Ragna’s POV:

Dragging the dead deer with my teeth, I strutted towards my family, leaving a trail of deer blood and entrails on the floor. Alpine immediately looked up, clearly pleased to see me. Her face looked haggard from exhaustion and her stomach growled loudly as she looked at the deer.

Poor Alpine, she must have been starving after giving birth to so many pups. I regretted for not coming back earlier. Who knows how long she had to hold her hunger.

“Took you long enough,” Alpine growled, standing up. “I thought I was about to starve back there. “

“Hey don’t blame me, I didn’t expect that iron fur stag to be at such a high level. It gave me quite the beating.” I pouted.

Using [Mind Eye], I managed to find out its level. The iron fur stag’s level was an astonishing level 73. Even though it was 4 levels lower than me, its fur was as hard as iron, causing my attacks to deal little damage. Usually iron fur stags were low level creatures, making them easy-to-kill prey despite their high defense.

Thinking that this stag was low leveled like the others, I attacked it without checking its level. I was so surprised when my teeth and claws failed to completely pierce through its hide. It took a lot of biting and slashing (not to mention lightning zapping) to kill that damned deer.

"Yeah, yeah." she replied, her interest now fixed on the dead stag.

Alpine immediately ran towards the carcass, as if her previous fatigue was gone and began feasting on the dead stag. The sound of cracking bones and tendons ripping reverberated across the cave. I took this time to take a look at my children.

There were about 6 pups around Alpine. 3 of the pups had sliver fur while 2 of them had grey fur. They looked incredibly adorable as they snuggled against each other. Alpine truly had given birth to a fine litter. However, what caught my attention was a pup that was looking at Alpine eating.

Unlike his siblings, the pup had snow white fur that was tinted golden at the ends. He also possessed a pair of golden eyes. I could sense intelligence deep within them. With his different colored fur and eyes, he stood out amongst his siblings.

Could he be a variant?

No, that can’t be right. Elemental wolf variants have either pure white or black coats. They also possess blue eyes instead of golden eyes.

Could he be that he is a new species?

I was curious to find out.

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After a few minutes, Alpine finished eating. When she was done, only one quarter of the deer was left. The rest was just a pile of bloodstained fur and bones.

I looked at the remaining meat left. The amount available for the cubs to eat was measly compared to what she had consumed. Furthermore, they had to split the meat, reducing the portion each cub received.

Alpine looked at the carcass, slightly ashamed that she had left them with rather little to eat.

Using her claws, she proceeded slice the meat as equally as possible, making sure that each and every pup had the same amount of meat to avoid the sense of favoritism.

When the pups received their meal, they immediately dug into their meals, ripping the flesh into smaller, bite – sized pieces that were small enough for them to consume.

Well, all the pups except for one.

The white furred cub looked at the meat, hesitating to eat it. He then looked at his siblings whom were busy feasting on the meat. For a moment, I thought I could see his cogs turning, debating on whether to eat the meat or not.

In the end, he took a bite of the meat. His eyes grew wide as he tasted it. He chewed it slowly, as if he was savoring the taste. I could see from his expression that he really enjoyed the meat.

I took this opportunity to ask Alpine what he was.

“Hey Alpine,” I whispered. “Is that white furred pup a variant or is he a new species?”

“I don’t know Ragna. I honestly don’t know.” She replied sighing. “I doubt he is a variant. He might be a new species but I doubt so too. He seems to be more like an adult elemental wolf variant that has been reduced to the size of a cub.”

“However,” she continued. “No matter what he is, he is still my son, OUR son. If you are planning to cast him away, just because he looks different, I won’t let you.” She growled.

Surprised by her sudden aggression, I took a step back. It was rare to see her get worked up like that. I wonder what happened when I was gone.

Furthermore, I wasn’t planning to abandon him. I was just curious to know more about him. Maybe he would tell me more about himself in the future, who knows.

I turned around to see that the cubs had finished their meal. Alpine looked at the cubs, happy that they had enjoyed their meal. After dinner, we played with them for a while and showed them some of our skills.

Alpine showed the cubs her [Fire coat] skill. She lit her fur on fire, illuminating the entire cave. Due to the heat, the pups retreated a few steps back, all while staring at her in wonder and amazement.

When it was my turn, I decided to show them my [Lightning strike] skill. When using this skill, my paw will charge up with electricity. When it was fully charged, a forceful blow will be delivered, dealing large amounts of damage and inducing the stun effect to my enemies.

When I was showing off my skill, I reduced the amount of electricity used. When it was partially charged, I proceeded to punch a large rock in the cave a distance away from the cubs. When my paw connected with the surface of the rock, the result was a resounding BOOM that echoed across the cave and the rock was instantly smashed into pieces.

While we were showing off our skills, we kept casting glances at the white furred pup. Maybe it was because we were curious to know what sort of skills he possessed. I wished that I had an appraisal type skill that allows me to see his status. My skill [Mind Eye] only allows me to see the status of my enemies.

After the show, Alpine announced that it was time for us to sleep. She then ushered the pups towards an area in the cave that was covered in fur and leaves, creating a soft makeshift bed that made sleeping on it much more comfortable.

Once we were all settled down, she sang us a lullaby and snuggled the pups to sleep. Listening to her soothing voice, I swayed my body to match the tempo of her lullaby. With each verse, I felt my eyelids getting heavier and heavier. It wasn’t long before I drifted off to sleep.

PS: If there is any grammar mistakes, please write it down in the comments. Thanks!