The savanna had fallen silent again.

  Too silent.

  The scent of blood still lingered in the air. Heavy and metallic, it had seeped into hide and soil alike. Bodies lay scattered across the crushed grass. Some were torn beyond recognition; others lay in a disturbing stillness. The hyenas were gone. The carcasses were gone.

  But the cost remained.

  The Nuxali had formed a loose ring around the Queen. No one spoke. No one moved without purpose. Their breathing was heavy but controlled, though the strain was evident. Several bore deep wounds. One had lost an eye. Another dragged a leg behind him. The hunter with the broken leg had died during the chaos.

  At the center, the Queen remained standing.

  Barely.

  Her shoulder sagged. Dark streaks of dried blood marked her flank, though fresh crimson still seeped from deeper gashes. Her mental presence was intact, steady, resolute, but it felt weaker than before. The pressure she radiated was constant, yet thinner.

  Alexander lay beside her.

  Every breath sent pain flaring through his side. He could feel the cut beneath his ribs slowly knitting itself together, but the torn flesh still throbbed. Adaptive Regrowth was working, slowly, but it was draining him. He felt hollow. Weak.

  The new ability had kept him alive.

  But now he saw its disadvantage.

  It had completely exhausted him, consuming every fragment of energy within him, and still it had not been enough.

  He had wanted power.

  Now he understood something else.

  He could not even fully bear the cost of the power he already possessed.

  He lifted his head slightly and looked at what remained of the swarm. They had survived.

  But that survival was fragile.

  And for the first time, Alexander did not know what the next step should be.

  Retreat? Hunt again? Regroup? Evolve?

  He was only five months old.

  The world did not care.

  Alexander clenched his teeth.

  He knew that if he remained on the ground, Adaptive Regrowth would weaken him even further. Hunger gnawed at him. His muscles trembled, and his vision blurred from time to time. Even breathing was exhausting.

  He was spent. Hungry. In pain.

  But he could not stay down.

  He drove his claws into the soil and forced himself to rise. His forelegs trembled first. His hind legs struggled to support him. For a moment he swayed, nearly collapsing again. He clenched his teeth and steadied himself.

  He stood.

  Weak, but resolute.

  Several Nuxali turned their heads toward him.

  Alexander glanced briefly at the Queen.

  Then he changed direction.

  The carcasses were gone.

  But another body remained.

  A Nuxali who had fallen in battle.

  The same one who had been injured in the previous clash, his leg broken.

  The corpse was still warm. Blood had soaked into the soil, but the flesh had not yet begun to decay.

  Alexander approached slowly. Hunger had pushed past thought. This was not a choice.

  It was necessity.

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  He lowered his head.

  His teeth sank into the dead Nuxali’s shoulder.

  A few adults watched him carefully.

  No one stopped him.

  No one made a sound.

  Alexander tore away flesh and swallowed.

  At the same time, the wounded hunters lying nearby cast a glance toward the Queen, measuring her reaction.

  The Queen was watching him.

  There was a faint flicker of surprise.

  But no anger.

  Another moment passed.

  Then she moved.

  Despite her injured shoulder, she approached with heavy steps. She reached the other side of the body, lowered her head, and bit down.

  The swarm saw.

  And understood.

  Lost strength was not left to the soil.

  Biomass was not to be wasted.

  Another Nuxali stepped forward. Then another.

  The savanna once again filled with the sound of tearing flesh.

  Alexander briefly closed his eyes as he chewed.

  This was the fourth time he had eaten one of his own kind.

  Again, it was for survival.

  But this time, something was different.

  He had come face to face with death. When the hyena’s claws had sunk beneath his ribs, he had felt truly inadequate for the first time. Perhaps that was why his perspective had widened.

  This time, the Nuxali he consumed was male.

  As the muscle fibers tore between his teeth, his mind began to calculate. This was not merely biomass. It was an adult Nuxali specimen. A completed system. A body that had finished growing.

  Memories he had slowly begun to forget resurfaced.

  The modifications he had made while designing this race flooded back into his mind all at once.

  Males developed faster than Queens. They reached adulthood sooner and gained combat capacity earlier.

  Their bodies were less complex than those of females. In females, growth hormones were lower but continuous. In males, they were intense but short-lived. Their growth mechanism shut down earlier.

  Alexander’s thoughts sharpened.

  His own body was still growing. His cells were active. Development was ongoing. But he was no longer satisfied with its natural pace.

  Until now, he had searched for solutions in other species.

  Larger animals. More durable organisms. Different biological systems.

  But why?

  Males were already programmed for accelerated development. They were his physically stronger, simpler template.

  Growth.

  It was a mechanism. A hormonal system.

  In this adult male Nuxali, that process had completed.

  Which meant the answer was not outside.

  It was inside.

  Alexander slowed his chewing.

  If he wanted to grow faster, the solution was not foreign genetics.

  It was his own biology.

  He needed to understand how male developmental acceleration functioned, what signals triggered it, and what threshold shut it down.

  And then

  He would eliminate that threshold.

  Remove the suppressors.

  Intensify the growth hormones as in males, but without allowing the mechanism to close prematurely.

  Once he separated male-specific hormones from the growth hormones shared by both sexes, what obstacle could remain?

  He could feel his brain working at a furious pace.

  Evolution was not only about learning from the outside.

  It could be learned from his own kind as well.

  He tore off another mouthful.

  This time, not merely to feed.

  But to analyze.

  He began consciously breaking down the adult male tissue. Cellular structure. Hormonal residues. The mechanisms that accelerated growth, and those that limited it.

  The process began in his mind.

  Data flowed.

  Alexander kept chewing, but he was no longer rushing the way his thoughts were. Around him, the other Nuxali had gathered around the corpse. They fed in silence, orderly, almost ritualistic.

  The flesh diminished quickly.

  The body was not large, and the swarm was hungry. Each took their share, yet none were satisfied. The hunger was only suppressed briefly, not erased.

  Still, it was enough.

  For now.

  When the feeding ended, the swarm did not disperse. The loose ring around the Queen tightened. The wounded were moved toward the center. Two Nuxali were barely able to stand. One could not use his shoulder. Another could not put weight on his hind leg.

  There had been no deaths.

  But they were on the edge.

  Alexander lowered himself to the ground and closed his eyes. He replayed the battle again and again in his mind.

  The hyenas had looked small and weak, yet their numbers had made them dangerous. Even so, the Nuxali had not fought poorly.

  They had wounded dozens.

  At least four or five hyenas had taken severe damage. One’s spine had been broken. Another’s face had been torn apart.

  Yet this had been a clear defeat.

  Alexander imagined how he would have led the swarm if he had stood in the Queen’s place.

  It had been a difficult situation.

  In the end, he recognized the mistake.

  “Protecting the carcasses was the wrong choice. Our numbers were too low. We didn’t have enough to maintain formation for long.

  If we had attacked, yes, they would have taken the zebras easily, but we could have killed three or four of them in return.

  And I doubt they would have wanted to commit to a full-scale war of attrition against us.”

  His thoughts were interrupted.

  He felt his wound again.

  Adaptive Regrowth was still working. Slow. Relentless. But the flow of energy had resumed. The nutrients from Nuxali tissue had steadied him somewhat.

  He still needed rest.

  As the sun tilted toward the horizon, the swarm slipped into a short, tense sleep.

  When they woke, a decision had already been made.

  The Queen rose. Despite her injured shoulder, she stood straight. Her mental pressure was still there, thinner, but unbroken.

  The command came.

  Move.

  But not toward the old camp.

  Northwest.

  Farther from the river.

  That direction was even more unknown to Alexander.

  They could not remain in the open savanna. The hyenas might return. The scent of blood still clung to the soil.

  The swarm began to move with heavy but determined steps. The wounded were kept in the middle. The Queen held the center. Alexander was not near the outer ring.

  As he walked, he kept thinking.

  They had survived today.

  But there was no guarantee they would be as fortunate next time.

  He did not know what awaited them in the north.

  But he knew one thing.

  This time, Adaptive Regrowth alone had saved him.

  And if he did not want to face death that easily again, he would have to grow.

  Fast.

  Because the world would not wait.

  --------------------------------------