I let the rest of the pack eat their fill from the two downed frogs, and was left with just a couple of bites left over. That was fine by me, so I ate the meager mouthfuls and then went back to the pack. I made a couple of suggestions to the pack a whole, just to make sure that there weren't any stupid mistakes in the future, but I generally took a step back and let them do what they would.

I only then realized that I had forgotten to check my updated status after the notification from absorbing Shemira's pack. Thus, I decided there was no time like the present, as Silf led us to the location of our next hunt.

[Status:

Name: Ashlani

Race: Young Keelish Bloodletter Alpha

Current quest:

—Kill three Young Thunder Wolfstags. Reward: 1 Constitution, 2 Strength, 1 Magic.

Stats:

-Constitution: 8+1=9

-Strength: 11

-Agility: 15

-Intelligence: 9+1=10

-Magic: 2

Skills:

Innate Leadership—cannot evolve

Pack Tactics—current evolutionary progress: 0/10

Improved Bloodlust—current evolutionary progress: Unknown

Dominance—current evolutionary progress: 36/100

Improved Vision--current evolutionary progress: 0/18

Evolutionary foresight

-Adult Bloodletter Alpha: live 30 days. Progress: 12/30

-Young Magicblood Alpha. Prerequisites: Young Bloodletter Alpha. Requirements: Magic generating organ. Title of race will change with element of magic generating organ.

-Young Bloodletter Swarm Alpha. Prerequisites: Young Bloodletter Alpha. Requirements: acquire 50 followers. Progress: 34/50]

I was a little disappointed that the only stat growth had been 1 Intelligence and Constitution, but since it took me most of the way to 10's across the board (minus Magic), I decided that it wasn't too bad after all. On the other hand, I was a bit confused by the number in my current [Dominance] progression.

[Skill: Dominance--the skill user has demonstrated their ability to force others to obey them. The skill user will now find it easier to dominate and subjugate others. This skill can evolve. Conditions: Dominate and subjugate 100 creatures. Current progress: 36/100]

With a moment's thought, I came to a conclusion. Wait--is this because of Greel?

[Yes, he was subjugated and dominated by you.]

But... I've defeated keelish before. So why is this different?

[Previously, you killed any adversaries before they could submit to you. Therefore, you did not fulfill the conditions for [Dominance] to evolve.]

... So I dominated them too quickly for the skill to count it?

[The Administrator laughs at your frustration. The [System] works according to the parameters set for it, and, in this case, not all of the prerequisites were met. Therefore, no progress was made.]

The unfeeling voice of the [System] made it all the more frustrating to hear. Just casually informing me that I had been too good at what I was doing to gain all the benefits I should have received.

Whatever. I decided to put that frustration aside, and turn back to the pack which was swiftly approaching the site of the next hunt.

...

We were able to find two more mating pairs in relatively quick succession, felled all four without fail, and ate one of them. The pack was working together well, and, as far as I could tell, everyone had evolved at least once. Therefore, there wasn't too much of a struggle in taking down these small creatures that were getting comparatively small to us. This raised the question for me--were we ready to conduct a raid on the thunder wolfstags?

The more I thought about it, if we gathered up our heaviest hitters, then struck at night, there was a chance. But, the problem that arose with that plan was that there was no way that the cubs would be out and about during the night, when they were blind. Therefore, we needed to see what time they went back to their own den, and plan on a time close enough to that time that wouldn't arouse suspicion from the adults, but still might give us the edge to dispose of them quickly and efficiently.

Having come to that conclusion, I figured it would be best to talk to Took and see what she and her group saw in their hunt, and if they had picked up any clues in that respect. That said, I figured it was probably about the time to head back to the den and see how the rest were doing.

...

We victoriously pulled the corpses of our prey back to the den, and, upon entering, I was amazed to see how the den had changed.

Previously, there had been the entrance to our "spawnling area", and then just 4 random holes in the walls of the hatchery, each of which led to the dens of each of the packs. Now, however, where Percral's den entry had been (to the front and left upon entry) was now a massively hollowed space that merged with the previous communal area, where all the spawnlings could comfortably fit at the same time. The original entry point to Tieran's section (which had been to the immediate left upon entry) had also been covered completely, so now there were only two entryways once you entered our subsection. One was straight ahead, and was the original entry to my section of the den, and one was to the right, which was to Shemira's part of the den.

As the hunting pack stood there, amazed, two of the members of the pack left behind with Sybil exited from within the "Shemira section". They startled upon seeing me, and one, a smaller male, bowed nervously, saying, "Welcome back, Alpha." Damn, I don't think I can keep up with Sybil.