Chapter 89

His eyes, they burn as unquenchable flames,

The flames of total purification.

His arms, stretched forth protecting his people alway,

The walls of universal protection.

His breast, bared and presented before the rest,

The home to which the true may return.

His soul, clean from any stain,

The refuge in which there is no pain.

-Psalm in worship of the Gran Verat, published in the 4th edition hymnal and onwards

My days passed in a blur. Percral began to occasionally spark when he was particularly wound up, and I guessed he would evolve to have a lightning-related magic manipulating organ soon. Solia, who was progressing amazingly rapidly, would be able to teach and coach him through the beginnings of how to use an organ like theirs. Ytte had officially developed the ability to use her magic, which was, surprisingly, something to do with the ground. I wasn't sure what exactly she could do with it, since it wasn't like an Earthspeaker's ability to mold and sculpt the earth to their will. Instead, it was more like a supernatural understanding of the dirt? Maybe?

As the days passed and the seventh growth period passed us by, Took, Brutus, and, surprisingly enough, Treel all surpassed me in height and total mass. By now, I estimated my height to be just a hair short of five feet, while Took, the largest of the brood, was over five and a half feet tall. Brutus was an inch or so shorter than her, and Treel an inch or two shorter than him. Shemira and Sybil were about the same height now at a bit over four feet tall, though Sybil was, for lack of any other way to say it, skinny and almost gangly, while Shemira continued to grow as gracefully as she had been since her hatching. The more time went by, the more Shemira stepped into Etra's previous place as Sybil's second in command when she wasn't out on a hunt, and in moments where Sybil was alone with me, she confided that she truly appreciated Shemira now. Even more than Etra and Cree, surprisingly enough.

I now, more than ever before, felt like I was about to finally create the vibrating claws [Skill]. It was close, so close and barely out of my reach. I could now move just as normally while maintaining a continuous flow as without, so I wondered if all that was left to acquire the [Skill] officially was simply to use it in a fight, but I hadn't had the chance. On the other hand, however, I was beginning to understand how I would have to change the flow of magic in order to have my voice be damaging, or weakening or somehow carry a negative effect. I was getting close, but wasn't anywhere near so close as I was with the other.

Then, a worry that had begun to crop up was continuing to feed the whole pack. Even without me participating in most of the hunts and driving the pack to excess, this section of the jungle was truly beginning to run dry, and we were getting close to being forced to march into where we knew the bulk of the wolfstags dwelled. They hadn't tried to escape since the extermination of their ambushing force, so the presence of two large predatory groups in the same area were doubly taxing on the number of prey to be found. 

Since the wolfstags hadn't retreated or escaped, I was more than nervous to engage with them on an even larger scale. Even counting the growth we all had experienced since the last massive fight, if the wolfstags were willing to stay in proximity to us, I couldn't say how many of them there were, and if they even matched us in numbers, we would almost certainly lose, to say nothing of the total rout we would experience if they outnumbered us. For now, then, we were able to fill our bellies with lesser, weak prey, and that would have to be enough.

I was frustrated by my lack of progress, that I wasn't conquering, growing, leading. The newest twenty of the pack now trusted me enough to fully benefit from [Evolutionary Guide], but other than Ytte, the rest were unremarkable. I was too afraid of Redael to try to take control of other parts of the swarm. I knew I needed to fight and probably kill him eventually, but I knew I was nowhere near able to guarantee victory over him. Maybe I could go to Wisterl and try to train with her, but I didn't think that would actually be helpful. And all the while, I still was immensely pissed off remembering the Administrator's words, "I'll provide the information in time". 

With these things churning still within my mind, we went through the eighth growth period. Knowing it was coming, I woke, and even before checking my updated [Status], I dove into the bath. I was constantly growing since we were still not adults, but after these growth periods, the built up cast off skin and whatever else that was under my scales was unbearable. Additionally, now that my Sonilphon had evolved, I didn't need to always allow it to fill back up to full before completely emptying it, so I could indulge in a sonic magic fueled bath. The scrubbing was divine, and I luxuriated in the indulgence of spending my magic to fully clean myself. 

Finally, I had scrubbed every inch I could reach, at least twice, and I stood and shook any remaining sand from my body. With a sigh of relief, I looked to my [Status] to see if anything unexpected had occurred. 

[Status:

Name: Ashlani

Race: Young Sonic Magicblood Brood Alpha Keelish

Titles: Chosen of Nievtala

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: 7%

- Speak the entirety of the First Iteration of the Words of Power of Nievtala. Reward: Constitution, Strength, Agility +4, Intelligence, Magic +3. Progress: 4/5

Stats:

-Constitution: 43+2+3=48

-Strength: 50+2+3=55

-Agility: 53+2+3=58

-Intelligence: 43+2+2=47

-Magic: 41+2+2=45

Skills:

Adversary: 2/10

Dominance: 49/100

Evolutionary foresight (Cannot Evolve)

Evolutionary Guide: (Cannot Evolve)

Exceptional Individual (Cannot Evolve)

Improved Bloodlust: 0/3

Innate Leadership (Cannot Evolve)

Innervating Address (Cannot Evolve)

Pack Tactics: 1/10

Profound Sonilphon: 1/5

Evolutionary Possibilities

-Adult Sonic Magicblood Alpha: Survive 60 days. Progress: 48/60

-Young Sonic Magicblood Brood Alpha Khatif. Requirements: Evolution of Bloodlust Skill to Combatant's Bloodlust, Evolution of Sonilphon (Completed), Brood Alpha race (Completed).

Other evolutions possible, but not currently foreseen. Progress further, and such possibilities will be presented to you.]

This eighth growth period had offered me a slight increase in Stats from the sixth and seventh, and if things continued this way, even without an additional evolution, I would find myself around the standards of a normal human come the final growth period. It was interesting and confusing to try to understand how different these Stats were on a keelish than on a human. I now could probably lift about the same amount of weight that I could as a human, but that strength was in a shorter, more compact body. Beyond that, I was actively training in physical combat as much as I could, while as a human, I'd relied entirely on my Callings, so I'd been able to walk for a long way, but I was not any kind of physical specimen.

Then, I noticed the change in [Improved Bloodlust]'s entry. The evolution was opened before me! Immediately I looked at the requirements, and though I hated the idea of it, began to make preparations to find Wisterl.