Leo -

Worry was a constant form of companion after the Creator took Sidnie from the room. I could do next to nothing to assist her aside from press the monitoring device alarm to alert her Father she was having trouble. More than that, I could not exert enough Influence over the Hell Hounds because I lacked proper understanding of their species.

I moved from my concern, focusing on the cause of the issue. The fallen form of the previous Pack leader lay still, it’s body cooling while the female began to devour his corpse. The Pups were trying to feed off of the Mother, whom after a moment lay down and allowed them to do so.

Different, perhaps Sidnie’s influenced her somewhat because of why she took control and killed the former Leader? It bears understanding. I focused on the needed facts. My focus was the new born pups.

They were feeding, and the Variant was my current focus. I examined him, the blue markings that were different from the red, the fact the father was the one used as bait during the fight with the fish creatures could not be a coincidence. I checked the sub category within Evolutions for the HellHounds, under Variants.

It stated that this form, now no longer a black spot, was a Hidden Variant, and extremely rare. The cost to even unlock it as a regular occurrence dwarfed the price of the Hell Fire Imp by nearly five times its amount. It was astounding, and frightening the potential it had with that regard.

Hell Hound Variant - Liquid Flame. -

A subspecies of Hell Hounds thought driven to extinction by the prime Species long ago, it holds the power over water, and may grow into more complicated forms of it as it ages, and evolves.

Well, that was interesting. We could use it as something later I was certain. But moving on from that, I observed the mothering instincts of the new Pack Leader. She showed a remarkably more complex range of care from what the previous kind did. A result of aggressive male leadership, or the result of Sidnie taking over her, and shoving her own desires and thoughts into the HellHound Matriarch.

Time would tell, though I had no intention of having Sidnie ever enter another of the Demons if I could help it, regardless of the fact she would do it all the same to show the Creator she was doing well with his present.

If I could sigh, I would be doing so. But she was my Owner, and I would do all I could to assist her properly. First would be these Hell Hounds. I would learn all I could through observation, and entering the minds of these newborns. I will not allow another incident to occur to Sidnie such as the last two.

I began by focusing on how the pups fed, how the mother cared for them, then used a few of the other HellHound mothers by comparison. It was drastically different. The others fed them, and then left them to wander around. Growling and snapping at the pups if they tried for more. Violent, as they were described.

I would have to use the others as a base for my knowledge on the species. The Mother of the Blue one would not help me right now. So that is precisely what I did.

A few were sleeping, and they slept mostly while on their stomachs, the eyes seemed slitted more than shut, the sheen of red visible in the darkness of the Den.

I saw why a moment later when another HellHound attempted to attack and kill its neighbor in its sleep. Vicious creatures. The fight turned into a yelping end for the one who attacked the stronger that was sleeping.

This allowed me to observe the feeding habits more. They ate the corpse of the fallen hound. Cannibalistic, and savage in the method. They ripped into the corpse and using their teeth to rip flesh from bone. They acted like Hyenas in how they savaged the corpse, and assaulted their kin if they tried to steal a piece of their meat.

Hunting habits I knew, they learned on the go, using instincts and cunning to gain an advantage, along with their tenacity to fight until the enemy perished, or they did.

The mating habit seemed almost forced, neither male or female truly enjoyed being in such close proximity to each other, I would assume it was all too likely for the other to kill the mate in that moment of climax. But they mated, and the male would jump free, avoiding the female afterwards.

The pups were mostly ignored, and only used to increase the population, and keep the Pack strong. Survival of the strongest, and cruelest, not too unlike the Imps mating methods in that regard. Though red was making me think otherwise rather quickly with how she had taken so many for her appetites.

Moving my focus toward the current Leader of the pack, she was lying on her side, and nuzzling her pups, the other Hell Hounds gave her a wide berth. Any of them that came near, she growled at once and they backed off. None of them wished to challenge her and risk death, yet. Killing the former Leader had given her two levels as well, oddly placing her level at 5. A good three levels above the other Hell Hounds. She must have been strong to begin with.

She was showing a nurturing instinct, and I could only link that toward Sidnie’s influence and want to keep the blue one safe. For now, I sent my consciousness into the Mother's mind. Feeling around, and there was indeed a vestige of that emotion. Odd, I was not aware owners could influence the Race on this level from controlling them, though from what I observed from the Rabbit user, Suzuki, in that tournament it was possible. I contemplated the option. I began working a set condition within her weakened mind, and strengthened the emotions left by Sidnie to a degree. An experiment, seeing what occurred would allow me to change the Species slightly, for better or worse. I would never be able to take away the innate savagery, and cruelty of the Demonic beasts, but perhaps I could control how they began treating each other, rather than seeing all as a Rival, making them see each other as allies, a real Pack. Supporting, and aiding where needed. Not just killing for pleasure, or revenge, or desire.

It was an interesting possibility, and if it worked would prevent the issue from before occurring again. The blue one would need a name no doubt. Sidnie showed a form of attachment to it, perhaps if she were able to handle it later, i would request her to name it. Something so rare deserved a name.

The little one, a male by the looks of it, was also different in appearance. The face was a bit more wolf like, but the fur seemed softer and easier to touch. I contemplated it a bit more, husky like. The Blue eyes, and the single patch of bright blue fur in it’s dark head made it looked like it hard three eyes as well, an interesting combination.

I would mold this young one into a power to be reckoned with, it would earn what Sidnie had gone through for it, and would be a foundation, like Red, for winning future battles. I had little I could do without Sidnie's consent however.

I looked over the options all the same.

Hell Hound A.I options. (Not requiring owners permission)

Training - 200 points

Pack hunting technique - 300 points

.

Unique option unlocked do to maternal instinct of pack leader.

Nurture (has the mothers adopt a nurturing and caring mentality over pups) - 500 points

What?! I know that options were unlocked, but this? It was costly maybe because it dealt with something changing a base aspect of the species?

500 points though was very expensive. I'm sure the hunts would cover the cost, and we were very close to unlocking Hell Fire Imps as a common occurring Variant.

My current point count was 4587. One day would unlock it, and I believe the overall benefit to the Pack would go a long way for my experimentation.

I had no doubt Sidnie would eventually come back to see the puppy she saved tomorrow. The cons and pros were about even.

I took a leap, and purchased it. It took effect quickly, the other mothers moving back to their pups and showing care.

The males were chased away from any pups, I began to believe the males were common pup killers to put a female into heat quicker.

A new fact learned thanks to the purchase. The cost was worth it for this discovery. Once the option was purchased the opposite was unlocked, I could undo it if it backfired. Nice, the downside was the cost increased to 1000. It made making sure the choice I chose was well thought out.

I disliked feeling foolish as well, I knew the Demons were a Master Ranked Race for this reason. But seeing it thrown fully in my ‘face’ was a bit annoying. It didn’t matter right now. The choice was made.

The accelerated growth had ended shortly after the Pups were born, and they would grow at a more sedate rate. That would be useful, I would have the full day it took these pups to grow to ensure this generation was going to be under the full sway of my influence.

I watched them for a short time before moving toward the Imps. I had them close to full understanding, but the Hell Fire Variant would add an entirely new kind of caste to learn. More so because they were a female dominant Variant with males being nearly impossible to obtain.

What I saw when I changed my focus made me wish I had not. Red was doing things again, I checked her base stats, and the intelligence had increased a minor margin. She also seemed to have grown more voracious in her appetite. I turned away from that, I would study them when more appeared. What I was witnessing could not be the natural urges of the Hell Fire Imps. I had made a mistake focusing her study on the male gender like I had.

I spent the next hour focusing my attention between the two Species, and moving the Imps toward a pathway. The Common ones had increased their strength considerably, and that would help when and if Sidnie Evolved the Husk Species. I also wished to see if it were possible to gain a stronger Imp, something larger and able to fly higher than a few feet off the ground.

That would have to wait, we had to choose the starting use of Point spending while they were still at their lowest costs.

But between doing this, and observing the naturally occurring species within my World to gain a better understanding of the ecosystem of my World. It would waste the time, allow me to gain more points slowly through knowledge increase, as well as the future hunt. I went over the book again and again, slowly adding the knowledge I had observed into the codex, the book fixing it to the proper description once I entered a certain amount that was accurate.

It also served as a distraction from my worry over Sidnie, and helped the time pass as I waited for her return.

Anyway, much love and cookies all, planning to release another chapter or two tonight, planning anyway, and then should have another chapter of my other stories for folks. If I feel I am able at the time.

P.S I see how some people dislike I gave her the Demon Race, feel it's the wrong choice. It has a point, and that point stays with me. She's a very innocent, and sheltered child. Any Race I gave her, except maybe Rabbit would do this to her in the end. But it grows into a point later. She also has far less scary things occur. Beyond that, Mother Instinct are scary!