While they all got ready to move out and organised who would be staying here temporarily as opposed to returning to the elves’ forest, Dominic had a little bit of time to himself.

  ‘Alright, time to see how we’ve changed,’ he thought at Leo with anticipation.

  Once more opening his notifications and continuing where he had left off, one that had been waiting around for a while appeared in front of his eyes.

  [You have killed Spotted Hyena Matriarch (Evolved beast level 27) ]

  [ You and your opponent were rival Beast Lord candidates. You fought in an official Challenge for everything you and your opponent possessed. You have won outright and chosen to kill your opponent instead of seeking her surrender. You have therefore earned a multiplier of x2 to your Prey Point gain. You have earned an additional 823 Prey Points]

  Dominic blinked, expecting the words to disappear from before his eyes.

  ‘Leo, are you seeing this too? Am I somehow being awarded twice for the same battle?’

  ‘I do and we are,’ the lion said, sounding gleeful. ‘Apparently being a ‘beast lord candidate’ is more special than we considered it to be. And only right for the obvious lord, no, king, of the plains.’

  Dominic rolled his eyes mentally in exasperation at his companion’s grandstanding. Actually, Leo had a point – though not the one he had intended on making.

  ‘Leo, do you realise what this means?’

  ‘That even the System recognises I was born to rule?’ Leo declared rhetorically.

  ‘No,’ Dominic sighed. ‘Now we have another group who will most likely be enemies on sight.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ the lion asked, sounding confused.

  ‘Well, you remember the other chimera we faced? We were forced into a battle with it, whether we wanted to or not. And here, if the System is offering double the Prey Points for defeating another ‘Beast Lord candidate’ in what sounds like sanctioned duel conditions, you bet that we’ll be targets of any other Beast Lord candidates we encounter. Especially since I guess that such candidates are likely to be more powerful and higher levelled beasts who will be eager to get such a windfall of points.’

  ‘I hadn’t considered that,’ Leo admitted, sounding more sober. Then he perked up again. ‘We will just have to kill them and take their Prey Points first.’

  Dominic sighed, but, to Leo’s credit, that was probably the best answer, though Dominic himself wouldn’t aim to kill another Beast Lord candidate unless there was no other choice, like it had been with the matriarch. He certainly wouldn’t go hunting for them…though he was prepared for the fact that some might hunt him.

  A nasty thought came to him then. If Beast Lord candidates offered such a bonus of Prey Points to other Beast Lord candidates, might they also be targets of choice for humans or humanoids? Dominic hadn’t learned how things worked for the elves, but there had been indications that they could level up in some way. And it wasn’t like the generally peaceful elves were good indications of how humans in particular were acting now if they’d learned it was possible to level up by killing beasts.

  But that was a consideration for the future.

  Dominic couldn’t help staring at the number.

  ‘That’s more than we earned from the boss at the end of the dungeon, and that was level forty!’

  ‘We shared those points with our Pride,’ Leo reminded him. ‘I assume that we haven’t shared these points.’

  ‘Good point,’ Dominic admitted. ‘Actually, we only got twenty something points in the original notification, didn’t we? As for the dungeon boss, we got, what, two hundred and fifty points? Something like that? Split six ways…. Yeah, alright. If we’d taken the spider down single-handedly, we’d have ended up with fifteen hundred Points. That makes more sense.’ He considered it a bit longer. ‘And I suppose that I’ve also enhanced our Prey Point gain too – when we fought the spider it was twenty-one percent more points; now it’s twenty-eight percent more. That’s almost a third more which makes the unenhanced Prey Point gain…maybe six hundred points? As a guesstimate, anyway. And for the spider, it probably would still have been more than double that, even without the Prey Point enhancement.’

  With that mental calculation, Dominic wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or disappointed. On the one hand, it was a free 823 Prey Points. On the other, it just highlighted how much he was personally giving up by sharing Prey Points. On the other, other hand, there’s no way he would have survived this alone unless he’d been able to force the Challenge before the army of beasts could tear him apart – and then survive that same army once the Challenge itself was done. The beast leaders hadn’t only surrendered to him because of his success against the matriarch, though it had been an important factor. Still, perhaps this dungeon overflow would be a good opportunity for him to see what he could do alone, or back with a small group. Having powerful elites was just as important as bringing the minimum level of the group up, after all.

  Dismissing the notification, Dominic was surprised when another one flashed up before him, once more awarding him Points.

  [Due to being a separate faction from the Challenger, and the Challenger being the other faction’s leader, you have earned an additional 1030 Prey Points.]

  ‘It’s the gift that keeps giving,’ Dominic joked. He wasn’t complaining, though he did hope that his good fortune now didn’t mean that something awful was coming down the road – he didn’t think his karma was so good that he deserved these extra rewards. The first lot of Prey Points, fine – he’d fought and killed his opponent for those. But this lot? When he was already being rewarded with Challenge Credits for fighting the opposite faction in a Settlement Challenge?

  ‘When prey drops in front of a starving lion, he doesn’t ask where it comes from,’ reprimanded Leo. ‘We had the same sort of notification after our battle with the sub-leaders and we didn’t even kill any of those. And I thought you said at the time that the Prey Points may be our only reward if whatever they have in the Challenge Credit store is specifically for the elves.’

  ‘That’s true,’ Dominic admitted, feeling less like a sword was about to drop out of the sky on his head just because he’d found a purse of money on the street. ‘Thanks, Leo,’ he said honestly. The lion’s emotional reaction was the equivalent of a peacock spreading its tail and strutting for all it was worth.

  ‘Of course – I am the most intelligent of the two of us. As well as the most handsome.’

  Dominic imagined sticking his tongue out in Leo’s directly.

  ‘We’re in the same body, you pillock. As for you being the most intelligent, even a broken clock is right twice a day.’

  The lion growled in mock-outrage at him. Dominic was tempted to join his brother in their mental space, but his desire to see the changes to his status – and whether there would be any more notifications – outweighed his sudden impulse.

  Dismissing the notification, he waited for a moment. To his momentary disbelief, another notification appeared – though this one was significantly different from the previous ones.

  [You have been Marked by the Seal of Holden, God of Slaughter.]

  ‘That….does not sound good,’ Dominic murmured as his stomach felt like it was twisting inside him. He tried to get more information from the System about what ‘Marked’, ‘Seal’, ‘Seal of Holden’, or even ‘God of Slaughter’ might mean, but it refused to clarify in any sort of way.

  ‘We should speak to Selessa about this,’ Leo suggested, and for once he didn’t sound like he wanted to do so just so he could hit on her again.

  ‘Agreed,’ Dominic confirmed hesitantly.

  Dominic willingly dismissed that notification and waited with nerves curdling his belly to see if another was about to appear. Fortunately, nothing else came up so, finally, Dominic pulled up his status.

  The first thing he looked at was his progress to the next level.

  Status of Dominic Martin Cole / Leo

  Species: Lion (body) / Human (mind), Two-Souled, Chimera

  Level: Evolved Beast Level 28 Tier 2 (Path of Evolution)

  Progress to Evolution: 3653/1090 PP level up

  ‘Yes!’ he exclaimed. Not that he had been expecting anything different, especially since he’d only been a few points away from level up before. In fact, he’d probably earned the level-up even before he’d accepted the Challenge against the hyena matriarch. But now…. ‘Do you think we’ll have enough to get to level thirty?’ Dominic asked in excitement.

  ‘Unless level thirty requires more than two thousand Prey Points, yes,’ Leo told him with a hint of a sardonic tone. Dominic was too excited to pay any attention to that.

  ‘Shall we do it now?’

  ‘Brother! You’re not serious?’ Leo exclaimed with more than a hint of exasperation evident in his mental voice. ‘What about your plans to use magic in the future?

  ‘Oh.’ Dominic deflated like a punctured balloon. ‘Yes, good point. I wasn’t thinking about that,’ he sighed.

  ‘Clearly!’

  He’d just been so excited to realise that his human body might finally be in reach again! But Leo was right. It was far more logical to wait until they were back at their Place of Power. For all Dominic knew, reaching the next half-step would grant him something extra to anything he’d recently upgraded, and if that was his Mana Heart and Soul, he might be able to use magic even better than he’d thought. But only if he had the patience to wait until then to level up. Even if that felt even more difficult than waiting until Christmas Day to open the presents under the tree.

  Sighing again, Dominic reminded himself that he hadn’t even checked what the changes had been to his status yet – levelling up right now would be rash to the extreme.

  He first checked his list of Acquired Abilities, curious to see whether any had levelled up since he’d left the forest. They should have considering the recent battles and his attempts to practise a bit.

  Acquired Abilities:

  Quick Strike (T0) level 5 –> 6 (85% –> 17% to level 7) – 3 SP for +45% speed; 8 SP for +85% speed.

  Second Wind (T1) level 3 –> 3 (55% –> 79% to level 4) – activatable when under 35% health or stamina. Gain 65% of your maximum health and/or stamina for the duration of the timer. Timer: 05:00. At the end of the timer, lose 40% of your max health and stamina.

  Crushing Bite (T0) level 4 –> 6 (69% –> 94% to level 7) – Use stamina to enhance the crushing power of your jaws. +20% - 150% Crushing damage for 1-40 stamina per second.

  Pride Attack (T1) level 5 –> 6 (52% –> 24% to level 7) – +40% to offensive damage dealt when you fight with other members of your Pride during an attack or defence. +6% offensive damage to all beings in the same attack or defence who are registered to be in the same Pride as you.

  Pounce (T0) level 4 –> 4 (25% –> 56% to level 5) – +120% damage to a hit which is delivered without the target being aware of you until the attack is too close to avoid. +65% damage to an attack which is made directly to a vulnerable area.

  Powerful Swipe (T1) level 6 –> 6 (34% –> 96% to level 7) – Use stamina to enhance the damage of your swipe. +20% - +120% damage increase for 2-60 stamina per second. Add a 20% chance to gouge your opponent and create an ongoing bleeding effect that is harder to heal than a normal wound for 5 extra stamina units. Bleed effect lasts for level/2 seconds and causes initial damage*level of Powerful Swipe/10 per second.

  Rapid Attack (T0) level 3 –> 4 (5% –> 1% to level 5) – Spend 2 SP or MP to attack for a second time within 0.3 seconds. SP or MP costs double per additional attack within half a second of the previous. Maximum number of chained attacks at level 4: 10.

  Sharp Bite Attack (T1) level 4 –> 5 (61% –> 17% to level 6) – Active effect: When using your teeth to attack an opponent you may consume stamina to offer a burst of speed. At level 5, consuming 1 SP will offer +50% speed. Consume 3 SP for +80% speed. Passive effect: The sharpness of your teeth are enhanced during an attack +40% to sharpness. Passive effect: Wounds made with your teeth will be 12% more damaging and harder to heal.

  Sure Feet (T0) level 5 –> 6 (83% –> 27% to level 7) – A passive improvement to your ability to your balance and traction. At level 6, this ability offers +75% to your steadiness when moving slowly and +40% to your steadiness when moving at speed (more than 50% of your maximum speed). The bonus this Ability offers may increase as Ability increases in level and other effects may be discovered.).

  Venomous Acidic Bite (enhanced) (T2) level 3 –> 4 (81% –> 57% to level 5) – Use an acid gland below your tongue to shoot balls of acid. At level 4, the maximum range is 4 lengths, and the maximum diameter is 5.5 cm. Enhancement: your teeth have become resistant to acid damage and your top canines have become capable of absorbing the acid and transferring it in your bite. Haemotoxic venom is now stored in venom glands above your top canines and can also be injected into your opponent with a bite.

  Enhanced Stamina (T0) level 6 –> 7 (15% –> 13% to level 8) – Maximum Ability use period at level 5: 35 minutes: -18% reduction to rate of passive stamina decrease; -21% reduction to rate of active stamina decrease. Recuperation period: 5 minutes: +3% to rate of active stamina decrease. Current exchange of HP for extension of use period or reduction of recuperation time: 1HP/s

  Momentous Charge (T2) level 1 –> 2 (81% –> 48% to level 3) – When running in a straight line at full speed towards an opponent, appear to gain additional size and weight and its commensurate momentum. Note: this Ability is classed as [Illusion]. Those who can see through the illusion will not be affected by additional momentum. At level 2, gain 2% of size (stacked) with each footfall.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Majestic Sonic Roar (T3) level 3 –> 5 (96% –> 6% to level 6) – As the lord of all you survey, challenge and damage your rivals with an ear-splitting roar, and support your allies. According to your will, command your enemies to obey you. You will have an increased chance of succeeding if you command your enemies to flee or to attack, but you may now command your enemies to do other actions such as surrender or turn on their own leaders with a chance of success (the chance varies on the level difference between you and your targets and the level of this Ability). (70% + Evolution level difference%) chance that your opponent will be stunned for a varying amount of time (active effect). Determination of inferior, equal, and superior is according to your Evolution level with a level range according to this Ability’s level (5). All non-ally listeners of an inferior Evolution level to your own have a 60 - 95% chance of feeling intimidated by you and losing some or all motivation to fight or desire to follow orders. All ally listeners have a 60% - 100% chance of feeling inspired by you with a further 15% chance of gaining a 12 minute buff: *inspired*. Enemies will be impacted by a sonic-damage attack after the first (6 - Ability level) seconds. This attack will deal (Ability level * Evolution level) per second as its base. When fighting an enemy below your Evolution level, damage is (base damage + Evolution level difference). Using a sonic attack consumes stamina at an increasing rate the longer it is held. At level 5 you will be unable to move while this attack is active. You are now also capable of roaring in a way which produces little sound, but causes your body to vibrate. Although your body is capable of withstanding this vibration for a period of time, extended use may have consequences on your internal systems.

  Airborne (T2) level 2 –> 3 (67% –> 97% to level 4) – Carried by the air and wind currents, you are at one with the wind. At least, perhaps one day. Control your weight to decide the influence gravity has on you. ± 0 -10% weight.

  Easy Landing (T0) level 1 –> 2 (18% –> 22% to level 3) – Reduce your impact with the ground at will. Up to -40% fall damage.

  Tail Strike (T1) level 2 –> 3 (59% –> 36% to level 4) – Use your tail to strike an opponent causing blunt damage which is increased according to the momentum and the durability of your tail. Base damage at level 3 is 12 units. The speed at which you are capable of striking is: your maximum speed x (your level of Enhanced Muscular Body x level of Tail Strike)/2. This Ability may be enhanced both by equipment and by other complementary Abilities.

  Spatial Awareness (T0) level 2 –> 3 (49% –> 32% to level 4) – Be aware of what is around you. At level 3, your awareness range is 4.0 lengths, and your precision is 2.5. Always know which way is up.

  Hypnotise (T1) level 1 –> 1 (67% to level 2) – make small movements to catch the attention of a single opponent. The longer your opponent is caught in the effect of this Ability, the harder it is for them to break out of it. Injury or significant sensation can shock them out of their controlled state. While your opponent is caught, they will remain unmoving and unresponsive. Beings of greater intelligence, perception, and with higher mental resistance have a higher chance of being able to notice and break out of the effect. This chance is greater or smaller depending on how much higher their intelligence, perception, and mental resistance is in comparison to your own.

  Temperature Tolerance (T2) level 1 –> 1 (24% –> 28% to level 2) – Increase your ability to tolerate different temperatures and resist temperature related effects. At level 1, you are able to tolerate +10% temperature extremes and you have a 10% resistance to temperature related effects.

  Mapping (T2) level 1 –> 1 (15% –> 62% to level 2) – You are able to recollect places visited more easily and to build a personal mental map of them in relation to other places. At higher levels, you may be able to share your map with others. At level 1 the area mapped extends ten body lengths around you in all directions. Warning: this map is not active and therefore changes to the area after your visit will not be reflected in it. This Ability does not work in dungeons or other folded spaces.

  Rage (T1) level 1 –> 2 (0 –> 2% to level 3) – Double your base speed and strength for (1 + Ability level) minutes. After the enhancement time elapses, you will undergo a period of recuperation which lasts (? Ability level + 1) minutes. During this period you will only be able to use half your base speed and strength.

  Bleed (T1) level 1 –> 1 (21% –> 58% to level 2) – Use 2 SP per attack to apply a bleed effect to any strike which draws blood from the opponent. A bleed effect will increase the rate at which blood flows. At level 1, this increase is +10%. The bleed effect will last (Ability level) seconds. Bleed effects can be stacked.

  Enhanced Fertility (T0) level 1 –> 1 (0 –> 99% to level 2) – Multiplies the chance that a mating session will successfully conceive offspring. At level 1 this offers +10% chance that a mating session will be successful in comparison to the unaltered chances.

  Fleet Foot (T0) level 1 –> 1 (0% –> 56% to level 2) – Use 3 SP per second to increase your speed by 50% in both combat and non-combat situations.

  Flash Step (T2) level 1 –> 1 (0% –> 20% to level 2) – Use 15 MP to flash forwards by a desired distance (within limits of the Ability level), ignoring all physical matter in the way. At level 1, the limit of the distance is your body length.

  Camouflage (T1) level 1 –> 1 (0% –> 35% to level 2) – Blend with your surroundings to reduce the chance of being spotted by an observer. Blending is more effective in areas which match your exterior in colour and pattern. At level 1, +10% to previous effectiveness of blending in all environments. Use 10 MP to reduce the chances of your opponent from spotting you by 50%. Warning, certain Abilities and Skills may not be affected by this Ability.

  Healing Cloud (T2) level 1 –> 2 (0% –> 23% to level 3) – Generate a cloud of healing particles around your body. Higher levels of the Ability will extend the range of your healing. At level 1, your cloud can extend just beyond the tips of your fur. This cloud can only heal others it touches; it will not heal you. The cloud can be generated by your health or by your mana. At level 2, 1 MP will heal 15 HP for those within range of your Cloud. 1 HP of yours will heal 1 HP of those within range to your Cloud. Warning: you will die if you reach zero health. This Ability also offers an extension of your health pool which will be used before your personal health. This extension is based on the level of the Ability; at level 1 the extension is 60% of your health pool. Warning: this extension cannot be used to heal yourself and if you reach zero personal health, you will still die even if this extension is full.

  Group Enhancement (T2) level 1 –> 1 (0% –> 56% to level 2) – Numbers are strength. Increase the effectiveness of a single Ability shared by multiple members of your group, or share a single one of your Abilities with a single other member of your group. The cost of using Group Enhancement is double the normal cost of the chosen Ability. The duration of either effect is decreased by the difference between your selected Ability’s level and the level of your target/s’s Ability, and increased by the Ability level of Group Enhancement. If the creature the Ability is shared with increases the level of the Ability while the effect is active, they will keep the Ability permanently.

  Fearful Voice (T1) level 1 –> 1 (0% –> 62% to level 2) – Use a vocalisation to spread fear among those who hear it. Those who are susceptible to the effect will see the user as stronger and more powerful than they are and may hesitate in an attack or choose to flee. The greater the level difference between you and your opponent or the higher your level in Fearful Voice, the more likely the Ability is to have an effect.

  Poison Cloud (T1) level 1 –> 1 (0% –> 93% to level 2) – Expel a poisonous cloud from your pores. If you already possess a type of venom, this will be used to generate the poisonous cloud. If you possess multiple types of venom, you can actively choose which one to use; in the absence of a choice, one of your venoms will be chosen at random. If you have no venom, a more generic asphyxiating poison will be used. At level 1, generation range is 1 body-length and lasts for the span of three of your breaths. This Ability uses up your entire venom stock and can only be used when it is full. Note: the poisonous cloud’s effects may be felt outside this range, but they will be weaker.

  Pride Patriarch (T3) level 1 –> 1 (0% –> 58% to level 2) – As the leader of your Pride, you are both the embodiment and the final defence of your Pride. Each sunrise, you may Bind n additional Pride members to you (where n = your level in Pride Patriarch) to a sum total of n2 existing Bonds. These Bound Pride members are considered to be extensions of yourself for most System limitations on numbers. This may not apply in non-System enforced arrangements. Bound Pride members can be summoned to your side from anywhere in your territory or anywhere you have claimed as yours (this applies to areas in contention, however if you lose the battle for the new territory, this aspect will be unable to be used for a time. The duration of this time will depend on multiple factors). When you are fighting on behalf of your Pride, you may borrow attributes from your Bound Pride members. If your Pride members are killed while you are borrowing their attributes, you keep the attributes permanently. You may borrow up to n% of each Bound Pride members’ attributes for 1+n minutes per day. You may choose to take a Tithe from your Bound Pride members individually (you can choose to keep aside up to n% of your Bound Pride members’ earned Prey Points and claim them for yourself every day upon sunset). You may choose to gift part or all of this Tithe to one or more of your Bound Pride members.

  Dominic skimmed through the list, noticing several Abilities which had levelled up, as well as a number which had barely moved. Five of them were already at level 6, though since Enhanced Stamina and Sure Feet were passives which were almost permanently being used, that they were part of the list wasn’t surprising. Nor was the fact that Powerful Swipe and Quick Strike, his most commonly-used attacks, were two of the others approaching level 7. Crushing Bite had leapt up to join those four Abilities – clearly a result of grabbing that enhancement from the matriarch. Dominic wasn’t surprised that her level in that Ability must have been higher than his own.

  He did make a mental note that he needed to spend more time practising camouflage – it was something that he didn’t often do because he was usually travelling with others, but it was also an Ability which could be very useful at higher levels in the event that he did need to be sneaky – hopefully his size wouldn’t cause problems in that regards.

  ‘We must mate immediately,’ Leo broke in with a sense of impatience in his voice. ‘Enhanced Fertility is so close to levelling up. That will surely make it even more likely that we will have cubs when we mate!’

  Dominic sighed, trying to keep his amusement to himself.

  ‘When we get a moment,’ he agreed.

  ‘No, now.’

  ‘There are more important things to do right now than mate, Leo.’ Dominic didn’t have to hear Leo’s response to know he disagreed.

  ‘Eating, mating, and sleeping are the most important things in life,’ Leo chided him. ‘Everything else is just in the pursuit of one or more of those.’

  ‘We don’t want to mate with the elves, or eat them, or sleep near them,’ Dominic pointed out.

  ‘The elven females are rather unattractive,’ Leo admitted. ‘But if there were no better options around then maybe I would consider it.’

  Dominic sent Leo a strong feeling of disgust. Thinking about Leo with one of the elven ladies was just weird even if Dominic found several of them beautiful. It was even weirder than he’d felt when he mated the first time with Sekhmet. On the other hand, what if he got his human body back? At least he would be humanoid, though not technically the same species and still with Leo in his head…. Not sure how to feel about that, he turned his thoughts away from the topic and back onto his status – at least he knew what to think about that.

  He noted a few differences in Majestic Sonic Roar too that must have been as a result of the Commanding Voice enhancement. He concluded that because now, instead of just talking about fleeing or attacking, the possibility was opened up to command his enemies to do anything – including turning on their own leaders. Though it did say that it had a ‘chance’ of succeeding, and wasn’t definite. Still, if he was interpreting it correctly, the higher his level was in comparison to his target’s and the higher the level of Majestic Sonic Roar, the more chance he had of commanding even his enemies like a, well, like a king. Plus, with the increase in level, he’d only have to hold it for a second before he’d start doing damage. He’d need to bear that in mind if he didn’t want to hurt those around.

  And as if that wasn’t enough, there was something even more interesting waiting for him by the time he got down to his newest Ability,

  ‘Pride Patriarch – that must be the Clan Matriarch, only renamed,’ Dominic murmured. ‘Tier three…and a powerful one by the looks of it.’

  ‘It certainly explains a lot,’ Leo agreed.

  ‘I’ll say! Look at this! ‘Bound Pride members can be summoned to your side from anywhere in your territory’ – that’s why it felt like the matriarch was spamming them. She was, only she wasn’t giving them life, just calling them from somewhere else. And that’s why she was faster and stronger than I expected – she must have borrowed her clan members’ attributes.’

  ‘And then kept them after they died. That must be why she wasn’t disturbed when we killed so many of them,’ mused Leo.

  ‘Good point, she was probably delighted to get these boosts permanently, ’ Dominic agreed with disgust, the thought dimming his excitement a bit. He could imagine how someone ruthless might be able to exploit this Ability for a lot of power – Bind Pride members, then pick a fight against another group, borrow the attributes and then let his Pride members die so they could keep them. Then fight or run away from the more powerful foe and go find some more saps to Bind. After all, there was no indication that the Patriarch – or Matriarch – would lose the enhancements even if they lost the battle. And with the ability to take a Tithe – and distribute it to those she wanted – he could see how the matriarch had kept her control over her clan.

  But Dominic didn’t want to be so ruthless – and fortunately, Leo was also clearly completely against the idea of using his Pride as disposable pawns like that. But it definitely looked like an Ability to experiment with. He wondered whether it might be possible to share it, though wasn’t sure if it would be possible to have two Pride Patriarchs. Perhaps he could have a Pride Matriarch as well, though?

  Curious about how it worked, an idea struck him – maybe he should test it out? He could do it once per day, after all and with something so limited by time, there was no better time to start gaining progress, even if he’d already got a chunk from absorbing the matriarch’s Core – he was disappointed about not getting Keen Intelligence, but on balance progress in Pride Patriarch was a pretty good alternative. As for who to bind, he didn’t have to think much about it to know who he wanted to be able to bring to his side whenever he wanted – as long as she was on his territory, of course.

  He wasn’t sure how to actually do the binding, but most Abilities were pretty intuitive. Closing his eyes for a moment, he focussed on Pride Patriarch and Sekhmet. Just as uncertain as to what to expect as he was about how to activate the Ability, he was surprised by the feeling of a slight tug on his chest, like he’d got a cord wrapped around one of his ribs which was pulling gently. It settled down after a moment, and then almost disappeared entirely when he opened his eyes, but it was still there.

  ‘I guess I have to touch that string if I want to give Sekhmet Prey Points – or take them,’ he commented.

  ‘Quite possibly. But do you realise what this means?’ Leo asked with anticipation.

  ‘What?’ Dominic replied warily.

  ‘Once we have all our females bound to us, we will always be able to call them to us to mate.’

  Dominic sent a sense of exasperation at his companion.

  ‘We can only call them to us. We can’t send them away.’

  ‘So? Then we can mate more!’ Leo argued.

  ‘And what if the reason we don’t have them with us is because it’s dangerous?’ Dominic asked pointedly.

  ‘Then we make sure it’s not dangerous,’ Leo answered, sounding like he thought it was obvious. Dominic sighed. It was always difficult to get the last word with the lion, and most of the time the effort wasn’t worth it.

  Mentally scrolling down to the next part of his status, he looked at the changes which the other enhancements from the hyena matriarch had brought.

  Defensive abilities:

  - Fur level 3 -> 5 (12-16 -> 35-49 Slicing damage reduction, 2-4 -> 10-16 Piercing damage reduction, 6-8 -> 14-20 Crushing damage reduction, 2-4 -> 9-14 Tearing damage reduction)

  - Muscles level 2 (10-15 Piercing damage reduction, 16 - 24 Crushing damage reduction)

  - Skin level 5 (6-8 Slicing damage reduction, 4-8 Piercing damage reduction) Flexibility +5%

  - Mane level 3 -> 4 (15-19 -. 20-26 Slicing damage reduction, 12-19 -> 22-32 Crushing damage reduction, 11-16 -> 19-21 Piercing damage reduction (attacks to the relevant area)) +100% charisma (for members of the same species)

  Offensive abilities:

  - Claws level 2 (53-65 Slicing damage, 32-41 Tearing damage, 24-35 Piercing damage)

  - Bite level 3 -> 4 (54-82 Crushing damage, 72-100 Tearing damage, 59-80 -> 72-98 Piercing damage)

  - Strike level 1 (+10 to Crushing or Blunt damage, +5 to all other physical damage types)

  - Feathered Wings level 4 (+20% to strikes from the air) (25-50 Blunt damage)

  General abilities:

  - Enhanced Muscular Body level 1 -> 3 (max speed 40 -> 50 mps; max speed duration 34s -> 45s) (600 -> 750 SP) (+20% to attack force)

  - Carnivore Constitution level 4 (800 HP) +80% health regeneration

  - Enhanced Regeneration level 5 (2.75 –> 3.25 HP / second)

  - Brain level 7 (Cognition speed standard measurement 8.5)

  - Mana heart level 2 (26 MP) - 67% penalty

  - Soul level 2 (Resilience to mental attacks standard measurement 7) +6% mana regeneration (-70% reduction to mana regeneration)

  - Bones level 2 (growth +20%)

  - Flesh level 1 (growth +10%) +5% resistance to basic magical attacks.

  - Nervous System level 4 –> 6 (reaction speed +55% –> 90%)

  - Sinuses level 4 +30% range; +20% intensity

  - Telepathy level 2 +10% force.

  - Sharp Eyesight level 1 -> 2 +5% -> +10% acuity of vision

  - Wide Diet level 2 (current diet: 80 - 100% non-poisonous, non-rotten meat; 0 - 20% non-poisonous, non-rotten plant matter)

  Dominic nodded unconsciously as he looked at his changed status. He had definitely benefited significantly from the matriarch’s enhancements. He was quite pleased with just how much his fur had been upgraded, even if it was thicker, far coarser than before, and even a bit spiky. Clearly hyena fur was considerably more defensive than lion fur to begin with and choosing that enhancement had given him the quality – and some of the texture. Perhaps if it proved to be a bit tough he could use a perk on level up to soften it again. After he had sorted out his mana situation, of course. He’d also got a bit more piercing damage for his bite and a big boost to his muscular body. As a result of taking Powerful Muscles, he’d improved both his speed, and his stamina. And, if Dominic was reading it correctly, it had also added in something called ‘attack force’ in which he would get a 20% increase now. He had to guess that that was related to how much power he could put behind a blow, though perhaps it didn’t translate directly to 20% increased damage which is why it had a different name.

  His increased reaction speed and the slight improvement to his acuity of vision – which was noticeable as he looked around – were the cherry on the top of the sundae.

  Feeling rather satisfied with his own progress even if he reluctantly had to agree with Leo about the wisdom in saving his level ups until they were back home, Dominic decided to check on what progress everyone else had made too.

  here!