As I feasted, I read up on the new abilities I’d obtained.

[Guided Evolution]

Unlike most dinosaurs, you are capable of choosing the direction your life will take. Now that you’ve practiced this ability, and begun to understand it, you’ve obtained this Trait!

As you develop more abilities, perform different actions, and make different decisions, various paths to power will open or close. Be confident in yourself and your decisions. A hasty evolution may result in an undesirable life path.

Once you’ve attained a level equivalent to or greater than 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. The displayed potential paths can be influenced by your will.

Note: This is a one-time opportunity. You may only do this once you’ve reached the halfway point, and only once per evolution.

[Sprint]

When once from challenge you’d have fled, now of foe you’ll get ahead.

If Stamina you concede, you’ll gain a massive burst of speed.

[Sprint] is a Skill that requires you to have at least two legs.

[Blend]

The strong contest the strong, the clever lie in wait.

The weakened survivor comes along, and the Blended stocks its plate.

[Blend] is a Skill that has no requirements.

[Risky Business]

With great risk comes greater rewards!

[Corpse Hatching]

From death, life bursts forth, the baby stronger when hatched from corpse.

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.

[Corpse Hatching] is a Skill that has no requirements.

[Dig]

Down you go, through solid ground.

A powerful dino can dig unbound.

[Dig] is a Skill that has no requirements.

[Slam]

Into the opposition, you dash.

The higher the speed, the stronger the crash.

[Slam] is a Skill that has no requirements.

Okay, so Corpse Hatching is disgusting, as I suspected.

Guided Evolution, however… now that was an ability I could roll with. Having a small spoiler of what I was heading towards could be very helpful with maximizing my potential.

And that meant that the evolutions weren’t totally random. So I was likely correct in my assumption of the Baby Inocu being available to me because of my Observe instinct.

The other abilities were simple things that didn’t tell me much, and the names were pretty self-explanatory, although I wondered if Blend would lead me towards a chameleon path or something similar.

It was also interesting to note that my abilities could mutate at evolution. I’d lost Fight or Flight, but it didn’t bother me too much right now because I hadn’t planned to use it anyway. It just left me slightly worried about if I would lose something I grew attached to.

Well, I’d probably evolve towards something I used a lot anyway, right?

Traits were strange, though. When I observed Nocturnal, I’d gotten a simple explanation of what it did, and Guided Evolution was very detailed. However, Risky Business didn’t tell me much at all! I felt cheated.

But maybe I could cheat the system a little.

Evolve!

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

Heh. I’m a genius. Speaking of levels, though... where the hell is my experience?

I was starting to grow full, my stomach burbling happily. I’d eaten quite a fair amount, though, so either I’d been inside the worm 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 but no messages had yet arrived to tell me of my massive gains. I pushed another chunk of the pink meat into my mouth.

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

Ohhh! It tastes even better than before!

I might have noticed that the meat tasted funny the first time if I hadn’t been starving when I’d taken the first bite, but now it was so delicious I couldn’t stop eating. My arms, which had gained velocity as I continued to swallow piece after piece of the meat I ripped off the corpse, began to slow their movements. I must’ve eaten twice as much as earlier, which made sense because I was probably bigger.

Things did feel… off. And I’d only just gotten used to my other body! I sighed. I guess when you’re born as a dinosaur, these are the kinds of sacrifices you’ll have to be willing to make if you want to survive. Being constantly confused by your own body is a bug that might never be patched. A shame, really.

I burped again and shook my head as I sat in the pile of meat, which isn’t as gross as you might think-- not when you’re a hungry dinosaur. But I was full now, and there was no way I could eat any more. So it was time to leave.

Where the hell is my experience? I asked again, peering through the darkness at the meat stuck to my claws.

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 the 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 exp it provided?? What about the skills? Was I stuck with only the two?

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 free experience because of my dino’s level cap!

No!

I bashed my head into the side of the worm angrily.

Squish!

I guess I’ll have to level up the hard way…

But why, then, did I not gain experience from eating the mosquitoes? Were they too weak for me to get anything out of them?

My strategy for dealing with the Deotrexaptors having failed, I now crept toward the worm’s mouth, getting ready for Plan B.

That’s okay, I consoled myself. I didn’t pick Grancher, which would have been putting all my eggs in one nest. So that’s good, at least.

I kicked myself mentally. Maybe I should’ve picked Inocu. At least that dinosaur was supposed to be fast.

Peeking my head out into the night through the slimy opening at the head of the worm, I surveyed the area carefully. The moon shone brightly down from high above toward the clearing, as though it were a spotlight telling me to move. It must’ve been a few hours since I’d first jumped into the worm because darkness had only just been falling when I’d snuck up to it.

But now it was time to dip.

No xaptors… If I’m going, I’m going now.

Gathering as much meat as I could (hopefully) carry in my clawed hands, I coiled my legs, inhaling deeply and calming my nerves. Then I shot out of my temporary abode, ducking between the massive sharp teeth of the worm, running as fast as I could toward the safety of the woods.