Wolf Evolution

Giant, as a Class 4, was in a league of its own. And even there, the difference between a younger 17-meter Giant, and an old 25-meter one was massive. And yet, it was still not classified under Class 5.

If these monsters were already so huge and powerful, Gerald couldn't even imagine what a Class 10, the top of the ranking, could be. The beasts in the categories seemed to be increasing on an exponential scale. Class 10 would probably be like a living mountain.

But then there was one more thing that was on his mind, taking up space. The Giant… Something was definitely wrong with it. If compared to the records of previous attacks, this one was acting strangely.

For one, it didn't use any magic. Well, it did enhance its body, but that was about it. No spells, no offensive or defensive magic to help in battle… That was extremely unusual, especially since even Orcs could at least manipulate Earth. And the Giant was a higher form of life than them.

The only logical explanation would be that the old wound on the chest was quite severe, and it didn't allow him to use much of his power. Or perhaps it was the fact that the Giant was in stasis for thousands of years, trapped inside that weird crystal.

Who knew what the consequences were for sleeping for so long? Gerald certainly didn't. His blind speculations couldn't be confirmed or disproven anyway.

He wrote down his thoughts in a book so he could get them off his mind, and continued his reading spree.

"Hey… I wonder if Godzilla would reach Class 10?" He quickly made a few rough calculations on a piece of paper, based on the power jumps in class. It did not seem so.

"Hmm… Or would it be something crazy like Class 7-8?" Gerald scratched his head, realizing he was thinking crazy thoughts. With so many missing details, it was better to not daydream too much. The reality was crazy enough, no need to be delving into imaginary worlds.

Soon he found the part of the book talking about wolves. It described their development and how they could change over time depending on the environment.

Apparently, there were two most common forms, one of which went from a wolf to a Silverback, and then an Ice wolf if the environment allowed. The other one first became a Black Wolf, then a Warg, and a Bloodhound after that.

They were the two sides of the same coin. The former developed when in a peaceful environment with plenty of food, and the latter the exact opposite. Where the food was scarce and they had lots of competition and conflicts.

But what would happen when the fact suddenly changed? What if a Warg suddenly got infinite food and could afford to be lazy? What if a Silverback was suddenly pushed into a desperate situation where it would have to fight for food and survival daily?

The books didn't contain that information. Most likely the species would branch out further, adapting to a new environment. Gerald could only blindly speculate since he didn't have the information.

But whatever happened, one thing was certain: Toby was NOT turning into a Bloodhound, that much was clear. He was too fat for that, and he was quickly gaining size, something which a Bloodhound shouldn't.

They were small beasts, only just slightly bigger than the Warg, but at least ten times as strong. They would be merciless hunters attacking anything that moved. Their fur was dark gray and black, perfect for an ambush from the shadows.

They would attack swiftly and go for the kill straight away since they couldn't afford to waste energy. They were especially dangerous at night when they would become all but impossible to detect due to the silent way they moved.

Their bodies turned into one of pure death, with even their voice leaving them as they focused every bit of energy to kill.

That became especially so after reaching the final form, the Shadowbeast. Or, at least the book didn't have any other records after that one.

Not much was recorded about the Shadowbeast since people usually didn't get to tell the tale after meeting it. Supposedly it could manipulate light, become invisible, and make illusions to confuse its prey, but it was unclear how much of it was true.

It has been a while since anyone saw or heard of a Shadowbeast anyway since they were super rare and hard-to-evolve creatures. Struggling for your life daily, decades on end usually didn't leave many survivors after all.

Toby was anything but that.

He now spent his days lazily sleeping and eating, even letting Qiona use him as a soft seat as he slept in the lab. The pleasant smells of the herbs and magical concoctions she made carried immense allure to him. And if he was a good boy, he even got to eat scraps! A win-win situation right there!

Realizing his mistakes with Toby, Gerald sighed. It seemed it was just not meant to be.

"Whatever, let's see where this takes us…" he murmured, curious as to what Toby would become.

***

As he devoured books one by one, he became increasingly surprised. So many different things were recorded, he almost couldn't believe it. One thing especially attracted his attention, a certain stone actually.

It was called the Void Stone. A peculiar little thing, really. Its color was deep blue, like the ocean, but the effects it had on Mana were… well, fascinating, to say the least.

One side attracted Mana, while the other side repelled it. This way it created a sort of natural siphon that moved Mana from one side of the stone to the other.

The funny thing was that, no matter how you broke the stone into pieces, this effect remained, though weaker.

It was like trying to break a magnet into smaller chunks. The forces remained because it was a fundamental property of the material.

The Mana-recharging thingy he saw at the auction some time ago was probably made with some of the stuff. Alongside Runes and other materials, of course. There had to be a way to control it after all.

He had a few ideas on how to make use of the Void Stone, for example making something similar to a pipe that would siphon Mana over long distances all on its own.

"I wonder where I can get me some of that," Gerald wondered. "That would be a cool thing to have." If nothing else, he would have a nice blue rock.