Chapter 20

A part of me planned exactly what would happen. I would lead the pack in, Sybil behind me as an obvious challenge to Tieran. He would open his fool mouth and say something about how "Tieran… is best", I'd challenge him, beat him down, use excessive force, maybe break some fangs out of his mouth, and barely let him live. He would begin to serve me, and I would quickly learn what the benefits of being the Alpha of the entire brood were. 

Life… doesn't follow plans. Tieran was asleep, judging from how soft breaths and the quiet rustling of scales were the only sounds coming out of their den. Frustrating though it was, we could use the rest. Our bodies were swiftly growing, the speed of maturation so far beyond that of a human. It was nearly on the level of change experienced by the Toothy Bullfrogs. I'd caught their tadpoles a couple of times as a kid, and they'd grown so different so quickly. But keelish, however, exited the egg ready to hunt. 

Regardless, with full bellies and a den that simply couldn't accommodate our seven bodies and two Toothy Bullfrogs, we did need to excavate for a little while before we could take our own rest. The digging was different with my new hands. As they were, they obviously were built and shaped to rend flesh, and they did so quite effectively. Now that I'd evolved, though, they didn't cut quite so easily into the dirt, the thinner, sharper claws tipping my fingers much less effective at excavating. In fact, once I'd plunged my hands in with a bit more enthusiasm, I'd nearly broken a claw on a stone I hadn't seen, and it had been so unexpected that I'd yowled in surprised pain. 

I wished I was able to pull the claws back into my hands somewhat, to dull them, or protect them, or something, anything. No luck. Instead, I flattened and fixed my fingers together, and used my hands like trowels to move the dirt somewhat more effectively than before my evolution. The thought occurred that my evolution to Bloodletter had been to a completely combat-focused "caste" of keelish, and thus I had sacrificed something of my more… domestic, I supposed I would call it, side. I welcomed the change, momentary frustrations notwithstanding. 

Fortunately enough, the seven of us all worked diligently, and before long, we had a sufficiently large den to designate the back corner a "pantry" big enough for the two corpses while the rest of us could collapse into a happily exhausted pile and begin to sleep.

I slept hard, without any dreams I could remember. I couldn't even say if I had dreamed, but the rest was divine. Without grogginess or complaint, I woke to the quiet calls and screeches of the brood, realizing that the den was beginning to truly feel like home to me. A satisfied smile spread across my face as I stretched and flexed my tail, all the bones down my spine popping pleasantly, followed by most every other joint. I felt… great. Then, I noticed the [System] notification:

[Growth achieved. Status updated.]

[Status:

Name: Ashlani

Race: Young Keelish Bloodletter

Current quest: Hunt and consume 1 new creature. Reward will vary depending upon the evolutionary level of prey. Base reward: Constitution, Strength, Agility +1.

Titles: none

Stats:

-Constitution: 6+1=7

-Strength: 8+1=9

-Agility: 10+1=11

-Intelligence: 7+1=8

-Magic: 0

Skills:

Bloodlust

Evolutionary foresight

-Adult Keelish Bloodletter: Survive 60 days. Progress: 6/60

-Young Keelish Bloodletter Alpha: Acquire 10 followers. Progress: 6/10

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

But… I hadn't completed any [Quest]?

[All creatures grow naturally as they age to maturity. That growth is more gradual in some, but the growth is notable in the keelish species primarily due to the rapidity with which they grow to maturity. This growth occurs within all keelish juveniles about every 6 days until they reach maturity at 60 days after their hatching. Please note that not every increase in Status due to reaching maturation milestones will provide the same gross amount of Stats or distribution. This increase varies from individual to individual, with more highly evolved specimens receiving greater Stat growth per growth period.]

So, once I grow to maturity, I can expect at least 9 more in each stat, plus whatever I gain from [Quests] and evolution. After all, this wasn't going to be my final evolution, so I needed to push to evolve ever further to ensure these Stat bonuses came in at the highest level possible each time.

With that in mind, I finally decided that I wouldn't kill Tieran. I hated the bastard, but, stars bless me, I could tell that he was an exceptional individual. I would be better served having a skillful subordinate, and I would just have to ensure that he would never again raise his head or claw to me. A beatdown was going to come his way, and–

I was interrupted from my musings as Tieran walked into my den. This suns-burned idiot dared to think he could enter here so easily? I could feel my frills and scales all puffing out in anger as he sauntered into my space.

"Give me your… food there. We need it." He could talk better now. That was the last coherent thought I could recall as, even without the spilling of blood, [Bloodlust] was triggered..

With the rage boiling within me, I rushed forward and headbutted Tieran out of my den. I could feel one of the bones within my frill crack as it smashed into Tieran's sternum. I knew I should be feeling something from that, but there was still only my ire. He, astonished by my sudden brutality after days of submission, awkwardly fell to the ground outside of my den and scrabbled to his feet as he assumed a battle-ready stance. He thought he could so easily trespass into my home? I gave him the benefit of my largesse last night, let him sleep, and he stomped on it like this? 

I screamed my challenge and rushed forward to engage again with Tieran. He seemed to want to take the same approach as last time, allowing me to take more and more wild strikes as I opened myself up to his counter. I was not the same keelish as before. My movements were much tighter after having learned something about combat, instead of the hunt. Tieran was still larger than me, something I thought could be attributed to his Alpha nature, but I was a different beast from just a larger spawnling. 

With three quick snaps of my jaws, I menaced Tieran into stepping back, keeping him on his back foot and unable to settle into a steady stance. After another crack of my teeth together, Tieran was able to establish a good foothold and began to try to dodge my movements while attempting to strike back himself. Unfortunately for him, I knew his ace in the hole, while he couldn't guess mine.

Last time, Tieran had been able to knock me down with his tail when I wasn't expecting it, but I hadn't bothered to reach out with my hands to pull on him this time. Instead, I kept my fingers locked together under my new protective scales, primed for the perfect moment. Deliberately overextending myself, I stepped forward again into his established guard and snapped my jaws at Tieran as I read his body language and stepped into a bracing position as he whipped his tail towards me. 

I simply leveled my left hand, forming a blade shape, into the trajectory of the tail. With surprising ease, Tieran's scales then flesh were punctured by my claws, and my fingers quickly followed suit, sinking past the first knuckle with the force of that initial impact. He screamed in pain as I curled my left hand's fingers as best as I could and shredded through the thick muscle of Tieran's tail. I didn't stop there, whipping my torso around to drive my right hand at my prey with all the force of my body into his ribs. 

The noise Tieran made as my hand plunged all the way to the wrist into his chest… was like a wet cough mixed with a gasp of surprise. I had definitely punched through his lungs, and probably touched his heart. Immediately after the cough, blood began to dribble from his mouth as Tieran collapsed to the ground. All the fight was quickly sapped from his body, replaced by terror as Tieran realized that he had crossed me for the last time. 

Blood pooled beneath my feet, soaking my toes as I forcefully wrenched my hand from my prey's corpse. Tieran was no more, only left before me was the quickly cooling corpse of he who would have beaten me down. I reared my head back and crowed to the roof of the den,

"VICTORY!!" 

Before the echoes of my scream faded, I heard the approving cries of my pack filling the air.