ã€Š[RETIRED] Gamer's Guide to Waking up as a Dinosaurã€‹ 1: Its Not Easy, Hatching Warmth. Darkness. The void sucked me in like a vacuum. I was hypnotized by it, and clung to it fiercely. But the solemn silence was interrupted by the faint chirping of birds, and the howling wind crashing against something nearby as though I sat within a car during a tornado. I shifted in the black, kicking a foot out to stretch. Tap. My foot touched¡ a wall? I slid my foot down the blockade, trying to feel what it was, without opening my sealed eyes. Scraaaaape. My toes trailed down the wall, a muted, yet distorted sound coming back to my ears. There was something around my bed. But the blanket of warmth surrounding me was so¡ enticing. I was enraptured by the warm liquid encasing me. Wait. Liquid? Still refusing to open my eyes, I reached my hands out, stretching them beyond my head, reaching into the distance, stretching so far I could¡ tap. Once again, I touched a wall. Frantically, I ran my hands along the wall, feeling for whatever was around my nice, warm, enthralling bed. Scraaaaape. Now my eyes shot open. But everything was still dark. Fear coursed through me as I realized that my room was never pitch black. Monitors, consoles, even my soundbar glowed faintly at all times, and provided me with the slightest illumination. Something was wrong. Did we lose power? Why were the walls so close? And why did I feel like I was¡ swimming? I gasped. And I choked. Desperately, I flailed, kicking the walls, digging away at the liquid with my hands. Pop! Cool air rushed into my warm prison, and I inhaled, gasping furiously. No longer was I comfortable, floating in this container. No. I needed out. I began to slam on the walls. ¡°Help!¡± I screamed, but my voice sounded off. ¡°Help me!¡± I pounded my fists against the walls, kicking with my feet, slamming against the prison until¡ crack! Yes! I¡¯d done it! Light rushed into my little unfamiliar room, and the wind and birds grew louder. I closed my eyes against the burning light, and pressed a hand out of the cracked hole, grasping its edges and pulling away at them. More light rushed in, and I could only see the yellow brightness, even through my closed eyelids. The hole grew ever wider as I pulled away at it, and with a resounding crackle, the top half of my room was torn away. I covered my eyes with a hand, barely squinting as I opened them, letting them adjust to this insane difference. The first thing I noticed was the scales. ¡°What?¡± I tried to say, but instead, merely a squawk echoed out of my mouth. I looked down, to where my normal unhealthy human body should be, but instead, a tiny, frail chest covered in tan scales lead down to thicker legs, and pointed toes tipped with vicious claws. And I was covered in goo.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Suddenly, a blue menu appeared before my eyes, covering my vision, but remaining transparent enough that I could still see.

Congratulations! You have successfully been born! You are now a [Frail Baby Dino]. Many walks of life are open to you now, through [Evolution], so choose wisely.

What? There were so many things wrong with what the message said that I couldn¡¯t even focus. I¡¯d been born? And a dino? Then again, as I looked through the message at my thin body, and the box faded away, I could see a thin tail wrapping its way around my leg, and my protruding muzzle only made the situation even clearer. I was no longer human. I was, in fact, a dinosaur. A dinosaur with a stubby nose and a skinny body. I should probably explain who I was, before all this happened, before I suddenly awakened inside of what I now realized was an egg, and burst open into the unfamiliar new world, filled with life I probably knew nothing about. Well, my life was pretty standard, and it shouldn¡¯t come as anything extremely interesting to anybody, since it¡¯s a story of life well traversed, and many would be familiar with the details. I was a gamer. Yeah, just that sentence itself well describes everything about my life, wouldn¡¯t you say? You can already picture it perfectly, I¡¯m sure. My room, that is. Three monitors decorated the table I had set up in my small room, though some might not consider the laptop connected to the PC to be a monitor. But it was. I¡¯d maxxed out the build of my computer, when I ordered parts throughout the seventeen months I worked my job, putting money away as my mother insisted, and spending the rest on parts that I would, eventually, fully assemble. When I did, boy, did my life straight upgrade. Instead of just using that hand-me-down laptop for the simple games I could play, or spending all my time on my console, I now had access to the infinite world of the PC gamer. I¡¯ll never shame a console gamer, of course, since I spent the majority of my life as one. There are pros and cons to both, after all, but being able to run some of the filthiest games imaginable, on the most disgusting graphics settings, and suffer no lag? Wow. These, by the way, are good adjectives, meant to describe my build in a positive way. When I wasn¡¯t gaming? I guess I was occasionally reading some stories online, or hanging with a couple close friends. Mostly sucked to the computer after school, my free time was usually eaten up by the games. Dang, some of those games. After I¡¯d constructed the beast of a machine, I must¡¯ve spent at least a thousand more dollars simply pimping out my characters in various games, and recently I¡¯d seen an ad for a new game that caught my interest. The artwork was filled with fairies, and I¡¯d never have told anybody at school about it, but when I accidentally clicked it, I ended up reading the description, and being quite entertained by it, so I ordered it. Well, guess I¡¯ll never get to play that one. I wriggled out of the egg, trying in vain to rub the goo that must¡¯ve been yolk off of my body. It was disgusting, and creatures ate this stuff? No way. I glanced around at the immediate vicinity, absorbing the details of the forest since my eyes had fully adjusted to the light, and saw a river. That¡¯ll get ¡®er done! I thought, stumbling towards it as I relearned how to walk with my new build. The tail helped balance me out, since the weight of my head and build of my spine seemed to want me to naturally tilt forwards as I moved. My eyes shone with fascination and wonder as I watched my body sway as it moved. The tail swung back and forth on its own, while my hands hung limply from my rigid arms. I swallowed some saliva that had built up in my mouth, and ran my new tongue across my sharp teeth. It was long and thick, and after some experimentation, I found I could almost reach my eye with the pointed end. I reached the flowing river, which lazed slowly through the windy wood, and stared down into the clear water. Mossy stones sat piled atop one another merely a foot or two down, and small fish darted between the cracks. Never one to waste any time, I leapt into the water, splashing about with my big flat feet. ¡°Woohoo!¡± I cheered, though it sounded like a feeble attempt to roar. I rolled through the river, cleaning myself off, and watching as the greenish goo washed away into the distance. My stomach growled in protest of my actions, clearly upset that I hadn¡¯t defaulted to the norm. The growl grew louder, though my stomach stopped vibrating. I frowned, looking up, and directly into the eyes of a massive monster. 2: If You Dont Move, They Cant See You It was huge, probably forty-feet tall, with a head the size of a van. The massive white reptile that growled viciously in my direction seemed as though it¡¯d been stained with blood. Red splatters dotted its skin, and leaked down the side of its body, staining it. A dark sail shot from the back of the creature, rising high into the sky, and nearly touching the low branches of the massive trees surrounding the river. Angry yellow eyes peered over a long snout towards me, and as the monster snarled, its lips pulled back, revealing row upon row of deadly, sharp teeth. Two massive fangs protruded from the front of its mouth, dripping drool. I was frozen. My heart pounded in my chest, and blood coursed coldly through my veins. ¡°Rrrrrrrrrr,¡± came the deep long growl. And famous words echoed through my mind. He can¡¯t see you if you don¡¯t move. I wasn¡¯t sure how true that statement really was. But as I sat there in the river, dripping water off my reptilian skin, the frightening titan rose. It shoved off the ground with two massive arms, small compared to its body, but still larger than my old human size, and as thick as oak trees. Professionals might identify this beast as something related to a Spinosaurus. I identified it as terrifying. The massive diamond headed beast looked to the sky, separating its jaws, and roared. The branches nearby shook, and I fell back into the river, quaking in fear.

You are [Feared]. Your reactions are slower, and your [Fight or Flight] response has been activated.

I lay in the river, shivering from the cold water, probably dripping with a cold sweat, and gazed wide-eyed toward the monster. Then, it stepped forward. Crash! The footstep shook the ground. Crash! Another footstep and the predator was at the river. One more and he would be upon me. I couldn¡¯t move.

[Fight or Flight] has failed. You¡¯ve unlocked the [Freeze] response.

Like that would help. The massive foot raised into the air, and came down swiftly upon me. The sun was blotted out, and the clawed appendage dropped to the ground. Crash! It didn¡¯t land on me. Crash! I was safe. Crash! The beast had stepped over the river. It wasn¡¯t heading towards me. I spun quickly in the river, watching as the monster picked up speed. Crash! Crash! Crash! Three steps and it was upon the other dino. Massive scales rose from this creature¡¯s back, jutting proudly into the sky. But the Spinosaurus didn¡¯t care. It bit ferociously into the creature, snapping the scales in half. Its clawed hands grasped the neck of its victim, and squeezed with an iron grip. A single yelp rose from the Stegosaurus-like dinosaur, and the light faded from its eyes. Then I was out of there. Quickly, I rose to my tiny feet, dashing in the opposite direction of the murder, back towards my egg. Somehow, I¡¯d survived long enough to hatch. Maybe if I crawled back inside it would all be okay, and I¡¯d wake up back at home, nice and safe.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. That wouldn¡¯t happen, most likely.

Your [Freeze] response has leveled up. It is now level 2.

You [Fight or Flight] response has leveled up. It is now level 2.

You have developed your [Fight or Flight] response. Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the [Fearful Flight] response. [Fearful Flight]- You are less impaired by [Fear] effects when running. Reduction: 1%.

Your [Fearful Flight] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Your [Flee] skill has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Levels? The gears spun in my head. And those are¡ skills, right? And they just leveled up¡ Is this¡ a game? If it was, then perhaps, I could win. I could survive. I could even thrive! After all, I was an expert in the area of experience grinding. But this was more real than anything I¡¯d ever felt. This was definitely not just a game. Not¡ just a game¡ But perhaps, it would be the best one I¡¯d ever played. I slowed down, the feasting sounds of the monster in the distance fading away. No, I would not crawl into my egg. I would not give up. This was a challenge, and no challenge was worth running from.

You are no longer [Feared].

Screw the Fearful Flight. I wouldn¡¯t be running for long. Magic boxes? I asked, feeling stupid. Are you able to tell me anything about this world? I waited for a minute, scratching an itch at my neck, and finding a large green mosquito, probably the size of a cellphone, dead in my hand after I did. Ew. Then the box appeared again.

You have suffered 1 damage from [Egg Sucker].

You have received 5 experience points for killing [Egg Sucker].

Okay, I thought. Seems like it won¡¯t be helping to answer any questions. I wondered if perhaps it was how I addressed the boxes. Magic probably wasn¡¯t the best term for them. I cleared my throat, before thinking the next command. Show status. With a cheer, I read the box that appeared in response. And if you ever want to view your status after you wake up as a baby dino, I recommend you be prepared to be disappointed. The numbers won¡¯t be impressive.

Frail Baby Dino

Level:	1 [5/10]
Health:	9/10
Stamina:	2/10

Skills

Bite	[Lvl 1]
Claw	[Lvl 1]
Flee	[Lvl 2]

Instincts

Fight or Flight	[Lvl 2]
Freeze	[Lvl 2]
Fearful Flight	[Lvl 2]

Well, at least I was halfway to leveling up. And usually, that meant some sort of physical improvement. Perhaps I soon wouldn¡¯t be listed as a Frail Baby Dino anymore. I briefly pondered if I¡¯d possessed an existing dinosaur, simply been reborn, or if I¡¯d switched places with it. If it was the latter, well, my normal life was not going to be something I would ever want to return to. I just hoped that the baby dino wouldn¡¯t destroy my beastly PC. Then I thought about it. And then I sent a prayer to any god that was listening. Please let that baby dino destroy my hard drive... But where were this dinosaur¡¯s parents? 3: Did You Know Mosquitoes Go Squish? I approached the spot where I¡¯d hatched, not too far away from the river, but a significant enough distance away from the monster on the other side that I felt safe. Sailboat, I will one day be stronger than you! Yep. That was his name now. At least, until I came up with a better one, because I wasn¡¯t great with names. The egg lay shattered upon a fold of massive leaves, the blue and green shell speckled with dots. But I hadn¡¯t come back to the egg to crawl into it anymore. I¡¯d returned to gain experience. My eyes flicked over the remains as I strained my ears for buzzing. When I moved closer to the egg and looked inside, I could see a small horde of the giant mosquitoes buzzing around inside. They were drinking from the leftover yolk. My foot came up, and then it smashed down. Squish. Several mosquito corpses lay stuck to my foot, oozing green liquid. I hastily rubbed it off on the moss coating the tree next to me. Just the root itself was bigger than my foot. And despite my title, I wasn''t a tiny creature. This truly was another world¡ A flood of messages filled my view.

You have developed a new skill: [Stomp Lvl 1].

Your [Stomp] skill has leveled up. It is now level 2.

You have received 5 experience points for killing [Egg Sucker].

You have received 1 experience point for killing [Egg Sucker Larva].

Congratulations! You have leveled up! You are now level 2 [25/20]. Your [Health] and [Stamina] are restored.

Congratulations! You have leveled up! You are now level 3 [5/30].

I¡¯m going to need those collapsed in the future, magic boxes. Come on. My stomach growled, and I caught the scent of something delicious. As I sniffed around with my new and improved snout, I located the source. And man, was I disappointed. Pro tip: When being reborn as a baby dino, and likely as any baby creature hatching from an egg, expect to find yourself unfortunately attracted to disgusting food. In this case, that disgusting food was a hellish mix of mosquito gut and my own egg yolk. Well, I was hungry, so I dipped my tongue into the mixture. And then I found out that it didn¡¯t just smell good. No, I actually liked it! In a matter of moments, that gooey goodness was gone, and I had consumed every remnant of the bugs I¡¯d killed. Now the egg was nothing more than an empty bowl. Experimentally, I took a bite. Why not? Already I found delicious satiation in things I never would¡¯ve. Plus, egg shell was the least disgusting thing on my platter today.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. It was okay. Super crunchy. Not too flavorful. Kind of bland. What did you expect from an egg shell? I heard a crash in the distance, and a few heavy footfalls coming nearby, so I quickly dove for cover under the nearby bushes. Did I mention that basically all plant life in this new world was massive? Well, so were the bushes. A fully grown human probably could¡¯ve had a comfortable sleeping space inside these bushes. The stomping grew closer, and as I peered out of the bushes, I saw one of those dinosaurs with the super long necks chewing leaves from the trees. Ah, a plant-eater. I sighed in relief, and climbed out of the bush. As much as I liked it, this place felt much too dangerous to stay in, so it was time I started walking. I chose a direction, away from Sailboat, and started walking. There were a few times I had to climb up hills, using the copious trees to pull myself up the steeper inclines. Have you ever wondered how hard it was to hike through a jungle? Maybe not, because you¡¯ve hiked through forests, but believe me, it isn¡¯t easy when everything is ten times larger than it used to be, and you¡¯re also a Frail Baby Dino. There also aren¡¯t any man-made paths or trails for you to traverse. And there didn¡¯t seem to be any bear trails, either. I only know about those from gaming experience. It seemed like the dinos probably didn¡¯t have a highway of any kind to travel swiftly and easily. I guess it made sense, because most of them wouldn¡¯t have issues with their massive muscular legs. Though I didn¡¯t encounter too many saurs while I walked. I did see, once I was atop the tall hill, that down near the river, some more aggressive fights were breaking out between all kinds of dinosaurs. I guess it was dinnertime or something. After walking for about twenty minutes, and occasionally chasing some wildlife around playfully, and enjoying my new body, I broke through the trees. A massive empty expanse greeted me, dotted with lakes and vegetation of all kinds. Massive dinosaurs flew through the skies, and others did battle on land. I didn¡¯t see another of the Sailboat kind, thankfully, but a creature that seemed like a stubbier Tyrannosaurus Rex tore across the plains. I actually had yet to find out what kind of dinosaur I was. Status, please. I thought.

Frail Baby Dino

Level:	3 [5/30]
Health:	30/30
Stamina:	20/20

Skills

Bite	[Lvl 1]
Claw	[Lvl 1]
Flee	[Lvl 2]
Stomp	[Lvl 2]

Instincts

Fight or Flight	[Lvl 2]
Freeze	[Lvl 2]
Fearful Flight	[Lvl 2]

Nothing revealing what type of dinosaur I was. And even though I was level three already, I was still just a Frail Baby Dino. How disappointing. Didn¡¯t one of the earlier messages say something about evolution, though? Worth a shot. Evolve!

Sorry, you cannot evolve until you reach the [Frail Baby Dino] maximum level: 5.

Oh, at least I¡¯m close. I decided not to try my luck in the massive empty expanse, where dinos did battle without care, and instead headed back into the jungle forest. It was probably safer where I had places to hide. 4: Whats a Dino Gotta Do to Get a Pack Around Here? At some point, I don¡¯t really know when, I discovered that I had those really cool toes. You probably know what I mean without me even having to go into detail, but I will, if only to talk more about the cool toes. So, anyway, on certain dinosaurs, notably the velociraptors in a certain famous dinosaur movie, one large toe on each foot, I suppose it can be called a talon, sticks up. Well I¡¯ve got ¡®em. Some big ole claw toes. Probably why I had the Claw skill to begin with. You¡¯d have thought I would¡¯ve noticed before, wouldn¡¯t you? When I stepped on those mosquitoes? Well, you¡¯d be wrong! I¡¯m not exceptionally observant when everything is new. My senses were overloaded! Sorry! Anyway, yeah I found out I¡¯ve got these two pokey-things, so I started working the muscles on them. They weren¡¯t easy to manipulate. Either my baby muscles were weak (which was probably true), or they weren¡¯t meant to move much. Which bothered me. Have you ever seen somebody wiggle their eyebrows, or ears, or something else that serves absolutely no function besides to make them the cool kid on the block? And then you try and do it but you just¡ can¡¯t? And it¡¯s super infuriating? Yeah, well, that¡¯s kind of what I was going through trying to make the talons move. I gave up eventually, but I was determined to try again. No challenge shall have me forfeit! So I proceeded back into the woods. Jungle? Forest? Whatever it was, it was huge. I was walking towards the spot I¡¯d hatched again, and it was getting dark. A sudden explosion off to the side spooked me. I launched into the air, shrieking in surprise. When I landed, I didn¡¯t move. I stayed completely silent, listening to see if the explosion would happen again. When it didn¡¯t, I knew I couldn¡¯t just wait idly by without ever knowing what that sound was. Plus, it¡¯s not like I had anybody to go ¡°home¡± to, anyway. So I headed in the direction of the sound. Smart, right? I pressed through a thorny bush, which I hardly felt, and peeked towards the sound. Long, black grass rose up from the ground, obscuring my view. I watched as a pack of small feathered dinosaurs leapt into the air, diving back towards whatever they were fighting. One of the trees nearby had some low-hanging branches, so I jumped and grabbed them, pulling myself up onto the tree, breathing heavily. My arms were most certainly not meant for the maneuver I¡¯d just pulled, but at least I was able to see now.

You¡¯ve developed a new skill: [Climb Lvl 1].

What? No rank up? I feel cheated. I held onto a branch above me as I leaned out over the small field. The feathered dinos squawked as they fought, and I could vaguely see a hulking mass underneath them. Like a whale¡¯s tail splashing down into the ocean, the mass wriggled, burrowing into the ground, and slamming dirt into the air. The pack of dinosaurs went flying. Some flapped small arms hopelessly, and others managed to slow their fall, while the lucky few caught themselves on the nearby trees, or landed in brush. Rapidly, they gathered together, engaging the dirt-swimmer once more as it reared it¡¯s round head above the ground.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Muffled moans accompanied the attack, as the tiny dinos ripped into the pink flesh of the swimmer. Suddenly, the creature shot back out of its hole, a pillar of pink soaring straight into the sky, standing at least fifteen feet tall. It spun slowly, as though unbalanced in this position, before slamming back down at the ground, towards where the pack of dinos had been attacking it. Yet they swiftly moved out of the way, crouching and pouring their energy into their strong leg muscles. The mass of flesh slammed down, an explosion ripping through the field. So that¡¯s what it was¡ What kind of attack was that? As I squinted, trying to get a better look at the giant beast that had performed it, the magical blue boxes appeared once again.

You have developed your sight. Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the [Observant] instinct. [Observant]- By carefully viewing an object of interest, you may garner basic knowledge of it.

Woohoo! I cheered internally. Might as well see what I could do with this new instinct. I continued to observe the fighting creatures as I had before, but this time, boxes appeared above them.

Little Deotrexaptor [Lvl 14]

Little Deotrexaptor [Lvl 15]

Deotrexaptor [Lvl 18]

Little Deotrexaptor [Lvl 15]

Alpha Deotrexaptor [Lvl 25]

Giant Tree Worm [Lvl ???]

Well. That settled it. The Deotrexaptors probably didn¡¯t stand a chance against an enemy of an unknown level. Usually, the question marks indicated an enemy too strong to be understood, at least in my experience. And yet, as I watched, the Deotrexaptors quickly descended upon the fallen form of the giant worm, ripping and tearing with their sharp hind talons. They had toes like me. Big ¡®uns. Perhaps this was my family? But then, why was I scaly while they were covered with fur? Maybe I just hadn¡¯t been alive long enough to grow it. Then again¡ I considered. Chicks are usually born with some sort of down, right? So I can¡¯t be related to them. The worm moaned, which isn¡¯t something I¡¯d ever thought a worm could do. Then, a massive crack in its side opened up, revealing rows of sharp teeth. It spun its body in a rapid circle, the open mouth coming down on one of the Little Deotrexaptors with a fury. It screamed in pain, and I gasped. I¡¯d started rooting for them after discovering they were the underdogs. The other xaptors began to hoot and click their teeth together. The one that was slightly larger than the rest, and colored beautifully, the alpha, howled, and the group charged. The fight didn¡¯t last long after that. While the worm slowly chewed on the xaptor it¡¯d torn apart, trying to pull the rest of its body out of the hole, the other xaptors, led by the alpha, ripped and tore with a fury they hadn¡¯t displayed until then. I didn''t understand how they could''ve possibly won.

Blood Lust [Skill Lvl ???] This ability is only activatable when one has suffered great losses. Massive buffs.

Pack Fury [Skill Lvl ???] The Alpha can enrage his pack, buffing them. The pack also acts as one during this time.

That explained it. Big enough buffs could make all the difference in a fight like that. The corpse of the worm lay there, as the Deotrexaptors continued to tear it apart, eating bits and pieces of it, before the alpha cried out. Two Little Deotrexaptors approached the body of the other, and dipped their heads to the ground. Then, they grabbed the small arms in their mouths, and hauled the body off. The regular Deotrexaptor stayed behind, prowling around the body, while the alpha led the rest of them away into the undergrowth. I just sat in awe.

Your [Observant] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Your [Observant] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

5: Its Nice to Throw a Feast Occasionally Eventually, I got bored of being on the tree, and hopped down to the ground, my new legs easily absorbing the impact. My stomach was starting to growl again, and since I¡¯d only eaten once today, I could understand. Did you ever stop to think about how difficult life without a convenience store can be? Having to find food is actually tougher than you¡¯d think. I ran across some wildlife throughout the day, but it was always something small, like an ancient squirrel predecessor or something. Add to that, I hadn¡¯t been used to my body yet, and now everything was asleep. I supposed I could make it through the night without eating, but it certainly wouldn¡¯t be comfortable. Nah. Time to risk it for the biscuit. Literally. The Deotrexaptor continued to prowl around the giant worm body, but it wasn¡¯t as sharp-eyed as when it had started. Clearly sentry duty wasn¡¯t the most entertaining thing it could be doing with its life. I made my way forward. With the sun going down, and the way these dinos were feathered, I imagined they were daytime creatures, so night vision probably wasn¡¯t on their list of abilities. So I crouched, and approached slowly through the grass. It didn¡¯t occur to me at the time that if I was caught, I¡¯d probably be slain, and there¡¯d likely be no respawns in my future. I was solely focused on the joy of the ¡°stealth mission¡± and also the food that awaited me. As I sneaked along, another magic box notified me of some updates to my dino.

You have developed a new skill: [Sneak Lvl 1]

You have developed your sight. Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the [Nocturnal] instinct. [Nocturnal]- Vision is less impaired by darker environments.

Nice! But this wasn¡¯t the time to celebrate. I could definitely see the night vision coming into effect as I approached the lazing sentry dino. I could better tell when he was looking in my direction. And when he did, I froze. Definitely didn¡¯t want to get caught by that thing. My stomach didn¡¯t growl at all, either, probably quite aware of how severe the consequences would be if I were caught. It might¡¯ve been more aware than me. Which is a scary thought.

Your [Nocturnal] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

You don¡¯t realize how dark it is until somebody turns on the lights. That instinct was definitely going to help me out more than I¡¯d anticipated. I snuck forward carefully, being sure to make no noise.

Your [Sneak] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

I moved slowly. It was only one xaptor, but I¡¯d seen what the pack could do, and I didn¡¯t want to deal with a level fifteen, not right now, anyway.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Plus, I wasn¡¯t running away from any challenges anymore, right? Massive level gains and rewards await players ballsy enough to risk it all! And boy was that me. Online, in MMO¡¯s and other games, I was always the player that screamed a war cry, running straight into the mobs of dragons, ready to slay them all, with no regard for my clan¡¯s plans. And when my health dropped? At least I had chicken. Plus, ninety percent of the time, I succeeded! And that meant first dibs on loot! Hah! But if you¡¯re gonna be a dinosaur, it¡¯s probably best to avoid that tactic. I know that now. Somehow, I managed to get up next to the giant corpse, without the xaptor noticing. I¡¯d waited until he was on the other side of the body, and then made my mad dash forward, sniffing the worm upon arrival. It smelled okay. It wasn¡¯t as good and delicious as that egg yolk-covered mosquito¡ But it still smelled delectable. Ravenously, I consumed as much as I could. Blood dripped down my face as I ate the worm, and I glanced back and forth to make sure the xaptor hadn¡¯t returned. He had a long walk to go, especially at the pace he was prowling. I examined the worm as I ate.

Giant Tree Worm [Corpse] This body was once that of a fearsome beast, capable of taking on some of the strongest monsters. But it is slow, and weak to group tactics. Hunted by packs of Deotrexaptors and other agile creatures.

You¡¯ve developed a new skill: [Feast Lvl 1]

Oh cool¡ A new skill. I guess it improves the more I eat? Or maybe feasting is a specific kind of consumption¡ And those xaptors weren''t just fighting a foe... they were hunting it?!?

Your [Feast] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

It felt as though I could stomach a little more of the meat, or perhaps I was consuming it faster. All I knew was that this skill was certainly going to be a useful one.

You¡¯ve developed a new skill: [Dig Lvl 1]

You¡¯ve developed a new skill: [Slam Lvl 1]

You¡¯ve gained 500 experience.

Woah! What? As I ate, the three notifications appeared in a row. Immediately, my vision was filled with new boxes.

Congratulations! You have leveled up! (x2)

You are now level 5 [--/--]. Your [Health] and [Stamina] are restored.

Your [Feast] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

Well it sure was nice that the magic boxes stacked the notifcations for me now. But was this why the Deotrexaptors guarded the body instead of just returning for more later? Because consuming such strong monsters could grant skills and experience? This mechanic was insane! I giggled to myself. I was about to feast on this entire worm, and grow to untold levels! But I was full. In fact, I might¡¯ve eaten too much. I crammed some more worm meat down my throat, but no new notifications appeared. Then I burped. Loudly. ¡°Skrraaaaaawwwww!¡± came the howl of the Deotrexaptor sentry. Rapid footsteps came swiftly running back around the corpse. He wasn''t going to appreciate that I was eating their food. The food they''d worked so hard for. No, I needed to escape. I glanced around rapidly, searching desperately for a place I could hide, but nearby only had the tall grass, some rocks, and the corpse. I could try to run for the grass, but if he was looking for me, there was no way I¡¯d be able to escape that fast predator! So I did the only thing I could think of. I jumped inside the worm¡¯s mouth. 6: All Little Dinos Have to Grow Up Status, I thought, as I could hear the Deotrexaptor pacing angrily around the outside of the worm. Gosh it was hot in there. And slimy. And gross. And since my appetite was sated from earlier, I had absolutely no desire to eat any of it. The magic boxes saved me in the form of a distraction.

Frail Baby Dino

Level:	5 [--/--]
Health:	50/50
Stamina:	30/30

Skills

Bite	[Lvl 1]
Claw	[Lvl 1]
Flee	[Lvl 2]
Stomp	[Lvl 2]
Climb	[Lvl 1]
Sneak	[Lvl 2]
Feast	[Lvl 3]
Dig	[Lvl 1]
Slam	[Lvl 1]

Instincts

Fight or Flight	[Lvl 2]
Freeze	[Lvl 2]
Fearful Flight	[Lvl 2]
Observant	[Lvl 3]
Nocturnal	[Lvl 2]

Okay¡ So this ¡°character¡± is fast progressing¡ But mostly thanks to this worm¡ The sniffing and snorting of the Deotrexaptor didn¡¯t stop, and I realized how stupid of a decision I might¡¯ve just made. I trapped myself inside a worm that was slowly going to be taken apart and eaten, perhaps feeding an entire colony of these dinos. Well, maybe they wouldn¡¯t eat the head? I scanned the status page while I inhaled the disgusting air inside the worm. Well that¡¯s something to do¡ I thought, as I looked at the level. I¡¯d reached the maximum level for the Frail Baby Dino. Perhaps it was time to evolve? I shrugged. Might as well. After all, if I did it, and something cool happened, nice! If I die, well, I was probably going to anyway. ¡ It¡¯s times like these that make me question how I can stay so calm in such an irregular situation. I mean, I guess it¡¯s because nothing was immediately threatening me, like with Sailboat? I wasn¡¯t going to be able to answer the question anyway, so I just sighed and moved on. Evolve¡

Evolution Options:

Baby Dino (F)

The general dinosaur baby, this evolution has nothing particularly impressive or unique about it, but it is the most customizable option.

Baby Night Stalker (E)

Hailing from the shadows, this monster breathes fear. A creature that hunts at night, this dinosaur can see flawlessly in the darkness, but suffers from a weakness to light.

Baby Gorger (E)

A feaster of fine foods, this dinosaur seeks out primarily palatable sustenance to sate its glorious appetite. It will eat and eat, until there is nothing left, bringing about the end of an era.

Baby Acro (F)

Very athletic, this dinosaur is adept at running, climbing, swimming, and other athletic activities. It is an extremely active creature, thin and versatile, but also not built for direct combat, frequently fleeing fights.

Baby Nocu (F)

An observant creature, this dinosaur has extremely strong vision. Adept at spotting small prey from a hundred feet away, the Nocu is also quick, and moves quickly in pursuit of its food.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. So¡ There were some options. Well, the Night Stalker path was pretty much out of my consideration immediately. I didn¡¯t want to be relegated to night time unless I chose to be. Also, if I was going to try to escape a pack of level fifteen and up dinos, then sure, stealth would be a viable option, but when else would I really use that upgrade? What were the letters next to the names? I¡¯d have thought F might¡¯ve been the gender, at first, but E¡ everything? That¡¯s a spooky gender option. So probably not. Magic boxes, any help with what the letters are? No response. I sighed. What did I expect? Well, as much as I liked the other options, the decision was a hard one. I could grab the Baby Acro, but then I would be stuck as a dinosaur that runs away. And I don¡¯t run away from a challenge. Not anymore. That left me with three options. Gorger, Nocu, or Baby Dino. Hmm. Well¡ I was inside of a massive source of food¡ and just eating a little of it had led to me gaining 500 experience as well as two skills. But did I want to risk that I might ¡°bring about the end of an era¡±? That sounded apocalyptic. Not sure I was in for that. Nocu was cool, because it sounded like it was fast and might help give bonuses to my Observant instinct. Or maybe the option was only there because of my Observant instinct. Food for thought¡ Baby Dino was by far making it exceptionally difficult to pick another route, if only because a gamer¡¯s natural instinct, not the dinosaur¡¯s, but the gamer¡¯s. The gamer instinct in me told me that massive customization was never a wrong choice. Sure, I might not be as strong as some of the other, more specialized options, but I could maybe get creative. Maybe I¡¯d unlock stronger overall options. Or maybe I¡¯d even be able to design-o my own dino. Sorry, bad joke. The customization was really gnawing at me. Even if I wasn¡¯t the best at something, being better at more was tempting. I could really work with that. Then again¡ in my current situation¡ Nocu might be the best option¡ Or I suppose I could go Gorger and try to get as much experience and as many levels as possible before discovery¡ There was no way to know which option was the best, and that¡¯s usually how it is in games, unless you want to read up online about the best build paths, and find tutorials and guides. But guides are for chumps. If you don¡¯t make your own way, despite the odds, and regardless of what other people say, then can you really call yourself a gamer? After all, being a gamer¡ is about taking risks. I resolved myself, selecting the option I was about to evolve into. The world went black, blacker than when the crack of light and air had still been leaking through the worm¡¯s mouth. So black, I felt like I was back inside the egg I¡¯d hatched from. And the darkness beckoned me, calling out with its warmth. I sank into it. Falling away from the world. Falling away from consciousness. Falling away¡ from the xaptor that hunted me. The was only a single thought still bleeding through my mind as I fell into my deep slumber. Please¡ for the love of gamers¡ don¡¯t let them find me before I awaken. Because that would be the opposite of chill. 7: Inside the Belly of the Beast Warmth again. Darkness, once more. But this void, however, did not suck me in like a vacuum. I was not hypnotized, as I was when I awoke inside of an egg yesterday. No. This void was lifting me. I was floating. I rose, back towards the crack of light in the darkness. The doorway to escape. I swam towards it. Scraaaaape. I recognized that muffled sound. It was the sound of claws on eggshell. Was I really in an egg again? Oh no! Did I die? Am I¡ respawning? The fates favored me if that was true. But was I limited in respawns? Or was this truly nothing more than a game world? A sudden force underneath me sent me rocketing towards the opening in the darkness, and I flailed. Crack! The doorway widened, and I reached through, ripping and tearing with my claws. I popped my head through, gasping, and inhaled the scent of worm meat. Eww. I forgot I was in the mouth¡ As I climbed forth from the egg, a message greeted me.

Congratulations on evolving! You¡¯ve become [Baby Dino]. Dino statistics, [Health], [Stamina], and maximum level have been increased!

You¡¯ve unlocked the [Guided Evolution] trait!

You have developed your tolerance. Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the [Risky Business] instinct. [Risky Business]- With great risk, comes greater rewards!

You¡¯ve developed a new skill: [Corpse Hatching Lvl 1].

That was a lot of data to absorb. And¡ corpse hatching? That sounded disgusting. But, I guess it was apt for what I¡¯d just done¡? But hey, that Risky Business sounded like something I¡¯d be using. Now I just had to learn to speak, so I could shout my war cry as I risked it all... I thought the command to pull forth my status page, and the magical boxes obliged.

Baby Dino (F)

Level:	1 [0/50]
Health:	100/100
Stamina:	70/70

Traits

Guided Evolution

[Lvl ---]

Skills

Bite	[Lvl 1]
Claw	[Lvl 1]
Flee	[Lvl 2]
Stomp	[Lvl 2]
Climb	[Lvl 1]
Sneak	[Lvl 2]
Feast	[Lvl 3]
Dig	[Lvl 1]
Slam	[Lvl 1]
Corpse Hatching Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.	[Lvl 1]

Instincts

Fight or Flight	[Lvl 2]
Freeze	[Lvl 2]
Fearful Flight	[Lvl 2]
Observant	[Lvl 3]
Nocturnal	[Lvl 2]
Risky Business	[Lvl 1]

Hmm. So my level was reset, but the general values for health and stamina increased. I glanced over my body, but it was too dark to make anything out. Hey, can I see some information about my skills? Like¡ specifically the corpse related one? I didn¡¯t expect any response, since the boxes had never obliged me before. They seemed quite rigid in what they could and couldn¡¯t do. But then, I was delightfully surprised to see that I¡¯d gotten one!

Corpse Hatching [Skill]

Hatching inside of another creature¡¯s body enables you to learn skills, traits, and instincts that belonged to them. These are often hard to come by in a typical fashion.

Note: You must be able to fit inside the creature to hatch inside their body.

Nice! I¡¯d gotten a buff! It wasn¡¯t too strong, because I¡¯d have to find large monsters to hatch inside, but with how big just this worm was, I didn¡¯t think it was going to be too hard. Then again, I¡¯d only been able to hatch inside this worm because of the Deotrexaptors in the first place. It might not be so easy in the future¡ Well it was always good to add to my list of skills anyway, even if I didn¡¯t use them at all. Could I see some info about that evolution trait, please? Once again, I was obliged. I think I was getting the hang of the magical blue boxes.

Guided Evolution [Trait]

Unlike most dinosaurs, you¡¯ve displayed the ability to choose the direction your life will progress in. As you learn more skills, and perform different actions, paths will open and close. When you reach the halfway point to your maximum level, you will be granted the opportunity to glimpse some of the options that await you, whether or not they are unlocked.

Note: This is a one time opportunity. You may only do this when you reach the halfway point, and only once per evolution.

Huh. That could be useful. Hopefully, it would be clear to me what options were unlocked and how I might unlock the others, but the box didn¡¯t specify. Still, it was useful knowledge to have. A quick little exploit allowed me to know when that halfway point would be. Evolve¡

Sorry, you cannot evolve until you reach the [Baby Dino] maximum level: 15.

Heh. Clever me... Gurgling reached my ears as I pondered the implications of the things I¡¯d unlocked. My stomach. Hungry once more. Either I¡¯d been in there for quite some time, or my body required a ton of energy to evolve. Either way, this worm gave me a ton of experience last time! It was time to eat! I sloppily crammed chunk after chunk of pink meat into my mouth. Ohhh! It tastes even better than before! My movements picked up velocity as I continued to swallow piece after piece. I must¡¯ve eaten twice as much as earlier before I started to feel full again. Makes sense. I¡¯m probably bigger. Things did feel¡ off. And after I¡¯d just gotten used to my other body. I guess when you are born as a dinosaur, these are the kinds of sacrifices you have to be willing to make. Being constantly confused by your own body is a bug that might never be patched. A shame, really. Okay! I thought, as I sat in the pile of meat, which, honestly, is not as gross as you might think. Not when you¡¯re a dinosaur, anyway. So where¡¯s the experience gain? I looked a slab of meat resting in my hand, peering through the darkness at it.

Giant Tree Worm Meat [Experienced]

This meat comes from a fearsome beast, capable of taking on some of the strongest monsters. It is possible to eat, but it is an acquired taste.

...Eh? Did that little tag next to the name, experienced, mean that once I¡¯d eaten that kind of food, I could no longer gain the massive amount of experience? What about skills? No¡ No! No! No! If I¡¯d known that, I¡¯d have searched for more mosquitoes before eating the worm meat! I wasted so much experience because my dino¡¯s level cap! No! I laid my head against the side of the mouth sadly. Guess I¡¯ll have to level up the hard way... 8: I Got Royally Screwed So why then, did I not get the experience from eating the mosquitoes. Were they simply too weak for me to eat with additional benefits? Ugh¡ I banged my head into the side of the worm. Splurt. It was starting to get gross to sit inside the dead worm. The heat I¡¯d felt when I first dived in was gone, and now I was just sitting in a cold and moist mouth. It was probably time to dip. I approached the opening to the worm¡¯s mouth, bending down to where the light bled in. Turning my head so my nostrils wouldn¡¯t press into the worm, and suppressing my sense of smell by holding my breath, I glanced out into the world. It must¡¯ve been the day after, because when I hid, dark was falling. But now, it was bright once more. At least that meant I could see better if there were any xaptors near by. I watched the small area outside the mouth for a few minutes, dipping away from the opening to breathe. No xaptors passed by. Had they left? Well if that was the case, then I¡¯d better take advantage of the opening. I ducked between the massive sharp teeth of the worm, taking care to scout more of the area as it became visible. Still no xaptors. The ground pulsed as I climbed out. Footsteps. Heavy ones. Swiftly, I grabbed as much meat as I could carry from the slices on the worm¡¯s side, and ran towards the woods. Crash! Crash! Crash! I dove to the brush and turned to see what monster had arrived. Sailboat himself stood above the worm, prodding it with one of his muscular arms. ¡°Skraaw!¡± came the familiar calls of the Deotrexaptors. Oh no, I thought. They¡¯re gonna face off! Seven Deotrexaptors came sprinting out of the undergrowth, crowding around the monstrous Sailboat. They hooted and clicked their teeth together as they ran around the massive lizard. I squinted at Sailboat, using my skill to observe him.

Djanak, Jungle God [Lvl ???]

Sailboat is a Jungle God?!?! Sailboat¡¯s head had been tilting up to roar, before suddenly, it snapped down in my direction, looking straight at the bush I hid within. ¡°GYAAAAOOOOOOHHHHH!!¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. His roar shook the ground, and the trees blew forcefully in the wind that emanated from him. I stumbled backwards as I tried to observe the ability.

[Observant] isn¡¯t a high enough level to obtain any details.

Great. The xaptors that had been running around Sailboat paused as he roared, and their heads all turned towards me. That was my cue to run. And run I did. I burst of the bush, in the opposite direction of the Jungle God. Evidently, the xaptors were not going to face off against Sailboat. In fact, they were probably working together! Must be nice to have a clan. I dodged low branches, jumping over large rocks, and avoiding anywhere I heard dino noises. I could hear the pack catching up behind me. I realized then how much larger I was. Previously, I¡¯d probably stood at three feet. Now, I think I stood at five. It made sense, since now I was actually able to touch the branches on the trees without jumping. And many of them I had to duck under. I was actually close to the height of the Deotrexaptors now. But they were still faster than me. Clicking echoed out behind me as they called for my blood. I ran only faster.

Your [Flee] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

I felt myself pick up speed a little bit at that message, but whether it was hope or an actual improvement, I didn¡¯t know. Snapping teeth bit near my tail. I could feel the hot breath of one of the xaptors as I vaulted over a boulder. How had Sailboat known where I was??

Your [Flee] has leveled up. It is now level 4.

I used my speed to slide underneath a tangle of branches, vines, and bushes. The agitated and angry calls shouted out in irritation as they stopped running to find their way around. I just kept sprinting as much as possible.

You''ve developed a new skill: [Slide Lvl 1].

If I tried to fight any of them, I¡¯d probably lose. They weren¡¯t babies, and they certainly weren¡¯t level one. I broke through the treeline as I stumbled away from my pursuers, and crashed into a brown pillar of muscle tipped with talons the size of my head. I fell to the ground, the extra meat spilling everywhere, and looked up into the glaring yellow eyes of what I could only imagine was another Jungle God. The head of the monster was nearly the size of Sailboat¡¯s. Without accurate metrics, there was no way for me to say for sure, but he must¡¯ve been a little bit shorter. Except this guy reminded me of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. He was brown, with black spots dotting his chest and head, giving him a sort of tribal hunter look. Two wicked and spiked horns sprouted from his skull, curling around his head like a deadly halo, and a thick white scar ran down the side of his face. His mouth was wet, dripping droplets of water down upon me, and he was the only one at the watering hole, at least until I¡¯d shown up. A fearsome thunder began in his bulky chest. As I stared at him in fear, the magical boxes lent me some clarity.

Rexcelsis, Chaotic Monarch [Lvl ???]

What kind of bad luck do I have to have to run into two of these titans in one day!? I didn¡¯t move, simply dooming myself to the whims of the behemoth before me. Then came the hooting and the clicking. Within seconds, I was encircled by the furious xaptors, as they glanced between the meat and me. I don¡¯t even know if they registered the giant behind some of them. They were so focused on me. Well, if I¡¯m going to die one way or another¡ Might as well go out fighting... 9: Kung Fu Dino Ninja Strikes Back! I Will Destroy Them All! Ignoring the burning instinct to flee, I leapt at the nearest xaptor, the one away from Rexcelsis, tackling it to the ground. I balled up my fist, and punched it on the nose. Chaos broke out. Hoots and clicking teeth sounded out. In the background, as blood rushed through my ears, I could hear a savage roar. While the xaptor was still dazed, I unloaded on it, slicing, biting, and punching it in the face. I grabbed its shoulders and raked my feet across its belly. Blue boxes filled my view, but I was too focused on taking somebody down with me to pay them any mind. The dino under me spasmed, and finally regained its wits, throwing me to the ground with a mighty shove. Then it leapt to its feet, prowling and growling while it clicked its teeth. I faced it, circling as observed it, keeping watch out of the corner of my eyes for its allies. I didn¡¯t see them, though, and let my focus remain on the enemy I was immediately facing.

Little Deotrexaptor [Lvl 13]

The xaptor charged me while I read the tag. I was in for an insanely unfair fight. It jumped into the air, grinning savagely at me. Daggerlike talons came for my face, and I quickly rolled to the side to dodge. As I stood up, a tail came whipping around through the air, slamming my jaw. I stumbled backwards, holding my bloodied face with one clawed hand. I charged it, slicing and snapping, but the xaptor danced away from me effortlessly, whapping me over and over with its tail as I recovered. My health ticked down, and I could detect the foul taste of blood in my mouth, like old coins. It was time to stop losing! I retreated away from the xaptor, deciding to pursue a new tactic. That¡¯s it. I thought. Time to get fancy. I raised my head to the sky and, in lieue of my usual battle cry, attempted to roar. It was better than before I¡¯d evolved, that was for sure. Then I charged the dino, dipping down to the ground and running my hands along the loose red dirt of the desertlike plains. Bet you never thought of¡ this! I reached the xaptor, and slid along the ground, throwing the dirt into its eyes. ¡°Skrraaaawwaaw!¡± it shouted in pain, as the dirt and small rocks dug into its eyes. That¡¯s what you get for being a dumb lizard! I delivered a fierce kick to its neck, my claws ripping deeper into the slice I¡¯d left there earlier. As the xaptor swung back blindly, I ducked, grabbing the hanging skin on its belly, and pulled!Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Riiiiiiiiip! Blood spurted like a fountain out of the wound, and the xaptor stumbled back, falling on its side as it reached towards its belly, eyes shut tight in pain. It¡¯s head rested on a rock jutting up from the dirt, trying hopelessly to stay the bleed. ¡°Skrreeeeh¡¡± it moaned. I didn¡¯t waste any time, slamming my strong leg down upon its head. Snap! The creature¡¯s neck broke against the rock, and its breathing finally stopped. I finally took a glance to read all the boxes filling my vision.

Your [Slam] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

You¡¯ve developed a new skill: [Punch Lvl 1]

Your [Punch] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Your [Claw] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Your [Bite] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Your [Claw] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

Your [Punch] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

Your [Claw] has leveled up. It is now level 4.

You¡¯ve developed a new skill: [Dirty Trick Lvl 1]

You¡¯ve developed a new skill: [Kick Lvl 1]

Your [Kick] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Your [Stomp] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

Your health is critical! [17/100]

You have received 1235 experience for killing [Little Deotrexaptor].

Congratulations! You have leveled up! X5

You are now level 6 [115/300]. Your [Health] and [Stamina] are restored.

I almost died. And I killed something. As I looked towards the dino I¡¯d slain, and saw its jaw hanging loosely from its skull, the blood oozing out across the dry ground, the dirt drinking thirstily, my heart pounded in my chest. I¡ killed something. I mean¡ it was life or death, right? So I shouldn¡¯t feel bad about it¡ right? I stood in shock over the victim of my murder, having forgotten about the other xaptors that had come with it. They¡¯d probably go into a blood fury now, and swiftly descend upon me, as I stood no chance to fight them. This was the end. I dropped to my knees, staring in horror at the creature I killed. It was like killing a dog. The beast was just doing what it thought it needed to do in order to survive. Or¡ was it? After all, the xaptors had pursued me across the forest, and out to the plains I¡¯d found only the day before. There was an entire truckload of food back there for them, and yet they¡¯d chased me down to kill me. All on Sailboat¡¯s orders, no doubt. I snarled. No dino would be killing me over something as greedy as food! Rage coursed through me, and I jumped to my feet, swirling back to face the rest of the xaptors. I might go down, but I was taking as many of those damnable things with me as possible! I roared, with vengeance and fury. And then I saw that there was nobody to roar at. Well, nobody I expected. The Deotrexaptors that had flocked around me were now laying in a row, their heads neatly severed from their bodies, and staring at the sky with empty eyes. No, there were no xaptors left for me to fight. One dinosaur remained. Rexcelsis, Chaotic Monarch sat, unperturbed by my roar, as he gazed down at me with a look upon his face. That... Was he¡ smirking? 10: Baths are for Chumps. Im a Chump. Two massive nostrils dipped down around me, sniffing me, before Rexcelsis pulled away, squinting. I probably smelled either disgusting or good. Or both. Hey, at least I didn¡¯t have to sweat! But I was warming up fast out here in the sun. As I turned to look around at my environment, a sudden force shoved me off my feet, sending me rolling. Rexcelsis stood, tail dripping, facing away from the watering hole. ¡ He splashed me. As he raised his tail to do it again I started shouting in my little dinosaur voice. ¡°Graa! Raaagaaa!¡± It wasn¡¯t really completely helpful. But Rexcelsis seemed to understand. He looked at his tail, then at the water. Then at me. And he raised his tail to swing it down again. I flinched, covering my face with my hands. Have you ever been shot by a hose while somebody covers the tip with their thumb to make the blast more powerful? Yeah? Well picture that, but times a hundred. I was rightfully spooked. Thunderous rumbling emanated from before me, and I slowly opened my eyes to look. Rexcelsis had dropped his tail and bursts of his deep voice were exiting his massive mouth. Are you¡ laughing? So, the Chaotic Monarch was a prankster¡ A drop of water rolled slowly on down my nose, finding its way into my mouth, and dripped onto my tongue. I¡¯m¡ so¡ thirsty! The realization hit me like a truck. I hadn¡¯t drank anything in two days! Sure, I¡¯d eaten meat, and had that delectable egg yolk, but really, I hadn¡¯t been drinking nearly as much as I would¡¯ve had I been sitting at my computer desk. Being fine going without water for so long was definitely a dinosaur thing, not a me thing, so keep that in mind, if you ever find yourself as a dino. I immediately plodded over to the watering hole, plunging my head beneath the surface and drinking deeply. I slaked my thirst while the cool water wrapped itself enticingly around my head. I wanted to go further into the water. It was almost like it was calling me. It felt so good to let go, and just fall in. Gulp. Sip. Gulp. I probably needed to breathe, but I didn¡¯t feel any indications of that in my chest. Instead, I heard a voice.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Hello there little baby!¡± It was a woman¡¯s voice. Soothing, and calling to me. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you like to come for a swim?¡± I took a step forward. Then another.

You are [Entranced]. You are attracted to the affector.

The box didn¡¯t stop me, though. I continued moving forward, my feet getting wet now, eyes closed as I pictured her. Maybe it was a friend of mine from highschool. I didn¡¯t have many, but the few I did I shared an unbreakable bond with. She didn¡¯t sound the same, but that didn¡¯t mean anything! ¡°Come on, baby, hop in the water and swim with me!¡± I opened my eyes happily, looking into the deep, and jumped into the water. The woman there was beautiful. She was the prettiest person I¡¯d ever seen. It was an inhuman perfection. And yet, somehow, she reminded me of my mother. Her blue eyes sparkled as she smiled wide at me, joy evident in her gaze. Silver locks of hair floated around her, shining in the light coming through the water. She wore a dress, green like seaweed. In fact, it might¡¯ve been made out of something like that. She laughed, turning to swim only a little deeper. I struggled to keep up. ¡°Come on baby! You¡¯re so adorable! Swim to me!¡± I kicked, starting to swim down. But something held me back. I recognized the feeling of my tail. It was the only dry part of my body now, and something held it. I kicked, flailed, wiggled, and pulled. But no matter what I did, my tail was stuck! ¡°Aw, poor baby!¡± the woman said sadly. ¡°Are you stuck on something? You can do it!¡± I kicked harder, pushing against the wall of rock that lined the drop into the deep. Still, no matter what I did, I couldn¡¯t break free. A puzzled look crossed the woman¡¯s face. It was cute. She swam up towards the water surface, concern clear in her pursed lips and frown. ¡°I¡¯ll get you free! Don¡¯t worry!¡± My eyes followed her form as she popped above the water, and my gaze widened. I needed to see her. I swam up to follow her, but my body wasn¡¯t made for swimming. My small hands didn¡¯t do much to propel me, but at least my long feet were useful, and kicking raised me slowly. As my head broke the surface, she gasped. I followed her horrified gaze, looking at something behind me. Glancing there, I saw the monstrous Rexcelsis was standing with a predatory grin, his foot clamped down on my tail. ¡°No!¡± the woman shouted, diving back under the water, a huge scaley tail flopping onto the pond''s surface. I blinked. First in surprise that she had such a pretty tail, and then in realization that she wasn¡¯t a human. Or a dinosaur. She was some kind of mixture!

You are no longer [Entranced].

Quickly, I observed her before she got to slip any further away.

Siren of the Watering Hole [Lvl ???]

The Chaotic Monarch¡¯s eyes glowed red, and two blasts of pure hot energy shot forth from his horns, piercing the water. Steam erupted from the pond, and I closed my eyes as the force of the explosion shot me back into the trunklike leg of the titan behind me. When I looked back to the water¡¯s surface, a steaming body floated upon it.

Siren of the Watering Hole [Corpse] Once a fiend capable of entrancing melodies that would enrapture many a victim, this beast changed tactics to exclusively prey upon babies that drank from the watering hole.

I glanced back at Rexcelsis, who seemed disgusted by the corpse, and was fishing it out of the water with his massive tail. As he removed the body, the siren''s own tail fully emerged from the water, like a serpent being dragged from its den. It was actually a pretty disgusting sight, covered in some sort of slime, and tipped with fins. Rexcelsis scooped up the corpse, and tossed it over to the line of xaptors, before he cleanly severed her head from her body with one sharp talon. Guess having this guy on my side isn¡¯t a bad idea... 11: Prehistoric Snack Attack Well, so I learned the hard way that sharing food is not something that comes naturally to giant dinosaurs that just so happen to maybe have become your friends, but most likely are just amused by your presence. I couldn¡¯t tell if Rexcelsis liked me or not, or if he kept me around for the sport. Anyway, I tried to eat some of the siren corpse, as gross as eating something kind of human is, but when I went to eat her, Rexcelsis roared. I was then promptly grabbed by one of his surprisingly strong arms, and tossed into the watering hole. Despite his arms looking small on his body, I realize now they¡¯re probably each at least seven feet long. That just puts in perspective how strong the rest of him is. I finally swam back to shore, which, by the way, is harder than you¡¯d think when your whole body is massive, your hands are thin little stick sprouts, and all you really have is two massive flipper-usable feet, and a tail that, I¡¯ll be honest, I¡¯m not entirely sure what I¡¯m supposed to do with. Anyway, when I finally got back to the shore, the titan was standing over the siren¡¯s body with two glowing horns. ¡°Raagaa!¡± I shouted. In my mind, I was shouting, telling him not to do anything, while sprinting towards him hopelessly. Then the red beams fired out of his horns, and I barely managed to catch an observation of them before I was blasted back to the ground, the siren¡¯s body evaporating entirely.

Your [Observant] has leveled up. It is now level 4.

Your [Observant] has leveled up. It is now level 5.

Nonparticulate Eradication [Skill Lvl ???]

What the hell was a Nonparticulate Eradication??? As I stood up to see if anything remained, the Chaotic Monarch was already tossing Deotrexaptor bodies into the air, swallowing them in a single gulp. Slurp! These things are like dino nuggets to him! I instantly changed course, dashing not to the charred mark on the ground that indicated where the siren¡¯s body had lain, but instead towards the single xaptor corpse that still had its head. The one I¡¯d killed, myself. But when I reached it¡ I just stood there¡ looking at the lifeless eyes staring into the sky. Could I really bring myself to eat this? This guy had been capable of thought. He¡¯d even had a life. He might¡¯ve had a family. Then again, that family might¡¯ve just been slaughtered by Grandpa Greedy over here. And it¡¯s not like I wasn¡¯t attacking him in self-defense, right? That¡¯s right. He¡¯d provoked me. He¡¯d forced my hand--claw¡ whatever. I steeled myself as my stomach turned over inside me. The stomping behind me indicated Rexcelsis had probably finished with his dino nuggets. A glance over my shoulder confirmed it. Though he¡¯d left the heads sitting nicely in a row. Savage¡ Two more steps and he was behind me, bending down now. I could feel his breath on my back. I closed my eyes, reaching out, and biting into the creature I¡¯d killed. Sorry¡ Hey, at least the discussion with his family could be entertaining. ¡°Well, yes, Mrs. Deotrexaptor, while I did kill your child, and I guess, technically, it was in cold-blood, I had a reason!¡± These kinds of thoughts got me through the chewing on my enemy. By the way, if you ever end up a dino, don¡¯t try to chew your food. It¡¯s a weird and uncomfortable experience. After I¡¯d swallowed, taken another bite, and finished that one too, I glanced behind me towards the megasaurus. He was no longer hovering over me, instead watching boredly next to his line of heads. Wait, was it¡ a bit longer than before? I turned back to the corpse before me and¡ yeah, he took the head of this one, too. I observed the creature while I consumed more of it.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Gimme something to read, magic boxes!

Deotrexaptor [Corpse]

The body of a creature that operated as a fiercesome pack hunter. Together with its packmates, it could take down enemies of considerable strength. Alone, this sorry dinosaur didn¡¯t stand a chance.

Also it¡¯s headless¡ I added, swallowing more meat. I felt kind of guilty that the box said he didn''t stand a chance. He''d put up a good fight! I cracked my jaw as I swallowed, tasting a bit of the blood that was in my mouth from the earlier fight.

Your [Feast] has leveled up. It is now level 4.

You¡¯ve developed a new skill: [Leap Strike Lvl 1]

You have developed your social skills. Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the [Pack Mentality] instinct. [Pack Mentality]- When with allies, reactions are faster and you are less susceptible to crowd control effects.

You¡¯ve gained 110 experience.

So much for the five-hundred experience the worm gave me¡ I guessed I¡¯d have to eat more of those ¡°Lvl ???¡± monsters for those kinds of insane buffs. Still¡ this much experience was still beneficial. After all, it put me most of the way to level seven. Magic boxes! Status, please¡

Baby Dino (F)

Level:	6 [225/300]
Health:	200/200
Stamina:	103/120

Traits

Guided Evolution

[Lvl ---]

Skills

Bite	[Lvl 2]
Claw	[Lvl 4]
Flee	[Lvl 4]
Stomp	[Lvl 3]
Climb	[Lvl 1]
Sneak	[Lvl 2]
Feast	[Lvl 4]
Dig	[Lvl 1]
Slam	[Lvl 2]
Corpse Hatching	[Lvl 1]
Punch	[Lvl 3]
Dirty Trick	[Lvl 1]
Kick	[Lvl 2]
Leap Strike	[Lvl 1]

Instincts

Fight or Flight	[Lvl 2]
Freeze	[Lvl 2]
Fearful Flight	[Lvl 2]
Observant	[Lvl 5]
Nocturnal	[Lvl 2]
Risky Business	[Lvl 1]
Pack Mentality	[Lvl 1]

Hmm. Not too bad. Especially since I know nothing about what¡¯s comparably ¡°good¡± in this world! I assume Rex over here and Sailboat back there are exceptions to the rule, but still, there are probably some wayyy stronger dinosaurs out there than me¡ I knew what I was going to do next. The next thing on my to-do list, now that things had calmed down¡ was grinding! Hmm¡ I idly thought. Wonder if Rex would let me leech experience off him¡ Does power-leveling work in this world? I looked over at the titan. He looked back at me with a calculating gaze. The intelligence behind those yellow eyes sent chills down my spine. Come to think of it, that might be a dangerous request.... 12: I Could Really Go for Some Hot Wings! Rex didn¡¯t hang around for very long. After watching me eat my fill of the xaptor I¡¯d slain, he tossed the bleeding corpse into the air and swallowed the rest whole, leaving his line of heads behind to rot in the sun. Nasty¡ Then my titanic friend smacked me over the head with his massive tail, knocking me to the ground, and with steps that shook the ground, wandered away. I tried to follow, but the tiny reach of my legs compared to his ginormous ones just made keeping up with him exhausting, and eventually, I had to stop running. I was out of stamina. And Rexcelcis was gone. I watched him fade into the distance of the plain for a while before dropping my head to the ground, staring into the bright noon sky. What a beautiful blue¡ A shadow crossed my vision as I watched large flying creatures sail past above me. I reached a clawed hand out towards them. Flight¡ that would be nice. A flash in the air. Wings that were only just flapping down fell to the earth nearby, completely severed from the creature they¡¯d been attached to. A scream from the creature that hovered in the air for only a moment more, before it too plummeted to the ground. Just before it hit, a scaled monstrosity the size of a fighter jet swooped by, the force of the winds that followed blowing dirt and grass into my eyes. I blinked it away to see that the group of similar creatures, Pterocelaurs, apparently, had scattered. They flapped desperately in all directions, and I glanced around for the hunter I¡¯d seen take one out of the sky. It was nowhere to be found. Well, I thought as I stood up and blinked away the rest of the debris in my eyes. That¡¯s all the signal I needed that it¡¯s time to go. I began my hike back to the woods, intent on finding another one of those brush dens to sleep safely within, when something caught my attention from the corner of my eye. The wings¡ A furtive look around confirmed that there were no predators nearby that seemed interested, only some long-necked dinosaurs skirting the sparse treetops for food, and a pack of something that might¡¯ve been Deotrexaptors running in the distance, kicking up a cloud of dust. I observed the long-necks as I walked to pick up the wings.

Vronterasaur of the Plains [Lvl ???]

They were impressive, huge creatures that were the equal of Sailboat in size, even bigger if you counted their necks. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Things just keep getting crazier around here¡ I grabbed the wings, glad to see no other dinosaurs were approaching the area, perhaps due to the recent presence of the Chaotic Monarch. Maybe he¡¯d be back to the watering hole. I¡¯d just have to find a spot to set up nearby. I feel kind of used, though¡ He¡¯d just enjoyed some free snacks on my behalf, and slaughtered that siren. Well, since he did it like that, perhaps he was actually saving me? I couldn¡¯t reason any other possiblity that a creature that strong would kill a siren just to obliterate her body. I shrugged. The machinations of mega-monsters were beyond me. I hauled the wings towards where the trees began near the watering hole, and by the way, they were a lot heavier than I expected, considering birds are supposed to have thin bones and all. But I guess these things weren¡¯t birds, after all. They were dinosaurs¡ Finally, after dragging the things through the dirt and brown grass for what felt like an eternity (perhaps I had to regenerate some stamina and so it became harder at times. I should¡¯ve checked, but it only occured to me later.), I reached the woods, dropping the wings on the ground to go in search of a temporary den for myself. Alright¡ I thought, a little apprehensive of returning to the place that was the source of the Deotrexaptors that had pursued me. At least I wouldn¡¯t be going too deep in¡ I really would rather stay closer to the destructive dino I knew was at least sparing of me on a whim. Trying my luck with Sailboat was not on my agenda. In fact, it was a huge risk I was unwilling to take. But sleeping in the open wasn¡¯t going to make me feel any safer so, inhaling deeply, I proceeded into the outside of the jungly woods. Time to find a place to sleep. I pushed my way through the undergrowth, looking for another of the massive bushes I¡¯d found before. But it seemed that everything in the area was thinner than if I were to proceed back to my egg, a few miles in. I passed by a massive boulder that reminded me of Rexcelsis'' head and stepped cautiously over a low, thorny bush, down onto a patch of soft leaves. Well¡ what I thought was a patch of soft leaves, anyway. My weight was already commit to the forward foot, and as the leaves collapsed around me, I could only think that this was how I¡¯d go out. I didn¡¯t want to die falling into a pit. My toe caught on a jutting edge of the pit, and my body swung around, as I landed on my belly, sliding down a decline that wasn¡¯t uncomfortably steep. As I sat at the bottom in a heap, I looked back up to the top of the pit, which had been covered back up by the leaves. From the outside, they shielded the view of the opening from sight, but the leaves were transparent enough that they let light flood in, illuminating the dark area around me. I sat in the middle of an empty cave, with no traces of life, and as I sniffed the air, no traces of death, either. I tried something new, observing the area.

Cave

This area is a cave. Certain types of creatures like to live within them.

Very helpful¡ I thought sarcastically. There needed to be some exploring, of course, and I could definitely decorate the interior so it wasn¡¯t so¡ empty, but all in all, this place could really shine! It would make for a nice home base! Though¡ that was provided I could remember how to get to it. But, a hidden entrance, eh? I could definitely live with this becoming like my very own private club--ahem--guildhouse. ... No guild, but... Have I just stumbled into my very own Dino Cave? 13: What is a Gorlen? Well, fortunately, I managed to find my way out and back to retrieve the wings. They hadn¡¯t been touched, so I got them safely back to my new Dino Cave. The night vision I¡¯d developed helped out a bit, too, because the further back into the cave I went, the smaller and darker it got, until I was crawling to see further. There was a point where I couldn¡¯t see anything except the wall, which was strange that the cave simply stopped like it did. But, at least it was empty.

Your [Nocturnal] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

That was a plus of straining to see in the darkness. Anyway, with my luck of meeting these titanic dinos in the overworld, I really didn¡¯t want to stray out at night and chance meeting something worse. Sailboat was already enough of a problem. Then there was also whatever that massive flying creature was¡ From the glimpse I¡¯d gotten, I could see that it was covered in spikes, which¡ really didn¡¯t make sense for a flier. Maybe it got around by gliding¡ It was so fast... But where had it gone? I wasn¡¯t going to let these questions keep me from having a good night¡¯s sleep, so I returned to the large chamber in the front of the cave, where I¡¯d dragged all sorts of things in from above. The wings, which sat in the far corner of the room, were covered by large leaves from some sort of plant that grew near the water, just so I could hopefully prevent flies or whatever they might attract. And hey, leaf me alone. I don¡¯t know anything about meat preservation. I¡¯m just lucky I¡¯ve got an adaptable enough personality to have survived this long. Bad jokes aside, the bed I made for myself was as much dirt as I could kick down here with my long talons as possible, topped by a bunch of grass that I¡¯d collected from the area around the watering hole. It resembled a bird¡¯s nest. Overall, not too bad of an attempt, if I do say so myself. Hey, if you¡¯re gonna be a dino, then you¡¯re gonna need a nest, right? Meet your new tutor: me! Welcome to JurassicClass. In this month of video tutorials, you¡¯ll be able to learn everything there is to know about being an absolutely gangsta dino! Just kidding. No videos. Sorry. I shook my head. I needed to stop speaking to the imaginary friends I¡¯d developed ever since arriving here with no ability to talk. Let me tell you, no matter how introverted you think you are, being social is a fundamental part of human nature, and it is lonely to be¡ well, alone! Encountering Rexcelsis had been cool, and relieved those gnawing thoughts a bit, but the language barrier, or speech barrier I guess, made it hard to appreciate his company. And also, he left. But again, I wasn¡¯t going to let these thoughts keep me from a good night¡¯s sleep. Routine is necessary to keep oneself mentally grounded, and I was keen on keeping to a healthy sleep schedule. I stepped onto my bed, doing a half-turn as I found a good position, and laid down to rest. And I was out faster than my head could hit the pillowy dirt.

Your [Sneak] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Blue boxes whyyy¡. I sluggishly blinked away the sleepiness as I woke up to the blinding light of the magic box. The room was blacker than obsidian. Apparently, even in my sleep, the boxes could bother me. That could get annoying. I had no idea how the box woke me up, but it did. I dismissed the blue annoyance, and looked around, my brain slowly picking back up to normal operating speed. I felt slow. It was probably the effect of being interrupted in my sleep. Wait¡ I realized, as I lay there, coming back to my senses. How did my sneak just level up? This question made me snap my eyes wide open. Blood rushed through me, pumping loudly in my ears. I slowly peered around in the darkness, listening carefully, and keeping my breathing steady. Muffled scratches, crunches, and liquidy slaps quietly reached my ears. I turned my head to the sounds, squinting hard as I tried to see what was making them. Was there a shape over there, in the dark corner of the room? Maybe? I glanced at it out of the corner of my eye, something that used to work for me when getting around my house at night. There was definitely a round shape over there. It was only moving a little bit.

Your [Nocturnal] has leveled up. It is now level 4.

I could see better through the dark. A ball of fur was hunched over, its shoulders moving, but little else doing so. I tried observing it through the dark.

Gorlen [Lvl 3]

Your [Observant] has leveled up. It is now level 6. You may now obtain more advanced details of targets, provided they are a low enough level for you to do so.

Before I even read the second box, I realized what it was doing. It was eating. Hey! ¡°Grrraaagaa!¡± the pitiful roar left my chest before I could even realize I was doing it. I jumped to my feet, sprinting over to the rotund ball of fur, and pulled it away from the wings, sending it rolling across the floor. I gazed in dismay at what was left. Only a single wing remained, the bones of the other discarded to the side. And what was left of the wing wasn¡¯t much. Half of it was eaten, and puddles of drool surrounded it. I turned angrily to the offender. ¡°Raaaa!¡± I shouted, glaring at the thief. I wasn¡¯t going to kill him, since after all, he hadn¡¯t attacked me, but he was certainly going to pay for eating what I had hoped to get some skills from. Maybe I¡¯d slap him around a little bit with my tail. Heh. I could always grind some abilities on him. Then I realized he wasn¡¯t in an attacking stance. Long-clawed hands, similar to those on an anteater, tipped his long furry arms, pressed firmly against the top of his head. Two big, black eyes gazed fearfully at me in the dark, reflecting what little moonlight pierced the entrance to the cave. He trembled, high pitched squeaks leaving him in spurts while he crouched in an even more condensed ball than before. His stubby black toes peeked out from underneath his shaking fur. He was only three feet tall. And he was terrified. Aww. I observed him once more, reading now that I could obtain additional information on creatures. Maybe it would work on him.

Gorlen [Lvl 3]

This creature is a scavenger that prefers to live in caves. During the day, it sleeps, blending into dark surroundings with a build maximized for dispersing light that may cross its body. A Gorlen will often follow the hunting trails of apex predators, picking at leftovers they leave behind. Very intelligent, but very cowardly.

Wow. That was¡ a lot of information. Going off of what the box said, this guy was probably the reason the wall just ended so abruptly when I explored earlier. So he¡¯d been living here first. Well, I couldn¡¯t exactly kick him out, could I? My dominant stance sunk a little, and I turned to the leftovers of the wing. I glared at the gorlen. I¡¯d better be able to get something out of this! Disgusted, I picked up the dripping appendage, and ripped off what little meat there was, making sure the furry guy saw me doing it. Two stubby ears perked up as he watched me, and the fear left his eyes, pure sorrow replacing it. He reached out, before pulling his hand away, and lowering his gaze to the floor. That¡¯s right, I thought. This is mine, thug. 14: Im a Fast Learner The gorlen seemed confused when I settled myself back into the nest. He shuffled away slowly, and I watched him for a bit through an open eye, straining to see his outline. Eventually, I guess he got up the courage to move again, cause he dashed for the exit of the cave with a sort of rapid shuffling movement. Buh. Bye. I closed my eye and went back to sleep and, thankfully, none of the boxes interrupted me this time. Day broke and I woke to a pleasant breeze drifting in through the opening of the cave, bringing with it the scents of the outdoors. Pro tip, by the way. If you¡¯ve never gone camping, cause I certainly never did, you should. Nature feels¡ different. It smells clean, crisp, and beautiful. And the sights are relaxing, provided you aren¡¯t being chased by a megasaurus, or anything. Yeah, come to think of it, if this world didn¡¯t have any of the dinosaurs it did, I¡¯d feel very comfortable just resting in the woods and overloading my senses with nature¡¯s glory. I sighed contentedly, resting on my comfortable dirt and grass bed, stretching my body out as much as I could. You know¡ This is the life¡ A brief moment of panic overran me as I worried about whether or not that thought was going to bring some bad juju. But as I lay there, looking around the chamber, nothing bad happened. Phew¡ Guess it was time to go. As I began my walk up the incline, my talons tap-tapping on the stone, splashes reached my ear. I cocked my head at the sounds. Perhaps the Chaotic Monarch had returned? I exited the cave, pushing through the leaves into the woods near the watering hold. Looking around to see if anything had observed me exiting my new hiding place, and feeling satisfied nothing had, I made my way towards the break in the trees. Laughter reached my ears and I immediately froze. That sound¡ wasn¡¯t like Rex¡¯s laughter, when he¡¯d been splashing me. No. That was human. Or at least, as close to human as I¡¯d likely hear in this world. Maybe it was a monkey or something similar? But did monkeys even exist when dinosaurs did? I ducked behind a tree and peered around it towards the watering hole. My jaw dropped at what I saw. Standing there, before the watering hole, was a human girl. Splash! ¡°Ah!¡± Gasped the beautiful blonde girl, dressed in what I could best describe as a green fantasy-bikini. Weird description, I know, but it definitely wasn¡¯t a normal material. Anyway, there was a handsome shirtless guy with brown hair splashing her with water from inside the pond.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Jigur dath!¡± he shouted back, laughing. ¡°Der vatten treen!¡± What? The language¡ Did it mean anything? ¡°Na!¡± the girl shouted back. ¡°Ter shak!¡± I shook my head, puzzled. The only thing I could imagine the two saying in this situation was ¡°Jump in, the water¡¯s fine¡± or something like that. And obviously the girl was having none of it. Since when are there people here? My thoughts were interrupted by the familiar blue boxes.

Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned a new language: [Yatten Lvl 1]. [Yatten Lvl 1]- Slight comprehension of spoken Yatten.

I blinked. That definitely wasn¡¯t a language I was familiar with. Certainly nothing from my world. What were these two doing here? Didn¡¯t they know there were massive dinos around? Did they not care? Were they brought here from another world like me? I watched them for a few minutes as the girl deftly dodged most of the splashes of water before a shout from the woods near me sent me leaping into the air. A burly man dressed in leather armor came rushing out of the woods, a fat sack, tied closed at the top, resting over his shoulder like Santa. Unlike Santa, though, were the countless blades that hung from straps across his body. Thick, sharp knives adorned his legs, and a heavy mace hung under his waist. A bow was slung over his other shoulder, the quiver hanging beside the mace, and a thick, weighted net hung from the other hip. His shocking black hair grew upwards lushly. I got the gist of their conversation, even if I didn¡¯t know the words. Behold, my rough translation: The new guy gestured at the man in the pond with his thumb. ¡°What are you idiots doing? Get out!¡± The brunette guy¡¯s face grew sour. ¡°But we brought our bathing suits!¡± He pointed towards the girl who stood near the water, drying off the splashes of water. ¡°I don¡¯t care!¡± replied the dangerous-looking guy. ¡°Out!¡± He tossed the bag to the ground, and a squeal burst out of it when it dropped.

Your comprehension of [Yatten] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

¡°Get your stuff!¡± The burly man shouted at the others, before looking around the area, scanning for something. I guessed he was probably on the lookout for any dinosaurs or giant worms in the vicinity. Finally, I rememberd to employ my skills, and observed the trio.

Barlan, Yatten Squire [Lvl 9]

That was the guy swimming in the pond, splashing the girl again to her dismay, laughing as she gasped at the cold.

Shella, Yatten Squire [Lvl 11]

She was the girl, standing with a pout on her face as she wrung out her hair over the ground.

Sir Grenzer, the Unbent [Lvl ???]

Damnit. Yet another ¡°Lvl ???¡± entity. And to make it worse, I couldn¡¯t see any information about the three besides their names. Grenzer continued to scold the other two as he virtually yanked the guy out of the pond by his hair, before carefully peering into the deeps. He followed them around to the other side of the pond, watching as they dug through the large leaves, pulling out bags and pieces of armor. A clawed hand poked itself halfway out of the thick sack Grenzer had tossed to the ground, reaching around for something, but the effort was futile. Damnit¡ I thought again. That wasn¡¯t just any clawed hand. That was a clawed hand that I recognized. 15: Im Getting Coal for Christmas There was a point in time where I would¡¯ve considered myself generally safe around humans. In fact, any point in time that I needed to leave my house, I walked through crowds of them. I rode buses filled with them, and stood with them to my front and back in long lines. I blended in, never more than a face in a crowd. Not really an individual, and no threat to anyone. The concept of humanity protected me, and I, in turn, protected it. The only thing I would¡¯ve ever been concerned about from other humans, unless they displayed a personaltiy which particularly bothered me, were rare things like the flu. So pretty much, no risk to being around other people. However, I wasn¡¯t so sure these three people would see me in that ¡°perfect stranger¡± kind of way. Especially not when I was a killer reptile with teeth the size of a middle finger. Heh. If that¡¯s the case, if I were to snarl, is that like flipping someone off? Anyway, looking at the situation, there weren¡¯t really many options. I mean, I could always abandon the sad sack of fur that was currently trapped in Santa¡¯s black bag. But¡ the Gorlen was kind of cute, in a scared animal kind of way. And he hadn¡¯t done anything wrong. Plus, if the humans wanted to eat something, they could go find a Deotrexaptor or something. I¡¯m sure that scary-looking guy could handle a couple. Hmm. The Deotrexaptors¡ What are they up to right now? With the current levels of those three humans, there was no way I was going to stand a chance against them. Maybe I beat the brunette guy, but I don¡¯t think I could fight a level nine and a level eleven. That¡¯s not even accounting for Savage Santa over there. The clawed hand grasped desperately around the outside of the leather bag, muffled whining escaping the hole. I drummed the dirt with my two upright talons. Moving them was coming easier now, anyway, so that was a plus. Well. There wasn¡¯t much else to do. I took a deep breath, gathering my courage. Then I sprinted out into the opening, heading directly for the black bag. Tap tap tap tap. My feet slapped against the dirt, my head leaning so far forward I felt like I was going to fall over.

You¡¯ve developed a new skill: [Sprint Lvl 1]

I didn¡¯t let the box distract me, watching as my stamina rapidly fell. 120¡ 110¡ 100¡ I was almost to the bag. There was no way I¡¯d be able to haul the little guy out of there, but maybe we could sneak away while the two squires donned their armor. ¡°Hey!¡± It was not to be. Savage Santa charged shoved a gauntlet into the other guy¡¯s--Barlan¡¯s-- chest. Then he sprinted at me. Great. It¡¯s okay, I reasoned. He has to make it around the pond first. I¡¯ll have enough time to free this guy and maybe distract-- Ah! A whistling sound followed by a thunk on the ground to my left announced the arrival of one of Santa¡¯s massive knives. Did he just throw that at me?! A careful observation of the man confirmed that, yes, he did. He¡¯d already unsheathed and readied another knife, taking aim and hurling it at me. I jumped to the side, the knife whistling over my head. My stamina was at 90 now... I might¡¯ve just sentenced myself¡ This man continued to hurl knives as I reached the bag, slicing the rope around the top with my talon. Two black eyes gazed up at me through the opening and I kicked him a little bit, indicating with my head that he needed to leave.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Get busy moving, or get busy dying, gorlen! The little furball started to climb out of the bag, and I turned to look at my attacker. Thunk! A wicked blade landed between my feet, this one longer and thinner, with a sickening bend throughout the weapon, like a snake. I turned to the man sprinting towards us, almost upon us now. I turned to him, baring my teeth and waving my tail in the air. I don¡¯t want your toys, Santa! I¡¯ve been a bad dino this year! ¡°Graaaagaa!¡± Yeah¡ FYI, if you¡¯re going to try to make a witty remark in battle, don¡¯t do it as a dinosaur. ¡°No!¡± he shouted, arriving next to me, and unslinging his mace. I tried to slap him with my tail, but he bashed it away with the mace. ¡°Raaaough!¡± I roared, as shock ran up my spine, leaving my tail numb.

You¡¯ve been [Crippled]. Your attacks with the [Crippled] limb will be 70% less effective.

Your health is near critical! [67/200]

What! Pins and needles ran throughout my body. He did so much damage, with just a single swing! Is this is what a [Lvl ???] can do?!? I jumped to the side as Savage Santa swung at me again, and prepared to run for my life. Then I noticed the burly man wasn¡¯t focusing on me. He dashed beyond me, and as I turned to see why, I noticed he was following the exact path of the Gorlen, who shuffled quickly towards the woods. But not quick enough. The distance between them grew ever smaller, and as I prepared to give chase, two more voices cried out. ¡°Sir Grenzer!¡± Barlan called out, closing the distance to my position quickly. Shella stopped in place as she looked at me.

Your comprehension of [Yatten] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

¡°What kind of beast is that?!¡± Barlan stopped in front of me, drawing a standard sword, and holding it out before me. ¡°It¡¯s a baby... ¡° he answered, breathing heavily. ¡°It¡¯s a baby¡ uh¡ It¡¯s a baby!¡± I immediately turned, sprinting in the other direction, towards Santa and the gorlen. 80 stamina left. ¡°Hey!¡± Barlan called out, sheathing his sword to pursue. Shella started running again, but I was leaving them in the dust. It seemed only the knight was fast. Maybe it was the armor.

Your [Sprint] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Miraculously, I caught up to the black-haired menace, using the new skill I¡¯d learned from consuming the Deotrexaptor.

Your [Leap Strike] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

My talons wrapped around Santa¡¯s shoulders, my weight fully pressing against him as I rode him to the ground. ¡°Agh!¡± he yelled as his face slammed into the dirt, his hands splaying outwards. ¡°Saravani¡¯s claw that hurts!¡± He shoved against the ground in a push-up, regaining his bearings. But I was already sprinting away towards the woods, swiftly gaining on the shuffling gorlen. 70 stamina. 60. I didn''t know if I could make it. My spine was still numb, but it didn¡¯t stop the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I reached down to the three foot furball, and grasped his fur in my teeth. He squealed. Sorry guy, you¡¯re gonna have to handle this for a bit. ¡°Get back here, you thieving swine!¡± Schlack! ¡ What? Suddenly, the ground was coming up towards me. Pain erupted from my side, as the small knife sticking into it jammed into the ground.

Your health is critical! [32/200]

He¡¯d finally hit me with one of the knives. I gasped, grasping it in my jaws, and ripped it out, spitting it to the side. I moaned through the pain, but I could only think about how I was going to die if I didn¡¯t get away. I scooped up the gorlen who¡¯d fallen in a heap underneath me, and sprinted into the woods. 40 stamina left.

You are [Bleeding].

No duh, I sarcastically thought to the boxes as I winced in pain. Just gotta get to the¡ cave¡ I couldn¡¯t feel much anymore, my senses dulling as my wound bled. 30 stamina.... 20... 10... I managed to find the giant boulder that resembled Rexcelsis¡¯ head. Man if only he was here. Stumbling, I crashed to the ground, falling through the leaves, and sliding down the slope, the gorlen rolling away into the cave with a whimper. No stamina left. Not much health either. A blazing 21 greeted me as I glanced at the magic boxes. I was going to die. With the little energy I could muster, I pulled myself around to face the entrance of the cave. I tried to keep my eyes open as I moaned, but they were so heavy. I stared up towards the leaves, my last glimpse of nature as my eyes closed. 16: Visions of Dinos Danced in my Head Owwwww¡ Tender taps across my body inflicted pain without even trying to. I moaned, rolling my head to the side to see where I was. Darkness. And I couldn¡¯t see through it. Instead, I drifted aimlessly amongst it, feeling it swirl over and around me, even through me at times. I woke up again. Now my body was hot. I shifted feverishly. The tender taps continued their touching, but my belly stung with a fierce pain that crawled through me. My mouth opened, and liquid flowed down my throat. I struggled to open one of my eyes, clenched tight in pain, and saw only blurs. Then the darkness consumed me again. For what felt like hours, I drifted in and out of consciousness, in and out of pain. Each time I woke, the taps would continue, and each time I slept, the darkness would absorb me. I saw a light in the dark, a massive red blast. A high-pitched scream of pain, and the face of the siren danced before me, melting and turning to ash. Beyond her, the predatory grin of Rexcelsis sucked me towards him. He opened his mouth, chomping down on my body. Pain erupted once more in my stomach, and as I tried to move, throughout my whole body. I looked around to see that Rex had disappeared. ¡°Ho ho ho!¡± called a jovial voice. ¡°Santa?¡± I asked, turning towards the source. Sir Grenzer rode a sleigh pulled by his two squires, with his black bag slung over his shoulder. ¡°You¡¯ve been a bad dinosaur!¡± he said, a smile cresting his rosy cheeks. Schlack! A knife pierced my stomach. ¡°Aaaagh!¡± I screamed, falling to the black ground in pain. I grasped at the injury, but couldn¡¯t find the weapon, only my hands came away covered in blood. As I watched, the blood dripped down my hands, coating my palms, wrists, then arms in it. It climbed up my biceps to my shoulders, washing over my chest and up my neck. As the wetness crawled into my mouth, my hands began to change before my eyes. Savage tips shot out of my fingers, black talons replacing my nails. The blood seeped into my skin, leaving behind only scales. I was changing. I screamed in horror, turning to run, but the blood didn¡¯t care where I went. As I stepped, my leg changed, sending me sprawling to the ground, the dark blinding me. The scent of blood clouded my nose, and I blinked, now seeing a corpse laying before me. A Deotrexaptor corpse lay on the ground, blood flooding out towards me.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. My stomach grumbled, and I opened my mouth wide, tearing a massive bite from the creature¡¯s stomach. As I chewed, the texture in my mouth rapidly changed. Now I was crunching, not chewing, and a point dug into my gum. I spit out the remaining food, white pieces of bone flying out. Dinosaur skeletons, like those you¡¯d see in a museum, climbed out of my mouth, doing battle on the ground. Then they turned to me, growing in size until they dwarfed me, and charged. Mammoth feet came crashing down from above. I screamed, waking up, my eyes bursting open wide, my breathing rapid. I looked around, seeing nothing in the empty cave I thought I¡¯d died within, not even dried blood on the ground. Before me rested a chunk of unidentifiable meat, and a crude bowl of water made of woven leaves. Then I realized I was starving. Slowly, I stretched my stiff neck to reach for the meat, swallowing it in a single bit. My throat was a desert, and I quickly reached out with my tongue to slurp down some of the water. It was hard to drink as a dinosaur. But I managed to slurp enough water from the bowl that my thirst was quelled. Who could¡¯ve possibly taken care of me? I doubted it was one of the humans. After all, they¡¯d tried to kill me. I couldn¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t die. My attention turned to the list of things that had apparently happened while I was asleep.

Your [Health] is critical! [11/200]

You are near death!!! [1/200]

You have ingested [Crude Health Packet].

Your [Health] is critical! [16/200]

You are [Bleeding].

You have applied [Crude Medicine].

Your [Health] is critical! [33/200]

You are [Bleeding].

You are no longer [Bleeding].

Your [Health] is critical! [9/200]

You have ingested [Crude Health Packet].

Your [Health] is critical! [24/200]

You are no longer [Crippled]

You have ingested [Crude Health Packet].

Your [Health] is critical! [60/200]

Your [Health] is no longer critical. [61/200]

So¡ that kind of explained everything. I must¡¯ve been treated by somebody almost immediately after passing out. There was no other way I could¡¯ve survived. And this person was capable of making or stealing health packets¡ Were those like potions? Bleeding certainly did a lot of damage, too, but it seemed as though after that effect passed, I was able to regenerate health on my own. I thanked my lucky stars whoever this person was that had saved me was around at the time. As my eyes grew heavy, I let myself rest, with the vague sense of being uncomfortable because there was somebody I didn¡¯t know nearby, treating my wounds. And as I let my eyelids close, I took notice of the chamber. It was much cleaner than I¡¯d left it, with bones and leaves splayed about. Was there¡ even a chair now? It wasn¡¯t that important, I reasoned, as I let the darkness take me once again. Yes, I needed to rest. Rest and recover. And then I can worry about my caretaker¡¯s identity. Hopefully I was safe from Savage Santa, though. The image of his grinning face danced in my mind, as the two squires pulled his sleigh, whipmarks carved across their backs. I shook my head to clear the thoughts. There were better things to think about, surely? Yeah¡ Like my gaming monitor¡ 4k resolution¡ 40¡± screen¡ curves in all the right places¡ And with those peaceful thoughts, I drifted back to sleep. 17: A Fair Face I breathed in, a stench waking me from my comfortable sleep. I shook my head to clear it, something tickling my nose, and sneezed. I opened my eyes to see what the offending particle was. A ball of fur sat in front of me. Tucked neatly up into a fluffy ball, and pressed against my chest, was the gorlen. The fading light coming in through the leaves hit his body, barely illuminating the dark fur. Light snores came from him as his chest rose and fell. He was snoozin¡¯. I couldn¡¯t help but smile a little as I watched him. Then I breathed in the stench once more. Ick! I pushed away from the gorlen, sliding off my nest and across the stone floor a bit. A light giggle sounded out from behind me, and I twisted my head in surprise to look. There, sitting on the chair, which I could now see was made out of woven sticks and roots, was a girl. Locks of lucious green hair cascaded down from her head, interwoven with feathers, flowers, and jewels. Her blue eyes sparkled in the dim light, her radiant smile warming my heart. She wore a white dress, trimmed with silver lining, cinched around her waist, but hanging freely over the chair¡¯s end. She had one pale leg resting over another, swinging a naked foot playfully. Then I frowned. Who was this? She giggled again, probably because my confused expression didn¡¯t suit a giant lizard very well. [I can see why she likes you!] Woah. Was that in my head? Her mouth didn¡¯t move, but I heard a voice, happy and pure. Did she just use telepathy or something? And¡ she?!? The gorlen is a female?? The girl¡¯s smile grew wider, and I heard the voice once again. [Yes, she.] Her expression changed to one of curiousity. [I was intrigued when she came to me begging for help. And for a predator that would normally eat her, no less!] There was no way she just read my mind. If that was the case, then¡ I slammed my eyes shut hard. Don¡¯t think about the hard drive! Don¡¯t think about the hard drive! Her melodious laughter rang out again. [No need to worry, virtuous one, I cannot read your mind. Only your emotions.] My shoulders sank in relief as I glanced back to her. [You are¡ not like others of your kind, are you?] She stood up, her bare feet tapping on the floor as she walked to me. She crouched down to where I lay on the floor, pressing her hands lightly across my body, first down my spine, and then, under my belly where the knife had pierced.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. [It seems you¡¯ve recovered completely! Then,] she said, turning towards the exit. [My job here is done. See you around, virtuous one.] I grumbled a little bit, not wanting her to leave. ¡°Raag.¡± She spun back to me, her lips pressed together into a playful smile. Who are you? I thought, not sure if she would understand my curious gaze. I observed her with my skill.

Elder Nature Spirit [Lvl ???]

She brought a hand to her chest. [Me?] I nodded. She paused, thinking to herself. [Didn''t you just see for yourself?] She coyly asked, before continuing. [Well¡ I¡¯m sure I had a name once, but that¡¯s been lost to me. I am a being of life.] She looked towards the sleeping gorlen, gesturing with her head. [That creature once saved something precious to me. It was a debt I could never repay. She sometimes visits me with food, but it was never until now that she¡¯d asked me for help.] She appraised me for a moment. [You are special, virtuous one. She was trapped in a human¡¯s net at night. And when they took her, she¡¯d nearly given up on life. No other Saurian would¡¯ve saved her. Well,] her gaze turned upwards as she paused. [Almost no other Saurian would¡¯ve saved her.] She touched my chest, a light spreading out from her hand and a coolness washing over my body.

You¡¯ve unlocked the [Nature¡¯s Embrace] trait!

[If you ever need me, please call.] And with that, I watched as the elder nymph(?) exited my cave, fading into the leaves, and leaving me alone with the gorlen. Who, by the way, was just now waking up. So you¡¯re a girl, huh? I thought as I watched her rub her eyes with her stubby hands. She turned to see me laying on the floor and met my gaze with her wide eyes. Then she jumped and rushed towards me, hugging my neck and nuzzling against me. Yeah, yeah. I thought, pulling free of her. I¡¯m happy you¡¯re alive, too. The creature smiled, showing eerily humanlike teeth, the only difference being the two larger fangs towards the sides of her mouth, before rushing towards the back of the cave. She returned moments later with a large leaf covered in some kind of paste. Then she held it towards me. I looked at her, confused and decided to observe what she was holding.

Crude Health Packet This crude packet of restorative herbs blended into a paste can be ingested to provide minor healing.

I shook my head. I don¡¯t need that anymore. Thank you, though. I wasn¡¯t sure if she could understand me, but as she stood there, looking at the packet, and then at me, my stomach growled. She leapt into the air at the fearsome noise, and ran back into the darkness of the cave. Oops. Sorry¡ But moments later, the gorlen returned, this time holding a leaf with meat atop it. I observed the meat.

Giant Tree Worm Meat [Experienced]

This meat comes from a fearsome beast, capable of taking on some of the strongest monsters. It is possible to eat, but it is an acquired taste

Oh. So she must have scavenged some from Sailboat¡¯s meal. Or maybe she¡¯d found another one. But I doubt this tiny creature had actually killed one herself. She held the meat before me, and without a second thought, I snapped it up, swallowing with delight. It actually does become tastier after you get used to it¡ I licked my chops as the gorlen pushed the bowl of water, completely refilled, towards me. What, are you like my butler now? Actually, that didn¡¯t sound like a bad idea. If you¡¯re gonna own a Dino Cave, might as well have a butler, no? Should I call her Alfred? No... Frieda? Yeah, why not. Frieda the gorlen. 18: Ooh, Scary Dark Punnel! After seeing I was fine, and spending a bit of time sitting in the corner of the room and watching me as the outside light turned to dark, Frieda left the cave while I checked my body. Tail? Felt fine. Neck? Also felt fine. No pains in my stomach so it was probably-- oh. Yeah¡ The wound definitely healed but¡ it left a scar. Way to ruin my perfect scaley body, Santa. The scar was jagged and long, probably because I¡¯d fallen onto the cause of the wound, and then had it pulled out of me. Well at least now I knew another friendly [Lvl ???] entity. Maybe I could go really risky with my leveling and have her heal me back up. Heh. Like the NPC¡¯s that do escort missions with you. Well, it was too bad I had no idea how to call her. Unless¡ Magic boxes? Information on that new nature trait thing please. I was rewarded for my efforts with the requested information.

Nature¡¯s Embrace [Trait]

Atypical of Saurians, you¡¯ve shown a passion for life and respect for the organisms around you, and been rewarded for it. In times of dire need, your soul might connect with the nature around you to summon aid.

Well, that wasn¡¯t as overpowered as I was hoping. ¡°In times of dire need¡± sounded like it was probably going to be insanely restrictive. Then again, how many times have I been in ¡°dire need¡± since I¡¯d woken up in that egg? Maybe the trait was exploitable. Though I was still unsure what the difference between Traits, Instincts, and Skills were. I figured Skills were probably things I could intentionally activate and control, whereas Instincts and Traits were something else¡ but I wasn¡¯t sure what. Status, I thought.

Baby Dino (F)

Level:	6 [225/300]
Health:	200/200
Stamina:	120/120

Traits

Guided Evolution	[Lvl ---]
Nature''s Embrace	[Lvl ---]

Skills

Bite	[Lvl 2]
Claw	[Lvl 4]
Flee	[Lvl 4]
Stomp	[Lvl 3]
Climb	[Lvl 1]
Sneak	[Lvl 3]
Feast	[Lvl 4]
Dig	[Lvl 1]
Slam	[Lvl 2]
Corpse Hatching If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.	[Lvl 1]
Slide	[Lvl 1]
Punch	[Lvl 3]
Dirty Trick	[Lvl 1]
Kick	[Lvl 2]
Leap Strike	[Lvl 2]
Sprint	[Lvl 2]

Instincts

Fight or Flight	[Lvl 2]
Freeze	[Lvl 2]
Fearful Flight	[Lvl 2]
Observant	[Lvl 6]
Nocturnal	[Lvl 4]
Risky Business	[Lvl 1]
Pack Mentality	[Lvl 1]

Languages

Yatten

[Lvl 3]

Stuff was definitely improving. As a stats-obsessed player, I really liked to see more things added to my character sheets, regardless of whether they were useful or not. It''s cool to show people when they ask about it. We''ll get there, and we''ll have a Dinomobile when we do. I rose to my feet, Frieda having left me bored in the cave by myself. Might as well try to explore¡ I turned to the path that ventured further into the cave, where Frieda had originally made me think it ended, and started to walk through there, straining my eyes to see. At least this should level up my nocturnal instinct. As I proceeded further in, I began to have to crouch as the cave grew smaller, seeing the giant leaves that Frieda kept the food on. The primitive medkit was back here too, but I kept going forward, as the cave closed in on me, and I had to crawl. I was going to stop, but something about the mystery of the cave kept me going. Hey, at least my arms were strong enough to handle pulling myself along. I wanted to be sure I wouldn¡¯t get stuck, so just to be sure, I pushed myself back out, until I could comfortably crouch and back out normally. See? We¡¯re fine! After gathering my courage for a minute, because, let¡¯s be honest, who likes crawling into tight spaces with the risk of getting stuck until your friend finds you, I continued further into the cave, pulling myself through as the walls and roof lightly scraped against my body. It was pitch black. I could see absolutely nothing, but somehow, a breeze flowed against my face. What was that? I stopped my progress, turning my head to listen for the breeze, smelling it as it blew over me. It smelled like, water? Maybe? As the cave pressed against me, and I became crushed against the floor, I was considering backing out of my little adventure, but suddenly, light surged above my head, and I could see that there was room for me if I could just press a little bit further. So I did. I squeezed myself through the hole, nearly getting caught because of the natural arch in my back. But I managed to slip through, standing up in the massive cavernous opening. Phew. That could¡¯ve been a ¡°hole¡± lot worse. Get it? ¡ Nobody? Sometimes the only way we can cope with the unknown is through bad puns. Sorry. But really not, though. You¡¯ve gotta understand that not everybody can get through life without making a bad pun once a day. You know what they say, ¡°A pun a day keeps the predators away.¡± Okay, maybe they don¡¯t. But they should. It¡¯s probably true. I looked around at the illuminated room. A waterfall fell from high above, soaring past the cliff I stood on, and crashing against the ground far below. Wow. An underground waterfall. I looked up towards the light that lit the room. It was too bright for me to look directly at, but it really just gave off the vibes of an incandescent bulb. I wonder what triggered it to light up. Motion? If so, it was probably magic. To my right, the cliff was covered with moss and mushrooms. There was a small bridge that crossed over into the darkness of the other side, and it seemed stable enough. So naturally I crossed it. Who wouldn¡¯t? The noise of the waterfall crashing into the ground far below masked another sound, one that I heard much clearer as I crossed the bridge. It was a buzzing. Two paths greeted me on the other side of the ravine. One was a rocky staircase that descended down into the pit where the water fell. The other was another tunnel. And the buzzing came from there. I had to know what that noise was. Worst-case scenario, I could always use my Sneak skill to crawl up on whatever it was. Then I headed down the tunnel, sneaking carefully. Did everything go to coprolite after that? Yes. Yes it did. 19: Nobody Said Itd Bee Easy Alright. Pro tip, though: If you hear the buzzing, don¡¯t go towards it. And now you¡¯re probably like ¡°Yeah, idiot, that¡¯s obvious¡±. Sorry. I¡¯m a curious dinosaur. It just so happens that when a tunnel fills with buzzing, and it¡¯s way deeper than any kind of insect buzzing I¡¯ve ever heard, I¡¯ve gotta see what makes that kind of noise. Plus, for some reason, I didn¡¯t find myself as scared of stuff as I used to be. I don¡¯t know. Maybe it was my Risky Business instinct. Maybe it was the near-death experience. Whatever it was, I was feeling ballsy AF (as fossil, for you degenerates out there). So, into the tunnel I went, creeping up on all fours, feeling like a cat. Or maybe a ninja. Perhaps a ninja cat. Well I was definitely going to class into that as soon as that option appeared. That¡¯s just too darn good to pass up. Mrrow! Watch out! Kitty ninja coming through! These thoughts had me chuckling as I snuck down the tunnel, the buzzing becoming louder and louder as I traveled further in. On a real note, though, cats would probably be the perfect hired assassins, because they just don¡¯t care! Dim light guided me towards the end of the tunnel, towards the next large room. As I passed through the gateway, I could see that I stood at the top of a stony hill. A rapid decline would bring me down to the center. The center of hell. The massive circular room had tunnels going in every direction from the walls, and out of those walls flew gigantic bugs. Two types of bugs dominated the arena-like room. First were the glowing bees, which illuminated the room slightly. They were each the size of a dufflebag, with three stingers on their chests and rears. Giant silver compound eyes crested their tiny heads. Somehow, these bees stayed afloat, as they flew from hole to hole, despite their size. Also, they dripped, and the glowing liquid that fell off of them sizzled as it hit the rock, leaving scars in the floors and walls. The other bugs gave them a huge berth. Those bugs were the beetles, twice the size of the bees. With mandibles half the size of their bodies, and horns that protruded viciously from their heads, the beetles carried massive globs of some brown material. Eww¡ Is that¡ poop? I observed it to be sure.

Dung

Excrement from a creature.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Honestly, what was I expecting... Then those had to be dung beetles, but they were the biggest, and only, dung beetles I had ever seen. I observed them next.

Jungle Tunneler [Lvl 5]

This giant insect gathers globs of dung to dip in the acid of the bees it is in a symbiotic relationship with. Then, it rolls them against materials to drill tunnels. Unintelligent, but viciously territorial.

Might as well check out the bees, too.

Jungle Stinger [Lvl 2]

This giant insect is capable of delivering devastating attacks of acid using its stingers, but it avoids combat. If a stinger is pulled out of the creature, it will die. It is protected by the beetles it is in a symbiotic relationship with. Unintelligent and cowardly.

Well at least the bees wouldn¡¯t be a problem. I was sort of worried about the beetles though. What if they decided to expand their territory and found Frieda and I? I should probably get back, warn her, and move to another tunnel. It¡¯d be a shame to abandon the Dino Cave, but it might be necessary. I took a last glance around the cave before deciding to leave. One of the beetles flew into a tunnel, rolling his huge boulder of poop down into it, and crawled back out, wiggling his butt in the air in a dance. As if called by him, several bees turned and flew towards the dancing beetle.

Mating Call [Skill Lvl 3]

The creature summons nearby females of various species to its location.

Wow. That dude had some serious game. Several beetles also flew towards him as he danced, wiggling his butt around in the air for all to see. More beetles began to land in tunnels, dropping their droppings and performing the mating call. I scanned every one to make sure I could get as much experience for my observant instinct as possible. Only a few bugs remained in the room after the players took their bug harems down the tunnels, and they flew into or out of the massive tunnel directly across from where I stood. The ones that flew out carried the dung, so that¡¯s probably where they were getting it from. It was time to go. I turned to leave, and stepped directly in a large pile of poop. Ew! I said, pulling my leg free and stepping back. Stepping back directly out into open air. Woah! ¡°Graag!¡± I shouted in surprise, slipping and sliding down the slope, covering myself in the same dung I¡¯d stepped in. Right into the center of the massive chamber. The nine or ten beetles currently flying in the room turned their raging eyes on me while the bees scattered. Oh...poop¡ This was not what I had wanted. I didn¡¯t want to challenge the creatures on their own turf, let alone covered in the same muck they shoved their faces in. Now that I was in the center of it, I could tell the room reeked. Hey! If you guys are going to handle so much poo, at least use shampoo! The beetles charged, dropping the dung and snapping their massive mandibles. Yep. It was time to go. I started scrambling up the slope, slipping in wet, brown goop, but managing to get to the top just before the first beetle got to me. I guess running was never an option, huh? I turned to fight off the horde of giant insects that wanted my blood. This¡ was going to be interesting. But also absolutely terrifying. I shook my head. So be it. And then I charged at the closest snapping menace. 20: How to Kill a Buzz As all gamers know, or at least, should know, level of enemy is not always the sole determining factor of the fight. Now usually, gamers are restricted in what they can do during a fight, as are the mobs. But here? This is a world of ¡°anything goes¡±. And that means that level is of even lesser importance. A fair example would be the Deotrexaptors taking down that [Lvl ???] worm. That could never happen in an online game. They just wouldn¡¯t be able to deal any damage past the resistances of the higher-level creature, and then if they did, that damage would probably be healed faster than it was dealt. But the xaptors took down the worm together. I suppose you could compare it to a raid, but for some reason, it didn¡¯t feel that way to me. Well anyway, I was now on the receiving end of several low-level monsters working together. As I jumped onto the body of the nearest beetle, it crashed to the ground, dragging across the floor under my weight, several legs snapping off in the process.

You have [Crippled] the [Jungle Tunneler].

I jumped off the bug, tackling another of the beetles that had flown ahead of the group. I missed the beetle¡¯s back, and landed on its face. Right in between the mandibles. Not today! I kicked off the mandibles, managing to crawl onto the bugs back just as it landed on the ground, sliding like the other. Snap! The mandibles bit together, narrowly missing my tail. Crack! Crack! Crack! Just as with the other bug, the legs snapped off as we skidded through the tunnel. He too, was now crippled. But the other one, legless, was now flying towards me, bleeding a green goo from its belly, and snapping its mandibles viciously. I used Leap Strike, flying towards the beetle, and kicking the bug hard in the face as it arrived, chomping with the mandibles. Schlick! ¡°Graaga!¡± I shouted in pain. That bugstard had bitten my tail!

You have been [Crippled]. Your attacks with the [Crippled] limb will be 70% less effective.

You have received 105 experience for killing [Jungle Tunneler].

Oh now I saw it. He hadn¡¯t just bitten my tail. He¡¯d bitten my tail off! Well, just the tip, anyway. But it still hurt like hell! I dashed down the hall to the other beetle that was recovering from my attack, the rest of the group swarming behind me now. I danced around the snaps. One bug sliced at me with a sharp hook on the end of its front leg, slicing down my shoulder. Ow! Why does fighting have to hurt so much! I rolled away, landing face-up underneath the bleeding beetle. Green goop dripped onto my stomach as my target realized I was there, but just as quickly as I arrived, I struck. My legs kicked out, slicing down the already wounded underside of the bug, and tearing open the belly.

You have received 105 experience for killing [Jungle Tunneler].

Congratulations! You have leveled up! You are now level 7 [135/350]. Your [Health] and [Stamina] are restored.

My wounds healed, though the tip of my tail was still missing. The [Crippled] debuff also remained flashing in the corner of my vision.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Hot green liquid from the beetle above me splashed down across my stomach and face, and some poured into my mouth. Ah! Gross! I yelled mentally as I rolled away from the stuttering bug. It dipped in the air while I fought the others, before collapsing to the ground. Come to think of it¡ That guy¡¯s blood actually tasted pretty good. I could get used to that. Maybe as a dressing?

You have developed your appetite. Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the [Gourmandize] instinct! [Gourmandize]- New foods grant additional experience. The more well-prepared, the better the reward!

Well, I wasn¡¯t going to complain about that. I dodged further down the tunnel as the bugs snapped at me in the low light. The roaring of the waterfall filled my ears as I closed in on the dark ravine room. I kicked at a beetle that bit down towards me, sending it careening back down the tunnel, shaking its body as it recovered. Another one snapped at me, and I jumped, slamming into it with my tail. It hit the ground with a thwap and bounced up a little bit, but not before I stomped on its skull, crushing its face into the ground.

Your [Slam] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

You have received 105 experience for killing [Jungle Tunneler].

I clawed sliced at another beetle that bit down fiercely into my side, but my claw bounced off the hard shell. A claw strike managed to slice across the eyes of the insect, and the mandibles pierced my flesh as the creature bit harder. ¡°Raag!¡± I cried in pain, stumbling further backwards into the room. The room light up brightly once again, I assume, from movement, and I tried desperately to bite, kick, and slash at the beetle crushing my ribs with its bite, but he¡¯d caught me at an awkward angle, and I couldn¡¯t move my legs outward to the side to kick him. The other beetles that had been preparing to strike suddenly turned, and flew away, up towards the light. Of course. They¡¯re attracted to the light... But the one that had its grip on me continued to crush, and blood ran freely down my front and sides.

You are [Bleeding].

With no other attackers to worry about, I managed to shove my hands between the two massive chompers of the grappling bug, and as the spikey appendages pierced my palms, I pried them off me. I grasped the beetle around the tiny spot where its head connected to its body, and slammed it into the ground, snapping its neck. Yeah! That¡¯s right! Get RK-DinO¡¯d!

You have received 105 experience for killing [Jungle Tunneler].

You have learned a new skill: [Grapple Lvl 1].

I turned to look at where the rest of the beetles had gone, and saw them approaching the glowing ball of light, which hovered above the other side of the ravine. Zap! A beetle touched the light. Zapzapzapzap! And the rest of them followed suit. Then, they crashed to the floor across the bridge, their legs twitching, and wings not retracting under their hard shells. I observed them.

Jungle Tunneler [Lvl 5] [Stunned]

Observations: Attracted to light.

Oh hey, so the information I could glean would update itself based on my own personal observations. That could be useful, especially for remembering things I might¡¯ve only seen once. Swiftly, I dashed across the bridge, staining it with my blood, and causing it to shake underneath me.

Your [Sprint] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

Then, I bit the heads off of each beetle, until there was only a single one left.

Your [Bite] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

Your [Bite] has leveled up. it is now level 4.

You¡¯ve received 525 experience for killing multiple [Jungle Tunneler].

Congratulations! You¡¯ve leveled up! x2

You are now level 9 [120/450]. Your [Health] and [Stamina] are restored.

You are no longer [Crippled].

You are no longer [Bleeding].

[Guided Evolution Alert] You have reached the halfway point to your maximum level. You may now glimpse some of the evolutionary paths that await you, whether or not they are unlocked.

All in all, a nice little haul for my first raid. Now to deal with you, I thought as I looked at the remaining stunned beetle. Oh, the things I have planned for you¡ A rumble began in my chest as I laughed maniacally. ¡°Graaahahahahaaaaghaagaha!¡± 21: Fancy a Little Insectipsychological Torture? I pushed the bodies of the other beetles to the side, letting them spurt their blood off the cliff. It might¡¯ve been tasty, but it wasn¡¯t my biggest concern. Though I¡¯ll admit I did chug one of the beetles like a milk jug. Anyway, once I was sated, I returned to my victim, whom I¡¯d already set up for my purposes. You remember that bad pun I made? Yeah the one about the tight hole? Well I filled that hole right up. Crammed it in, as it were. Never in 250-million years could there ever be a dino so talented at filling holes as myself. Jokes aside now, I shoved the beetle, who was definitely too fat to fit through the hole, into it. His body wasn¡¯t made to compress, so by the time he wasn¡¯t stunned anymore¡ Well, he was wrigglin¡¯, but he wasn¡¯t going anywhere. This is what you get for messing with the champ! Don¡¯t even question how I got the title. It¡¯s indisputable. I¡¯m the champ! Plus, now that I could grapple, was there ever any doubt? Alright there, little fella, sorry you¡¯re gonna have to suffer through this, but it¡¯s about time I got to experimenting! I tapped his shell to make sure it wasn¡¯t compromised from his fall. Then I smacked his shell. And then I started spamming as many [Claw] attacks as I possibly could. I spent a minute or two doing it, just to see if I could gain levels without actually doing any damage. Nothing happened. Maybe progression to the levels is slower if I¡¯m not doing anything? I¡¯d left a few scratches on the shell, so I was definitely doing some damage. So I went at it for another couple minutes and¡ voila!

Your [Claw] has leveled up. It is now level 5.

Aha! Proof! It was possible! And I wasn¡¯t harming the squirming beetle! I giggled to myself. Now this¡ This is a veritable exploit! I can get with it! I looked at the wiggling butt of the beetle before me. I should rephrase. This is something I can get behind. Okay. Now that testing had proven successful, I could leave the beetle there while I messed with my trait notification. Uh. Hey, magic boxes? Please show me the evolution options.

Possible Evolutionary Paths:

Child Stalker (E)

This dinosaur hunts its prey with near-unmatched stealth. It is able to scale walls as though it were walking on regular land.

Child Meler (D)

Closer in shape to humanoids than most dinosaurs, this creature is capable of fighting with styles unheard of in dinosaurs. Two opposable thumbs make this monster able to wield deadly weapons it picks off its prey.

Child Naturalist (F)

In touch with nature, this dinosaur doesn''t often hunt, but survives by absorbing the abundant life energy around it. Hunting this creature usually fails as, at the first sign of danger, it rapidly disappears into the nature surrounding it.

Child Devourer (D)

This dinosaur consumes anything and everything in sight, becoming a threat to any ecosystem it inhabits. With an appetite that can''t be sated, it eats until eventually, it is killed by nature''s balance. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Child Turanta (S)

Covered in spikes from head to toe, approaching this dinosaur is well-recognized as being a death sentence. This creature is capable of firing its spikes as ranged attacks, and is known for disembowling monsters that are much stronger than it. A threat to anything it targets, it forms large packs and carelessly roams wherever it chooses.

Well dang. Some of those dinosaurs were super impressive. Now it all made sense. The letter to the side of the dinosaur name was a ranking. Okay, so, if I had anything to write with, I¡¯d jot this all down. Instead, I did my best to memorize it. The details of the Guided Evolution trait had said earlier that it was possible I was seeing paths that were locked to me. But I only wished I could see exactly what the requirements for each dinosaur was. What could I possibly need to be able to be the turanta, which shot spikes??? And the naturalist, I imagined was due to the Nature¡¯s Embrace trait. Stalker seemed pretty simple to figure out, as well. It was probably because of [Sneak]. But, did I need a specific level in certain skills to evolve to those? Probably. I did my best to memorize the options displayed before me, and returned to grinding on the beetle while I thought about it. Take this!

Your [Claw] has leveled up. It is now level 6. Increased likelihood to [Cripple] with these attacks.

And this!

Your [Stomp] has leveled up. It is now level 4.

And this and this and this! I continued my harassment of the poor creature¡¯s shell for what must have been hours, until I was exhausted and had to stop. By the end of it, the poor beetle¡¯s shell was scratched, cracked, and damp with green blood. I did help the guy out, though, by cleaning off his shell with my tongue. Yummy. Beetlejuice. The boxes had swarmed me with notifications.

Your [Kick] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

Your [Kick] has leveled up. It is now level 4.

Your [Slam] has leveled up. It is now level 4.

Your [Punch] has leveled up. It is now level 4.

Your [Punch] has leveled up. It is now level 5.

Your [Leap Strike] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

Your [Kick] has leveled up. It is now level 5.

Your [Leap Strike] has leveled up. It is now level 4.

You¡¯ve learned a new skill: [Sneak Strike Lvl 1].

Your [Sneak Strike] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Your [Flee] has leveled up. It is now level 5.

You¡¯ve learned a new skill: [Headbutt Lvl 1]

Your [Headbutt] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Your [Sneak] has leveled up. It is now level 4.

Your [Headbutt] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

Yes. While abusing the poor creature, I had also psychologically tortured him, if bugs could even be affected by that, anyway. I¡¯d snuck around until I¡¯m sure he thought I was gone, and then poked my head into the hole next to him, growling loudly, and sending him squirming again. He tried to snap at me a few times, too, which leveled up my Flee as I backed out of the hole faster than I thought possible. It was a little embarassing, but I figured there was no real downside to leveling up Flee, so intermittenly, I would sprint away from the bug. And after a while, that worked too. Most of the time was just spent hammering on his shell, though. I¡¯ll heal you back up later, my little mill stone. I grinned a wicked grin. There¡¯s a lot more work we have to get done. 22: The Butt Hole I have a confession to make. I was a little afraid of those mandibles that the beetle had. So much so, that I, very carefully, pried the beetle free of the hole I¡¯d locked it in, and made sure to grapple it when it was out. It was already quite clear to me that my weight was more than they could handle, so when I had the beetle trapped underneath me, angrily snapping it¡¯s pincers, I did the best thing I could think of. I grabbed them by the base with my mouth, and snapped them off his head. A loud high-pitched tone accompanied my actions, and after the deed was done, I managed to hook a claw under his the hard shell covering his wings, the elytra. I popped open the elytra covering of the beetle, and tore out the wings. I actually felt a little bad about everything I¡¯d done to him. Then again, he did try to crush my lungs just because I slipped down a hill into his home. Hey, I get that somebody bursting in your front door is kind of spooky, but do I pull out a katana, and go ham on the guy without a second thought? Maybe. But most likely, if that guy looked super confused, like he¡¯d just fallen through the floor of the apartment above me, we¡¯d have a discussion first. A nice, calm discussion. And nobody would try and kill the other person. Then again, what can you expect from uncivilized insects like this? So while he was now unable to fly, and unable to bite, I got off of him and crouched down to hide myself from him, letting let him walk around for a minute.

Your [Grapple] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

The beetle moved his elytra a couple times, seemingly not understanding that his wings were gone, before he started to walk around the cliff. He investigated the bodies of the other beetles for a minute, while I watched, then saw the light above us. As he started wandering towards the bridge instead of staying in the area, I sneaked up towards him, and kicked him back towards the wall. You can¡¯t leave. I¡¯m not done with you. While he regained his senses, I flipped him onto his back. Then I piled the other beetles on top of him, for good measure, in a dogpile.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Yeah. You¡¯ll probably be stuck like that for a while. Then I squeezed my body back through the hole in the wall, towards the Dino Cave. Danananananana! I hustled down the cave once the opening was large enough for me to crouch, and sniffed around for the bitter smell of the medicine-covered leaf. Eventually, I felt, more than saw, a small opening in the wall, about the height of Frieda. I could smell the leaf there, and by dragging my hand along the wall, located the dip. She has a shelf? Following my nose, I located the leaf, and held it delicately in my mouth, turning back down the tunnel, and heading back towards the beetle. Pulling myself out of the hole revealed that the beetle was well on his way to freeing himself, and he rocked back and forth on his shell, slowly sending the dead beetles slipping away. He actually almost flipping himself over before I arrived, with a foot on his chest. I was quite lucky that his legs didn¡¯t have enough inward reach to get to me, otherwise he might¡¯ve hurt me with those hooked talons. I would¡¯ve removed them, but I didn¡¯t want to risk accidentally bleeding him out. The floor was already covered with a decent amount of his green blood, as it was. I put the leaf down in front of him, and then quickly flipped him over, not letting him react with his legs. Then I watched as he investigated the leaf. Did you enjoy the dogpile of your dead friends? Who am I kidding, of corpse you didn¡¯t! See? Humor can make the best of even the most gruesome circumstances! ¡ Beetle? I mentally asked, as he moved his gaze from the leaf to me, the stubs of his mandibles moving open and closed. Oh right. This guy had some crappy taste in food. Then he looked back towards the ceiling, and I remembered that these guys were basically hypnotized by the light. Well, if you won¡¯t eat it...I thought as I scooped up the leaf in one of my clawed hands. Then you¡¯ll have to ingest it another way! I stepped on his back as he began to walk back towards the light, and slammed my hand towards his mouth, shoving the leaf firmly in. I might¡¯ve broken his nose or some beetle equivalent of it. Eat! The leaf went down the hole that I imagined was his mouth and, after some beetle-choking sounds, it disappeared. That¡¯s probably as close as I¡¯ll get. I watched the bleeding beetle back, noting it was already bleeding less than before. Either my force-medicine worked, or he was healing naturally. Both options worked for me. I grappled the beetle once again, awkward as it was to do with my hands, and sort of drag-carried him back to the hole. As I entered backwards, which is a lot more awkward than you might think, I plugged up the exit with his exit. Heh. Now he¡¯d be trapped for me to come back and play more with, and nothing could come through the other side if it had been planning on it. One of those bees probably could¡¯ve fit through the hole with ease, if they wanted to. I made my way back to the front of the cave, noticing that the outside world was still dark. But man was I exhausted. That physical exercise had left me quite tired. It was probably time for me to sleep, anyway, and hopefully I wouldn¡¯t mess up my day-night cycle. After all, I needed to keep an eye on the watering hole during the day for when Rex came back. I wonder what he¡¯s up to now. 23: Did I Mention I Failed Environmental Science? As I came to, and my dreams faded to a distant memory, one part of them remained clear. The Nature Spirit had visited me in my dream, and we had the same conversation as before. Only, this time I noticed something. I observed her as she turned around.

Elder Nature Spirit [Lvl ???]

She brought a hand to her chest. [Me?] I nodded. She paused, a finger to her lip as she thought to herself. [Didn¡¯t you just see for yourself?] Then I woke up. And those words echoed in my mind. [Didn¡¯t you just see for yourself?] I hadn¡¯t caught it the first time but¡ Did that nymph lady know that I could obtain details about her from my observant instinct? And if that were the case, had anybody else caught it? No. It didn¡¯t seem like any other thing I¡¯d observed had known I was there until I exposed myself. The beetles, the bees, the Deotrexaptors, and even the [Lvl ???] worm. Nothing had yet reacted to my observations. Except maybe¡ Sailboat had recognized that I was hiding in the bushes out of nowhere, and sent the xaptors after me. Could he have known I had observed him? Did Rex know that I observed him? The implications of my scanning ability being detected by enemies was scary. I shook my head, my body following suit, as I stood up to stretch. The light had wakened me from my sleep, and Frieda was, presumably, asleep now. The lit room didn¡¯t show any trace of her, aside from a pile of leaves in the corner of the room, so I traveled back towards the beetle once more. In the same place, where the tunnel grew smaller, there was a wall. But if I squinted at it, knowing that it shouldn¡¯t be there, I could very vaguely see that it was really a poofy ball of fur, blending into the darkness around it. And now that I knew what she smelled like, how had I not picked it up before? I must¡¯ve been distracted by the joy of having found such an awesome place to live, or something like that. I reached out with one hand, lightly pushing her to the side. I could hear her light breaths in and out as I crouched and passed her by. I crawled through the complete darkness until I tapped the hard shell of the beetle. Good. He was still here. Just a full day of starvation for you, my friend, and then your purpose shall be fulfilled. Confident that my trap for the beetle would keep him locked there for the remaining amount of time, I crawled back out of the tunnel, passing Frieda once more, and heading for the exit of the cave.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Time to go get a drink. I¡¯m thirsty! On the way towards the incline out of the cave, I just barely caught another scent with my nose. It smelled like meat. I followed the scent to the corner of the room, where there was only that pile of leaves that Frieda had left sitting around. The smell just slightly leaked out through the heavy scent of the giant leaves, and I nudged them aside. Eureka! I''ve found the meat balls! Frieda, I no longer regretted my decision to free you. Though it hurt, if you were going to bring me gifts, there was no way it wasn¡¯t worth it. By the way, I usually try to rush to get a minion or pet in games because of the benefits they can provide. And this right here just proved it all. Follow my example, should you ever find yourself in so confusing a situation as mine, but maybe find a route that doesn¡¯t end with you getting stabbed. That¡¯s probably for the best. I observed the meat on the leaf-dish, it was a huge hunk with stripes of red and brown. Weird colors.

Unknown Meat

This meat comes from an unknown source.

Wow. Once again, so enlightening. These magic boxes were really going to have to step up their game if they expected people to actually buy this expansion when it released. I shook my head. Thanks for the meal, Frieda! I chomped down on the food, tossing chunks of it up into the air and swallowing them whole. Yummy. Wait. ¡°Grrk! Ack-!¡±I hacked and with surprising control regurgitated the last chunk before it made it too far down my throat, spitting it back onto the leaf. No no no. I smiled. Not today. You get to get ¡°prepared¡± when I come back! At the last second as I had swallowed the largest portion of the meat, I¡¯d remembered my new instinct, Gourmandize. I had to use it if I wanted extra experience, right? I¡¯m coming back for you, you unknown meat. I threw the leaves back over the large chunk, and exited the cave. It was time to head to the watering hole. The last time I was out here, I was running for my life from humans. I hoped they weren¡¯t still around, otherwise I¡¯d probably end up having to run again. This world is a lot more dangerous than I expected. And I feel like an idiot for thinking that. Don¡¯t make fun of me. You don¡¯t know what it¡¯s like to be in my situation. Or do you? Honestly, if you did, I¡¯d be remiss if I didn¡¯t ask you to share whatever knowledge you could, so that I might better myself and be more prepared in the future. Then again, you¡¯re just an imaginary friend that I talk to so I don¡¯t get lonely, aren¡¯t you? Aren¡¯t you? Ah. The watering hole at last. I checked the surroundings, confident there were no more humans in the area, though Rex wasn¡¯t around either, that I could see. I walked out to the pond, bent over, and absorbed the water in large gulps. My feet were crusted over with brown and the dirt stuck to them, caking me with dirty material. Well, no harm in cleaning myself off, is there? I jumped into the water, splashing around in the shallows as the brown chunks peeled themselves away from my body, floating further in. The whole area around me became a darker brown, and I realized that I was far more covered in feces than I¡¯d realized. Stupid beetles. I¡¯ll eradicate you. I splashed around a little bit more, avoiding the chunks of brown as they dissolved into the water, and stepped out, nice and clean. I sighed happily. Then the blue boxes just had to ruin my day.

You¡¯ve poisoned the Watering Hole!

24: A Sunny Stretch

You¡¯ve poisoned the Watering Hole!

I stared at the message again, blankly. Naturally, when I leave the house, chaos ensues. Sigh. This is why introverts aren¡¯t allowed outside. Can I just get the room with the padded walls back, please? That was a comfortable one. ¡ Kidding. I don¡¯t want that room back. ¡ Kidding. Sighing, I soaked in the sun. It was warm. Actually, it was way more comfortable than I was expecting. It was so nice, in fact, that I felt like sunbathing while I awaited Rex wasn¡¯t a bad idea. Oh, but how was he going to deal with the poisoned watering hole? Hmm¡ I guessed I¡¯d figure it out when it happened. Besides, poop couldn¡¯t be that bad for the water, right? At most, the things drinking from it get a little sick, maybe throw up a bit, right? Right? Well I certainly wasn¡¯t going to be drinking from it any time soon. The thought of that was disgusting. Honestly, I was surprised I was able to drink from that river and this pond with so little care. Oi. Where did those decapitated heads that the Chaotic Monarch left behind go? I was looking around while resting on a particularly warm rock when I realized that they were missing. Where once had been a neat little line of them, not even a drop of blood remained. Had Rexcelsis returned to claim his prizes? Did I miss him!?! I found myself wondering what level of thought that particular dinosaur was capable of. What went through his head? And, why did he save me from those xaptors? Maybe they¡¯d been a convenient meal, but¡ I felt like there was more to it than that. I needed answers. And only Rexcelsis could explain Rexcelsis. He can talk, I resolved. He can definitely talk. No dinosaur that can fire ¡°Nonparticulate Death Rays¡± can¡¯t talk. There was definitely going to be a way to communicate with that giant, and I was going to figure it out. But for now¡ A nice stretch in the sun. Ahhh. I dozed in the nice, warm sun for a while, letting my thoughts drift. I thought about home. About my friends, and about my family, that I hadn¡¯t seen often. Most people have regrets when their family members die, like ¡°The last thing I said to her¡¡± or ¡°I never told him¡¡±.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. I think I was pretty good about all that. The few times I spoke to my family (it wasn¡¯t personal, it was just that I didn¡¯t make contact a lot), I always made sure they knew how I felt about them. After all, you never know when the last time you¡¯ll ever talk to somebody is. I think the last conversation I had with one of my friends was while I awaited that promised fairy game. Sigh. That game looked really good¡ Well, I¡¯d been talking to this guy I met over a popular MMO, and we¡¯d really hit it off as internet buddies. His username was SchlongLord. A weird one, to be sure, but I got over it when I found out his war cry was something along the lines of ¡°Who wants a piece of the Schlong?!?¡± I¡¯d instantly suggested a better one. And he¡¯d taken it immediately. That¡¯s when we¡¯d become e-besties. Oh, you want to know what my suggestion was? I guess I can tell you. You could call it my stroke of genius, after all. He¡¯d become pretty famous online for the call, too, and you might just recognize it. He¡¯d charge into battle, his black longsword and white shortsword shining gloriously, and scream ¡°You won¡¯t be alive for Schlong!¡± Anyway, the conversation had been something akin to this: ¡°Hey, Schlong, do you ever wonder why we find these games so fulfilling?¡± ¡°Nah.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t even do as much as if they were real, yet we find ourselves so easily pulled into them, and their endless grind.¡± Sometimes, talking to SchlongLord was nice because he could absorb everything you said, and just be a good listener. ¡°Yeah.¡± Sometimes, it was annoying. ¡°Don¡¯t you wonder about that, ever?¡± I asked, slightly irritated at the experience of talking to the wall that was my friend. ¡°Nah.¡± ¡°Well,¡± I responded. ¡°Why do you think it is?¡± He didn¡¯t answer for a moment. Either beating some meatmen into the ground with his swords, or maybe actually using his head for once. Not, uh... not what I meant. Eventually, I got an answer, as he crunched chips into the microphone. ¡°Maybe ¡®cause we wish we could live ¡®em. Like, be the main character in a cool story, or somethin¡¯. Doesn¡¯t life feel to you like everybody¡¯s a side character?¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess that¡¯s kinda true. But, not like we can do anything about it, huh?¡± SchlongLord chuckled, and I could tell he was about to try to show me how big of a man he could be. ¡°I¡¯m quite content with this life. I¡¯d never ask for more. But, if the opportunity arose, I wouldn¡¯t deny it.¡± I sat in the call for a while, silent except for the clicking of my mouse as I slayed simple monsters with my new character. In an unusual turn of character, he broke the silence. ¡°Would you?¡± Crash! Crash! The sounds of a titan¡¯s footsteps broke me out of my reverie, and I opened my half-lidded eyes to look for Rexcelsis. Had he returned to the watering hole? I got my answer as I stared at the massive monster before me, and habitually observed it without realizing.

Karavos, Ghindo¡¯s Menace [Lvl ???]

Nope. Definitely not Rexcelsis. In fact, this creature, Karavos, stood far taller than Rex, about the size of that famous monolith Cleopatra¡¯s Needle, without the forward lean of a theropod¡¯s body. He stood like a bear might, resting on his haunchs but with his arms hanging forward in that ¡°could go to all-fours¡± pose. A massive white beard of feathers hung from his flat face, down his long neck, and wrinkles across his skin gave me the impression of a bald guru, as he stared into the distance as though pondering the meaning of life. Hey, what did I know? Maybe he was. Three long claws, each the size of a small tree, tipped his hands. They were razor sharp, and each one looked like they could bore a well into the ground with an effortless stab. With a single scoop, he dropped the level of the pond significantly, bringing it to his face to drink. Ah, no¡ I¡ I couldn¡¯t bring myself to warn him of the contamination. Lordy he was big. I¡¯d estimate this guy to have been around the 70-foot mark. Not as big as the Vronterasaurs, but he¡¯d probably murder them with little effort. Shhhhlluuuurppop! Ew. He legitimately drank the mixture. Some of the water ran down his feathery beard, and he reached for a second handful of the liquid. Scoosh! The pond dropped again, and the titan brought it to his face once more. I couldn¡¯t bring myself to watch this anymore, and dashed away into the woods. That guy was actually drinking poop! Ha! That¡¯s simultaneously the funniest and grossest thing I¡¯ve seen since I¡¯ve gotten here! 25: Butler-in-Training It was on the way back to the Dino Cave that I heard the voices. My luck. Why did I have to hear the voices? I sighed mentally as I dipped into a bush, peeking out as the source of the voices came through the trees. My translation would¡¯ve done it no justice, so I filled in a lot of the words. Bathe in awe of my excellent work: ¡°Blood trails don¡¯t just stop!¡± The masculine voice, which I recognized, said as the three humans came around the corner. ¡°Yes, Sir Grenzer!¡± Barlan, the brunette squire said in exasperation. ¡°But I¡¯m telling you, after years of learning how to track from my father, I wouldn¡¯t just lose something so easy to follow! It just ended!¡± ¡°Alright, alright.¡± Santa responded, stroking his chin. ¡°Strange, if true.¡± ¡°It is true!¡± The other squire, Shella, spoke up. ¡°Sir Grenzer?¡± she asked, receiving a grunt in response. ¡°Do we really have to hunt the baby Saurian? It was just scavenging, after all.¡± ¡°What?¡± Santa asked, as though he weren¡¯t really listening until her last statement. He turned to her, anger in his eyes. ¡°Of course we do! It stole my gorlen! Do you know how rare it is to find a gorlen? They sell for hundreds!¡± The girl rubbed her hand on her neck, her expression unhappy. ¡°But¡ Didn¡¯t we come out here on a hunt, anyway?¡± Barlan nodded. ¡°Yeah! We¡¯re supposed to be finding that troublemaking Saurian and hit it with this!¡± He pulled a long pole, wrapped in tan cloth, off his back. Santa nodded. ¡°And we¡¯ll get to that. We¡¯ve got another day before he usually comes around this area, anyway.¡±

Your comprehension of Yatten has leveled up. It is now level 4.

A loud cry, low-pitched and echoing, reverberated through the area. It almost sounded like a fog horn, but much louder. I squeaked in surprise, but fortunately, the humans didn¡¯t hear me. Shella jumped, and Santa¡¯s head snapped towards where it came from. ¡°That¡¯s him!¡± He dashed off, leaving the two squires standing behind, unsure. Then Barlan shrugged. ¡°Come on!¡± He started running after Santa, and Shella, looking around at the forest she now stood alone in, soon followed. Which left me, the super curious and super careless dinosaur, sitting in the brush, wondering if that noise came from Karavos, or if something else was out there. These three idiots were hunting a dinosaur like that?Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. There was no way that would go well. Mmmm¡ I really wanted to chase after the humans¡ But after what happened last time¡ And also that they were apparently hunting me? Maybe it was best to stay away for a little while. Just a little while. Next time I¡¯d definitely get involved. But for now, the sun was getting near the horizon. I¡¯d spent a lot more time dozing off than I¡¯d realized. It was time to head back to the Dino Cave. Oh, Frieda! I thought as I entered. I¡¯m home! Furball didn¡¯t greet me as I entered. It was probably still a bit too early for her. But that wouldn¡¯t stop me! I was either going to sit around until she woke up and be bored or¡ not be! I headed to the back of the cave, finding her snoozing where I¡¯d rolled her. Time. To. Wake. Up. I prodded her with my clawed fingers, carefully being sure not to hurt her. After all, you¡¯ll get a bad reputation if you hurt the help, right? Haha. She woke up with a yawn, her huge black eyes reflecting the light, and gave me a look. What could you possibly want this early? I imagined her saying. I tilted my head towards the tunnel that lead further in, grinning. She looked at me confused. I shrugged, which probably looked a lot more interesting coming from a dinosaur, and walked down the tunnel. By the sound of her stubby feet shuffling, I could tell she was following. She tugged on my tail when I was pulling myself through the hole, but I didn¡¯t stop. My face touched beetle, and I shoved him out of the way. Almost immediately, he started sprinting away, his stubby legs scraping against the stone. Then the light went on, and he stopped, staring straight up. I managed to pull myself through and tackle him, picking him up and carring him back towards the furball. Phew he smelled. It was probably a pretty scary sight to see all those legs kicking and squirming towards you. Which made sense when she squealed, retreating back into the hole. I put the beetle down on his back away from the hole, and walked towards the hole. Her shining eyes gazed back at me with fear, and it touched my heart. I didn¡¯t want to scare her. I turned around, and backed up, sliding my tail into the hole with her. Her clawed hand grasped it, and I slowly moved forward. Frieda followed, I guess reassured by my actions. That was the goal, after all. When she was out of the hole, and the beetle was still rocking himself back and forth, I moved her away, and slid him back in, his butt facing outwards. I chuckled as I imagined how frustrated he must¡¯ve been. Agh! I just got out of that hole, and now I¡¯m in it again, but headfirst! I wondered if beetles had a good enough memory for him to remember what happened last time he was facing this way. I turned to the furball, and she was inspecting the other corpses, sniffing them and pulling away, her nose raised. I pointed to the beetle when she looked at me, confusion evident in her features. Punch it, I thought, slamming one fist into another, hoping my meaning would get across. She tilted her head at me in confusion. I sighed. This was gonna be done the hard way, I could see. I walked around behind her, and shoved her towards the beetle, against her struggling and whining. Then, as she stood before it, cowering, I grabbed one of her hands with both of mine (it was hard to hold things like this), and led her through a scratching motion on the beetle¡¯s now fully-healed shell. With a little hesitation, she duplicated the motion, looking to me. I nodded, grinning again. A bit more confidence went into her next ¡°strike¡±, and then more, and more, until she was slicing at the beetle with all of her strength, grunting little high-pitched sounds as she did so. It kind of reminded me of the sound a guinea pig makes. I watched her slices scratch at the beetle¡¯s shell, barely doing any damage. Don¡¯t worry, Frieda. You¡¯ll get there. 26: Friedas Night Out She went at it until she was exhausted. At least she had faith in me, I guess. To be honest, from her perspective, it was probably something like ¡°Giant lizard forces me to slap roach. Why?¡± And yet she kept on doing it. Frieda you silly furball, he¡¯s not a roach! He¡¯s our good friend, Mr. Beetle. I shook my head. I really need to stop personifying people and things, especially if it leads to me having conversations with myself... Carefully, I hauled the beetle out, avoiding his hooked claws, then gestured, and she went back through the hole with me following. The beetle plugged up the hole again and I once more had a slight pang of ¡°feelsbadman¡± for him. Eh. He¡¯d get over it or he¡¯d die. One of them was gonna happen first. I followed Frieda back to the front of the cave, raring with energy since I hadn¡¯t done much while watching her fight. The beetle corpses had dried out, so there was no new blood to drink, which unfortunately, put a damper on my plan to gourmandize. Furball and I got to the front room, and she looked at me curiously, maybe wondering what I would be up to for the rest of the night. I remembered the meat, and pointed to it. She looked to me, and then back at the meat, then back to me, then back at the meat. ... Man there had to be a deoderant joke in there somewhere¡ Anyway, I tried communicating my thoughts to her, but all I could really do was point at the meat in frustration. I want more! I picked it up, acting like I was going to eat it, and pointed at it while it was near my mouth. She might¡¯ve understood, and began to shuffle out of the cave. I dropped the meat onto the leaf with a gross splish, and followed her. Her nightly routine did intrigue me, after all. It was completely dark outside, the only light from the moon overhead, washing down between the leaves. When Frieda noticed me following, she scampered back towards me, walking next to me with happy eyes. Oh so you like it when the big dumb lizard goes out into the jungle with you, huh? I idly wondered what a paleontologist might name a new species of dinosaur if they wanted the translation to be ¡°big dumb lizard¡±. Brontosaurus meant ¡°Thunder Lizard¡± or something. Idiosaurus? Gigantomoronosaurus? Djaka, Jungle G-- Okay I¡¯ll stop myself there before that thought gets sent into the world and he realizes what I was thinking. Could be dangerous to taunt something like that.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. At least I¡¯m safe inside my mind. I glanced at the fuzzball next to me as she scampered towards a tall tree. In the light of the moon I could see that it had scratches up and down the trunk, like deer during mating season, but covering far more surface area. Frieda approached the tree and, without a moment of hesitation, leap upwards, digging her claws into the wood, and using her feet to kick herself further up the tree, until she was at the top. Wow. It¡¯s like a reverse spur climb. She disappeared into the giant leaves atop the tree, and her natural anti-light build concealed her from me even more. Now I could see why her species was so good at scavenging at night. Thunk! A heavy, round fruit landed on the ground in front of me. It was grooved, like if you were to remove the peel from an orange and examine the slices. But it was hard, like a nut. I tilted my head at the object. Proto-coconut?

Macamme

A hard nut also called Saravani¡¯s Gift, the shell can be cracked open by certain creatures to reveal the delectable fruit within.

Another few thunks accompanied the arrival of several more nuts, and then a scratching noise announced Frieda¡¯s descent. She looked at me, clear pride in her eyes as she rolled the nuts into a pile. Yes, I thought. Very good, intelligent, even. But how are you going to get them back to the cave? She just stared at me, standing in front of her little pile of big nuts. I didn¡¯t react. With a frown, she picked up one of the nuts, and held it towards me, pointing with her other hand towards the pile. Oh. I reached forward, scooping up the pile of nuts into my mouth, barely holding most of them. Frieda picked up the rest. Then she started her shuffle back towards the cave. The little devil. She was using me as a packmule! I supposed it was only fair, though, after what I¡¯d put her through. We arrived back at the cave maybe fifteen minutes later. It certainly was harder to tell time now, with no digital clocks donning my walls, monitors, phone and television. Wow. I never realized how much disrespect I had for clocks. Back then, I never cared about the time, because I could stay inside as long as I wanted to, sleep when I wanted to, and eat when I wanted to. Now, life was definitely harder. And gauging time wasn¡¯t easy. It was pretty much ¡°stay out until you¡¯re full or the sun goes down.¡± It was a barbaric way to live. And yet, I found there was something enticing about it. I don¡¯t know. Maybe it was the game-y part of the world that made it so much fun to experience. Or maybe it was just that everything was new. There was a saying, back where in the life I came from: ¡°Born too late to explore the world. Born too early to explore space. Born just in time to explore dank memes.¡± And as much fun as it was to explore those memes, the world was littered with depression, anxiety, suffering and all-around boredom. This life? I had to fight to survive. The rewards felt so much more¡ rewarding. Well, you let me know how it is for you if you ever wake up as a dinosaur. Truth be told, I¡¯d be very interested in comparing experiences. You know where to find me, if you ever want to talk. Just fire a signal into the sky with my symbol, and I¡¯ll come running. Actually, that¡¯s not a bad idea. I should make a ¡°Dino Signal¡± for when I inevitably have people that need to call upon my super heroic awesomeness. We entered the cave as I pondered the idea, primitive designs crowding my head. 27: Dino and Gorlen After Frieda and I dropped the Macamme nuts back in the Dino Cave, she split one open with her long claws, popping the bright red fruit into her mouth, juices spilling down her fur. Those kinds of hands are very useful, huh. I wonder what Karavos used claws like that for. His were similar to Frieda¡¯s, but he was way too big to be cracking coconuts for food. Furball also offered me one of the fruits, and I tasted the juicy succulence. After both of us had a couple more, we tossed the shells in a pile and headed back out into the night.

You have developed your appetite. Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the [Omnivore] instinct! [Omnivore]- Consumption rewards will now apply to all types of foods.

Huh. I wasn¡¯t actually expecting to get anything out of eating the tiny balls of fruit, but maybe this world had more to reward me than expected¡ I followed the furball as she lead me off in another direction from the Dino Cave, this time towards Sailboat¡¯s territory. I was hesistant at first, but the darkness of the night, and the company of a friend made it sufficiently less terrifying.

Your [Nocturnal] has leveled up. It is now level 5.

Ah. Things were just slightly easier to see. Fuzzball, particularly. Dang, she was designed to travel at night, that much was clear. If I hadn¡¯t known she was in front of me, and I¡¯m sure if she didn¡¯t want me to see her, I wouldn¡¯t be able to. After a while, we reached a river, maybe the same one as where I originally hatched, but it was nowhere near as far from the cave. Frieda hopped around the shallows as I watched from the trees, playing some game I didn¡¯t understand. When she was tired of that, she started walking down the bank of the river, snipping leaves off of plants with her claws. When she had a bundle of them, she grabbed a long leaf from the woods, and wrapped them in it. Oh! So this is how she gets the health packets, eh? I made a mental note to observe the plants she was snipping later for their names, and Frieda kept at it, gathering a few different bundles of the leaves, and piling them near the river. One plant, across the small river, grew proudly upwards in stalks, and Frieda scampered over to pluck it. A flash in the darkness. A black lizard with dark red stripes running down its body, the size of me when I was a Frail Baby Dino, darted out of the woods, gunning straight for her. My eyes opened wide in alarm. Then I shot out of the woods, dashing towards the fuzzball.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Baby Night Stalker [Lvl 3]

Hailing from the shadows, this monster breathes fear. A creature that hunts at night, this dinosaur can see flawlessly in the darkness, but suffers from a weakness to light. It stalks the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike at unsuspecting scavengers.

Okay. At least he wasn¡¯t a threat to me. In fact, I was faster than him, and made it to the furball¡¯s location just as the stalker arrived. With a kick to the surprised lizard¡¯s face, I sent him sliding across the rocky beach, into the water. I leapt onto him, pinning him to the ground, about to bite his head off for attacking my friend. But just before I did, I looked up to Frieda, a smile growing on my face. Come on, I gestured, indicating the stalker¡¯s exposed throat. Kill him. I now realize that might sound a lot more heartless than I meant it to be. After all, I wasn¡¯t trying to make her into a murderer. But it was fact that in most games, the player who dealt the finishing blow would gain the most experience. Eh. Kill stealers¡ But no, I was giving her this one. She could feast freely upon that glorious experience which I offered. But I¡¯d be consuming him. This was going to be part of my first gourmet meal as a dinosaur. Frieda looked to me, then to the stalker, shaking her head. ¡°Raag,¡± I growled, pointing to his throat, and making the slicing motions with my hand. Her wide-eyes flickered rapidly between me and the stalker. For what seemed like minutes, we sat there, the stalker having given up squirming underneath me, and Frieda breathing rapidly. I reached out with one hand after she¡¯d reluctantly gotten close enough, and pulled her in, pointing at his throat again. She closed her eyes tight. A single hand reached out on its stubby arm, and tapped the stalkers throat. I glared at her after she opened her eyes. She gulped, reaching out with the same hand, and moving it towards the stalkers exposed neck. I let slip my grip as she slowly moved her hand closer, letting the stalker free. ¡°Shyaaaow!¡± he screamed, wiggling free and snapping at Frieda¡¯s approaching claws. With a squeak, Frieda jumped, the stalker leaping towards her. Her sharp claws came slicing downwards, ripping through the stalker¡¯s throat, and down his chest. He landed on her, bleeding profusely, and she squeaked a bunch more, rolling the corpse off of her. I observed her.

Frieda, the Gorlen [Lvl 4]

Frieda is a scavenger that lives in a cave inhabited by a predator. During the day, she sleeps, blending into dark surroundings with a build maximized for dispersing light that may cross her body. Very intelligent, but cowardly.

Observations: Excellent at remembering the locations of foods and useful herbs.

So it was true. She¡¯d leveled up from that kill. My grin widened. All I needed to do now was feed her mountains of experience, and I¡¯d have a fluffy death machine on my hands. Oh my Frieda, sweet Frieda. Soon you will be a force to be reckoned with, and all the land shall fear the wrath of Dino and Gorlen! But right now, I noticed, she was in shock, her stubby arms shaking, and her eyes wet. So, with careful movements, I scooped her up onto my back, where she lay, breathing heavy. I managed to carry the stalker¡¯s body in my mouth, and hold the leaf packets to my chest in what was to be a very uncomfortable return to the cave, both physically, and emotionally. I didn''t show it, but a bit of guilt weighed on my heart. SPECIAL: Who Wants to be a Reptiliannaire? Ladies, gentlemen, and reptillians of the land! It is I, SavageMercy, your host. Welcome to ¡°Who Wants to be a Reptillianaire?¡± where the points are made up, and the show doesn¡¯t matter! Whose story is it, anyway? Bugger off if you think you can tell me how my references work, because I¡¯ve invented this game show for one special purpose: April Fools! After all, this is the month of my birth and, as a natural prankster, one of my favorite holidays! I used to buy all the pranks at the store and take them to school. Once got sent to the nurse¡¯s office for getting a ¡°nail through my finger¡± as well. Boy, was that a day. Anyway, get your gloves on, because I¡¯ve blown up the whoopie cushions, greased all the doorknobs, and set the microwave to 30 minutes with all the forks I could find! If you¡¯re not ready to party, then get out of my show! I¡¯ve got here, sitting across from me, some very scary people. They¡¯re here to answer questions, and to forgive the fact that some of them can¡¯t speak, I¡¯ve hand-waved that rule! That¡¯s right! A wizard did it! I¡¯ve dutifully collected the (admittedly few) questions that you, my readers, have posed to the characters within Gamer¡¯s Guide to Waking up as a Dinosaur and-- ¡°Gakor!¡± ¡ Sorry, what was that, random dinosaur? Oh. No. You don¡¯t get one of the fancy translator mics. Those are expensive, sorry. I¡¯ve only got enough for the people who got questions. ¡°Skek!¡± Listen man, I¡¯m sorry, but you were invited to the audience, not the game. Also, this was quite an investment on my part, so unless you can cough up [REDACTED]... ¡°Krr¡¡± Yeah. Didn¡¯t think so. Now stay quiet back there. We¡¯re live. Alright! Let¡¯s have our wonderful participants introduce themselves! Then we can have them pick their matches! ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± the Main Character interrupts. ¡°Matches?¡± This dinosaur¡¯s face portrays confusion as the querie is made, before off-handedly commenting: ¡°Man, it feels good to speak again.¡± A cough, as the fancy microphone-collar technology is adjusted and-- ¡°Could you not narrate everything I do?¡± Oh. My apologies. I understand that you¡¯re typically the narrator and everything, but I¡¯m the author, so I¡¯m in charge today! A new voice speaks up, this one a deep and rumbling baritone. ¡°You think you¡¯re hot stuff because you write the story?¡± Ah, Rexcelsis, my apologies. I didn¡¯t mean to give you the wrong impression. You¡¯re free to leave, if you wish. The dinosaur stands up, leaving the audience wondering how he managed to fit on that tiny folding chair to begin with. As he leaves, I narrate, and casually mention that there are prizes for winning this game show. Aha. He¡¯s stopped. I¡¯ve caught his attention. ¡°Prizes?¡± Yes, Rexcelsis, prizes. If you wish to win them, I beg you take your seat. An uncomfortable expression crosses his face as he stands on his toes and politely works his way back through the rows of other lizards, people, and dinosaurs. ¡°Fossiling hell,¡± an irritated voice rises up. ¡°Move your scaley behind. I can¡¯t see the game!¡± Ah, Cocop, the author of ¡°Burning Stars, Falling Skies.¡± Pleasure to see you here. Thanks for attending. ¡°Yeah, my pleasure.¡± As a fellow author, he remains unperturbed as I describe exactly what he is doing without breaking eye contact. In fact, he returns a measured gaze yet unmatched by any of the other uncomfortable sacks in this room. My apologies for the, uh, unusual seating. He is, you see, sitting on a traffic cone. I ran out of money from the budget in that section of seating. ¡°Whatever. I¡¯ve taken worse.¡± Do be sure to read his novel. He deserves the attention, with worldbuilding like that. A blush takes over his face, before I turn my attention back to the game. Alright! I¡¯ve got several questions here! Let¡¯s start with, uh¡ this one! Karavos, this question is for you. The massive 70-foot dinosaur jumps a little, as if he hadn¡¯t been expected to be called on when I already explicitly stated that anybody with one of the fancy translator things gets at least one question. ¡°Well I wasn¡¯t expecting to go fi--,¡± Don¡¯t worry about it Kar, I¡¯m just busting your Macammes. Now, this one is from Nullblaster the Voidmaker. They ask, ¡°Hey Karavos, how was the water?¡± Karavos clears his throat, then looks at me, clearly uncomfortable with interrupting my narration even though there have already been several examples of how dialogue works in this chapter. ¡ He¡¯s about to speak when I narrate, and he feels interrupted, but quiets down. Just go on then, speak whenever! We don¡¯t have all day! This chapter has to be out in¡ yeah it has to be out already. ¡°Um. Okay. Wow, it¡¯s weird to be able to speak like all of you. Anyway, I assume you mean the water from the pond? Yeah, I visit there every week or so. It¡¯s a pretty good spot. Actually, my grandmother once told me that if you¡¯re going to travel the world then you¡¯d better do it with fri--¡± I wave my hand and the giant dinosaur disintegrates, disappearing into nothingness until he once again becomes a relevant plot point. The rest of the contestants jump in fear, exchanging nervous glances. Let this be understood as a warning to them. I don¡¯t really care about your grandmothers. In fact, I know more about them than you do. But the readers want answers from your stupid mouths, so if you don¡¯t answer the questions, and just the questions, I turn you into something interesting that will keep them reading until the end of the game show. Understood? ¡°But, um,¡± the Main Character interrupts again. ¡°What¡ What did you turn Karavos into?¡± Oh, him? I turned him into bad comic relief, that¡¯s all. Anyway, next question. This one has points attached! The crowd grows excited at the mention of points, chattering amongst themselves as if they¡¯ve already forgotten what I can do to them with a mere thought.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Now they grow quiet. No please, the chattering gives good ambience to the next question¡¯s build up. No? Too scared to talk? Alright then. This question is for the human characters over there. Yeah, you three. They sit up straighter as I call on them. From Macronomicon, ¡°What country are the knights from, and why was the little one valuable to them?¡± To clarify, because you three are idiots, the ¡°little one¡± Macro is referring to here is Frieda, the gorlen over there. Santa clears his throat, about to speak up. Then he pauses, confusion crossing his features. ¡°Santa? My name is Sir Grenzer!¡± Yes, I¡¯m aware, now answer the question, you savage. His knives jingle like the bells on Christmas day, and he seems even more confused by this statement before moving on to answer. ¡°We hail from Zaarta, in Ghindo. And¡¡± He adjusts the translation collar. ¡°Wait, is this necessary? We can speak fine on our own.¡± He doesn¡¯t seem to realize that he speaks Yatten, a language thus far only spoken by three characters, and slightly comprehended by another. Does he understand that this audience and grouping of other characters might not understand him? Does he understand how annoying it would be for me to transcribe his stupid language? Ah. The gears are spinning in his head now. Before he asks anymore stupid questions, he will continue to answer the question from Macronomicon. ¡°Ah, yes. The gorlen is valuable because it sells for much! Our people can use it for various things, but often the wealthy like to keep them as pets.¡± ¡ I feel as though with that sentence he just tried to hijack my creation of the world. Apparently, the wealthy humans can now own gorlens as pets. I¡¯d better note that down¡ Alright. Two-hundred points to Team Idiot. The three idiots cheer and high five before they realize what I called their team. Alright. It seems the rest of these questions are from the same person¡ J4498. Ah, the man who crafts some of my favorite comments. These should be entertaining. For the author¡ Oh yeah, I have to get rid of this card, since I already answered it. Bonus points to me, by the way, for answering before any of you. The crowd rumbles their disagreement but doesn¡¯t protest. I am, after all, more than a god to them. Heh. That comment brought some uncomfortable expressions to their faces. How about a question for Djanak? D.J., J4498 wants to know if you hunt the reefs of the sea, drifting as the wind carries you from shoal to shoal? The large Saurian rises to his feet, not noticing the folding chair stuck to his butt as he does so. Oh, now he¡¯s noticed. A quick mind wipe and¡ we¡¯ve got him back on track. ¡°Yes,¡± he rumbles, glancing around at all the spectators. Thank you Sailboat, that¡¯ll be all. ¡°Wait, Sailboat?¡± I remove the translation collar with a single swipe, and he can no longer ask about his interesting nickname. Five-hundred points to the poor Spinosaurus rip-off. He cheers, a fist pumping into the air, before cordially returning to his seat. Ah. It¡¯s a good time to question Rex now, since that will eliminate our worries about having the two remaining seated titans causing disruption as they move. Rex, J4498 wants to know, have you ever considered the industrial applications of DEATH BEAMS!? ¡°I¡¯m not sure what that question means.¡± The audience laughs. I sigh. Of course you aren¡¯t, you birdbrain. Half-credit for that answer. Ten points to you. Hmm. Is the Elder Nature Spirit around? Ah, yes, there she is. Hello doll, you¡¯re looking radiant tonight. [Oh! Why thank you!] So we¡¯ve got a question here for you. Are you ready, dear? [Sure!] Okay. How goes the war against entropy? ENS ponders for a moment, a finger against her lip. [Hmmm¡ That¡¯s quite a tough question, really. To measure the success against something as conceptual as entropy is a hard ask. But, I suppose with the collaboration of many denizens of the wood, we¡¯ve so far stymied its worst effects, and managed to live happily for quite some time. Thanks for asking!] Now isn¡¯t she just the cutest. Two-thousand points for that well-educated answer. Picture a chibi anime girl celebrating and that¡¯s basically what she was doing after that announcement. Leroy, I¡¯ve got a question for you. I direct my gaze to the Main Character, who seems confused, but gets the name and chuckles. ¡°Oh that¡¯s actually quite funny!¡± This question is from kgy121, actually, as I recall, before we get to J4498¡¯s question. Now, is SchlongLord the real main character? The dinosaur smiles. ¡°He¡¯s the main character in my heart! SchlongLord, I¡¯m pretty sure, actually has an upcoming story of his own. I believe he is the main character starring in ¡®I Chose Mega Schlong as my Weapon of Destiny, but Everything I Fight is a Male: A Harem Story.¡¯¡± Very good. Thank you for that input. Thirty-seven and a half points, but don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ve got a chance on this next question. Ahem. Cool new dino world ya got here. How long until you sit down and look for an options page? Field of view slider? Yada yada yada. There¡¯s more, but really, he wants to know why you¡¯re being so passive in your ¡°Gamer¡¯s Guide¡± while enjoying your any% run. I beam the entire question into this dino¡¯s mind, and put the rest up on screen for the audience.

¡°So cool new dino world ya got here. How long until you sit down and look for an options page? FOV slider? Like you have a system projecting into your brain have you noticed any changes in thought patterns? Memory wipes? Are you aloud to think about the system and how something like this is governed? Is it code? Alive? Would forest nymph know? What about green boxes because you are a dinosaur? A clock? Test the limits of the interface and look for cracks. This is an any%run. Why not find more exploites? Im shure they are there.¡±

The Main Character¡¯s eyes glaze over for a moment, before looking up and answering. ¡°Nope. They¡¯re not there! But good suggestions! Can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t think about that myself.¡± Leroy sits back down and eagerly awaits my announcement of the point value of that question. I ignore the hopes and dreams of the Main Character and look to the left, at the shy furball that has been sitting patiently the whole time. Frieda. Now that you have been saved and not eaten as a snack in your sleep even though you share a cave with a predator, where do you see yourself in five years? The fluffy gorlen stands up in her chair, barely reaching the height of the sitting Main Character. She puffs out her chest, and then squeaks out. ¡°Atop the throne that crests the world!¡± Wow. With just a single short sentence, Frieda both surprised and alarmed me. Two-thousand points, bringing you to a tie with the Nature Spirit. Where¡¯s the beetle? I look around. Main Character? Did you forget to free the beetle before coming to this game show? ¡°Oh. Oops.¡± No matter, he wouldn¡¯t have won anyway. This show¡¯s entirely based on my favoritism, after all. Santa, another question for your team. How much are they paying you to watch the other two idiots? There are dinos with DEATH BEAMS. Also, nice throw. Sir Grenzer clears his throat, smiling despite himself. ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ve been practicing my knife throwing quite often lately. You won¡¯t believe how much easier it can be than firing a bow, sometimes. Also, to answer your question, not enough. I have to raise these two idiots?¡± He smacks their heads and elicits cries of pain. ¡°To be knights?! Ha!¡± Santa seats himself before I address the reindeers. J4498 wants you to know he¡¯s very frustrated with your idiocy. Death beams, after all. No. Don¡¯t answer. That wasn¡¯t a question. Learn basic survival and grow as people, please. Eighteen-hundred points to Team Idiot for Grenzer¡¯s answer. Is that all the questions? Uhhh. Oh! There¡¯s one more! This question is for¡ Jeremy. Jeremy? Is Jeremy here? A wet flopping sound announces that yes, he is. But the idiot can¡¯t be seen over Rexcelsis¡¯ fat posterior. Didn¡¯t I give you guys assigned seats for a reason? Jeremy manages to flop his way around beside Rex, so I can see him as he answers my question. Poor guy. He never even had an introduction. This is Jeremy, the man consumed by that super-fast flyer that I conveniently didn¡¯t have to describe here at all because it didn¡¯t attend. Jeremy, I know I can restore your wings, but it¡¯s just so funny to resurrect you just to watch you flop around. From Lord Vile, with Angeuss calling him a psycho, did it feel good when your wings were cut off and eaten? Jeremy raises an eyebrow. ¡°Well, surely I wouldn¡¯t know the answer to that question because I was dead at that point. I imagine it probably felt like normal, your bones crunch and your skin gets torn away, while the meat on your bones is tasted by a salivating predator or scavenger or what-have-you. I was merely on my way to tea with the rest of my extended family when that despicable Carl attacked¡ Glad he¡¯s not here.¡± He tilts his head at me, waiting for my point announcement, but it never comes. ¡°This game is rigged!¡± he shouts, before flopping away angrily. Heh. Never gets old. Anyway, thanks to everybody for coming out! The pairings will be mailed to you in two weeks! You¡¯ll have to spend the following eighteen weeks in self-quarantine with your match, and at the end of it, if you haven¡¯t died of starvation or thirst, and haven¡¯t killed each other, you¡¯ll get a great reward! The reward of knowing you can do it. Because a lot of people don¡¯t know that. To all my readers, who doubt or question themselves, take it from me: You can do it! Thank you for playing ¡°Who Wants to be a Reptiliannaire!!!¡± I expect to see you all next year for the Anniversary Prank Wars! Happy April Fools! 28: The Prowler Frieda and I arrived back at the cave entrance. Her breathing had turned slow and regular, so I imagined she was sleeping. Actually, I felt extremely disoriented, but I wasn¡¯t sure why. It was like I¡¯d tuned out of the world for the walk back to base, and at some point, flashed back into reality. It was disturbing, but I couldn¡¯t think of any causes of the confusion, so I shook it off, and lay on the ground, leaning so Frieda would slide off gently. I put the packets of herbs down in the corner of the room and yawned. It was still night time, so there was still some time for me to get some rest. But since I¡¯d plopped Frieda onto my nest, I had to sleep on the cold floor. I guess I deserved it, after what I made her do. I didn¡¯t regret what I did. If I hadn¡¯t been there, she would¡¯ve needed to fight that stalker off herself. I was doing this for her benefit. But that didn¡¯t stop me from feeling guilty. A hollow feeling filled my chest as I tried to rest. I couldn¡¯t get comfortable, but I wasn¡¯t sure if it was the floor or my emotions that caused it. Eventually, I fell asleep. When I woke, I saw that Frieda still snoozed in the comfortable nest I¡¯d left her in. She¡¯d rolled over, and a hand rested across her chest. I will admit I was tempted to find some sort of whipped cream equivalent and do the ole ¡°tickle the face¡± prank. But I didn¡¯t. It was light outside, and I didn¡¯t think it was a good time to bother her. I stood up, stretching my stiff muscles, and groaned as I kickstarted the blood flow. Maybe sunbathing would be nice again today. Though it felt like a waste of a day. I exited the cave again and made my way back towards the river Frieda had shown me. No way I was gonna drink from the Watering Hole anytime soon. Like, sorry boys, but the chef ain¡¯t tasting his own soup today. It was a long walk to the river, but in the daylight, it was actually very interesting. All kinds of plants dotted the trailblazen path I took. Crimson berries shined in the light of the day, but when I observed them, I could see they were poisonous. Hmm. I wonder if other people can see that, or if they have to experiment and find out the hard way¡ As I headed towards the stream, a strange tickle ran up my spine. Quietly, I lowered myself to the ground, moving towards a cluster of long grass, and tried my best to blend into my surruondings. I surveyed the area, taking in every detail and trying to find the cause of the strange feeling. Nothing¡ I gave the area a second scan, but saw nothing. Hmm. There might not have been anything out there that my eyes could detect, but I¡¯ve seen horror movies. I know that the bad guy always strikes after the good guys get goosebumps, but think they¡¯re just hallucinating. And in a world like this, where anything could kill you, and deadly predators hide around every corner? Yeah, no thanks. I¡¯ll remain careful. The tingling feeling on my spine continued, so I did my best to sneak away through the large leafy bushes. After I¡¯d moved away a significant distance, I picked up speed, and within a few minutes, my nerves calmed. Perhaps I had an overactive imagination, but it was better to be safe than sorry.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Wow. That thought was so much unlike my old self who, without fear, would rush into most battles, and almost never played stealth unless playing a solo campaign. Which, by the way, is one of the best ways to play. Then again, could I consider this new world a singleplayer game? Was it a campaign mode? Or was it battle royale? Whatever it was, I was determined to win it, or at least survive it. No more ¡°dashing in without a plan¡± moments for me. So far, those had worked out terribly. And if I was going to be stealthily observing an area ahead, I¡¯d make sure to scout out my surroundings carefully before approaching. And I would definitely stay away from any edges. There would always be at least a foot¡¯s worth of space between me and an edge, unless it was necessary for me to go further in. These were rules I noted down mentally, ways that I might improve my ¡°gameplay¡±. Until I had a clan, or a guild, solo play was going to be very dangerous. I didn¡¯t expect to be going out with Frieda every night, because I didn¡¯t think that to be sustainable. Just for now, while I level her. A pang of guilt bit at my stomach as I stopped my sneaking and resumed my hiking pace. Yeah, it would certainly hurt to force her to fight, but if she was going to be around me, it was only asking for danger. Within the hour, I reached the river, and peered out from the trees before approaching. Various creatures hung out in groupings around the river, but it was thinner than it had been last night, almost half the size. Huge spiked shells, the size of my old forearm in length, sat around the edge of the water, fat wet tentacles laying out of the openings. Those things look dangerous...

Cronto [Lvl 1]

These creatures float down rivers, collecting algae with their tentacles. Sometimes, they wash up on shore during low tide, and wait for the water to pull them back in.

Ironic that they look so strong, but they¡¯re only level one¡ I next observed a group of dinosaurs drinking from the river, and chewing on leaves and grass nearby. These dinos had massive armored plates covering their body, with a huge round mane of scales jutting out from around their necks like frilled lizards. Each possessed a single nasty horn which stuck out from the center of their heads, reaching an armslength away from their faces.

Aspisaurus [Level 23]

These creatures are strong pack animals. They travel everywhere together, rarely ever venturing off alone. When they sleep, they form an outer facing circle, linking the natural shields around their necks together, and forming an impenetrable wall to protect their young.

Wicked! I could tell they were herbivores from what they were eating, and from their builds, they didn¡¯t move that fast, so it was probably safe for me to approach the river. Just as I was about to, a lone creature exited the forest on the other side, approaching the river to drink. The best way I could describe this thing was a fusion between a saber-toothed tiger and a porcupine. Sharp quills lay around the beasts neck, like a collar of needles. They were flat against its speckled pelt, and dotted the rest of its body, sticking off of elbows, ankles, and the tip of the its tail. Fat claws emerged from each of its paws, and even when they weren¡¯t extended, they bit into the earth as it walked towards the river. But the scariest part about it was the boiling red liquid. Trickling out of the beasts mouth, and sizzling when it reached the ground, the drool of apparent lava dripped lazily as it opened its mouth, causing steam to rise up as it drank. I observed it, insanely curious, and also alarmed. Then I remembered that there were creatures that could sense it. I instantly tried to cancel my observation, but the magic box appeared before me, as though saying ¡°You can¡¯t get rid of me that easily.¡±

Torvus, Prowler of the Depths [Lvl ???]

As the steam cleared, and Torvus hadn¡¯t moved, I noticed something. His yellow eyes, which gleamed with intelligence, were looking directly at me. 29: Its Raining Bad! Lava-lujah! I stared, completely still, into the piercing yellow eyes of the cat-monster across the river. There was no way he¡¯d noticed me so far away, so the only explanation was that he¡¯d sensed my observation. I mentally kicked myself. Idiot! You just went over this! No observing over-threatening creatures! I hoped at least that my instinct gained plenty of experience off of that. It was the only possible consolation. Torvus stood still, staring at me, as lava dripped down out of his mouth, dripping down his long fangs, and sizzling as it touched the river. I didn¡¯t move a muscle. My heartbeat grew loud, and I felt as though he could hear how frightened I was. The Aspisauruses had all slowly moved into a protective formation, with their armored manes locking. They pulled their heads in, like turtles, and the only things sticking out of their massive armored wall were their sickeningly sharp horns. Torvus didn¡¯t care. I¡¯m sure if he wanted to, he could¡¯ve killed some of them before they even knew he was there. That¡¯s what cats did, after all. They were stealth masters. My heartbeat grew louder as I stared at Torvus.

Your [Freeze] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

Torvus vanished. No. Wait. He hadn¡¯t vanished. A blur crossed my vision. Somehow, a song entered my head. Lava cats are on the move... And then the cat was suddenly in front of me, a paw the size of my face raised to slice. So this is how I die. With a stupid theme stuck in my head. ¡°Skraaaawww!¡± Torvus looked to his left, claws still extended towards me. That was all the distraction I needed. I whipped around, sprinting directly into the woods. Probably not the brightest idea ever, because jungle cats are a thing, but when you¡¯re panicking, you aren¡¯t thinking of the best way to get away. The only thing running through my mind in that moment was that I needed to put as much distance between myself and that¡ thing as possible. I glanced behind me to see if he was chasing me, but as Torvus looked back towards me, a snarl on his face, a feathered dinosaur tackled him, and they disappeared behind the bushes. The deotrexaptors?

Deotrexaptor [Lvl 21]

These vicious beasts form packs and hunt down monsters far stronger than themselves. They follow the strongest among them without question, but will mourn the loss of their weakest all the same.

I didn¡¯t stick around to find out why those idiots might be so suicidal. The swarm of xaptors leapt into my vision, landing on where Torvus and the other xaptor had fallen. Shrieks and roars called out into the woods, and chills ran up my spine as I realized how frightening this world could really be.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Crash! No¡ Crash! Just my luck¡ Crash! Directly in front of me, a massive scaled leg landed. I stopped, following the leg up, and up, and up. A dark sail shot proudly out of the low treeline, cresting the white body splattered with red. Sailboat had arrived. I stumbled backwards. Caught between a river and a hard place. A massive foot rose, falling down towards me. I jumped to the side, rolling out of the way, as Sailboat approached the river. He roared, shaking the trees, and my confidence. As I watched, xaptor corpses were thrown into the air, some burned, some rended to shreds, landing at the feet of the Jungle God. I watched as the dinosaurs paused, looking downwards at the tiny corpses littering the ground before him. Torvus¡¯ face peeked over the bushes, and his eyes gave me the impression that he was amused. Was he¡ taunting the monster next to me? The ground erupted into shrapnel as Djanak, Jungle God slammed his two forearms against it, his tail splintering trees as it whipped furiously around. Then he charged. As he ran, a savage cry rose from deep within his chest. Torvus leapt across the river, crouching low as he watched the monster approach. Against my better judgement, I scaled one of the surviving trees nearby, and watched the scene unfold. Sailboat leaped into the air, his clawed hands spread wide, flying directly towards the cat. Torvus rolled at the very last second, leaving behind a trail of hot lava. Hot lava that Sailboat landed in. The reptile hissed, barely reacting to the burning flesh. His head shot out like a bullet, a speed I didn¡¯t think he possessed, and his jaws snapped together. Where the cat had been was simply empty air. The Jungle God roared as he spun, Torvus sitting behind him, casually licking his paw, and running it over the fur on his face. The titan glared at him, standing completely still while the cat watched him. Wham! The cat was sent flying into a tree as the Jungle God¡¯s tail came whipping around, slamming directly into his chest. There was no way the cat survived a direct attack like that, right? He lay still, collapsed to the ground, many of his pelt¡¯s needles sticking out of the tree. But as Sailboat stomped at the cat, he vanished again. I spotted him, atop the tree, as he launched himself out of it, directly for the reptile¡¯s eyes. Sailboat barely managed to turn his head away, and massive claws bit deep into his neck, slicing down his flank. A blind slap from the titan caught the cat¡¯s hind leg. I heard a snap. When Torvus landed, he was standing behind his opponent, but limping. His rear leg was broken. If Sailboat kills him, maybe I can get some of the meat! Suddenly, Torvus puffed up, the spikes all along his body rising. A red aura coursed through him, and the spikes glowed red-hot. With only three legs, he somehow managed to propel himself into the air as Sailboat turned around, twirling into a flip. Hundreds of sizzling needles screamed towards the lizard. I couldn¡¯t help myself, and observed the attack.

Molten Rain [Skill Lvl ???]

Your [Observant] has leveled up. It is now level 7.

The needles whistled as they shot towards Sailboat, and his eyes widened as he saw the attack. Then he opened his mouth and screamed. A wave of energy exploded from him, the epicenter. Trees felled, and the Crontos melted into ash. Even the retreating Aspisauruses were knocked over. The tree I sat upon shook, but I held on with all my might as the hot air whipped at my face.

Your [Climb] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

I didn¡¯t even manage to react to Sailboat¡¯s attack in time to observe it. The needles continued their flight, but they had slowed significantly. A hundred sharp embers landed against Sailboat¡¯s skin, and he batted them away as though they were irritable bee stings. Torvus was nowhere to be found. Did I spawn in a high-level zone or something? 30: Strollin. Strollin up the River. I did something risky. I stayed in the tree after Sailboat decided that Torvus was gone. Bleeding, he walked around to the xaptor corpses, and as I watched concealed from the tree, gathered them all into a pile. The Aspisauruses were gone, by the way. They¡¯d fled after Sailboat¡¯s attack, lumbering away at a slow sprint. It was like I was watching them at half playback speed. Odd. The Crontos were nothing but piles of ash, but further down the beach, some of them still survived. Sailboat scooped one of them up with his long forearms. He had proto-thumbs. Lucky¡ Without a single care, Sailboat crunched down on the shell, shattering it and swallowing the mushy creature within, as well as several fragments of the shell. Straight savage. I examined the other Crontos while he collected xaptor corpses, reading their description again.

Cronto [Lvl 1]

These creatures float down rivers, collecting algae with their tentacles. Sometimes, they wash up on shore during low tide, and wait for the water to pull them back in.

Wait. Did rivers have low tide? Now that I had caught that sentence, I looked back at the river. It was thinner than last night, when I¡¯d come here with Frieda. But rivers didn¡¯t just¡ thin out, did they? Personally, I¡¯ve never read up much on natural transportation of water, but it seemed logical that unless the source was destroyed, or something blocked the flow, the water wouldn¡¯t just thin out. I had a bad feeling about it. Sailboat had finally collected the corpses while I thought on the implications of the river¡¯s sudden change, and he¡¯d piled them near the river. His bleeding had mostly stopped too. But those claw marks would make for wicked scars. He stood before the pile of corpses. What are you doing, Sailboat? As if in answer to my question, he tilted his head up to the sky, opening his mouth wide to howl. This time, though, no shockwaves emitted. No heat blasted against my face. No, this wasn¡¯t an attack. It was a howl of grief. Very slowly, and with great care, Sailboat ran his hands over the corpses piled on the beach. I couldn¡¯t see if he was crying, but he clearly cared about the xaptors. Even those trashbags have family, I guess.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. A single light breath, like a human would do to warm their hands in winter, and a small burst of flame left Sailboat¡¯s mouth, setting fire to the pile of bodies. My jaw dropped open. This guy¡ can breathe FIRE?! The titan stood there, watching as the bodies burned, and the smoke crawled high into the sky. While his vision was obscured by the smoke, I made my escape, climbing down the tree and sneaking away. But I wasn¡¯t going back to Frieda anymore. No, my dino senses were tingling, and I had to follow what they were telling me to do. That river was an open quest, and I was about to complete it. That brought a thought to my mind. Were there rewards, even though I didn¡¯t get a prompt for a quest? Was the quest simply ¡°there¡± but not ¡°logged¡±? Whatever it was, I was going to solve the mystery of the river. I followed the river upstream, staying in the jungle to avoid another encounter with a creature like Torvus. There was no way I could fight something that fast. He almost killed Sailboat, after all. And that was not a level of strength I wanted to tustle with. They were on the level of Rexcelsis, and if they could do that ¡°Nonparticulate¡± thing, then I wouldn¡¯t stand a chance. He¡¯d completely obliterated a monster that I hadn¡¯t even been able to resist the charming effects of! Yeah, I wouldn¡¯t be messing with the [Lvl ???] creatures any time soon. Not intentionally, anyway. And I will stop trying to get information about intimidating things! Somehow, the Nature Spirit had detected my observation. And I suspected Rex, Sailboat, and Torvus to have done so as well. Perhaps it was level-based? If they were high enough, they could sense it? But then why hadn¡¯t Karavos reacted to my observing of him? And Savage Santa hadn¡¯t picked it up either¡ Was it a skill? Hmm. Whatever it was, I¡¯m sure I would be able to gain it at some point. My journey up the river revealed various kinds of animals that I wouldn¡¯t have expected to see in a world with dinosaurs. Then again, I didn¡¯t expect to see humans, either. Lots of animals drank from the river and, when the coast was clear, I quenched my thirst as well. Things like deer, foxes, rabbits, and even bears looked at me with alarm as I drank from the river. As tempted as I was to kill some of them for the experience bonus from eating them, I didn¡¯t think it was worth it, since they were all low-level. Plus, I wasn¡¯t hungry. And I¡¯m not a glutton¡ most of the time. The further up the river I traveled, however, the darker the water became. It started out with a light tint, so light that I thought perhaps it was the shadows from the trees. But the sun beating down directly overhead wiped that thought from my mind. Then I realized that the water was becoming more and more red. It was blood. Whatever was bleeding this much had to be big, and it could contaminate the whole river if it kept doing so. Especially if it was dead. Another hour or so of walking led me up a winding path, and I could see a mountain, dotted with grass and trees, in the distance, with a beautiful white waterfall cascading from the middle. The tip disappeared into the clouds, and, if this world truly followed the logic of video games, I could tell it was probably a very important location. Perhaps a religion or four worshipped it. That was typical, right? Pray to the mountain god? Or¡ was it sacrifice to the mountain god? Wait was there even a song about entering the mountain king¡¯s home or something? Or was that real life and not what I was trying to remember? Whatever it was, the mountain was intimidating. Black pillars of rock jutted out from it like hands held out as though to say ¡°Look. Gaze upon me and behold my glory.¡± As I came around a final turn in the river, I was now looking straight towards the waterfall. And also the thing that had turned the river this far up so deep a crimson that it was nearly black. Oh, um. Whoops. 31: When Dinos Cry Yep. You guessed it. The thing that lay across the river, blackening the water with its blood as it vomitted and bled from blisters across its body was the long-necked titan. But the humans that had been hunting him weren¡¯t anywhere to be found. I prayed Savage Santa wasn¡¯t dead. I really wanted to pay him back for the nasty scar on my side. The colossal beast laying before me was a miserable sack of flesh compared to his previous majesty. But, it was still Karavos, Ghindo¡¯s Menace. Though, I guess he wasn¡¯t really very menacing right now. He lay curled up, head against the mountain, and neck across the river, resting over a fallen tree that sat in the center. Suddenly convulsing, a hack followed by a loud splash hinted towards the disgusting sight that awaited me on the front side of his body. I really didn¡¯t want to look. Yet at the same time, I did. I¡¯ll spare you the gory details of what it looked like when I got there, but after I¡¯d walked the straightaway towards the titan, I did see the soupy mess that rested at the bottom of the waterfall. How did some random dung do...this? Perhaps Karavos had gotten sick another way? I approached the massive dinosaur, poking him experimentally. A blister popped on his side, and red and green liquid splattered on the ground next to me. Ew. Dude, really? A groan rose from deep within him, the ground vibrating slightly at the sound. I bet if Rexcelsis or Sailboat found him now he¡¯d be dead within minutes¡ They¡¯d kill him without hesitation. Hell, Rexcelsis might even eat him without caring about his current condition. But he¡¯d also leave the head sitting here, and with my limited knowledge of disease, that probably wasn¡¯t a good idea. He was weak. A far cry from the titan at the pond. But Rex and Sailboat would definitely kill him without a second thought. That¡ actually wasn¡¯t a bad idea. After all, a monster like this was sure to be worth a titanic amount of experience. Plus, I¡¯d be putting him out of his misery, right? A small hill crested near the top of his head, and I hiked over to it, climbing it to hop on top of his face. His eyes were closed, and his feathered beard was stained with blood. I walked up to the top of his head, avoiding the wet mouth next to me. Then I looked at him, pondering. I was probably barely worth being considered as a bug by this monstrosity. How does a gnat kill a human? Perhaps I could stab him in the eye? Yeah, if I cut deep enough, I might be able to fatally wound him. But I had to kill him fast. If it took me an hour to get here, Sailboat could make that journey within half the time, if he hadn¡¯t already started on his way here. Plus, I¡¯d leisurely walked. At least we were safe from Rexcelsis. He seemed to be more inclined to staying on the plains, rather than the woods. So I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about dealing with his judgemental gaze. He¡¯d probably push me into this decision even faster than I was coming to it on my own.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Karavos¡¯ body trembled, and he hacked again. Another groan rumbled past his lips, and I looked towards his eye. There was a green goop around it, and it seemed crusted shut. Experimentally, I slid the talons on my feet across his face, trying to draw any blood. Nothing. The only way to do this might be to go for his eye. I shrugged. If worse came to worst, I¡¯d jump off the dinosaurs head, and sprint away. I doubted he was in the condition to follow me anyway. I hopped around to the other side of his eye, and dug my fingers under his eyelid, prying it open. The crust around his eye shattered, and the massive eyelid blinked slowly, before his eye centered on me. There was pain in his look. I¡¯d already learned the dinosaurs were more human than I would have ever expected. And they could feel grief. But if this guy died, there was no doubt I could hit the next evolution immediately. Tears ran down his cheek, and I could almost understand Karavos based simply off his eye. Help me¡ please¡ Damnit. I should kill him. I should really kill him. Who knew what he¡¯d do to me if I helped him? There was no way I possibly could, but theoretically, if I saved him, he was an entity I would never stand a chance against. If I saved him, and he turned on me, which there was a great chance that he would, I¡¯d be killed immediately. This guy was bigger than Sailboat, and that lizard had snapped a huge jungle cat¡¯s leg with an offhanded slap. No. I had to kill him. There were no other options. [You are special, virtuous one.] The Nature Spirit¡¯s words echoed in my mind. No. No I wasn¡¯t. Not that special. [No other Saurian would¡¯ve saved her.] Stay out of my head! Besides, if no other Saurian would¡¯ve done like I did, then that was justification to kill him anyway! I raised my hand to strike. I was sure that if I dug down far enough, I could last hit this guy with critical damage, or something. [Almost no other Saurian would¡¯ve saved her.] I froze. No way. That¡¯s right. She had said that. So¡ there were other dinosaurs that were good? And Karavos hadn¡¯t necessarily done anything to me. He¡¯d merely been in the wrong place at the wrong time¡ I sighed. It wasn¡¯t easy to kill an innocent creature in cold-blood, even if it was as scary as Karavos. But it wasn¡¯t like I could possibly save the guy. Well, my conscience argued. There are a couple possibilities¡ How risky did I want to be? I looked to the crying dino laying before me, his expression pleading for me to help him. He was alone, just like I was for most of my life. And I¡¯d been given a second chance... Damnit! Damnit! Damnit! Karavos groaned, hacking out more blood into the pool before him. This guy was legitimately going to die by himself. All I was doing was farming the experience goldmine. Right? Right? But... Damnit Jim! I¡¯m a dino, not a doctor! With a sigh, I let Karavos¡¯ eyelid closed. I¡¯m going to regret this later... 32: To the Dino Cave! The red had spread. The further and further back to the cave I ran, the more surprised I became at how far the red tint reached. I couldn¡¯t believe I hadn¡¯t seen it at all before. Or perhaps it had just gotten that much worse that fast. Well, if I failed the megadino, at least I could say that I tried to save him. It took me another couple of hours to get back to the Dino Cave, and Frieda was napping soundly. Oh, Frieda. I¡¯d almost forgotten about the experience I¡¯d put her through... Well, my plan hinged on her, so waking her was unfortunately the only choice. Hey. I nudged her with one of my clawed hands a few times before she blinked open her eyes, stretching and yawning cutely. But her eyes were still red. It seemed she¡¯d been crying. Sorry, Frieda. She watched as I walked over to one of the herb packets, not moving from the nest as I carried it back to her. I pointed at the herb packet, then gestured around, trying to symbolize a woman. C¡¯mon. I need the Nature Spirit. Take me. Frieda just stood there staring at me. I frantically waved my hands, knowing it was futile to try to communicate the idea that way. But I think the gorlen understood my exasperation. She reached forward and grabbed the herb packet, dumping the leaves into her mouth and chewing on them for a minute. Then, she spit them back out onto the large leaf, and I recognized the paste.

Crude Health Packet

This crude packet of restorative herbs blended into a paste can be ingested to provide minor healing.

She held the leaf out to me, a blank look on her face. No! I need the Nature Spirit! I shook my head, gesturing again and trying to explain with motions. It wasn¡¯t a very efficient form of communication, and I made it a point to improve our methods when there was time. It felt like I wasted another ten minutes trying to convey my message to her. But Frieda didn¡¯t move from the nest, and didn¡¯t seem to understand me. Maybe she was too mentally exhausted to try. I slammed my head against the pile of dirt in frustration. I. Need. To. Talk. To. The. Nature. Spirit! My head hurt. I sighed. Magic boxes. Are you any help? Can I speak to the Nature Spirit? Do you know anything? Please help!

Nature¡¯s Embrace [Trait]Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Wait. Had the magic boxes actually responded to my begging for help? But, all they¡¯d done is display the information about the Nature¡¯s Embrace trait¡ Wait! The trait said ¡°in times of dire need¡±, right? So all I had to do was let my ¡°soul connect with nature around me¡±, right?? It was worth a shot. I shut my eyes and tried to project my thoughts into the area around me, however one might do that. Nature Spirit! Please! Hear me! I need your help! I popped open an eye to look around. Nothing. The chair in the corner of the room remained empty, and no voice projected back into my mind. Hadn¡¯t she said that if I ever needed her to simply call upon her? Maybe it wasn¡¯t so literal? Perhaps ¡°call upon¡± meant to visit? Damnit, Frieda! I sighed, scratching my head aggressively. Why was I so stressed about this, anyway? Obviously, the Nature Spirit didn¡¯t consider me to be in times of dire need, because the trait didn¡¯t seem to be triggering, either. I¡¯d say that Karavos was in great need, since he was almost dead, but it¡¯s not like he had the Nature¡¯s Embrace trait to call upon help¡ No. Karavos didn¡¯t have the trait¡ probably. But¡ almost dead, huh? Now there was an idea. Was that all I needed to summon aid and call out to the Nature Spirit? I suppose being almost dead does count as being in dire need of assistance. And the last time the Nature Spirit had helped me, I¡¯d been dying. But it wasn¡¯t like I could find Savage Santa, walk up to him, and say something like ¡°Oh, hey! I was looking for you! Hoping you could stab me just enough to nearly kill me again? But don¡¯t kill me, though.¡± Even if I could find the group of humans, there was no way they¡¯d cooperate. And if I could communicate with them, if they found out it was Karavos, there was no way they¡¯d help me. After all, Karavos held the title ¡°Ghindo¡¯s Menace¡±. There was probably not a high chance they would want to save his life. I had to figure something out on my own. And my solution had to be something that wasn¡¯t going to outright kill me with no chance of success. Preferably, it would be something I was reasonably certain wouldn¡¯t actually kill me. Because Rule #1 of waking up as a dinosaur is keeping yourself alive, after all. Though, they do say rules are made to be broken¡ The real rules are the friends we made along the way, after all. Something to that effect. I¡¯ve never been good at public speaking, so sorry if the things I say don¡¯t make sense sometimes. Frieda snored quietly while I tried to figure out where such a place might exist. A place where I might be able to get just near enough to death that I trigger the Nature¡¯s Embrace ability¡ The idea gnawed at me as I frantically paced through the room. It annoyed me to no end. Why is this so hard to figure out?! I couldn¡¯t go to Sailboat. He¡¯d kill me immediately. I saw what he did to that armored dino when I was born. No chance. I disregarded the Deotrexaptors immediately, too. I had no idea where to find them, and didn¡¯t have time to go looking. Rexcelsis? Maybe¡ But communicating that I wanted him to nearly kill me might cause a problem. Plus, he hadn¡¯t exactly been the most easy to locate thus far. Maybe I could find a dinosaur out on the plains to fight? No. Again, it could take too long to find something willing to fight me. I guess¡ I could always poison myself from the watering hole, right? But¡ how long would that take to affect me? It¡¯d been a whole day since Karavos had drank that water. And I didn¡¯t think he had another whole day to wait for me. And that''s only if the pond was still poisoned... This is driving me nuts! Who¡¯d have thought the question of ¡°what will almost kill me¡± would bug me so much?! A light flicked on in my head. Oh... I looked towards the possible solution to my problem. Risky Business better put work in now. No... I can''t believe I''m actually considering this. 33: The Bug Unwrapped Santas Gift! What. The. Hell. So, I¡¯d crawled through that hole. You know the one. The one lovingly referred to as the ¡°Beetle Cage¡±. Wait. Have I called it that yet? Whatever. Unimportant. Like I was saying, I went through the hole. I expected to see Mr. Beetle on the other side. A logical assumption, right? Well instead, I found a hole. Just a hole. No trace that Mr. Beetle had been imprisoned within remained. Where had that mother-fossil gone? Noooo! My plan! The perfect plan! To let Mr. Beetle exact his revenge upon me by beating me to near-death, and then using that ¡°dire need¡± to summon the Nature Spirit. Though, as I thought about it, perhaps this was actually a stroke of luck? After all, was I really in ¡°dire need¡± if I could easily overpower my attacker? No¡ Perhaps this was a sign that I needed to think riskier. I needed to actually almost die. And the solution to that was only a short hike away. Good Gojira, I never thought I¡¯d go back in there¡ Well¡ If I was going to have to go back into the dunghole, I wouldn¡¯t let the opportunity go to waste. ... That one wasn¡¯t intentional. This was a serious situation. Anyway¡ I was about to take down as many beetles as I possibly could before praying to sweet Mother Treesa herself. This was going to be a dangerous fight, and I wasn¡¯t going to come out covered in the same stuff as last time. To my side, the pile of dead beetles sat sadly stacked on top of each other. My little sculpture from the last time Frieda and I had been here. I grabbed one of the dead husks, yanking it over to the bridge. With my sharp claws, I tore into the belly of the beetle, tossing all the internal pieces over the edge until I had only an empty shell. Ugh. If I come out of this with the same thing Karavos has, so help me... I carried the shell across the bridge, walking plainly through the second tunnel until I came to the slope that led down to the beetles and the bees. I looked out into the open room. More tunnels were drilled into the walls than the last time I¡¯d been here, and the large tunnel directly across from me was even larger. What could they possibly need with such a large tunnel? I was careful not to step in any dung at the top of the slope this time, and simply stood there, waiting. I had to have been there for about fifteen minutes before the beetles started doing their wiggling booty calls. Bees and beetles emptied out of the room, and when there were only about ten or so workers left flying around, I made my move.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Knock knock! I thought as I dropped the beetle carapace to the ground, standing on it with one foot. You¡¯re about to get shell-shocked! I kicked off the top of the decline, standing with both legs on the massive beetle carapace, and riding it down like a snowboard. Not gonna lie, it was actually pretty fun, despite the circumstances. If you get the chance, I definitely recommend you try it sometime. But, maybe not across what this slope was slicked with. Now that I knew what this stuff could do, I was playing this game like the floor was lava. A loud scraping noise accompanied my arrival at the center of the room, and several horned beetles turned their gazes upon me. One dropped his fecal boulder, and it splattered as it hit the floor. Mandibles snapped, bees scattered, and angry buzzing sounded out as I roared. Come and get me, punks! Multiple beetles came flying towards me, snapping at me with their teeth. I dodged their bites, now more used to fighting them, and speared one in the belly with a kick. The fear¡ it has to come naturally¡ I rolled under one of the beetles, careful to avoid the dung on the ground, and rent his belly apart. Blood spurted out as he crashed to the ground, and I managed to use him as a makeshift shield against another beetle that came snapping my way. Blue boxes popped up, but I ignored them, looking through them at my enemies. Snap! A beetle bit down hard where I¡¯d been laying just a moment ago. I rose to my feet, bouncing back and forth with my hands raised in fists like I imagined a professional fighter would, though I probably looked absolutely ridiculous doing so. Two more beetles charged me, and I slapped one away with my tail before grappling the other one by the mandibles, pushing it to the ground. ¡°Rah!¡± I called out in pain, as a horn dug into me from behind. I spun, trying to get the bugger off my back, but I couldn¡¯t reach him with the shape of my arms. Another spear slammed into my side, ripping open the scar that Savage Santa had given me. Mandibles bit deep into my skin as they locked on. Hot pain flashed through my side as tears welled up in my eyes. Not this soon! I slammed my fist down into the eyes of the opponent on my side, and his grip loosened. Quickly, I pried open the mandibles and kicked open his stomach. The other beetle retracted his mandibles, ready to snap down on me again. I jumped into the air, dislodging him, and grabbed hold of another beetle that was trying to slash down at me. We landed roughly, sliding across the floor as his legs snapped underneath him. I flipped him over and stabbed him through the chest, kicking him away as four more beetles surrounded me. So it¡¯s gonna be like this, huh? I jumped at one of the beetles first, taking him to the ground, and mandibles bit into my back. Legs crunched under my weight, but my claws bounced off the carapace as I swiped, rolling away. A horn bit viciously into my back as I rolled and I called out in pain. This guy¡¯s mandibles were tightly pressed against my ribs, and I could feel them about to crack. I jumped into the air, the beetle attached, and landed directly on my back as two more beetles came buzzing in overhead. The unlucky guy who¡¯d stabbed me was a puddle of mush, but his horn had pierced through my chest. It was fortunate, then, that as I dodged the other two beetles and pulled the horn out of me, that I leveled up. My wounds healed, and I felt rejuvenated. Come on, scumbags! I can do this all day! Then a loud screech cried out from the larger tunnel, and the buzzing I¡¯d been hearing since crossing the bridge turned into a thunder. Fossil me sideways... 34: Speared Do you believe in karma? Kismet? Fate? You know the idea, I¡¯m sure. You do something bad so something equally bad happens to you. You know, personally, I never found it to be too logical. The universe doesn¡¯t seem as though it cares about the morality of actions. And I wouldn¡¯t have ever said that I did believe in karma, but¡ when an army of bugs comes flying out of a giant tunnel, and all of them want to stab you with very pointy horns or bite down on you with two very strong mandibles, it makes me wonder. What did I do to deserve this? But the two beetles that were already fighting me didn¡¯t give me any time to ponder the philosophical quandary. As they charged me, I jumped onto one with my leap strike, once again shattering the legs of the beetle, and sliding across the ground towards the slope. Actually, if I could manage to only pull the aggro of a few beetles at a time, jumping on them could be a very simple way to farm experience. No time for that, though, because as much as I wanted to almost die, that swarm of a thousand beetles was definitely going to kill me. A horn stabbed me in the back again as I scampered up the slippery slope, no longer caring about touching the dung. ¡°Raaagh!¡± I cried out, slipping a bit. Mandibles bit down on my chest, cracking more than a couple of ribs. Hot blood dripped down my side, and the thundering of the beetles behind me grew louder. I had to get up the slope. Now. Ignoring the hot pain of the horn that had so perfectly jammed itself into poking my lung, I climbed up the slope, slipping and sliding as the cloud of bugs grew closer. Yeah, I was probably going to die. But on the bright side, at least one of my final accomplishments was going to be ¡°took one hell of a beating¡±. Another beetle, one from the front of the swarm, had finally reached me and slammed into me with the full force of his charge. ¡°Agh-!¡± I choked out, getting pushed up just enough of the slope that I was able to grab the top of it. Now the beetles were pulling, though. I dug my claws into the top of the slope, pulling with all the might my arms could muster. These scumsuckers are trying to drag me back into the swarm! I realized that only as another beetle arrived, charging at my back.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. With barely any time to react, I kicked off the slope, lifting my lower body into the air, and exposing my stomach. As the beetle¡¯s horn sliced by directly under me, I landed on his back and kicked with all my might. Just enough force to propel me up to the top of the slope! Yes! Now to run while two massive insects tried to pull me backward. Have you ever been to one of those fairs where they have the blow-up games? Like bounce houses and stuff? Well, there¡¯s a very particular game that I recall from those events, one where two people enter the center of the inflatable arena and get tied to the walls by harnesses. Now, the harnesses are connected to a rope that goes into the wall, under the floor, and out the other side, where it connects to the opponent¡¯s harness. The general idea is for one of you to get to the middle of the arena first, and grab whatever it is that¡¯s in the center. And then you win. But that¡¯s the trick. You¡¯re pushing against somebody else who is trying to do the same thing. So it gets harder the stronger your opponent is. Well, that¡¯s how running away from the swarm with two beetles locked in my chest and clamped around me felt. Add the pain of breathing with a blade in your chest to that. Safe to say, it wasn¡¯t a comfortable experience, and that¡¯s putting it lightly. The tunnel filled with the buzzing of the swarm as I pushed my way down the hall, and I could just begin to hear the waterfall before it was drowned out by all the bugs. If I didn¡¯t have entomophobia before, I sure as hell do now. That¡¯s the fear of beetle-like bugs, by the way. A few more scouts ahead of the swarm slammed into me, one piercing through my shoulder, and another, my leg. At least these guys have no comprehension of ¡°shoot for the core¡±. Agh! Damnit! I felt a beetle slice at my tail, probably with the hooked claws on its legs. You are not taking more of my tail, bugstard! You already got part, and that''s all you''re gonna get! Just the tip! I redoubled my efforts to make it to the beetle¡¯s kryptonite room. I took a deep gasp of air as I sprinted, and immediately let it out in a scream of pain, stumbling as I ran. The horn in my chest had pierced my lung. Just a little further. I couldn¡¯t hear the waterfall over the thunder in my ears, but it couldn¡¯t possibly be that much further away. Schlick! Another dagger-horn in my side, more resistance to my sprinting. My legs were burning. My lungs, too. Snap! Mandibles closing around my leg now, it was harder to move it. They¡¯d locked down one of my limbs. I was limping now. Just¡ a little¡ further¡ A slice of the hooked claw, ripping open my side. Blood gushed out and splattered against the wall, on the floor. In the dark, everything seemed so hopeless. Is this¡ desperate enough yet? Please help¡ My vision was growing blurry. I could barely see the stone in front of my feet and I stumbled, tripping and falling to the ground with the spears in me. Pain coursed through my body, with every breath, with every beating of my heart. Schlick! A final spear stabbing me through the chest. I screamed in pain, drowning out the sound of the swarm. My eyes watered. Then, I moaned, and they rolled back into my head. 35: Spoiler! I died.

Collapsed Alerts (x8)

You have been [Crippled]. Your attacks with the [Crippled] limb will be 70% less effective.

You are [Bleeding].

You have been [Infected] with ¡°Saravani¡¯s Scourge¡±.

Your [Health] is critical! [81/280]

You are [Infected].

You are [Bleeding].

Your [Health] is critical! [41/280]

You are [Infected].

You are near death!!! [11/200]

You are [Bleeding].

You are near death!!! [1/200]

[Nature¡¯s Embrace] has activated.

You are [Infected].

You have died.

The alerts filled my vision as I floated in the black, pain wracking my body with every tick of damage over time. Who¡¯d have thought that what used to be an irritating mechanic would now be such a painful way to go? Was this it? After death? How¡ boring. Nothing around me but the darkness. Would it be like this forever? I¡¯d half-expected to simply wake back up in my bed, sweating, with this whole thing being one great dream. After all, with the adventures I¡¯d been on? Yeah, it was pretty great. I mean, the pain factor was kind of a turn-off, but it only added to the reality. It stopped me from doing things I would¡¯ve done in games, like suiciding into Sailboat to figure out if there were any weaknesses I could exploit. Or jumping off of cliffs for the heck of it. Though I guess it didn¡¯t stop me from, you know, running headfirst into an apparent beetle army. Or¡ would it be air force? Now, I was dead. And I never even got to have the most important question answered. Is this just real life? Or just a fantasy? I was caught in a dung-slide. And this world had been my escape from reality. It¡¯s too bad that I¡¯d wasted it. And all to save a dinosaur. One that I didn¡¯t even know¡ Why would I do that? Idiot¡

Error.

What? What do you mean ¡°Error¡±, magic boxes?

Error.

Great. I get to float in death forever, with error messages. Like my own personal hell. Wait¡ Was I in hell? Oh please no. Don¡¯t tell me that it¡¯s going to tell me all my downloads are stuck at 99% with not enough memory! Eternally watching downloads play out would not be the ideal way to spend, well, eternity. I¡¯d much rather float in black forever.

Rescind previous notification.

What? The error message? Rescind it?

Your [Risky Business] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Your [Risky Business] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

Your [Risky Business] has leveled up. It is now level 3. [Risky Business] has evolved to [Lifetime Gambler]. It is now a trait.

[Lifetime Gambler] has activated.

[Lifetime Gambler] has revealed¡ Secret Trait: [Life System].

[Lifetime Gambler] has activated.

[Life System] has evolved to [World¡¯s Voice].

[Lifetime Gambler] has revealed¡ Locked Skill: [Phylogeny].

[Lifetime Gambler] has unlocked [Phylogeny].

[World¡¯s Voice] has overridden [Corpse Hatching].

[Corpse Hatching] has combined with [Phylogeny]. Opportunity unlocked: [Mutamorphosis].

[World¡¯s Voice] has taken Opportunity: [Mutamorphosis].

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Then the pain returned. ¡°AAAGH!¡± I screamed as it poured through my body, suddenly stronger than before. It was as though it had returned with a vengeance, like the dam that had held it back before burst, freeing the build-up behind it. What¡? My brain was too scrambled to read what was happening and fully comprehend. Pain coursed through me, distracting me from too much thought. Did I die? Then, why did it hurt?

You have leveled up.

You are affected by [Saravani¡¯s Wish].

You are near death!!! [1/100].

You are [Infected].

You are [Bleeding].

You are near death!!! [1/100].

[Mutamorphosis] activated.

Boxes flew by my face faster than I could see. I got the idea, though. Somehow, I wasn¡¯t dead. Pain shot through my body again.

You are [Infected].

You are [Bleeding].

You are [Mutamorphing].

Your [Health] is frozen. [1/100]

[Saravani¡¯s Wish] has unlocked all locked [Mutamorphosis] options.

The boxes stopped flying past my eyes, and one massive one remained. The pain dissipated, and suddenly I could think clearly. But none of the previous boxes were available for me to read anymore. Only the giant box before me.

You have 1000 DNA points to spend. Choose wisely.

Part	Price	Source	Source Tier
Jaw	50	Child Chomper	D
Talon	50	Child Scythe	E
Spike	50	Child Turanta	S
Tail	50	Child Wanra	F
Blade	50	Child Wanra	F
Horn	50	Jungle Tunneler	---
Mandible	50	Jungle Tunneler	---
Carapace	50	Jungle Tunneler	---
Stinger	50	Jungle Stinger	---
Feather	50	Deotrexaptor	---
Fur	50	Servus, Apex Stalker	---
Arm	100	Child Melira	S
Leg	100	Child Melira	S
Excretion	100	Jungle Stinger	---
Thumb	100	Child Meler	D
Cup	100	Child Stalker	E
Bone	100	Child Amron	B
Removable	200	Child Turanta	S
Mimicry	300	Child Mimicrist	E
Sight	300	Child Visionary	A
Pack Tactics	300	Deotrexaptor	---
Hunger	300	Child Devourer	D
Energy Manipulation	400	Child Naturalist	F
Metachrosis	400	Child Stalker	E
Aura Control	500	Child Visionary	A
Magic Ability	500	Child Naturalist	F
Natural Blend	600	Child Naturalist	F
Size	600	Child Devourer	D
Intelligence	700	Servus, Apex Stalker	---
Separation	1000	Kandaka, Queen	---

As I read the last option on the list, a light turned on in the darkness. There, lying before me, as a perfect mirror of myself, was a wound-ridden dinosaur corpse. Thick puncture marks bleeding profusely showed where I¡¯d been stabbed. Everywhere, basically. But the blood was frozen, and the dino didn¡¯t move. Everything was completely stationary. Was this¡ No. It couldn¡¯t be. Did the game change just for me? Or was I hallucinating in death? No, the image was too vivid for me to possibly have imagined. Perhaps this hell had found a new way of tormenting me: hope. Well, Hell, if this is your best option for torture, then I¡¯ve gotta say, I¡¯m not impressed. But, on building a dino? Don¡¯t mind if I do! After all, I¡¯m a gamer, and I couldn''t turn this opportunity down. I grinned as I pulled the dinosaur corpse towards me. It operated just like that game, the one I was so familiar with from years of playing and designing different organisms. And if it was real? Heh. I was about to bring this world its day of reckoning. Guess there''s only one thing left to say¡ I¡¯ve got dino blood, and a thousand DNA!!! 36: Design Flaws My corpse floated before me, suspended in the black as I reached out with my¡ hands? I couldn¡¯t see them, but it felt as though I could manipulate the body as though I had them. At least the learning curve isn¡¯t too bad. Eventually, I¡¯d posed my mangled body into a standing position, wiping the blood away and staring at the open wounds that pierced every bit and piece of me. Actually, this was the first time I¡¯d gotten a good look at my body. There weren¡¯t exactly any mirrors nearby, obviously. Sadly though, the body I got to see was probably not as majestic as if it wasn¡¯t torn apart. And I couldn¡¯t even imagine what I¡¯d looked like before. My jaw was dislocated, legs barely connected, and my tail was stumpy. A sad vision of what might¡¯ve been a pretty unique beast. I moved my invisible hand over to the list of parts I could pick. I had to be careful. Choosing a part could be permanent, and I had no idea how any of this could be manipulated just yet. It seemed simple enough to start with the ¡°feather¡± choice, as that was one of the cheapest options and, in my opinion, probably the easiest to figure out what it would do. I selected the choice, and a feather appeared, floating before me. As I was about to place it onto the corpse of the dinosaur, a new blue box appeared before me.

Careful! Changes made to the Saurian model will be permanent! (No ¡°Undo¡±!)

Hmmm. Well then¡ Before I continued with that, it was probably best to make sure that my body would be functional, first. So I moved the feather back to the list, and it disappeared. Intuitive. Nice. I started grabbing my corpse in various places, moving it and pulling to see if something would disconnect. There were a lot of broken pieces¡ It was like trying to put a puzzle back together but only after you¡¯d dropped the box in the blender. Weird analogy? Well, it¡¯s close to home. Sorry. A light went on in my brain. Idea! I grabbed the corpse by the head with my hand, though I guess it sort of felt like clicking on a mouse? It was a weird mix, to be honest. Once I had the dino corpse in hand, I dragged it to the list, dropping it.

Do you wish to recycle these pieces?

Huh. Interesting. No. The corpse warped back to where it had started, and I started pulling hard at pieces that didn¡¯t look like they would be any good. Leg. Face. Neck. Leg. Chest. Arm. I was pretty much left with my mouth, an arm, and my stumpy tail (which seemed to work well enough). I dragged the destroyed pieces to the box.

Do you wish to recycle these pieces?

This time, I said ¡°yes¡±. The parts dissolved, and were absorbed into the menu.

You have gained 450 DNA points.

The new points added to my total, and I watched as three new pieces added themselves to my list, Core (D), Head (D), and Scale Pattern.

You have 1450 DNA points to spend. Choose wisely.

Part	Price	Source	Source Tier
Scale Pattern	0	---	---
Core (D)	0	---	---
Jaw	50	Child Chomper	D
Talon	50	Child Scythe	E
Spike	50	Child Turanta	S
Tail	50	Child Wanra	F
Blade	50	Child Wanra	F
Horn	50	Jungle Tunneler	---
Mandible	50	Jungle Tunneler	---
Carapace	50	Jungle Tunneler	---
Stinger	50	Jungle Stinger	---
Feather	50	Deotrexaptor	---
Fur	50	Servus, Apex Stalker	---
Arm	100	Child Melira	S
Leg	100	Child Melira	S
Excretion	100	Jungle Stinger	---
Thumb	100	Child Meler	D
Cup	100	Child Stalker	E
Bone	100	Child Amron	B
Head (D)	200	---	---
Removable	200	Child Turanta	S
Mimicry	300	Child Mimicrist	E
Sight	300	Child Visionary	A
Pack Tactics	300	Deotrexaptor	---
Hunger	300	Child Devourer	D
Energy Manipulation	400	Child Naturalist	F
Metachrosis	400	Child Stalker	E
Aura Control	500	Child Visionary	A
Magic Ability	500	Child Naturalist	F
Natural Blend	600	Child Naturalist	F
Size	600	Child Devourer	D
Intelligence	700	Servus, Apex Stalker	---
Separation	1000	Kandaka, Queen	---

Stolen story; please report. Interesting, I thought, selecting a leg piece, and dragging it out to my dinosaur. I frowned. This leg looks nothing like mine did! The piece that I now held was simply¡ blank. It was strange to see, as though I¡¯d grabbed the leg of a dinosaur doll. It was smooth, tan, and simply had a joint for a knee. It didn¡¯t even reach to the foot, merely ending where the ankle was. But it was far more muscular than the legs I had before. What the dino¡? Out of instinct, or perhaps expectation from having played many games like this before, I pulled on the ankle. Like a rubber band, the bottom of the ankle stretched, turning into a long, flat foot. There were no toes, and no structure to the shape of the foot, but it was certainly¡ movable¡ I pulled the foot out, giving it another joint. A toe. But¡ everybody needs a friend. I¡¯ll make another happy little toe right here. The foot now split into two jointed sections at the end. Could I afford to spend so much energy attaching so many talons, though? Perhaps two was best for now. I might be able to add more later. I grabbed two talons, attaching them to the tips of the foot. One-hundred points¡ gone like that. Multiply that by two now because I¡¯d have to make two legs¡ Perhaps this customizability came at a hefty price. I ended up fattening up the thigh, slimming down the calves, and giving myself a significant amount of height. It was a very angular build. I kept the leg skinny, though, so that I could still fit into all the places I could before. This way, however, I¡¯d have greater reach with my kicks, and potentially be able to jump even higher. I dropped the leg next to the other pieces.

Sorry, but the Saurian does not possess a Core. You cannot create the piece.

My leg vanished, the points I¡¯d spent to create it returning to the pool. Ugh. At least the core piece was free. I dragged it off the table, finding an oval to be what I was working with. If I had a head I¡¯d bash it against the wall right now. I pushed and pulled, shaping the core into a body shape that was slightly more vertical than mine had been, hopefully allowing me greater shoulder movement, and not requiring me to lean so far forward in order to run. It was not a comfortable sensation. I tried to give myself some spikes by stretching the blob out, but when I did so, I could tell they were just extra flesh that would not be what I wanted. So, with a sigh, I pushed them back into the body. It¡¯s not like I wasn¡¯t having fun, by the way, because I was. But I was very strictly following a specific set of rules that it didn¡¯t seem I could exploit in any way. I shaped the shoulders so they would be broader, letting my arms hang further away from my body. The goal I had in mind was to ¡°protect the core¡±. Because, you know, I didn¡¯t really feel like getting stabbed in the chest again any time soon. Plus, it¡¯s just good logic. I stretched the neck out, leaving it about the same length as it had been before. I really didn¡¯t feel like being a long-necked dino, and there wasn¡¯t much use for it, anyway. More neck just meant more vulnerable organ. I think that was a logical thought process. The core was done, still angled forward from where I¡¯d attach the legs, but not as much as my previous body. I crafted the leg again, comparing it to the body as I did so in order to match the measurements, and not have too disproportionate a leg. Tall people only look good if they aren¡¯t all leg, in my opinion. I slapped the two talons on the bottom again, noting that they were far more dangerous looking than my previous ones. They hooked up into a delicate arch, the thin point resting lightly on the ground. That point was insanely sharp. In fact, the whole talon was quite thin but gave off the impression of a blade. Guess that¡¯s what I get when I pull it from a ¡°Child Scythe¡±. Those talons would certainly be a deadly weapon. I confirmed the leg design and dropped it onto the dino core. Fortunately, by simply grabbing another leg, the design was already saved, and I only had to attach two more talons to the end of the foot and confirm. Yikes. Two-hundred DNA points gone. But with just that simple addition, I now had a tall dinosaur body floating before me, which kind of reminded me of a headless chicken, to be honest. A headless chicken with deadly scythe-claws... 37: More Design Flaws The body stood in front of me, and I rotated it a few times to ensure that I knew what I was going to do before I did it. It¡¯s important to plan things like this when you get a huge warning that says ¡°No Undo!¡± Satisfied that I had calculated everything correctly, I grabbed the arm of my previous dino body. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t stretch it or modify it before attaching it to my shoulder. Hmm. So not trading stuff in also gives me problems¡ Why can¡¯t this just be easy? At least the arm fit to the body quite well, since I hadn¡¯t changed the height of the body itself that much, just the angle it sat at atop the legs. I spent another hundred DNA points on an arm, seeing the resulting plain appendage appear before me. This one I stretched, fattening the muscle around the bones and making sure it could pack quite the punch. I grabbed three talons off the menu, and attached them to the long hand I¡¯d designed. They were long and sharp, similar to the toes, but I was able to shape them a bit more so that they were less scythe-like, and more like something I could actually use. It was certainly going to look strange when I walked around with two completely different arms. Especially since this one¡ now had a thumb. I did my best to craft the extra digit into a long finger that could handle being on the same brick of flesh as my three talons. It cost me a whole hundred DNA points, dropping me to 700 remaining. I attached my stumpy tail to the butt of the Saurian model, which would probably help with standing. I smiled awkwardly as I examined the headless creature so far. The left arm was definitely more capable as an appendage. It was slightly longer, thicker, and far more muscular. There was an obvious capability for me to run on all-fours¡ if only I had two similar arms. Perhaps it still might be helpful to run on¡ all-threes, I guess? I¡¯d have to do some experimenting, but there were definitely animals that managed to survive with only three legs. Another 200 DNA points and I had a simple head. Fortunately, it came with eyes, ears, and a nose, which made my life easier. I positioned the eyes in the same place as my previous body, so that I wouldn¡¯t have to get used to seeing differently. They went in the front, slightly more widespread than a human, granting me a greater peripheral vision. The nose was simple, and went on the edge of the long snout, while the ears stayed in the same spot. Then I grabbed my jaw, that I hadn¡¯t yet recycled, and attached it to the face. I laughed at the ridiculousness of the mishmashed piece. As I went to pull it off, to recycle the piece, I ended up stretching it instead. Hmm. So if I attach the piece to a middleman piece, then I can modify it before attaching it to the core, eh? I made the jaw larger than I¡¯d had previously. It would be a nice little surprise for anybody that I bit down towards. The teeth were savagely pointing out of the maw, and I couldn¡¯t seem to fix it. Perhaps recycled parts only had so much variation they could withstand. Lucky me. I have 500 left! Before I proceeded any further, I slapped the scale pattern onto the whole body, excepting the hand and tail, which remained their original tan color.

What color pattern would you like the Scale Pattern to have?

Um¡ Black? With like¡ specks of red? I wasn¡¯t sure if I would be able to be so specific, but with a flash, my color-scheme appeared. Hey, can I change the color later on?

Patterns may be reapplied at no cost any time a [Mutamorphosis] is undergone.

Sweet. It did look a bit strange, having a tan tail and arm, but at least the pattern managed to sort of flow into them, saving it from at least looking¡ dropped on. My jaw was interesting. It blended the pattern of black with red specks into the tan, creating a weird striped pattern across my face. Interesting. I spun the dino body, checking it out and making sure it had everything I needed. After ensuring I was satisfied and hadn¡¯t forgotten anything, I grabbed the last item I wanted from the list, spending the last of my DNA points to do so. I hadn¡¯t forgotten the whole reason I was in this mess, after all. I attached the final organ by shoving it deep into my body, and to my surprise, that actually worked. Nice! Alright, magic boxes, let¡¯s do it! I¡¯m finished!

You have indicated that you have finished and that you wish to select the currently projected Saurian model. Please note that this selection is final. Any injury, body dysmorphia, dismemberment, disability or death that results from a poor choice will be your sole responsibility. Do you still wish to proceed with the currently projected Saurian model?

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Yes!

Please note, that by selecting yes you are entering into a binding waiver and agreement wherein you, your successors, agents, heirs, and assignees will forevermore waive and disclaim any potential causes of action related to this selection and that any harm that comes to you whether anticipated or unanticipated shall be your sole responsibility. Furthermore, if any individual were to bring a claim related to this selection, it would be your legal obligation to indemnify and hold harmless the recipient of such a claim. Do you still wish to agree to these terms?

¡ Yes?

By indicating yes again you are affirming that you had the opportunity to engage legal counsel and review this agreement with them. You further agree that any disagreements related to this selection shall exclusively be resolved via confidential binding arbitration carried out by an arbiter of the nonfiling party¡¯s choosing in a dimension of the nonfiling party¡¯s choosing.

Please indicate your selection.

Yes, yes! Hurry up and finish! The magic boxes were getting very annoying with these confirmation messages. I just wanted to be done, and take a look at my status and other such things.

Performing final checks.

Reorganizing organs to function.

The dino began to walk around the darkness, hacking and slashing at empty air. My stomach rolled as I watched, and it actually felt like my insides were moving. It roared, a powerful sound that was far more intimidating than my previous form, and performed several more fighting moves, swinging the tail and jumping towards an imaginary enemy, biting down on their throat, I imagined. It crawled around as though sneaking, and sniffed in the darkness. The new hand flexed and tested the thumb¡¯s limitations. All in all, I was very pleased with the design. A chuckle bubbled up in my throat as I began to evil laugh.

Checks completed. What would you like to name this Saurian model?

Um, I thought. I was never really good at naming anything. I took a good look at the new creature. A song crossed my mind. A theme song from a popular television show. It sort of applied. Hmm. Mutant... Fusion? The words were simply thoughts I was considering, but the box showed me no mercy.

Saurian model saved as Mutant Fusion. Transferring¡

No! Wait! I didn¡¯t want to name it that! The model faded into the darkness, the menu vanishing from my sight. Damnit¡ I blinked.

Error. Mass conversion failed. Adapting¡

My leg kicked out by itself, cold wetness embracing every part of my body. A squish sounded out as I rolled in a comfortable cushion, and I opened my eyes to see the light above the cave shining brightly.

Congratulations! You have successfully been born! You are now [Young Mutant Fusion]. Many different walks of life are open to you, should you be adaptable enough to survive. Be sure to choose wisely.

I checked my status, eager to see my new abilities.

Young Mutant Fusion (E)

Level:	1 [0/10]
Health:	100/100
Stamina:	100/100
Magic:	100/100

Opportunities

Mutamorphosis

[UNAVAILABLE]

Traits

G????u???i???d????e???d???? ????E????v????o?????l???u?????t????i????o????n????	[DISABLED]
Nature''s Embrace	[Lvl ---]
Lifetime Gambler	[Lvl ---]
World''s Voice	[Lvl 9???9????9?????]

Languages

Yatten

[Lvl 3]

Oi¡ Where are all my skills? 38: Over the River, Across the Bridge Eat. The thought came into my head out of nowhere. I¡¯d simply stood up, my new body feeling much weaker than my previous one, realized I was standing in my previous body¡¯s corpse, and then heard the word in my mind. Eat! My stomach growled. Why was it so aggressive? I hadn¡¯t chosen the Devourer¡¯s hunger¡ I guess mutating also required a lot of energy. Noted. Next time I¡¯d have a banquet awaiting me. For now? I looked at my dinosaur corpse. Bile rose up in my throat. I refuse to eat myself. A clicking sound had me whipping my head around to see that, even after my apparent death, a beetle had stuck around. It didn¡¯t have any mandibles, but the wicked horn on its head reminded me that I now only had 100 health points. I took a step back, trying to move away from the creature as it stared at me. No way could I fight one of these guys now. Another step. The bug exploded into a sprint, charging directly at me with the spear on its head. I turned, immediately running in the opposite direction. I knew that when I died, I hadn¡¯t been far from the room. All I had to do was get there, and I could let this guy kill himself on the light, letting me level up a few times off of his death. I could hear the skittering of the beetle¡¯s legs on the stone as it rapidly caught up to me. Just¡ another¡ step.

You¡¯re a quick learner! You have developed a new skill: [Sprint Lvl 1].

Light washed over me as I entered the waterfall room. The sound of the beetle running on the stone ceased, and I turned around to see it glaring at me from the darkness, its jagged horn just barely poking into the light. Wait a minute¡ I could see better now in the light, and understood why it had chased me on the ground. This beetle didn¡¯t have any wings. Mr. Beetle? I asked incredulously. So he was alive. Honestly, I¡¯d wondered if maybe he¡¯d fallen off the edge of the cliff by trying to get to the light. But now I wondered how he managed to get out of the room at all. Was he just able to move a bit, get hypnotized by the light, then move a little further, and repeat? I stared at him, intently trying to activate my observant instinct. Come on¡ It¡¯s gotta be there¡

You have developed your sight. Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the [Observant] instinct. [Observant]- By carefully viewing an object of interest, you may garner basic knowledge of it. Maybe now you¡¯ll actually see the dangers you look at.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Were these notifications more¡ personal, than before?

Jungle Tunneler [Lvl 4]

At least this guy wasn¡¯t the worst thing I could possibly run into. As I tried to figure out a way to bait him into the light, a pang ran through my stomach again. Eat! Fine! Fine! Shut up already! I backed away from the beetle, walking across the bridge. The Macamme nuts should still be in the cave. Though I didn¡¯t have an accurate estimate for how long I¡¯d been out. Hopefully, Karavos was still alive. I made it to the middle of the bridge when I heard something. The waterfall that had been crashing down into the ravine below¡ stopped. [Oh! There you are, virtuous one!] I stopped, turning around. Virtuous one? The only person that had called me that was the Nature Spirit. But the voice in my head didn¡¯t sound like her. This voice was deeper. A male. I kept scanning the area, looking down into the ravine to see why the waterfall had simply stopped crashing. Then I noticed that all of the water had just¡ frozen. Frozen in time, not turned to ice. The spray of drops that occurred naturally as the waterfall crested from high above simply stopped in the middle of the air. What? [Over here, virtuous one!] Well, that wasn¡¯t really helpful. I kept looking around before eventually finishing crossing the bridge to hopefully get a better view of the area. Standing near the edge of the cliff, I looked out and saw it now. It had blended into the waterfall before. Sculpted out of the water, and looking right at me with a smile, was a face. A long beard of water cascaded from its chin, and I realized why I hadn¡¯t been able to see it in the waterfall before. The beard was the waterfall. Well¡ then again, so was the face. Um¡ Who are you? The face smiled, showing me bricks of water for teeth. He didn¡¯t answer, so I observed him.

Nature Spirit [Lvl ???]

[Oh!] the spirit exclaimed as I observed him. [You wish to know of my identity! My apologies. I am new to conversing with the speechless. My name is Raikam. And I am here to answer your call!] My¡ call? The Nature¡¯s Embrace activation, perhaps? I¡¯d thought it failed since I died and no spirit had been around me when I woke. [You are a bit stranger looking than I expected. I imagined you¡ differently. But your aura is the same as that which awakened me, to be sure.] Hmm. If this guy was like the Elder Nature Spirit, then he could sense my emotions, and we might be able to use that to communicate. I tried very hard to dig up emotions for the helpless titan that was drowning in his own blood. The look in his eyes as he pleaded for me to do something. How I¡¯d been about to kill him, but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to do the deed, no matter how much experience he was worth. Was there any way I could save him? My chest tightened as the guilt weighed down on me. It was my fault he was dying, after all. Maybe this guy could save him. [You appear to be in need of my assistance regarding healing¡] spoke the spirit, before swirling into a hovering whirlpool. Yes! I¡¯d gotten the message across! The watery tornado floated over my head, and landed beside me, dissipating in mist as it revealed a muscular male body made of water. He held out a hand to my head. [Do you mind?] I shook my head no, and he placed his hand against my forehead. It was a weird feeling, the sensation of water swirling itself around to hold the shape he was taking. His hand was cool, and it brought a bit of peace to me. [Sorry, virtuous one. Though you appear to have the capability within yourself, you do not have the strength for me to convey my knowledge to you. And I cannot leave my source.] He looked sadly to the waterfall, stroking his long beard. [If there were any way I could assist you, I would. Perhaps if you can return to me stronger, I can assist you. I will remain awake until your return.] Then he swirled into the floating whirlpool-tornado thing once more and disappeared into the waterfall. The crashing of the water against the ravine down below resumed. I needed to get stronger¡ And fast. But what was the safest way to do it? And also... I''d have to deal with the-- Eat!!! With that. 39: Call me Frankens Dino As tempted as I was to call out to the Nature Spirit again, he¡¯d made it clear that he wouldn¡¯t, or couldn¡¯t, help me unless I was stronger. And I didn¡¯t feel like pushing my luck with another [Lvl ???] entity. It would¡¯ve been great if I could¡¯ve gotten him to go taunt the beetles for me and bring them back into the lit room, but he¡¯d mentioned he couldn¡¯t stray far from the waterfall, and I assumed that he probably wouldn¡¯t appreciate being bait. Well, time to find another way. I started my crawl back through the hole towards the Dino Cave, which was easier now that my body could compress itself with less of an issue. And since I now had longer arms and legs, it meant that I could travel faster through the smaller area, because they could propel me further. Unfortunately, being taller also brought with it the side-effect of having to crouch longer to fit through the cave. That threw off my orientation a bit. I was back in the main section of the cave sooner than I expected because of it. Eat! Yes, yes! I know! I grabbed one of the Macamme nuts with my new hand. Warmth rushed over me as I was finally able to grab things again. It bloomed in my chest, and with my razor-sharp talons, I cracked open the nut, dropping the exposed fruit into my mouth, and enjoying the taste as I swallowed. I cracked another nut, again swiftly consuming the filling. Wow. These fruits were so much more delicious than I¡¯d expected. One more. That was it. I didn¡¯t want to deprive Frieda of food if she was going to stay depressed, and not want to go outside. Pop! Into my mouth went the juicy red treat, and I happily swallowed, wiping my hand clean of any pieces of shell that had stuck around.

Good! You¡¯ve learned one of the most important and basic parts of surviving: eating. You¡¯ve developed a new skill: [Feast Lvl 1].

You¡¯ve gained 15 experience.

Congratulations! You have leveled up! You are now level 2 [5/110]. Your [Health] and [Stamina] are restored.

Well. That was a useful amount of experience. Though¡ it was nothing compared to the 500 from eating the worm, or the 1200 from killing a xaptor¡ I guess I¡¯d have to do this the hard way. Especially considering that the experience required to level up just increased by a hundred... That''s so much... It''ll take forever to level up this way!If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. After I finished with the Macamme nuts, I turned to examine the sleeping gorlen. Who¡ apparently was not sleeping. She stared at me with wide eyes, barely peeking over the dip in the nest. Her claws lightly rested on the edge, and she was trembling. Hey! I¡¯m the same me! Just different! Hmm. How could I prove to her that I was myself? Honestly, I¡¯d forgotten that she wouldn¡¯t recognize me. It kind of floated to the back of my mind. Mostly I was preoccupied with the glitchy system, the beetle, and that water spirit. Which I think are all sufficient reasons to forget that a friend might not understand that you can change your looks. To be fair I didn¡¯t fully understand it, either. How would it be best to show her I was the same dino she knew? There wasn¡¯t exactly a secret dino handshake we¡¯d made up. Which, now that I thought about it, might be a good idea for the future. But¡ how to convince her? I cracked open a Macamme nut, the light fading as I rolled the fruit in my left hand. I held it out to her. Frieda didn¡¯t move. But her nose twitched when the fruit approached. To be honest, she was a higher level than me, and perhaps capable of killing me with her claws. But she wasn¡¯t the bravest, and I doubt she could tell I was so weak. I dropped the fruit into the nest with her, before looking around in the darkening room. Chair¡ nuts¡ nest¡ herbal packets? Perhaps they were the key?

Your [Observant] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I was also observing everything as we went along. I grabbed one of the packets of herbs, and held it out to the gorlen (who was now chewing nervously on the Macamme). With a sigh, I dropped the packet in front of her. The only meaningful interactions we¡¯d had were over the nuts, the medicine, and the wings. But I didn¡¯t have any wings on me at this moment to greedily eat in hopes that she would recognize the action. Hmm¡ What about...? I looked at my belly. There, in the same spot as on my previous body, a thick white scar stretched across. Would she recognize it? I shrugged. Better to try and fail than to not try at all, right? I clicked my talons together, drawing her attention. Here, I thought as I pointed to the scar. Recognize it? She frowned, her trembling lessening. One of her hands reached out as though she were going to touch it, before she pulled back, looking to me with wide eyes. I nodded. You can touch it. Frieda shook herself, building up her courage, I¡¯d guess. Then she scampered over to me, and ran her hands along the scar. It tickled. And as I watched, she rubbed a section of it which was fatter than the rest. Probably where the knife went in, I mused. The little gorlen backed away, scanning my new body. Her eyes fixed on my right arm, the one that hadn¡¯t changed much. She moved forward, lifting my arm and examining it fiercely. Then she stopped, backed up, and munched on a Macamme nut she cracked open, running her eyes up and down my body. A hand went on her waist as she looked at me with an interesting expression. The trembling gorlen that I had been gazing down at just minutes ago was gone. It felt as though Frieda¡¯s existence had grown larger. Or perhaps the room seemed smaller. I imagined her voice in my head. What¡¯s this mess you¡¯ve got us in, now? I smiled. Wouldn¡¯t you like to know? She backed up as I stepped forward. Hey, by the way¡ how fast can you run in the dark? 40: Seeing is Beetlieving. I couldn¡¯t see Frieda in the darkness, but I imagined that she was looking at me with wide eyes and had an expression that said: ¡°You owe me for this.¡± I smiled. If this plan worked, she could have whatever it was that she wanted. All the Macamme nuts we could find or all the wings we could scavenge. Whatever it was, she¡¯d have it. ¡°Raag!¡± I called down the tunnel to the furball standing at the other end. That was the cue. Now to see if Frieda¡¯s arm was as good as her ability to climb. I heard a squeak, and a thunk indicated that the Macamme nut had definitely smacked into something. Well, maybe there¡¯s a pitcher in you yet, Frieda. Angry buzzing filled the tunnel. One of the bugs was coming this way. And I could hear the tap-tapping of the gorlen¡¯s stubby feet scampering across the floor as she ran. Adrenaline rushed through me. Come on¡ Just get to the vine¡ The buzzing grew louder, the angry beetle getting closer to me, and probably just upon the gorlen. I felt the frantic tugging on the vine. And then I heaved. Pulling a rope at a constant speed is pretty easy with two hands, but when one of them doesn¡¯t have a thumb, you have to get creative. My thumbless hand was holding the vine between two fingers like I¡¯d done a Vulcan salute before pinching it back together. I pulled with my normal-ish hand, and the thumbless one held the rope. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. At least I didn¡¯t have to worry about friction burn because, instead of skin, I had scales. A nice little benefit of being a lizard. The rope moved quickly as I pulled with all my strength, hearing the fluffball slide across the floor as the beetle chased her. And then she was in my hands. And the beetle was right in front of me. I turned, sprinting the last couple of feet, and entered the cheat room. The beetle came sailing in after us. An instant change. On went the light. And up went the beetle. I turned to look up, and Frieda and I watched as our plan came to fruition. Zap! A few legs snapped off the creature as it landed on the ground the wrong way, and it bounced and rolled, nearly falling off the cliff. That was close. I quickly crossed the bridge, stepping to the fallen bug. Thanks for the freelo, punk! A hand dropped onto his back, holding him still as I bit off his head.

You have received 105 experience for killing [Jungle Tunneler].

What an exploit! You¡¯ve leveled up! You are now level 3 [0/210]. Your [Health] and [Stamina] are restored.

Nice! One Tunneler was enough to level me! But it looked like every level was going to increase the experience required by a hundred. That was so much more than before! Let¡¯s see the rest of the status, magic boxes.

Young Mutant Fusion (E)

Level:	3 [0/210]
Health:	180/180
Stamina:	160/160
Magic:	140/140

Opportunities

Mutamorphosis

[UNAVAILABLE]

Traits

G????u???i???d????e???d???? ????E????v????o?????l???u?????t????i????o????n????	[DISABLED]
Nature''s Embrace If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.	[Lvl ---]
Lifetime Gambler	[Lvl ---]
World''s Voice	[Lvl 9???9????9?????]

Skills

Feast	[Lvl 1]
Sprint	[Lvl 1]

Instincts

Observant

[Lvl 2]

Languages

Yatten

[Lvl 3]

Well, at least my health, stamina, and magic were increasing by a significant amount each level. It seemed like it was probably 40 health, 30 stamina, and 20 magic per level. Kind of upsetting, but I guess in a dinosaur world, health and stamina were probably a lot more vital than magic. But I had to get as high in levels as possible. And fast. Now¡ I thought as I looked back towards the furball next to me. To do it again. I gave her a thumbs-up, and she tilted her head at the motion. Gosh, I was just loving having an opposable thumb again. I tilted my head towards the tunnel and nodded. Frieda rolled her eyes and picked up another nut from the pile we left near the bridge. I signaled to her, waving my hands to indicate that we needed more than one beetle this time. She nodded. Who knew if she actually got the meaning. How had I conveyed to her my plan? Suffice to say that it involved a lot of scratching on the floor, growls, and me doing the funky chicken as best I could. But after she got it, Frieda was unexpectedly okay with it. She even showed me where we could get the vines, as we ran through the darkness of the forest to get them. Unfortunately, they weren¡¯t long enough to stretch all the way down the tunnel, so she had to huff it a little bit before I could reel her in. Another squeak at the end of the tunnel followed by another thunk that indicated that the second Macamme nut had struck its target. But perhaps she¡¯d drawn more attention than planned. This time the buzzing was louder. And I could see down the tunnel a bit further because of the light behind me. Frieda sprinted awkwardly down the tunnel, her eyes wide and her mouth gasping as she ran for the vine. C¡¯mon, girl. You can do it! Seven beetles charged down the tunnel at her. One of them slashed, and Frieda jumped for the vine just in time, barely managing to grab it.

You have developed your sight. Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the [Nocturnal] instinct. [Nocturnal]- Vision is less impaired by darker environments. Maybe now you''ll have reasons to be afraid of the dark.

I was already hauling the vine back in towards me, no time to read the message. But I got the idea, as the cave brightened ever so slightly. Frieda was sliding down the cave, the beetles trying desperately to snap at her with their mandibles. This one was a lot riskier than before. They hadn¡¯t been so close before. As the gorlen shot past my old corpse, I idly noted that it looked bigger than before. Postmortem swelling? I yanked fiercely on the rope one last time, sending the gorlen flying into my hands. Instantly I was running out of the tunnel and into the light.

Your [Sprint] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Our pursuers didn¡¯t hesitate. They charged straight out of the darker tunnel, their mandibles clacking angrily, and the vicious horns atop their head directed straight at us. But when they entered the light, the first six beetles instantly changed direction, heading towards the light. The seventh beetle I could now see was quite different. I¡¯d already observed them all as they passed me by, the instinct leveling up again. But this next beetle was different. It leaked the same glowing fluid the bees did, leaving a trail of steaming goop behind it as it flew down the tunnel. Its horn was smaller, too, twisted like a screw. It also didn¡¯t fly towards the light.

Blind Commander [Lvl 15]

Frieda and I were across the bridge faster than you could say ¡°But what about Karavos, Ghindo¡¯s Menace?¡± 41: Bowling in the Jurassic is Quite a Classic I could only imagine the gorlen squeaks as I literally bowled her through the hole towards the Dino Cave translating to something like: ¡°This isn¡¯t the last of me! I¡¯m speaking with Dino Resources about you!¡± Probably. There was no chance I was fitting through that hole fast enough to avoid the commander. So I did the only thing I could think to do. I smashed in the heads of all the stunned beetles, regaining my stomp skill, which leveled a couple of times, and getting a massive dump of experience.

You have received 105 experience for killing [Jungle Tunneler].

Congratulations! You¡¯ve leveled up! X2. Your [Health] and [Stamina] have been restored. Maybe now you won¡¯t die to the foe commanding your attention.

Okay. Level four. Maybe having greatly increased health and stamina would help me with this mini-boss. The buzzing grew louder and I spun to face the bug. Where the other beetles had eyes, this one had two hard orbs of white carapace. Great. So that tactic was out of the question. My talons clicked on the stone as I stepped back, and the commander charged me, his horn pointed straight at my heart. I managed to avoid the strike, and a loud screech echoed out as his horn slid across the stone walls of the cave. The beetle turned in the air, shaking its head, and charged towards me again. I jumped towards him, but my body was different, and it was a far clumsier action than I¡¯d care to admit. I barely managed to scrape the underside of the beetle as my failed jump brought me just in front of him. Fortunately, my new and improved talons managed to bite deep into his stomach. But the commander didn¡¯t react. He simply spun, slicing at me with one of the hooks on his legs. They were longer than the other beetles, but since he¡¯d kept them tucked flat against his stomach, I couldn¡¯t tell. A talon bit into my shoulder and I roared with pain as tissue and muscle was torn. I grabbed his leg with my left hand, the good one, and with a tight grip, chucked him off the side of the cliff. He hovered over the open air before charging back at me, mandibles biting the air where I¡¯d just been. I sliced at him again, but he seemed to have learned, and he twisted in the air, deflecting the attack with his carapace. Smart bug¡ That¡¯s annoying. I leaped towards him as he twisted through the air to face me again, and this time landed on top of him. We went down, but slowly. I kicked at his face with my clawed feet, but they just bounced off of the hard shell. Great Gojira it was annoying to have nowhere to hurt him.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. I did my best to avoid the steaming goo that dripped from his back, and kicked back off of him, landing near the bridge as he slammed into the wall. The glowing liquid was all over the floor now, but it seemed to cool quickly, the only immediate danger being whatever fell off him most recently. The commander turned back towards me again, charging me with his deadly horn. As I went to dodge it for the third time, he twisted his head, and his mandibles bit down on my shoulder, chomping down into my skin. ¡°Gragh!¡± I shouted, hot pain flashing through my chest. I glanced at my health. Really!?

Health:

[109/260]

The single bite had done a ton of damage! And as he crunched down on my body, my health dropped again. I crouched, coiling the muscles in my leg, and leaped backward, slamming the beetle onto his back. A satisfying crunch accompanied my action, but that satisfaction was quickly put out by the burning sensation on my tail. Not the tail! Not the tail! The mandibles released as though the beetle were gasping for air, and I quickly stood up, shaking my tail to free it of the boiling liquid. While the beetle was still rocking to stand back up, I swiped down towards it.

Your [Health] is critical! [73/260]

A hooked leg disengaged from the belly of the beetle, and deflected my swipe. I was on the offensive now, slashing and stomping to try to damage the upside-down bug, but he kept smacking away all my attacks, and the ones that did get through didn¡¯t seem to do any damage! A hooked claw caught me in the thigh, pulling me down to the ground, and sending me rolling, my face hanging off the edge of the cliff.

Your [Health] is critical! [46/260]

He was so strong! And when I looked at the commander, it didn¡¯t seem like he¡¯d taken any damage! A spray of water hit me in the face, the waterfall rushing next to me. The waterfall! An idea struck me like lightning, and I couldn¡¯t tell if it was incredibly genius, or incredibly stupid. But knowing me, probably the former, of course. I rushed the beetle that had just managed to flip itself onto its legs. It lurched towards me, horn towards my chest, but just before it punctured me, I managed to grab it with my left hand, and hold it away from me. The beetle shoved, and I stumbled back, but I didn¡¯t loosen my grip for fear I would get speared again. The mandibles snapped as I backed up, holding the lancing beetle at bay. I danced away from the strong bite, and as the beetle shoved again, I rolled onto my back. The beetle came up into the air as I pulled it over me, and a strong kick from my legs sent it rocketing over the cliff. And directly into the rushing water. Upside-down, I watched as the beetle fell under the torrent, and plummeted under the force of the crashing water.

You have received 1417 experience for killing [Blind Commander].

You¡¯ve developed a new skill: [Environmental Trap Lvl 1].

Your [Environmental Trap] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Your [Environmental Trap] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

Congratulations! You¡¯ve leveled up! X3. Your [Health] and [Stamina] have been restored.

Woohoo! Level 7! Though, it was certainly harder to level up now than it was in the past. A similar amount of experience from when I killed the Deotrexaptor had previously gotten me an entire five levels. This was going to be a rough grind. Bowling ball? Are you ready to go again? Just¡ please don¡¯t get a mini-boss this time... 42: The Conveyance Turns out, that goo that the Blind Commander dropped all over the place? Yeah. That wasn¡¯t just a steaming goo. Shortly after my brief period of joy because of the massive experience dump, I decided that the furball could take a break. I was strong enough now that I had enough confidence to sprint down the tunnel faster than the beetles could fly. So I made my way down to the end of the tunnel, where all the bees and beetles flew around doing¡ whatever it was they did. With a single Macamme nut in my hand, I gazed out to the den of workers. The cloud was thicker than usual. Perhaps the beetles were on alert now? There were definitely a few Blind Commanders flying around the area. I shrugged, and threw the Macamme nut straight into a cloud of beetles that didn¡¯t have any Commanders nearby. Thunk! The nut cracked right into the head of a beetle, and bounced off of him onto others below. A raging swarm of beetles turned towards me, and charged. I sprinted away. Killing this many beetles was going to take a while¡ At least a hundred bugs came swarming down the tunnel, occasionally stopping to examine the goo, their heads twitching as they looked around. Mandibles clacked, and the bugs soared into the room with the light. Well, that¡¯s¡ convenient? So the Blind Commander was more than just blind. His goo was some sort of distraction to the bugs. I guess Frieda pulling him was a lot more useful than I¡¯d expected. I managed to enter the room with almost none of the beetles on my tail, and sighed as the bugs followed me in, swarming upwards towards the light. Guess it¡¯s time to toggle GrindMode. Hey, at least this was going to be worth a ton of experience! As the swarm stunned themselves against the light, one bug stayed in the dark tunnel, next to the glowing liquid, watching me. Huge red eyes emerged from all over the black carapace that seemed to have ruptured as they burst through. It didn¡¯t have any wings, but the massive clawed hands at the end of its legs lead me to believe it couldn¡¯t have carried its own weight if it tried.

Queen¡¯s Exile [Lvl 17]

Holy¡ If that thing fought me, I probably wouldn¡¯t stand a chance! Much as I¡¯d like to bet on myself because of my success against the odds with the Blind Commander, that monster didn¡¯t look like it¡¯d be easier to fight at all. If I was caught by those sickled legs even once, the game was probably over. And I wasn¡¯t eager to test my luck against the odds of another glitch in the matrix, to be honest. I still had to figure out how I¡¯d managed to survive because of the previous one. But that dilemma was for a me who had time. I started my typical ritual of biting off the heads of all the beetles that landed, stunned, on the ground, and kept an eye on the Queen¡¯s Exile. After watching me through furious eyes as I slaughtered half the horde, it turned, scooping up some of the glowing liquid into its hands, and disappeared down the tunnel. Weird¡

You have received 105 experience for killing [Jungle Tunneler].

You have received 105 experience for killing [Jungle Tunneler]. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

You have received 105 experience for killing [Jungle Tunneler].

The list went on. And on. And on and on and on. I killed a hundred bugs by the time I was starting to wish that I had Sailboat¡¯s ability to breathe fire or something. No doubt would¡¯ve come in handy at a time like this. Would¡¯ve been way easier, anyway. But hey, on the bright side, I leveled up a lot. The Queen¡¯s Exile probably wouldn¡¯t pose too much of an issue for me anymore, and bonus! I practiced a ton of skills on the beetles before killing them so that I could regain some of my old ones, as well as level up the current ones.

Congratulations! You¡¯ve leveled up! X10

You are now level 17 [312/1610]. Your [Health] and [Stamina] are now restored.

Ugh. This became so much harder at each level than before. It really was going to be a pain. But, at least I had a virtual mine of experience to exploit. Hey, what level was the max anyway? Magic boxes? Care to enlighten? Nothing. Um¡ Evolve?

Error. Eeeevolustionx NOT AvailablE t[he\max level\] Dinosaur: u2ntil.0. Fusion.

Oooookaaaay. Uhh... What? Okay. There was definitely a glitch in the matrix. That weird font around the Guided Evolution ability and the fact that it said ¡°DISABLED¡± wasn¡¯t a joke, huh. I mean, I figured, but still, having hope isn¡¯t pointless. Maybe it would fix itself! I certainly couldn¡¯t. I read the message again. Carefully, this time. It wasn¡¯t extremely sensible, but there was a bit I could dissect from it. If I recalled correctly, the first message went something like ¡°You cannot evolve until you reach max level: [INSERT LEVEL HERE].¡± So, since this message looked like a slightly reworded and potentially scrambled form of it, could the max level maybe be 20? If that was the case, then I was close enough to the max to be confident calling out to the waterfall guy again. ¡°Raaga!¡± I shouted, standing on the bridge, and looking towards the waterfall. This guy said he¡¯d stay awake for me, right? A few seconds later, as I stared into the spray of water, it suddenly stopped moving, and a vortex of water formed, floating over the air. It hovered towards me, and revealed the same muscular man of water as before. He stood there, a bright smile on his face as he examined me. [You¡¯ve grown! And so fast!] Raikam, the Nature Spirt, exclaimed, the smile growing broader across his face. One of his hands reached out, and brushed along my neck, down to my chest, where he placed a palm flat against it. [Much stronger, I see.] His hand glowed, and a long column of water grew in his other fist, stretching outward from his hand, and becoming a long staff. He pulled away the hand on my chest, but the glow did not vanish. Where he¡¯d touched me, a white light emerged from my chest, as though the skin there no longer even existed. No muscle, no organs. There was just light. ¡°Gah!¡± I gasped, as the staff made of water suddenly stabbed me where the light was glowing. I glanced to my health, expecting to see a critical alert, but instead, I saw a full bar. What? Raikam shoved, forcing the staff of water further into me. I gagged again as the pain blasted through my chest, and the staff slowly disappeared inside me. He waved his hand again, and the light around my chest vanished, taking the pain with it. I collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. [My apologies for the lack of a warning. It takes better if you don¡¯t expect it.] I looked up, to see the wide smile of the bearded Nature Spirit looking down to me. [I¡¯m glad the conveyance worked!] He said, before turning back into a swirling vortex of water. [Now you just have to figure out how to harness that power. Good night, virtuous one!] The sound of the waterfall blasted past me as Raikam vanished, and while I lay there, feeling mentally exhausted, a notification floated before me. It was all I could do to read it.

Congratulations! You have learned the spell [Heal Lvl 1]. Now to see if it can cure your stupidity!

These boxes¡ really didn¡¯t like me anymore, did they? 43: The Phantom Memory The river was black as soon as Frieda and I reached the section she¡¯d originally shown me. That was not a good sign. The moon was shining, but the water didn¡¯t reflect it much. It was too dark now for that. Instead, the water glowed an eerie red as I ran beside it. I sprinted up the riverbank, with Frieda on my back, holding on for dear life. She had the better nightvision, so I was hoping she could be the early warning system for me, if need be. But as we ran up the river, all I saw was the dark glow of the blood river, and the complete emptiness of the environment. I mean, even when it¡¯s night time, water sources should have life around them at some point. And yet, the night was creepy in its silence, as though the dark had suppressed the noises of the night life. Not even the hoot of an owl was heard, just the trickling of the dark river, and the thumping of my heart in my chest as I traveled upstream. Would Karavos even survive at this point? The moon was high in the sky, so it¡¯d been a significant amount of time since I¡¯d discovered him. And could a level 17 dinosaur even heal a behemoth like him? Only one way to find out. And that way was to try. Finally, Frieda and I reached the bend in the river that would lead us straight to the fallen titan. If he was still alive. I sprinted forward, unable to see him in the darkness. Suddenly, the gorlen pulled back on my neck, squeaking frantically. I didn¡¯t hesitate, dashing immediately into the trees nearby. Then, I peered out, slowly creeping forward to see the titan, and whatever she¡¯d discovered. Then I saw Karavos, laying near the waterfall, his body covered in bloody pustules and his tan skin broken with patches of wet blackness. I had to get to him, but what had Frieda seen? I crept further through the trees towards the titan, and that¡¯s when I spotted it. Three figures stood before the body of the gigantic beast, one striking his fist against something else in his hand. ¡°Heda yun, Barlan!¡± Oh. These three. What was that, ¡°Hurry up, Barlan¡±? Well, now that I knew it was them, my guesstimation translation had begun. The figure continued striking his other hand, and spat back his sassy remark. ¡°Shut up, Shella!¡± Great comeback, kid. The other squire snatched something out of his hands, and as I moved further forward, I could see that it was a stick of some kind. ¡°Hand it over,¡± she said, her hand resting on her hip. Santa himself was walking around the outside of Karavos¡¯ diseased body.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Barlan sighed dramatically, and passed over whatever he¡¯d had in his hands. With two clicks, Shella had a spark, and lit fire to the stick she¡¯d nabbed. Oh. A torch. The light caught me by surprise, but I merely blinked away the marks in my eyes as I watched the three. ¡°Squires,¡± Santa said, as the other two jumped at his voice. The next line I couldn¡¯t have translated until later on, but with the benefit of hindsight, I can tell you exactly what he said. ¡°Fetch Titansbane.¡± Shella nudged Barlan, and he turned, dashing towards me. I pressed myself against the tree, and the squire shot by me without even a glance. Phew.

You have developed a new skill: [Sneak Lvl 1]. That squire would have to be blind to have missed you otherwise. You¡¯re welcome.

No. I refuse to thank you, disrespectful magic boxes. Barlan came back shortly after, holding a cloth bag wrapped around something. Santa was kicking the body of Karavos when the squire returned, which infuriated me. Nobody treats an animal like that! Not on my watch! I stood up to approach, before a sharp stab of pain ran through my belly. I looked down to the source, the long white scar standing out in the dark like a slice through reality. Savage Santa would probably do the same thing to me this time. But could I let him just abuse something that clearly had intelligence, like Karavos? Gah! I paced back in forth while glancing to the three humans in front of the titan. I couldn¡¯t tell if the beast was even breathing anymore, so maybe it was best to leave? But, if Karavos was alive, and I ever found out I¡¯d walked away from something suffering that much, could I live with myself? A memory flashed through my mind, a flash of light as my brain suddenly remembered something I¡¯d somehow forgotten. I was on the phone, crying on my bed. Somebody was on the other side of the line. Oh, right, it was SchlongLord¡¯s mother. She¡¯d called me out of the blue that day, on his phone. I answered, expecting my friend. It was only then that I¡¯d found out I would never be able to expect another call from that friend. Schlong had apparently been suffering from an untreatable disease for many months, and he¡¯d never let on. His mother told me he¡¯d been doing better the past couple weeks, which probably explained why we¡¯d been talking so much more. Or maybe he knew he was going to die soon. Maybe he could feel it inside. The day before, he messaged me, but I¡¯d been out of the house running errands. By the time I¡¯d gotten home, I was exhausted. I told him we¡¯d talk tomorrow. And then I¡¯d woken up to the call from his mother. Tears streamed down my face as I remembered the death of my friend. How had I ever forgotten it? Well, I thought, rubbing the waterworks away. If I¡¯ve been born into a new world, maybe he has, too. I could only hope that Schlong was experiencing a great new life, because if anybody deserved it, it was him. The depression from that memory hung over me as I made my decision. I grabbed Frieda, who¡¯d been looking at me, worried. I set her down between some bushes, and patted her on the head. Stay here. Sure, the boxes would probably call me stupid, but inside, I was a good person. There was no changing that. For the same reason I suicide-saved Frieda, I was about to try to save Karavos. Besides, I¡¯d already commited to the decision when I nearly died to the beetles. If my previous life¡¯s summary could be put down as ¡°useless trashbag who never did anything for anybody¡±, then this one was going to be different. 44: Boosting is Overpowered The sky opened up as I sneaked across the ground, and I thanked my lucky stars. As the rain poured down, seemingly out of nowhere, I was able to cross from the woods faster than before. My footsteps were muffled by the raindrops pounding against the ground, and they bounced back into a fine mist. The humans¡¯ torch went out. ¡°Saravani¡¯s claw!¡± Santa shouted in exasperation, somehow leveling up my comprehension of Yatten. ¡°First the run-in with that foul Outrider, and now this!¡± He slapped the torch out of Shella¡¯s hands, and kicked the side of the titan, though it barely seemed to do anything. I was halfway to the titan, now. All I had to do was sneak up the hill, and get on top of him. If I could manage that, there was no way Savage Santa and his reindeer would be able to see me. ¡°You know what?¡± Santa yelled, before reaching over to Barlan. ¡°I don¡¯t need the torch! Give me my sword.¡±

Your [Nocturnal] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Relief. I could see just a little bit better in the night, and swiftly avoided a stick I hadn¡¯t noticed before. The rain was still beating down into the earth, but I wasn¡¯t taking any chances with making noises. ¡°Sir Grenzer,¡± Shella said quietly. I could barely hear her over the crack of lightning atop the mountain. ¡°It¡¯s already dying. Do we have to kill it?¡± I glanced over to see her shuffling back and forth on her feet, and Barlan was looking away from the scene, probably surveying the area. Or pretending to. ¡°See it as a mercy, girl,¡± the knight replied. ¡°Clearly this beastie is suffering. Killin¡¯ it¡¯s the best way out for both of us.¡± ¡°How?¡± Barlan suddenly asked in a hard tone. Santa waved his hands outwards. ¡°What do you mean, ¡°how¡±? It receives a merciful death, and I get an effortless kill on one of these monsters.¡± Barlan went to respond, but Santa grunted his response away, drawing forth the item inside the bag. A black blade, wickedly curved like a scimitar, emerged from within. I couldn¡¯t see much in the night, but a wave of cold rushed over me as it was drawn.

Titansbane [Weapon Lvl --RESTRICTED--]

Your [Observant] has leveled up. It is now level 5.

Weapon level restricted? That¡¯s¡ different. Usually, the things I couldn¡¯t see were just question marks. I¡¯d have to dig into that later. Right now, however, I had to worry about what would happen if that weapon struck Karavos. I picked up my speed, creeping faster towards the hill. If one of them even looked towards me, there was no way I would stay hidden. I heard the growling voice of Sir Grenzer from behind me, as I reached the bottom of the hill. ¡°What in the hell is that?¡± A glance over my shoulder, and a crack of the lightning overhead let me see that he was looking directly at me. Damn it. ¡°What is it doing?¡± Barlan asked, a stupid look on his stupid face. I realized I was frozen in my sneaking position, and made a hasty decision, dashing forwards up the hill. ¡°Kill it!¡± the knight yelled. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with the titan!¡± He approached Karavos¡¯ back, but I didn¡¯t have time to watch, as Barlan whipped out a bow, nocking an arrow and firing it in a single fluid motion.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Where the hell did that come from? I leaped to the side, dodging the arrow which landed in the ground with a wet schlick. I observed the two idiots as I sprinted up the wet hill, my talons digging into the ground so I wouldn¡¯t slip.

Barlan, Yatten Squire [Lvl 21]

Shella, Yatten Squire [Lvl 22]

What the hell?! They¡¯d leveled up over twice their previous levels in only a couple of days? What kind of power leveling were these three doing? You¡¯re cheating! Santa, you filthy booster! A ball of white energy crashed into the ground in front of me, and I shouted in surprise. ¡°Blast it!¡± Shella yelled. ¡°It¡¯s too smart!¡± The other idiot continued to fire arrows at me. ¡°There¡¯s something familiar about this¡¡± he muttered, loudly enough for me to hear over the rain. ¡°Measure fourteen!¡± Shella yelled, before turning to Barlan and covering him in a white aura. The next arrow fired blazed through the air, screaming furiously. I could hear the rain turn to steam as it whipped through the air towards me. I halted my sprint to watch the arrow. At the last second, before it crashed into me, I leaped to the side. But the glowing bolt of death actually turned and charged towards me. It crashed into my chest, burning the flesh and taking over an entire fifth of my health. ¡°GRAAGAH!¡± I screamed, glaring at the now-threatening idiots. So it wasn¡¯t only Santa that was the problem now. A power welled within me, building up in my stomach, and flooding me, rising through my chest and into my throat. As though I were breathing fire, I unleashed the power. Green light flowed around me, the hole in my chest closing itself, and my health bar slowly refilling. It was heal.

Your [Heal] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

¡°That thing can heal itself?!¡± Barlan shouted. Yes, idiot. Very intelligent observation. ¡°No time to worry about it! Measure three!¡± Shella called back. Not today! I shouted in my mind as I turned and sprinted up the remainder of the hill, redoubling my efforts. I glanced over my shoulder to see the idiots starting to pursue me now. Guess I was out of their effective range. Don¡¯t chase me! You wouldn¡¯t like me when I¡¯m angry! ¡°Die, titan!¡± I heard the voice of the burly knight call out, and as the lightning flashed, I could see he¡¯d scaled the back of the beast, his black blade now raised into the air. And then he brought it down, directly into Karavos¡¯ stomach. Another flash of lightning accompanied the awful cry of the diseased monster, and the blade protruding from his stomach glowed blue. Sir Grenzer grinned a savage grin. Anger coursed through me. I¡¯d gone through so much to heal this guy! I almost died to heal this guy! I got shot in the chest to heal this guy! He was not going to die! The same power welled within me, but this time, I let it build, and build, and build. My mouth oozed green light as I let the spell grow. In a savage roar of anger, I blasted the green energy across the face of the fallen titan. An arrow whizzed through the air, slamming into my side, but I didn¡¯t stop breathing life onto the monster. I could take a few hits, and then I¡¯d need to flee. Besides, I could see from the corner of my eye that the idiots were having trouble climbing the wet hill. Shella had fallen, slipping down the grassy slope, and Barlan was firing normal arrows towards me now.

Your [Heal] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

I danced while I healed Karavos, watching the bar representing my magic points drop, like a dinosaur-ending meteor. I wasn¡¯t sure if my effort would be worth anything against that weapon in his stomach, but I could try. And then, I heard voices call out from the woods, on all sides. ¡°From the north!¡± ¡°To the south!¡± ¡°From the east!¡± ¡°To the west!¡± Four called out as one for the next line. ¡°We are the Outriders!¡± Grenzer¡¯s grin vanished, and his eyes went wide as he turned around, stamping his foot against the dinosaur underneath him. ¡°ALL FOUR!?¡± 45: The Four For the sake of entertainment, I¡¯ve translated all of the words which I imagine to be Sir Grenzer¡¯s expletives as various types of food that I¡¯ve had time to think about, and quite dearly miss. As the calls rose up from each of the four directions, Grenzer threw some sort of fit atop Karavos¡¯s back, whom I continued to heal. ¡°French fries!¡± he shouted. ¡°All of the gingerbread Outriders at once?!¡± He grabbed a knife from his waist and hurled it into a tree. ¡°How the falafel did this happen?!¡± An arrow whizzed past my face. Damn it, squire, leave me alone! Your mother was a hamster, and her father smelled like Macamme nuts! ¡°Shella!¡± the culprit called to the idiot mage climbing the hill below him. ¡°Help!¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying!¡± she called back, her face covered in mud. I could still clearly see the irritation on her face, though. Heh. Well-deserved. She managed to finally scamper up the distance towards Barlan, and covered him in a bright crimson light. ¡°Measure three!¡± she told him. Suddenly, Barlan was firing arrows at a crazy speed. Where he kept all these arrows, I had no idea, but three were flying towards me every second. I couldn¡¯t dodge fast enough. One bit into my leg, and another into my tail. Three more came flying towards me, followed by another six. My dancing wasn¡¯t going to work to dodge them anymore. I glanced to my magic, seeing it was rapidly nearing zero. There was no way I was going to heal myself out of this one. I stole a look at Karavos, and was surprised to see that the blisters had closed, and much of the skin around his face had returned to a healthy color. Could I actually heal this guy? The arrows ripped through the air, whistling death. There was nothing I could do. Three were firing to the sides, in case I tried to run, and three were flying towards me. As much as you might be saying ¡°jump, you idiot, jump!¡± In reality, that wasn¡¯t an option either. Let me ask you a question. If I had you stand against a wall, and told you that you could only jump straight up, then fired three arrows at your chest, would you be able to jump high enough to avoid them? No? You¡¯d duck? Well, say that one of those arrows was rocketing towards your feet. Add to all of this that I had an arrow in my leg, and this was all happening in the span of a few seconds. Yeah, I was going to get hit by these arrows. So I did the only logical thing I could. I spun, turning my back to the arrows, and ducking my head. If they were going to hit, they weren¡¯t going to hit my most vulnerable areas. My healing spell cut off abruptly as my mana hit zero, and I closed my eyes against the incoming strikes. But the pain I¡¯d expected never came. Instead, a thunderous crash exploded behind me, shaking the ground. A cursory glance over my shoulder revealed two things to me. Spikes, and spikes. And big spikes. So maybe, three things? Yeah, the dinosaur that landed between me and the arrows was only a bit larger than myself, but the white spikes that coated almost its entire body made it look far more threatening. Was this¡ a turanta? I observed it as it roared at the two idiots.

Scavva, Friend to Vara

I then watched as the beast whipped its tail forward, firing two spikes directly at the idiots. Barlan yelped, and both of them immediately started sliding down the hill, running back to Savage Santa. ¡°Son of a brownie!¡± the man in question shouted. ¡°They even brought their garlic bread mounts!¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. He reached down, ripping Titansbane out of Karavos¡¯ belly. Another groan left his mouth, and it seemed as though he might¡¯ve been more awake than before. Santa jumped off the behemoth, landing on the ground in a roll. He waved the two idiots behind him, and held his sword outward, spinning as he looked towards the trees and, oddly enough, the bloody river. ¡°Show yourselves, you cowards!¡± Nothing happened for a moment. I reached down to my leg, yanking out the arrow with a suppressed growl. Scavva stood before me, baring his teeth towards the three humans. The rain continued to pound against the earth, and I felt something touch my shoulder. ¡°If you insist, Grenzer,¡± a feminine voice called out as I jumped in shock. A serpentine head burst from the river, spraying blood across the three humans. A woman, dressed in a tight and shiny material emerged from the trees nearby.

Scilla of the West [Lvl ???]

I didn¡¯t immediately examine the creature that came from the river, because I was now staring at the person who¡¯d touched my shoulder. She had long red hair, woven with what looked like dinosaur teeth. It hung down from underneath the horned skull she wore as a helmet. Two other skulls rested on her shoulders, pauldrons, and the rest of her armor was comprised of the same types of spikes that Scavva had fired from its tail. Her large blue eyes showed concern as she examined me. A massive lance, possibly carved from a dinosaur¡¯s thigh, rested on the ground beside her, underneath yet another skull. This one seemed to belong to one of the Aspisauruses. A horn, filed down to a more manageable size, jutted out from the front of the naturally shield-shaped head. I saw a few straps and realized she was actually using it as a shield.

Vara of the East [Lvl ???]

One of her gloved hands touched the blood leaking from my thigh, and she brought it to her face to smell it. ¡°Not poison,¡± she whispered with a smile. ¡°You¡¯ll heal just fine. Here.¡± She reached into a bag that had been concealed under Scavva¡¯s spikes, and pulled forth two glass bottles filled with colored liquids. One was red, and the other blue. ¡°Drink these.¡± I eyed them skeptically. I mean, she could have speared me if she wanted to, and obviously, she was friends with the dinosaur behind her. Had she tamed it? Or were they something like partners? Plus, if those two bottles held what I thought they did, then drinking them was the right choice. Vara popped the corks out of them, and held the red one towards my good hand. I grasped the bottle, and chugged the contents. YOLO, right? ¡°You¡¯re a unique one¡ And, no name?¡± She frowned, pursing her lips. Oh yeah. I guess she had a point. After I put the bottle down, Vara offered me the blue one, and I chugged that one as well. In moments, both my health and magic were filling themselves back up. The wound on my leg began to close, and I watched in wonder. A few pricks along my body indicated that Vara had also pulled out those arrows while I stared at my leg. ¡°Hot cinnamon buns with dripping frosting!¡± The shout drew my attention back to the four people standing down by the river. Two more humans had emerged from the woods, and now the three stooges were surrounded.

Brin of the South [Lvl ???]

Haran of the North [Lvl ???]

Very helpful information, magic boxes. Brin was covered from head to toe in armor made of rock. Only his head, bald but for a single lock of brown hair, was visible. Haran actually didn¡¯t wear any armor. He was dressed in a light cotton shirt and pants, with a sash binding the shirt tightly to his waist. A huge bow was slung around his back, and a quiver filled with arrows the size of small spears hung from his waist. Actually, maybe those were spears¡ Brin didn¡¯t have any weapons. Any visible ones, anyway. The snake-headed dinosaur was snapping at Santa, and he sliced aggressively back at it. ¡°Back!¡± he shouted. ¡°Back! Titansbane is a dangerous weapon! It¡¯s a sacred artifact!¡± Brin scoffed as Santa fended off the snake-head. ¡°Your people wouldn¡¯t know sacred if it stabbed them in the gut, Grenzer! Do I have to send you running again, today?¡± ¡°I dare you!¡± Santa growled, baring his teeth savagely. ¡°Fight me alone, Brin! Single combat. If you win, you can kill me. If I win, you let us leave, and I get to finish killing this beastie.¡± He swung a thumb over his shoulder, pointing to Karavos. The rock-covered man paused for a moment. Scilla whistled, and the snake-head backed off. ¡°An intriguing offer, to be sure,¡± Brin said after a moment. ¡°But, why would I do that when we have the obvious advantage here?¡± It was Grenzer¡¯s turn to scoff. ¡°You scared of my squires? I¡¯m only asking you to allow they go free. They¡¯ve done nothing wrong.¡± Rage flashed across Scilla¡¯s face. Brin was also clearly irritated. ¡°They are party to an atrocity such as this!¡± the woman shouted, throwing her hands towards the diseased monster before her. ¡°Come, nameless one,¡± Vara said to me, drawing my attention back to her. Her lance and shield were gone, as were the bottles. I¡¯d fully healed, but I hadn¡¯t noticed. ¡°You and I are going to save Karavos, the Magnificent.¡± 46: Corrupted Titan While Grenzer argued with the other three Outriders, Vara sneakily led me up to Karavos¡¯ head. We crept onto the giant¡¯s face, and she nodded to me. ¡°My potions won¡¯t do much for him in this state, but that magic of yours¡ It¡¯s powerful.¡± She retrieved three more bottles of blue liquid (mana potions) from¡ somewhere, and indicated the diseased dino with an open hand. ¡°Go on,¡± she said impatiently. ¡°I¡¯ve got to deal with that wound.¡± Without another word, Vara dropped the three bottles next to me and faded into the shadows as she crept down towards where Grenzer had stabbed the titan. Well, I guess that¡¯s that, then. I focused, closing my eyes and breathing deeply. A tingling sensation ran across my skin as I tried to summon the power again. It flowed across me, bringing my attention to every part of my body. Slowly, the familiar wave of power built within my stomach. I held it, breathing slower as I concentrated on building it up. It flowed throughout my body, dancing with excitement as though it couldn¡¯t wait for me to release its restraints. The power built up, cascading throughout my limbs and into my throat. It was like I was drowning, but from the inside out. As my mouth began to glow green energy again, leaking trails of viridian, I opened my jaws in a roar, unleashing the power. This time, I was focused. No arrows were being fired at me. I wasn¡¯t forced to dance to the tune of the bowstring. No, this time, I could put my all into the cast. I forced more and more strength into the silent roar. The green energy washed across Karavos, illuminating the surrounding area, and revealing the swelling lake of black blood on the other side of him. The waterfall crashed into it, and like a faucet pouring into a blocked sink, the lake rose. Some of the water had found cracks between Karavos¡¯ legs and dripped away towards the forest. The rest of it forced its way out from under him. My mana dropped like a toppled tree. The blast of green energy was far wider, stronger than before, and drained my mana much faster. It danced through the droplets in the air, a strange effect resembling the aurora borealis.

Your [Heal] has leveled up. It is now level 4.

Hey, at least it was a good way to farm skill levels. I¡¯d just have to find more gravely injured dinosaurs to heal. Or¡ I guess I could always injure and heal myself¡ If only I could recreate these mana potions. I made a mental note about it for myself in the future. My mana depleted, the green glow dissipated, leaving me blinking into the blackness of the stormy night. I groped around me for the blue bottle, and ripped the cork off with my mouth, tossing it to the side before chugging the bottle. Swiftly, my measly bar of 380 magic points refilled itself. I waited patiently as I watched it rise. From in front of Karavos, I could hear the sounds of metal clashing, cheers, and gasps. I could only imagine Grenzer was now fighting the Outriders. Or perhaps, only Brin.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. With how much rock the guy was covered by, I doubted that Savage Santa stood a chance, but maybe the man had a few surprise presents in store. With how the Outriders were currently fighting my problems, I hoped he didn¡¯t. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? And Vara seemed helpful enough. Maybe she was using me. It was impossible to tell. Hopefully, Karavos would be thankful, though. The blue bar representing my mana had finally restored itself, so I focused once more. While summoning the power had come easily the first two times, it wasn¡¯t so simple now. Perhaps the anger and pain I¡¯d felt made it easier, but as it was, I had to focus to summon the heal. I thought about Karavos, how his eye had pleaded with me to do something. I remembered how I was going to kill him, but it had become too difficult to do so. Killing an intelligent creature was hard. The only other time I¡¯d done so was with the Deotrexaptor, and that was simply in self-defense. I still felt disgusted by that kill. The beetles¡ well, they were bugs. And none of them had shown any measure of sentience until that Queen¡¯s Exile had appeared. So I didn¡¯t feel like I was really killing anything. Do you consider the life of every ant you crush? But you probably wouldn¡¯t find it easy to kill an animal like a dog. Maybe if it was attacking you, but would you really feel good about it? I wouldn¡¯t. Which is why, I thought to myself, from here on out, I would be slaughtering as many bugs as possible, and avoiding those damn xaptors. The energy was leaking from my jaws again, but as an experiment, I held it in even longer. My body began to shake as the healing power tried to escape. I clenched my fist, my muscles trembling as I withheld the power. A bit of energy escaped me as my willpower to hold it faltered, but I quickly reined in the rest and continued holding it until the world was visibly shaking. If I had hair, I¡¯d expect it to have become yellow by now. My entire body was surrounded by green light, and at once, I unleashed the beam of energy directly at Karavos¡¯ chest.

Your [Heal] has leveled up. It is now level 5.

Wow. You¡¯ve developed a branching skill: [Healing Blast]. Its level will remain at the same level as [Heal]. [Healing Blast] can be activated at instant speed, but greatly depletes magic, and cannot be controlled.

Yep. Definitely a good way to farm levels. The blast crashed into Karavos¡¯ chest, instantly being absorbed into his body. Welts disappeared as the corruption coating his skin was sucked away into nothingness. The healthy color of his face spread further down his body, erasing any traces of the disease left. This illness was powerful, but with two more of those healing blasts, it might just be completely wiped away. Hopefully. I listened for a moment to check on the sounds of the fighting. The snake-headed dinosaur that stared down at the obscured brawl showed that yes, Brin had most likely taken Grenzer up on his challenge. Well, for the idiots¡¯ sake, I hoped they were allowed to leave. Though they might¡¯ve been a pain in my side, literally, I didn¡¯t want for them to die. Especially since I wanted to slam dunk their faces into some of this bloody water. Of course, Karavos could have a go at them if he was feeling up to it. We¡¯d see how they like being picked on. 47: When I Get That Feeling, Ive Got Maximum Healing After rereading the notification about the new branching skill, Healing Blast, I figured it¡¯d probably be safer to just use a regular heal, rather than one that ¡°greatly depletes magic¡±. So, I charged up the power within myself again, waiting until it nearly built into healing blast, and unleashed my silent roar upon Karavos¡¯ prone body. The aurora borealis effect appeared again, and I couldn¡¯t help but admire it. Even something as uncaring and cold as a misty rain could make something so beautiful, with a little help. It danced across the air before me, and I could only hope that the sounds of metal clashing down below indicated that Grenzer was still distracted by the Outriders. I could hear words, but I still wasn¡¯t capable of translating without great thought, and most of my focus went into casting heal. Slowly, but surely, more of the plagued skin cleared up, vanishing as welts disappeared at a snail¡¯s pace, and blackness faded away. The titan coughed, and a burble of blood rippled through the small lake. How has this guy not drowned, yet? Vara had finished up with whatever she¡¯d been doing. The wound on Karavos¡¯ side had vanished, with only a fat white scar left behind to show there had ever been one. Ah. We are kindred spirits in belly scars. I had no way of measuring the time it took for me to finish expelling the healing energy, but as soon as I had, I swiftly bit the cork out of the next bottle and poured the contents down my throat. To make it the process more efficient, for the final heal, I charged up the power within myself while my mana regenerated, enabling me to cast the spell sooner. In fact, doing it this way seemed to help the duration of the spell, because the mana potion must¡¯ve restored more than the amount I had in my pool. It certainly felt like the spell was far longer this time. Perhaps these last two might just heal the damn titan. There was only a little corruption left on the dinosaur¡¯s body. I spread the heal down his body, blasting the most corrupted areas with as much energy as I could. To be honest, there was no guarantee that where I used the spell would matter, but if it followed any kind of reasoning, I would imagine the densest concentration would affect the area the strongest. It made sense. Karavos rumbled as the disgusting skin peeled away, revealing a fresh new layer underneath. The ground shook underneath me. Or rather, his body did. I lost my footing, stumbling backward. But I made sure not to waste any of the energy.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Only a few more moments of the heal and he¡¯d be fine. But it was like I was running out of oxygen now. Have you ever breathed out of your lungs until it felt like you couldn¡¯t anymore? And then, refused to breathe in for a few seconds? It felt like that, but somewhere else in my body. Nearer to my heart. A sharp pain punctured that location, and the healing cut off instantly. The last of the corruption disappeared. The night was silent but for the clashing of the humans beyond the dinosaur. And then Karavos moved. I glanced towards Vara, but she¡¯d already disappeared. The body of the titan rumbled underneath me, drowning out the sound of the waterfall. Quickly, I stumbled to the edge of the hill and dismounted his body, turning to watch as the monster rose. ¡°Out of the way!¡± Scilla¡¯s terrified voice called. I could see her now, running towards the snake-head. She leaped, spinning in the air, and the snake-headed dinosaur ducked underneath her, scooping her up, and swimming away down the river. The three idiots were running towards the woods, and Brin was pursuing them. The monk had vanished. ¡°You aren¡¯t going to vanish in this chaos, Grenzer!¡± Brin shouted. His rocky armor was broken in places, but he wasn¡¯t as bad off as Santa. The man was dripping blood from all over, his hair matted and sweaty. The two idiots had apparently engaged Brin as they ran, clumsily firing off arrows and magic spells in his direction. But the Outrider swatted them away with ease, as though their attacks were simply Egg Suckers. Then, they disappeared into the woods, the sounds of their fighting fading away. Seemed like Grenzer might escape this time. Karavos¡¯ rising brought with it a flood. Blackened water sloshed freely from underneath him as he rose, as though a dam were slowly being removed. Suddenly, I was no longer standing on a hill far above a drained river. I was now standing on a slight rise above the banks of the dark water down below. I glanced upwards, towards the feathered titan, and saw he was still stained with watery blood. His entire right side seemed coated in it, but at least it was dripping off easier than blood itself might. The titan turned his head to the moon, and roared, shaking the trees surrounding me. The sound echoed off the mountainside, making me think Karavos¡¯ might cause some sort of mudslide. But instead, the triumphant sound ripped through the silence of the night, and I¡¯m sure it could be heard from miles away. In fact, I was certain of it, because only moments after the roar had dissipated into the rainy sky, I could hear something else from the distant woods, back towards the Dino Cave. This wasn¡¯t the sound of Karavos¡¯ triumph over death. This was a roar. A familiar one. One that commanded. One that hunted. It was a savage roar that shook the night, the direct parallel to Karavos¡¯. The titan slowly turned his head in the direction of the sound, his eyes wide, and his claws flexing. He¡¯d heard it. Of course he had. Every being residing within the jungle had probably heard it. It was the savage roar of the mighty Djanak, Jungle God. And it was a challenge. The ground rumbled, as though the earth itself was hungering for a divine fight between behemoths.