It was in disbelief that I realized what I had just done. Sure, I planned on taking Redael down eventually, but tomorrow was not the day I had planned for. I wanted to have plenty of time to practice with Wisterl before then, as well as to evolve any skills I could, complete more quests...

Regardless of what my previous plan was, now I was stuck in a duel to the death in the morning. But, what had come over me? I'd never been shy, but that arrogance was strange and new to me. I didn't like that it had overcome me without my knowledge or realization. [System], is there something going on here?

[The Administrator has deemed it unnecessary to… The Administrator tells you "There is nothing to fear. This is simply a byproduct of your evolution. As your race drastically changes, so too will certain inclinations of yours. In this case, as your base race, Khatif, is of a higher order of magnitude than that of Redael, you intrinsically recoiled at his attempted air of superiority. Your very blood was incensed by his attempt to subdue you, and thus an unreasonable, absolute rage consumed you. Further, you, at a genetic level, needed to prove him wrong about his perceived superiority."]

... So, because I'm closer to a Keel than he is, my soul itself rebelled?

[Effectively.]

Well, hopefully that "intrinsic" reaction would prove beneficial tomorrow morning.

As I mulled over what was currently happening to me, Rulac jogged back towards me, his face and tone deadly serious. "You're biting off more than you can chew. It's too late now to regret or change things, and I think you would have had a chance to kill him in the future, but I'm sure you'll be gutted like a fish tomorrow. Enjoy your last day."

He had never minced words with me previously, and his frank lack of faith in my survival was off-putting. I thought I had come a long way since I had stumbled my way down into the depths of the den, and that I could definitely go toe-to-toe with Redael now. Sure, it would be a hard fight, but I had come out surprisingly ok after fighting multiple enemies at a time previously, even the Speaker from just before, and she had been a trained combatant, much less an incomplete specimen like Redael...

Damnation, this change in mentality was so immediate and seamless, it was difficult to tell when it was influencing me. I made a mental note to see if there was anything that I could do moving forward to quell any and all overconfidence that came from my involuntarily prideful blood.

Nonetheless, I made the conscious decision to continue on with my day and paid attention to the world around me... only to see a sea of adoring faces. In a moment of confusion, I looked to my left and saw Sybil.

"Did... I do something?" I whispered to her.

"Well, you did just declare yourself a contender for the rule of this swarm, so I would say that yes, you did do something." Sybil's face was far too rigid and subtly unhappy to be a smile. Something in her eyes told me that, if she got the opportunity, she had a fair amount of choice words for me about my choices today and if she thought about telling me what to do and what was expected of me, then I would be sure to put her in her place. I looked down my nose at her.

"Well, from tomorrow, I will be the ruler of the swarm, so that much is to be expected." Sybil looked taken aback at my words, and I realized, again, what was happening.

Dulvroc take me, this arrogance was going to get quite bothersome.

"I'm sorry, Sybil. There's something that I will explain to you and Took shortly to justify my current actions, but for now, I think something is expected of me." Then, I turned to the young and weak keelish's adoring faces and spoke. As I did so, I subconsciously began to radiate an aura of sorts, and I noted a flashing [System] notification: [[True Dominance] skill activated]. As this emanating force pushed out from me, I saw the keelish instinctually bow before my presence.

"You have chosen to follow me today. Good choice, as tomorrow, the rest of the pack will not have that choice, but will instead be obligated and compelled to follow. The choice to follow is an admirable one, and I will see that you are rewarded for it. For now, gather what meat you can and take it to your dens. Feast on the flesh of our foes, and grow ever stronger!"

Immediately, the keelish's voices rang out, disjointed at first, then united.

"Alpha, Alpha, ALPHA, ALPHA, ALPHA! ALPHA!"

I smiled, nodded, then gestured for Took and Sybil to follow me as I finally acknowledged the flashing [System] notification.

[Growth achieved. Quest Completed. Status updated.]

[Status:

Name: Ashlani

...

-- Upgrade [Dominance] skill. Progress: 137/100. Rewards: [True Dominance] skill, Strength +2, Intelligence +2, Magic +1 QUEST COMPLETE. NEW QUEST: Completely raze a community of creatures with a base Intelligence of at least 4. Rewards: Constitution, Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Magic +6.

—Usurp control of the entire swarm. Progress: 11%. Rewards: Intelligence +9.

Stats:

-Constitution: 59

-Strength: 69+2=71

-Agility: 72

-Intelligence: 67+2=69

-Magic: 60+1=61

Skills:

...

True Dominance—current evolutionary progress: Unknown...]

So, I had officially evolved [Dominance]. How is [True Dominance] different?

[Skill [True Dominance] differs from its basic counterpart primarily from its inherent active aura. If you so choose, you can expel an overpowering aura that forces the weak-willed to submit to you. This will, in the weakest, force dominion upon the effected.]

A smile crooked my face. That was nice to hear.

And what does this new quest mean?

[To completely destroy a community of somewhat intelligent beings. Examples of qualifying communities would be: A complete wolfstag pack, a human village or hamlet, a murder of terrorbirds, or others of a similar or greater level of intelligence.]

The smile grew wider. So, soon we would take the fight back to the humans. But first, I had a date with a crotchety old lizard.