by muscles. It was a sign that, once again, I had grown stronger.

‘The changes are about the same as when I evolved from a rat into a fierce rat.’ That meant I had changed into some kind of advanced dog species rather than something completely different.

‘Now I could give those three mutts and his owner a good beating.’ The thought brought a smile to my face. Now I just needed to wait for a chance to get revenge.

“Oh, ya woke up.” The chief entered the tent as I was closing my jaws on the imaginary neck of the veteran tamer. “Ya must be feeling mighty right now, don’t cha?”

‘You bet.’ I assented with my big dog head.

The chief laughed loudly. “Yeah, promoting is a great sensation, ya feel like ya can do anything. I also wanna experience it one more time… thought I have it more difficult than ya.”

‘What do you mean?’ I tilted my head curiously.

“Oh, ya just promoted and ya are curious about yer next step? Ya are truly ambitious.” The chief said looking at me with an amused expression. “Well, let me tell ya. Ya are a wolf now. Ya are not a pushover, but ya still have much room for improvement. Ya should be able ta promote another two or three times.”

‘Two or three times? What the heck! How powerful are the creatures of this place?’

“Oh, surprised? I didn’t think ya would get that!” The big dogman told me scratching his chin. “Anyway, ya are really intelligent, I’m sure if we help one another both of us will make it to the peak.”

‘Reach the peak…’ For a moment, I imagined myself acting as the king of these caves before dismissing the thought. That wasn’t true my objective, I just needed the power to explore this place and eventually recover my humanity and memories.

In any case, I was a wolf now. I hadn’t seen any beast like me out there, but I suspected the underground was far bigger than I had imagined.

Growl.

Suddenly, my stomach informed me I was really hungry. The chief also realized this and brought me a couple of bowls of food and water. By now I was more than accustomed to the slightly sweet but delicious meat I was served every day, that and jerky were almost the only things I ate.

After devouring the tasty meal I made my way to the entrance of the tent. I was eager to show my new form to my subordinates, but the village’s chief stopped me as I was about to leave. “Wait! Ya can’t go out by yer self. Ya are gonna scare the shit out of everyone. I will accompany ya this time, just wait a moment.”

I patiently waited for the chief to end a light meal and then we headed down the slope. The two dogmen that acted as the chief’s guards barely greeted us before focusing back on their mock battle. On the way down I tested my new form. The weight I had put on lately was still there, but the muscle mass I had gained compensated for it, making me as nimble as I had been as a dog.

After seeing some ratmen laborers carrying sacks I ran and jumped over them. All of the humanoid creatures were startled and a couple even ran away in panic. I was amused by their reaction and got near a well-dressed craftsman. I was almost as tall as it was, which meant my height had surpassed one meter. The scared tall ratman started trembling and reached for a bone needle decorated with feathers that was holstered in its belt.

“Stop! I told ya not to scare them, come back here.” The chief admonished me with a frightened ratman laborer in each hand. The poor souls had their eyes fixated on me and were desperately waving their legs in the air in an unsuccessful attempt to run away.

I still wanted to have more fun, but reluctantly got away from the craftsman. Then joined the chief after he managed to calm down the panicked laborers. The rest of the way I walked by his side under the curious gazes of the village inhabitants.

Finally, after reaching the plain area where the tamers lived, I spotted my subordinates. The three of them were playing together but abruptly stopped when Number One caught a glimpse of me. They kept quietly staring in my direction with interest, I was quite sure they had recognized me. All of us had evolved a few times already and my new form wasn’t so different from the previous one.

I took a dignified pose with my head held high and howled with all my might. “Awooo! Woo awooo!” This should be enough to confirm their suspicions.

The three of them came closer and excitedly started circling me while wagging their tails. Once again I clearly noticed how much I had grown after evolving, my three faithful followers looked like mere cubs at my side. Barely containing my own excitement, I flexed my muscles and made a few more cool poses.

‘Behold my mighty form! This power you see is but one of the reasons why you should always follow me.’

I could feel the respect on my subordinates’ faces, just like the chief had said I was feeling really hefty at the moment.

Basking in the spotlight, I reflected on the arduous journey I had walked since I first awakened in this cursed underground place. At first, I was completely clueless and had died several times, then I had found ways to survive and even raised my own gang of rats.

Then I had lost most of them to the ratmen. I still didn’t know how to feel about my stay in this village. I had lost my band, had to act as someone else’s pet, and was almost killed by that fucking veteran tamer. On the other hand, the village was the closest thing to a safe haven I had found during my journey. The food was decent and the chief of the ratmen was the only creature who could talk properly and didn’t try to kill me at first sight. I was counting on him to get more information about the underground caves.

Thinking about it, I only regretted not being able to find my minions. If I had escaped by myself as soon as I got the chance I might have found them.

‘But I couldn’t abandon these guys.’ I thought looking at three excited dogs that were still circling me. I had to admit that I had grown fond of them. ‘Specially now that they aren't disgusting rats.’

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But one day I would have to leave this place, staying here wouldn’t get me closer to regaining my memories or my human body.

…

Sniff, sniff.

Once again, I was in the middle of a hunt. I had had more than enough time to adapt to my new body and was trying to make the most of my new form. I could tell smelling was one of its strong points, a sense I had mostly ignored until now. I was sure that if I could master it I would have a very convenient tool to avoid trouble and find prey. That way I would need to rely so much on the human's marks.

‘Yuck!’ After touching something wet, I took my nose out of the ground in disgust. That had the scent of lizard pee. I sent a meaningful glance to the ratmen hunters in the group and let them handle the rest of the work. I had smelled one too many unpleasant things today.

We were looking for an opponent to test my new fighting capabilities. Most of the beasts in the caves were currently little more than snacks to me. I had checked it during this hunt, the long necks were unable to resist my bites. They still felt rather nimble, but the fight was over once I reached them. A thing that wasn’t very difficult unless they tried to run away. Most of the ones we had found had become a meal in one move.

I had also decapitated a lone lizard. It had been a small mistake at the very beginning of the hunt. I was just trying to fight the yellowish reptile as usual, but I had underestimated the strength of my jaws.

Those weak adversaries had been a little underwhelming, so I was tracking a big lizard as my next opponent. Among the monsters I knew, it was the most perfect one to test the current me.

“Woof!” Out of nowhere, Number Two barked at a lone lizard hiding behind a boulder. I had taken down most of the beasts we had found until now, so he was raring to fight. I nudged him to keep advancing. We had caught more than enough prey. The only reason we hadn’t got back was that I wanted to prove myself.

My most rebellious subordinate looked at me and showed a slight defiance to my command. That prompted a growl from someone else. It was Number One who was dutifully following behind me. He and Number Three had also come along. Unlike Number Two, who had jumped into the fights every time ignoring everyone’s orders, my most loyal follower had been standing in position and ready to intervene in case things went awry. Number Three had also been by his side all the time, but he didn’t seem all too eager to engage with the beasts despite his evident advantage as a dog. I was a bit concerned about him, his hesitation was probably a remanent of his near-death experience.

Having my three subordinates with me spurred some memories from the time when I led my gang as a fierce rat, ready to hunt the dangerous lizards that lived in the hallways.

After much searching, the tamers finally found a big lizard. They were pretty uncommon in this area. Probably because the ratmen regular expeditions caught almost every beast in their path.

Excited, I focused my attention on the front. Inside a slightly large cave that looked no different from all the others one could find around, lay a brown reptile about five meters long.

‘Alright, now I have to calm down.’

I took a deep breath to soothe my pounding heart. I was a bit nervous, this was the first time I was going to fight a big lizard head-on. I was taller than my opponent, but the reptile was heavier and better armored.

‘This isn’t much different than a fierce rat versus a lizard.’ I reassured myself.

I had killed my fair share of them as a rat, and back then our relative sizes had been more unfavorable. Also, it wasn’t like I was planning to do this alone, there was a reason I had brought my subordinates with me!

I wondered if I should make a plan before the clash, or give some orders to my followers. It had been a while since we had hunted together. But when I looked behind me I saw they were already in position and prepared to act. Their resolve made me very happy and I gave them the best smile I could with my dog’s face, despise all the time that had passed since our lizards’ hunts they hadn’t forgotten how this was done.

‘This is going to be fun!’

Number One was half a step behind me with his gaze focused on our prey. By his side, and to no one’s surprise, Number Two was raring to go. He was keeping a menacing stance towards the big lizard and could barely hold himself. I saw him taking small steps forward and then backtracking once he surpassed my position. Number Three was on Number One’s other side. I was a bit worried about him, he looked a bit intimidated by the brown reptile, but I could see he was bracing himself for the fight. That was a relief. He might be a bit shy and a bit too fond of lazying around, but he wasn’t a coward. None of the members of my gang were!

On the other side of the cave, the big lizard was trying its best to look intimidating. With its head raised as high as it could, it sizzled and incessantly turned its neck left and right. I had seen many hides in the village displaying that threatening attitude while being hunted, so the act didn’t faze me in the slightest.

“Woof!” With a bark, I signaled the start of the fight and rushed at the reptile followed by my three subordinates. We would use the same strategy we always did. The opponent was focused on me, its biggest threat, so it was my role to distract it from the front. If I was patient, sooner or later I would have a chance to attack.

While I took care of the head, Number One harassed the lizard’s left side, striking before nimbly retreating, and Number Three bit at its hind leg on the right. The large reptile made a couple of attempts to grab them with its jaws, but every time it took its attention away from me, I remembered the beast who was the biggest danger with a bite aimed at its neck. In the end, all the opponent could do was lash at my two followers with its tail while barely keeping me at bay.

Not a couple of minutes had passed since the start of the fight when Number Two suddenly jumped out of the lizard’s shadow. His powerful legs propelled him all the way to the reptile’s scaly back and he closed his fangs onto its neck. The beast swung wildly trying to shake him off, but Number Two hung there only holding on by his mouth.

I decided this was my chance, I couldn’t leave all the work to my subordinates. It was me who wanted to prove myself in the first place! I quickly closed the distance to the reptile, lowered my stance, and from below, I sunk my own fangs into its neck. The paltry amount of blood flowing into my mouth told me I hadn’t hit any weak spots, but I was sure my bite had the strength needed to finish the big lizard. The beast started panicking and redoubled its efforts to shake us off. Trying to control it, I drew upon my newly gained strength, and with some effort got its front legs off of the ground. For a moment the reptile’s claws flailed helplessly as the creature frantically tried to scratch me, then I leveraged my weight and made its heavy body tumble down. The two of us ended up rolling on the ground and Number Two lost hold of it. Now it was just the big lizard and me!

On the floor, the large lizard violently twisted its scaly body. The creature struggled to bite me back, but I had a strong hold on his neck and it couldn’t reach me with its mouth. Only its claws were able to touch me. The sharp nails scratched me several times, but they could barely pass through my dense fur and thick skin. Meanwhile, its tail flailed around aimlessly, only useful to keep my subordinates at bay.

We wrestled for a good five minutes. My body ached more from hitting the rocks on the ground than from the attacks of the big lizard. I was patient and persevered through all of it without letting go of its neck. The reptile was visibly losing strength and at one point my followers, with Number Two at the front, joined me and helped pin the scaly beast on the floor.

Not much later the big lizard stopped moving and I could barely feel its breath. Its blood had covered most of my head and its metallic smell was overwhelming my nose. Then, with a final spasm, its body went limp and after making sure it wouldn’t give me any surprise I let go of it.

I had won! Well, my subordinates had helped quite a bit. I wanted to celebrate this great moment, but before I could do anything a ratman tamer nervously approached me and started inspecting my wounds. They were mere scratches that barely bled. The spots the rocks had hit were quite sorer. Despite that, the ratman applied some ointment to the superficial injuries. He was very diligent, maybe because the village’s chief had personally entrusted my safety to him. “You, keep an eye on my wolf, and make sure nothing dangerous happens while you are out.” He had said before excusing himself from the hunt, complaining that he couldn’t leave the village to have some fun.

Number One and Three had also let the tamers take care of their superficial injuries and were patiently waiting for them to end up checking their bodies. I hadn’t seen any of them receiving any attack during the fight, but they might have been hit during the skirmish on the ground. Meanwhile, Number Two was ignoring the pleas from his assigned tamer and was ripping apart the big lizard’s tail, trying to tear a big chunk of flesh out of it.

As the ratman hunter treating me decided to bandage a few of the bigger wounds I looked at the scaly body on the ground. I had succeeded despite our simple approach. I could consider this payback for that one time one of these beasts had pursued our band when I was a mere fierce rat. It was another creature that I could cross out of my list of fears.

Now only one thing remained on that list, the monstrous lizard, but it was pointless to think about getting revenge on that one. Maybe it would be possible to hunt it after evolving a few more times as the chief had said. For a moment I imagined myself trying to pass through a narrow cave with a giant body before clashing with the huge monster.

‘I don’t want to get so big, thought.’ I grimaced. ‘Why is that thing even underground? Shouldn’t a monster like that live on the surface where it can move freely?’

Maybe it only came underground at times to bully us, weak creatures. Or maybe it used the caves to hide. I shivered at the thought, I didn’t want to know what kind of creature could hunt such a beast.

‘Anyway, how big is this place?’ I wondered after deciding to change my depressing train of thought. ‘Even after so much time I haven’t gotten a hint at how far the net of caves reaches.’

While thinking about ways to squeeze that information out of the village’s chief the tall ratmen started processing the big lizard and we soon headed back to the settlement.