The atmosphere beca increasingly restless after the transformations stabilized completely.
The newly mutated beasts could barely remain still anymore.
Several of the canines were already circling one another with visible playful aggression.
at slamd his paw into the ground, cracking the ground beneath him, before proudly looking around as if expecting praise for it.
anwhile, the felines behaved differently.
Although they were far less openly stimulated than the canines, their excitent wasn’t any less.
Their sharpened eyes continuously wandered across one another while several repeatedly tested their abilities in the open as if gauging who had the best one.
The Savannah cat had already separated itself again.
Now there were three of them.
Unfortunately, the newly created copies imdiately started hissing at one another over absolutely nothing, despite sharing the sa mind.
Noah could sense their eagerness. He, too, wanted to take them to perform their normal group battle exercise.
Simple observation alone could only tell him so much. Actual combat would reveal far more about their instincts, physical growth, coordination, and the practical applications of their newly developed abilities.
And judging from the way the beasts could barely restrain themselves anymore, they would agree in a heartbeat if he asked.
"You already know where to go if you want to test yourselves," Noah finally spoke.
Every head snapped towards him as if they couldn’t believe what he said. And when his words finally registered, their reactions beca an amusing scene to witness.
Several canines practically launched themselves away before he even fully finished speaking.
The felines reacted only slightly slower, though many of them still tried maintaining so semblance of dignity while following behind.
That dignity imdiately disappeared once one of the dogs shouted sothing about "showing the cats real strength."
A chorus of hisses instantly followed.
Noah nearly laughed watching the chaos among them.
The rivalry between the two groups had only intensified as they gained strength.
Yet strangely enough, that wasn’t a bad thing.
Competition would force them to continue growing faster.
Dog watched the others leave before slowly standing himself.
The newly evolved beast looked noticeably larger now, even while remaining on all fours.
Alexandria also glanced toward the dispersing felines. Her tails fluttered around one another with a rather strong intensity before her gaze shifted toward Noah.
Neither of them needed instructions. As the leaders of their respective groups, they needed to understand the strengths and weaknesses of those beneath them better than anyone else.
Especially now that every creature had mutated differently and could no longer be considered the sa.
Dog was the first to leave.
Several canines imdiately gathered around him the mont he started walking away, almost instinctively placing themselves behind him despite their excitent.
Alexandria left shortly, alongside Dobby.
Although the felines lacked the sa openly obedient structure as the canines, they still naturally gravitated toward her presence regardless.
Eventually, the area quieted down.
Unlike earlier, however, Noah’s attention toward them was far more focused.
The creatures from before had served as a successful test.
But these ones were different.
These were the true core of his territory. And because of that, he had to be even stricter with himself in the process.
"Before we begin... Pandora, you can let him out now."
There wasn’t any confusion about who Noah was referring to.
Most of their gazes gradually shifted toward the massive construct resting near the edge of the territory.
The thick roots blocking every opening imdiately began retracting afterward. And almost imdiately, sothing massive stumbled outward.
Dummy nearly tripped over himself the mont the roots were fully released.
The gluttonous beast visibly swayed before catching itself at the last second. Several bits of shredded roots were still hanging from the corners of his mouth.
There were even visible portions of Pandora’s roots that were completely gone.
Truthfully, nobody could determine whether Dummy had been chewing through the roots because he was genuinely trying to escape, or because he simply got hungry while imprisoned.
Probably both.
The beast himself only looked montarily disoriented after being released.
Then suddenly his head snapped upward. Dummy imdiately noticed everyone gathered around Noah.
More specifically, he recognized the scent. The sa scent that he slt so much of while he was trapped inside his own den.
The gluttonous beast instantly lunged forward with alarming speed.
Several nearby creatures imdiately tensed. Fenrir was already preparing to move.
"Dummy."
Noah’s voice wasn’t loud. If anything, it almost sounded like a tired parent calling out toward an unruly child.
Yet the mont the words reached Dummy, the beast reacted as though an overwhelming pressure slamd directly into him.
Dummy’s entire body jerked while desperately trying to stop himself mid-charge.
His claws dug deeply into the ground, leaving a noteworthy trench behind him. The montum still carried him several more feet before he finally stopped.
Several monts passed while Dummy behaved almost ekly under Noah’s gaze.
Fenrir quietly released a breath of relief from nearby. At least this ti, Dummy hadn’t embarrassed him imdiately in front of everyone.
"Noah, I won’t question the company you keep, but..."
Bolas finally erged from his cave, now that the only thing he cared about was beginning.
His massive figure slowly approached while his gaze remained entirely fixed on Dummy.
As he looked into the gluttonous creature’s eyes. He didn’t see a hint of intelligence within them.
Dummy looked back toward Bolas briefly before imdiately trying to sniff the air around him instead.
The drake’s expression stiffened, and then he exhaled.
"...Forget I said anything."
Originally, Bolas intended to question how Noah could possibly trust a creature like this around the others when the beast looked monts away from attempting to eat even Noah himself.
But after looking directly into those empty eyes...
He no longer believed Dummy possessed enough awareness to be nearly as malicious as he initially assud.
Dummy continued sniffing toward the drake again.
Then suddenly sneezed hard enough from his mouths to cause himself to fall over.
The silence sohow made the situation even stranger.
Eventually, Bolas looked back toward Noah again.
"...I’m still not convinced this thing should be allowed to roam freely."
Noah considered the statent honestly, then he released a small chuckle.
"That’s a fair point. But I have a lot of hope for this guy. He may be slow, but I acknowledge him as part of this dysfunctional family."
The words caused Fenrir to feel a hint of pride, one of the few tis he didn’t regret bringing Dummy into his pack.
anwhile, Bolas stared at Noah in complete silence before slowly looking back toward Dummy again.
At almost the exact sa mont, thick saliva was already dripping from Dummy’s mouths out of pure impatience.
The gluttonous beast looked monts away from attempting to eat the ground itself if Noah delayed any longer.
Bolas’ expression flattened at the sight.
"...Your standards for family concern ."
"Hey," Noah replied imdiately. "If you thought I welcod you into this family because you were different, then I have so terrible news for you."
That shut Bolas up surprisingly quickly.
The drake stared at Noah for several long monts, waiting for a grand coback to strike him, only to end up with nothing.
Noah didn’t pay the drake any more attention; he was ready to begin.
"Before we start, don’t expect any grand changes. The others were significantly weaker than you all, and that’s the reason their mutations beca so dramatic."
"And Arachne," Noah added while glancing toward her briefly. "We’ll take care of your underlings after this."
The spider imdiately perked up. After witnessing the transformations of the cats and dogs, her expectations for her brood had already risen dramatically.
If creatures like them could undergo such drastic growth, then what about creatures born directly from her nest?
If her brood understood the significance and they had worse reactions, then they may not want to go through with the process.
With that settled, Noah replayed the scene with him sending out his tendrils to them all.
Gwen was surprised when she discovered a tendril hovering above her face. Her expression shifted between confusion and alarm.
"...Wait."
"You are a part of our group now," Noah said before she could fully protest.
"And I won’t allow anyone ant to protect Pandora to remain weak."
For several monts, she simply stared at Noah. The initial shock of being included in the process quickly gave way to how easily Noah accepted her.
First, it was allowing him to sleep in the sa room with soone he deeply cared for, and now this.
Each mont was decided without hesitation or suspicion.
Did he truly have that much faith in her already?
Or perhaps Noah simply didn’t fear what would happen even if she betrayed him soday.
Truthfully...
After witnessing everything within this territory so far, Gwen was beginning to suspect it was the latter.
anwhile nearby, Dummy narrowed both sets of eyes suspiciously while observing the tendril approaching him.
Noah imdiately pointed toward him.
"Don’t bite it."
The creature looked genuinely conflicted, as though Noah had just denied him the greatest joy he could possibly experience.
Ignoring the scene entirely, Noah allowed his infused blood to drop towards them.
And imdiately, a pure overwhelming pressure was released.
Noah didn’t expect such a reaction, but recounting how strong each one was individually, the results of their combined mana being released should’ve been expected.
If anything, the changes happening within them felt far more controlled.
It made him relieved that the cats and dogs had left before this happened.
User Comments
0 comments from readers