I saw the alpha's muscles tense, a fraction of a second probably before the wolf itself.
I instantly released my bait rat from the standstill command I had issued.
Immediately, it did a sort of backflip as it retreated further towards the cave where the rest of his family were being held, also by my commander.
That wasn't my plan.
I instructed it to stop and turn again, even though every fiber in its tiny body was screaming against that action.
Just like before, it had no choice but to obey.
Meanwhile, the alpha landed gracefully. His paws hit the ground exactly where the rat had been less than two seconds ago. His rear feet made to move forward, but the result from restricted momentum was almost bone-crushing.
The alpha wolf had landed his feet exactly where I had meant it. The place where the layer of slime was spread thick, waiting for victims to help it mutate. And now I had a pack of those victims.
The alpha teetered forward and his growl faltered momentarily into one of panic.
The rest of the pack had not been too quick to observe, and they too had fallen victim to the same snare.
Well, not all. At least two young ones still remained where their feast was. Several of the adults gave a warning snarl to the little puppies as they made to join the adults. But unfortunately for them, pups were just pups, and they hardly ever listened, especially not to adults. So several seconds later, all of them were victims to my slimes.
This is when I realized how powerful the slime's grip was.
All of these wolves were visibly powerfully built. They had the body and composition of killer hunters, and by the size of the alpha's paw alone, it was enough to wipe the stamina of full-grown adults.
Yet, try as it did, it could not shake itself from the grip of the slime.
Perfect, I thought to myself as I watched and listened to the howls of fury and fright.
So now, the grip is strong enough. Now, time to test the mutation.
Part of the reason I had activated the snare bit this early was because I still did not want the rat dad to be a victim of my antics too. I was responsible for two of the family's demise, and while they were expendable to me, I couldn't help but feel like I was being a tyrant, annihilating an entire family.
I waited until the wolves had visibly relaxed before I allowed the alpha's grip to come free.
I had my little rat do its menacing circus move, which was to stand on its rear legs and snarl 'menacingly'.
The alpha wolf gave another growl, then tested its feet.
A flash of what looked like surprise passed through its face as it discovered it was actually free. For a moment there, it looked like it was beginning to learn there was something fishy in play here.
It checked the ground beneath them and clearly, as far as it was concerned, it couldn't see why something so tiny, so slim, should be able to restrict the movement of its powerful body.
But immediately on seeing the rat's insulting maneuver, the fury was back. He gave another snarl, but this time, he had learned a lesson.
That was the thing with wolves. They quickly learned. I felt another pang of regret at not having been granted access to these beasts.
This time, the alpha began to slowly pace to the left of the rat, all the while scanning the ground and the surrounding area. I immediately noticed the formation as I released the rest of the pack to join in.
The pack was once again entering the fighting formation. Clearly, the alpha had decided there was something tricky here. And until he discovered what it was, he was not leaving things to chance.
I had my rat retreat a few paces back again before repeating the same move.
The pack spread now both to the right and the left flank of the rat. The alpha trotted slowly at the center as the lead point. I did not again trigger the ensnaring move because right before my eyes, I watched as the pack helped me do the very thing I needed them to do.
Spread the slime.
With every paw they lifted and planted on the ground, another layer of slime formed and took hold of a new surface. And then went on to spread thick.
Every paw accounted for almost 30 centimeters of slime.
Slowly, I had my rat lead them toward the specific corners I wished to be covered in slime.
However, not everything was entirely a success.
The pack was spreading slime all right. The problem is they were spreading it everywhere.
That was not my intention. Because what I wished was to spread the slime where there was no direct or clear visibility. Somewhere where their ambush quality would flourish.
But now the pack was putting it wherever they stepped. And although I could have made the slime not attach to their feet when they were in the places I didn't want them to, I failed to see how I could actualize that. Mainly because I could not control the wolves' minds.
I could control the slime and the rats, but the wolves were acting independently.
In their view, they were responding to what looked like a threat, and they would take formation as their alpha saw fit. So unfortunately, I had to contend with their own way of spreading.
The problem was when adventurers came, especially powerful ones, they would easily be able to see it. There was little I could do either. I had to count on the slime's own means of rendering itself inconspicuous. So I turned my mind to another matter.
As my rat was doing its antics and as the wolves slowly enclosed upon it, I had my leeches... a swarm of ten leeches—slowly attach themselves onto the fur of each wolf.
Since these were the manna leeches, they could drain manna and blood at the same time. And since the wolves did not have manna, the only thing that would be drained was blood.
However, this was not what I was testing. I needed neither blood nor manna from these ones. What I needed was to test their ability to bite without being detected.
'Bite'.
At once, I knew they had sunk their clippers into their victims.
I gave it a couple of seconds before I finally breathed in a sigh.
It's true.
Indeed, their aesthetic ability was working.
The wolves did not seem to have perceived anything. But then that would be mostly because the wolves' bodies were covered in fur.
Humans would not be covered in fur. Humans had even and tender flesh. Theirs would not have been adapted to rough terrains and environments like these ones.
These ones were used to running through shrubs and thorny bushes. And their thick layer of skin often rendered such trivialities almost imperceptible to them.
Humans, on the other hand... well, I had to hope that the aesthetic ability of the leeches was working. Now it was time to test the pain.
As soon as I thought about that order, the wolf pack jumped upwards, frightfully, giving terrified howls. The rest had quickly turned to gnaw at their own backs. And to this assault, I quickly saw a string of notifications. I had lost three leeches in succession.
Fuck, now I was down to seven.
I had my leeches quickly navigate their way through the wolves' skin, without biting them anymore. Everything I wished to confirm was confirmed. There was no need to waste the only actual monster I had on a test that would not yield any energy stones for that matter.
The actual raid was where results mattered. And if I had thought I had days to plan for it, I was in for a complete shock.