chapter 3

Chapter 3

Later that day I lay with a bone under one paw as I gnawed on it. I was now a stage 2 pup with a big decision to make. The blue box floated in front of my eyes with five different options listed.

Common - Ashsnout Pup

Your breath smells faintly like coal, and you learn to channel mana into flame.

Stat Scaling: Attunement - C / Dexterity - D

Bonuses: Slight fire resistance.

“Every smoldering ember has the potential to grow into a roaring flame.”

Common - Ironhowl Pup

You fight through pain, not around it. You demolish your prey with brute force, shrugging off injuries as you power forward.

Stat Scaling: Strength – C / Vigor – D

Bonuses: Reduced stamina drain during combat, minor health regeneration, and pain resistance.

“Crush whatever stands in your way.”

Common - Gutgnarl Pup

Your stomach hardens, and hunger becomes less frequent. Perfect for early survival.

Stat Scaling: Vigor - C / Sense - D

Bonuses: Can digest tougher/rawer foods, resistant to stomach-based effects like poison, increased development from food.

“You are what you eat, so don't get carried away."

Common - Lockjaw Pup

You grow fiercer—your jaw adapts to tearing and holding.

Stat Scaling: Dexterity - C / Strength - D

Bonuses: Speed bonus against fleeing prey and the ability to latch on when you bite.

“Once you bite down, it’s over.”

Rare - Veinseer Pup

Stat Scaling: Sense - C / Attunement - D / Dexterity - F

You can sense the pulses of life in nearby creatures. You can track prey from longer distances and detect those that hide.

Bonuses: Minor stealth ability and bonus damage when attacking unsuspecting prey.

“Their heartbeats betray them.”

I thought carefully.

Ashsnout pup stood out to me first. Since attunement was the higher stat bonus, I imagined it was some kind of magic-based Path. If that were the case, it could mean I’d be able to create fire—I could have cooked meat whenever I wanted!

I certainly didn’t want to keep eating raw meat for the rest of my life. And don’t get any ideas based on how my tail is wagging while gnawing this bone. Or the fact I ended up finishing that rabbit Iris offered me… and… I may or may not have gone back for seconds.

It was for research! That’s all! I was wondering if meat just gives massive development bonuses compared to milk, but I concluded my earlier jump was indeed due to that achievement I earned, because I was still only 2% into my stage 2 development. Or maybe stage 2 just advances slower? That was a reasonable assumption as well.

In any case, most of these Paths seemed to have some combat and hunting viability. Other than Gutgnarl Pup, which clearly was more focused on the act of eating than hunting or fighting itself. Developing faster is probably a huge benefit as well in the long run.

But naturally, Veinseer Pup stood out due to being “Rare” where everything else was categorized as “Common.” That was a clear indication it was a stronger path than the others. It also offered a third stat scaling with dexterity even though it was only on F, which I could assume wasn’t overly useful but probably more of a benefit than attributes that were not listed.

As for Ironhowl and Lockjaw as options, they certainly seemed like the most brutal puppy Paths, and I think something like that would be more appropriate for Luke, who had an aggressive nature.

Knowing next to nothing about the world outside of this cave, it was hard to choose. There were video game-like mechanics, considering all this stat-related stuff. I was obsessed with JRPGs and Soulslike games, so I understood that much fairly well.

Typically, wolves wouldn't be prey themselves, so was thinking defensively less important than efficiency at hunting? Considering it that way, Veinseer Pup was clearly the best option since it seemed to be all about hunting.

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Considering how big and monstrous Dad is, I could only assume that there were other creatures in this world that were like that. Even Mom seemed way bigger than any average dog, though it was hard to gauge scale since I was still so small myself.

So I narrowed it down to Ashsnout or Veinseer.

Potential fire powers, or a rare path that focused on hunting?

Okay, I’ll admit eating raw meat isn’t so bad when you get used to it, but actual cooked meat would still be preferable. And fire powers also had offensive uses as well, so it was obviously the most well-rounded choice out of what was available.

The difference between common and rare was too vague to base my decision on that alone.

Thus, I set my heart on the idea of cooked meat.

The screen changed, getting rid of all the other Paths to prompt me with a single question

[Choose the Ashsnout Pup Evolution Path?]

[Yes] < [No]

I raised my paw, ready to confidently select “Yes.”

Before I could, something bright flew at me from the corner of my eye. I ducked down just as a small fireball flew over my head, and I watched it splat into the cave wall.

What the hell was that!?

I looked over to see Ben with his tongue hanging out and wisps of smoke coming out of his mouth. Not only that, but his eyes were now a faint glowing orange, like tiny embers.

Did he just…?

Jerry, with those same orange eyes, then let out an excited yip, turned his head up, and made a more guttural sound as a ball of flame erupted from his mouth as well. It splattered on the roof of the cave and faded into tiny embers before hitting the ground.

Ben! Jerry! Did you both just select Ashsnout Pup before me?! I named you after ice cream! ICE CREAM! You should have gone for ice powers! Well, none were available, but still—why did you both pick the same Path? That’s like ordering the same thing at a restaurant! There is an unspoken rule about variety! Don’t you know that!?

Ben and Jerry then started chasing each other around, shooting small fireballs at each other, though every one missed. Lily hit the cave floor as one flew over her head and splashed against Mom’s side.

Mom looked up with a growl and let out a loud, chastising bark, which stopped Ben and Jerry in their tracks. They sat on their haunches and stared back at her, panting innocently as if they did nothing wrong. Jerry burped, and a puff of smoke came out.

So, my siblings are selecting Paths as well, huh? I guess it shouldn’t surprise me too much, but then again, I had been watching them closely over the last few weeks and never noticed any of them staring off into space as if there were a System screen in front of them. Maybe they have some other way of interacting with the System since they don’t have a human’s mentality, such as myself?

In any case…

I sat back up to look at the System screen in front of me. With an annoyed snort, I denied the prompt asking if I wanted to select Ashnoute pup, which brought me back to the available Paths.

Veinseer did sound kind of cool, and if I was going to hunt and fight things, something focusing on sneak attacks seemed better. That way I could just end things before ever getting into any trouble… hopefully. Not to mention the supposed manasense that I would be getting probably meant I could also sense other things that are dangerous and avoid them.

I didn’t know much about this world, but that made sense to me. Knowledge is power, after all, and with my developed human brain, I could certainly utilize the Path strategically.

Plus the flavor text, “Their heartbeats betray them”? Not to be an edgelord here or anything, but that just sounds badass.

Okay, then, it’s decided I’ll—

I got tackled by Luke.

Luke! Not now!

I growled as I tumbled along until righting myself. I ducked low, tail down and ears back. I was not amused, nor in the mood for playing, and tried to let him know with a loud bark. But, I was taken aback as I noticed his eyes now had a slight pale green tint to them, similar to how Ben and Jerry’s eyes glowed orange and Dad’s eyes glowed red.

Did Luke have a Path now? But which one?

Before I could ponder it further, he attacked again. This time I was prepared, but as we tumbled and rolled, I realized something was different. He seemed stronger than before, and he managed to grab the side of my neck. That’s something I wasn’t unused to, so I made an attempt to shake him away, but he just held on.

What the?

I tried again, rolling with him and jerking away suddenly, but he didn’t let go. I could usually shake him off easily, but not now. It didn’t exactly hurt, as he had my scruff, but I was still annoyed and wanted to pick my own Path already!

Finally, I saw an opportunity to bite his tail and chomped down hard.

He let out a yip and let me go.

Ha! Take that, sucker!

I ran away from him. If I could hide by Mom, he would stop attacking me.

But despite my running head start, I was tackled again. So, that settled it; he got the lockjaw pup Path and the speed boost that came along from attacking fleeing prey. He was using it to his full advantage and being a real pain in the tail—

No, pain in the ass. Ass. I will not resort to puns! I have a little more self-respect than that!

Anyway, the fact that I technically was just prey according to whatever System is overseeing all this only served to annoy me further. I was not amused, and planned to get him back as soon as I was stronger.

We rolled again as I tried to pivot away, but this time instead of latching onto my neck he just pinned me down, standing on top of me triumphantly, tongue hanging from the side of his mouth.

Oh! Don’t you look so smug! I’m at a huge disadvantage here! And I wasn’t ready in the first place!

Then movement caught my eye, and something black and white swooped across the cave, crashing into Luke and throwing him off of me.

What… the…

I couldn’t believe what my puppy eyes were seeing.

As Iris landed a few feet away, a pair of slightly translucent white wings, like angels' wings, dissipated from her back. She sat there on her haunches, eyes glowing white, tongue panting out of the side of her mouth as if nothing were amiss.

My puppy mouth hung open as I pulled up the Path screen again and quickly reread through all of the options.

Nope, nothing about wings.

I yipped at her. “Do that again!”

She yipped back then started running across the cave until she leapt forward and those wings sprouted from her back once again. She flew in an arc and landed by the pile of bones. The wings dissipated from her back as she snagged a bone, then she trotted over to a wall where she lay down with it and started gnawing on it with her tiny pointy teeth, looking quite pleased with herself.

I looked over to Luke, who started to lower his front half with his back half pivoting in the air, preparing to pounce once again.

Oh, no, you don’t!

I quickly ran over to Mom before he had a chance to get ahold of me.

I sat on my haunches right by her back leg; she only lifted her head for a moment to look at me, then went back to lying down.

Luke wouldn’t mess with me while I’m this close to Mom. Time to pick my own Path!

Ben and Jerry both went with Ashnout Pup. Luke took Lockjaw. And Iris was a… Angel Pup? I don’t know. I always thought she was an angel, but I didn’t mean it literally! That only left myself and Lily, who…

I looked around, not seeing Lily anywhere.

Oh well.

I brought up my Path selection screen, selected Veinseer Pup and the moment the confirmation message came up I hit accept!

[Congratulations! You have evolved to Veinseer Pup!]