Dog’s transformation stabilized first. His changes had less to do with his mana and more to do with his body itself. Slowly, his enlarged fra rose from the ground.
His dense mane, which covered even more of his neck and shoulders, made his already larger physique appear even more imposing than before.
The pressure radiating from him felt powerful. His physique alone now made him far more befitting of standing amongst Fenrir’s pack.
Even so, his strength would still currently be considered the weakest amongst the four.
That was the difference that ca with becoming a Fallen.
And because Paul’s foundation was considerably more stable than Dog’s, even he still possessed greater overall strength despite lacking Noah’s blood entirely.
But Noah understood that comparison wouldn’t remain accurate forever.
Dog had only just begun adapting to his new body, while Noah’s blood itself continued evolving alongside him.
Maybe next ti, if Noah reached the next criteria to evolve, he could make any creature he graced his blood with the potential to far surpass Paul.
And weeks from now... months... Once Dog fully adapted to the changes and continued to receive Noah’s improved blood, his physique would undoubtedly reach far beyond what it currently was.
Of course, that also depended on whether Paul himself remained stagnant during that sa period.
Truthfully, Noah still didn’t fully understand how quickly a human werewolf like Paul could continue growing compared to the others.
—
anwhile, Alexandria’s unstable spikes of energy lashing out from her body slowly stabilized, while her third tail swayed behind her alongside the other two.
Yet despite both transformations finishing...
No one’s attention was truly on them.
In fact, despite Alexandria’s presence becoming noticeably more ferocious than before, almost nobody paid attention to her change either.
Every gaze remained locked onto the figure standing beside her instead.
Her shadow.
At first, it simply stood there without addressing anyone. Then, slowly, the glowing eyes within the darkness shifted across everyone staring at it.
And strangely enough...
The shadow clearly noticed the attention. Especially the attention coming from stronger creatures.
Its posture gradually changed beneath their gazes. Its shoulders subtly pulled back.
Its head lifted slightly higher.
The arrogant deanor steadily beca more apparent the longer it remained the center of attention. It was almost like the acknowledgnt itself inflated its pride.
Especially when its eyes t Noah’s.
And by the ti its gaze shifted away again, the superiority within its posture had beco almost unbearable.
anwhile, Alexandria stood beside it, completely confused.
The result originated from her mutation, so instinctively, she understood what the "creature" was supposed to be.
The problem was, despite the shadow supposedly being "her" shadow, Alexandria couldn’t control it at all.
There was no ntal link between them.
In fact, Alexandria couldn’t even feel a connection through their mana either.
It was as though the existence standing beside her was entirely its own individual.
What bothered Alexandria more was how the shadow was not trying to hide her growing smugness.
The shadow seed to finally react to the only judging stare pointed her way.
It turned its gaze directly towards Alexandria’s. There was an instant where the shadow was unsure about the look its original was giving it.
But then a mouth suddenly split open within the darkness, revealing its predator teeth.
Its mouth slightly curved, giving a distinct haughty smile. And its eyes beca more provocative than prideful.
"My..." Its voice carried an almost lazy elegance behind it. "That look is rather hurtful."
Alexandria’s ears twitched irritably. Even the way the shadow spoke irked her.
"What are you talking ab- no!" Alexandria imdiately caught herself before she got dragged along by the conversation. "Why are you acting like that?"
The shadow blinked at her, then that annoying smile, reflected in her eyes, showed.
Its head tilted ever so slowly; the action was definitely exaggerated just to ss with her.
"Like what?"
"That!" Alexandria nearly scread before catching herself. "You’re my shadow, My shadow. Whatever... This is, needs to stop."
The shadow’s eyes seed to suggest that she was prepared for such an outburst from the very beginning.
It picked up on Alexandria’s uneven breathing, and then it let out an amused laugh.
The laughter was full of mocking, and to top it off, the shadow’s voice was exactly the sa as the original; the only difference was the tone.
"Oh, now this is interesting." Its grin widened even further.
"Why do you think I’m like this, hm?" Its eyes narrowed smugly. "How could a shadow, your shadow, behave in such an unladylike way?"
The shadow looked almost delighted while speaking, as though it were revealing the most entertaining gossip imaginable.
"Could it possibly be..." It stopped for a dramatic pause. "Because you are not nearly as "proper" as you pretend to be? That the so-called Alexandria... the 3rrrrdddd actually has such an awful personality underneath her queeny face?"
It was impossible to tell which part triggered it, but Alexandria’s face visibly heated.
"You!"
"See? There it is. Why hide it?"
"You should be happy that I’m here now. At least I can do and say all the things that you couldn’t."
"I am nothing like you!"
The response ca out far too quickly, which only caused the shadow to laugh again.
"Oh, but you are." Its tone beca even more mocking afterward. "The only difference between us is that I do not waste ti pretending otherwise."
"You glare at people constantly."
"You judge others all the ti, but you care so much about ruining your image that you don’t bother saying anything.."
"You beco jealous whenever soone you seek validation from gives more attention to soone else than you."
"And worst of all..." It leaned slightly closer. "You enjoy feeling superior just as much as I do." This ti, it chose to whisper the rest, as if knowing that letting others overhear would destroy everything she built up.
Alexandria imdiately froze. Subconsciously, she glanced over to the cats that she had led all this ti, worried that they had overheard despite the shadows’ whispers.
"Oh? It seems as if now you’re taking seriously. Seems like you are aware of it."
"I don-"
"You do." The shadow interrupted her imdiately. "You simply feel guilty whenever you think that way."
"But if you really want to go there... Then should I start repeating so of your thoughts out loud?"
Alexandria’s ears flattened instantly. Her heart was pulsing a thousand miles a second. If she could, she would rip her own shadow to shreds right there.
How could she not know that the shadow was just as strong as her?
And worst of all... Deep down, Alexandria knew the shadow was right.
Just because it was the truth, however, didn’t an it was right. Alexandria never wanted to be the version of her that had those thoughts. She wanted to be better than them.
Her thoughts went to coming up with sothing to validate herself. If the shadow was the worst of her, then she should also have sothing to use against it.
And yet, the more she thought about what to say, the more she would then have to reveal about herself.
Right now, she genuinely didn’t know how to argue back anymore.
"Well, this is getting depressing."
Both cats quickly shot up; they moved as if they had forgotten that the others were there.
Seeing who the speaker was, Alexandria released a breath as she looked towards Ailetta with visible relief.
anwhile, the shadow’s eyes carried annoyance over being interrupted when it was so close to breaking the original down.
Ailetta, however, looked completely unbothered. In fact, the shadows’ glare filled her with a sense of entertainnt.
"So..." Ailetta leaned slightly forward while observing the shadow closely. "You’re basically Alexandria without the emotional brakes?"
The shadow’s posture straightened proudly.
"A crude description, but acceptable."
Ailetta imdiately snorted. "Oh no. You definitely think you’re prettier than her, too."
The shadow didn’t even hesitate despite the sudden change of topic.
"I am."
Alexandria’s face instantly heated.
"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN AN!?"
anwhile, Ailetta brought a hand over her mouth to cover her smile. She already found ssing with Alexandria enjoyable.
Now there were sohow two of them.
This was rapidly becoming one of her favorite monts of tonight.
Completely ignoring Alexandria’s outburst, Ailetta shifted her attention back toward the shadow instead.
And just as the shadow opened its mouth to make another smug remark toward Alexandria, Ailetta interrupted first.
"I can’t help but notice sothing." Her tone remained deceptively casual. "You said you’re everything that she keeps holding back."
"Correct!" The shadow confird proudly. It gave the original a smug glance as if even Ailetta was on its side.
"So that ans you’re basically her alter ego then..."
Ailetta tilted her head slightly afterward.
"Then that also ans all this attitude is basically just years of bottled-up frustration finally talking out loud, right?"
The shadow’s grin faltered ever so slightly. It noticed that sothing wasn’t right about the way Ailetta phrased it. It was then that it rembered exactly the kind of person Ailetta was.
"So all this mocking..." Ailetta continued as if she wasn’t aware that the shadow picked up on what she was doing. "All this complaining about Alexandria holding things back... about her not being who we thought she was."
Her smile widened mischievously.
"...isn’t that just you throwing a tantrum because she kept ignoring you?"
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