Well, I learned the hard way that sharing food is not something that comes naturally to giant monster dinosaurs that just so happen to maybe have become your friends, but most likely are just amused by your presence or perhaps using you for bait.

After all, he’s the reason I didn’t die to the siren. But there was always the chance that he didn’t know it was there, too. I just couldn’t tell if Rexcelsis liked me or not… or if he was just going to keep me around for the sport.

Anyway, I tried to eat some of the siren corpse, as gross as eating something kind of human is--especially when she appeared to be half-corrupted eel or something--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 how small they looked on his body, I realized now that each of his arms was at least seven feet long. Kinda put into perspective how strong the rest of him was.

I guess I should consider myself lucky that Rexcelsis wasn’t one of those “thou shalt not touch my food or thou shalt be slain” animals, like my old dog Genghis was.

Though that old boy also wouldn’t have been able to laser-death-beam an evil mermaid or throw me half a football field away. So I guess it’s not a fair comparison.

If you’re gonna be a dinosaur, though, I recommend assuming all other dinosaurs will be very territorial about their food. It’s just that Rex had caught me by surprise with how much personality he had, that I assumed we’d be amigos.

So I finally got back to shore after swimming for a while (and earning a level in my Swim skill, as well). And by the way, swimming on the river wasn’t as hard because the current was pushing me along, so all I had to do was stay afloat, but swimming across a pond (which I knew now could even have another siren) is harder than you think. See, not only was I nervous about the whole possibility of a vengeful siren family, but when your whole body is massive compared to the tiny little stick sprouts you have for arms, and all you really have is two massive flipper-like feet and a tail, it gets pretty tough to swim across stagnant water.

Anyway, when I finally got back to the shore, the titan was standing over the siren’s body with two glowing horns. I recognized the tell, and shouted hopelessly.

“Raagaa!”

In my mind, I was begging him not to do anything, begging him to not destroy the creature that might get me to the next evolution alone. I sprinted toward him, but really, what was I gonna do to stop him?

The red beams erupted from the tips of his horns, and I barely managed to observe them before I was sent sliding across the ground by the burst of energy expelled from the evaporating corpse.

Your [Observe] Instinct has leveled up. It is now level 7. Your [Observe] Instinct has leveled up. It is now level 8. Nonparticulate Eradication [Lvl ???]

Uh… huh…

An impressive name, to be sure.

Smoke floated away into the sky from the charred earth where the siren’s corpse once lay. As I stood up to see if anything remained, the Chaotic Monarch moved toward his pile of xaptors. In seconds, he was tossing bodies into the air, swallowing them in a single gulp.

Slurp!

Those things are like dino nuggets to him!

I changed course instantly, dashing not to the black mark on the ground, but instead towards the single xaptor corpse that still had its head, the one I’d killed myself.

I reached it, stopping and standing before it instead of chowing down as I’d expected. Lifeless eyes stared up into the sky. Eyes I’d taken the life from.

I’d never killed anything before, other than ticks and flies, and the idea that something capable of thought like this had died because of me… well it was enough to give me pause.

But then I remembered the decision I’d already come to. These guys, even if they had a life, even if they had a family, had attacked me. And even if this guy had a family, who’s to say I didn’t?

Then again, his family might’ve just been completely slaughtered by Grandpa Greedy over here. And… it’s not like I wasn’t acting in self-defense. He’d provoked me. They all had. They’d chased me down, hounding me day and night just because I’d eaten some of their food.

That wasn’t right.

They’d forced my hand--claw… whatever.

I steeled myself as my stomach turned over inside me.

This is natural. Animals kill animals.

The stomping behind me indicated Rexcelsis had probably finished with his dino nuggets. A glance over my shoulder confirmed it. Though… the heads he’d severed were still left sitting nicely in a row on the reddish dirt.

Savage…

Two more steps and he was behind me, bending down one. I could feel his breath on my back. I closed my eyes, reaching out, and biting into the creature I’d killed.

Sorry…

When I’d eaten the Giant Tree Worm, I’d felt bad. It had been killed by the xaptors while it was doing… whatever it was doing. But the fight was cool to watch. It hadn’t really clicked for me yet.

But this… This was personal. There was something intimate about tearing into a creature you killed yourself. And also, it was just still a little gross to think about the fact that this body wasn’t cleaned first. The guts were still in there…

I heaved for a second as I thought about that.

Okay… note to self… don’t think about that.

Hey, at least the discussion with this guy’s 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 chewing on the carcass.

Oh, also, just a friendly suggestion: Don’t look at the body after you’ve eaten it.

Maybe after the food settles? But… I made the mistake of looking, emptying the space I’d just filled, and being forced to fill it again.

I guess Regurgitate only works one way.

And trying to chew as a dinosaur is a weird and uncomfortable experience. You’ve seen how dogs chew with their mouths? Yeah, it’s kind of like that. My suggestion: tear with your teeth until you have a properly sized chunk, and hold the body with your hand to break it off. Make sure you don’t get too big of a piece, though, because it’s hard to finagle the food in your mouth.

I don’t know. Maybe I’d get used to it.

I took another bite, finished it, and glanced behind me towards the megasaurus.

He was no longer hovering over me, instead watching boredly from next to his line of heads. Wait, was it… a bit longer than before? Did he have an extra?

I turned back to the carcass before me and… yeah, he took the head of this one, too.

Now that I was a bit more comfortable with the situation, having found the meat to be tough and chewy, yet somehow tasty, I observed the body, consuming more meat.

I will eat until I’m full! So gimme something to read, magic boxes!

They obliged.

Deotrexaptor [Corpse]

The body of a creature that operated as a fearsome 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.

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

Darn! So close to a level up, too! So much for the five-hundred experience the worm gave me…

I assumed eating more of the “Lvl ???” monsters would give me those kinds of insane gains. Still, this much experience was greatly beneficial. After all, it almost took me all the way to level seven! The experience might’ve been calculated by my level difference from what I consumed, or perhaps the worm had just been that much stronger than a single xaptor.

But I could see now why creatures like Little Dino Foo Foo weren’t extinct. By stealing meals, they probably gained a lot more experience with a lot less risk than by trying to fight their way up the food chain.

I wonder if other dinosaurs can evolve, though… So far, I haven’t see that happen.

I turned away from the xaptor corpse, my goal completed.

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! Show me my status!

Baby Dino

Level:

6 [345/350]

Health:

200/200

Stamina:

135/135 Traits [Guided Evolution] [Lvl ---] [Nocturnal]

[Lvl 2]

Skills

[Bite]

[Lvl 3]

[Claw]

[Lvl 5]

[Sprint]

[Lvl 4]

[Stomp]

[Lvl 3]

[Swim]

[Lvl 4]

[Sneak]

[Lvl 3]

[Regurgitate]

[Lvl 1]

[Climb]

[Lvl 3]

[Feast]

[Lvl 4]

[Dig]

[Lvl 2]

[Slam]

[Lvl 2]

[Corpse Hatching]

[Lvl 1]

[Leap Strike]

[Lvl 1]

[Punch]

[Lvl 3]

[Dirty Trick]

[Lvl 1]

[Kick]

[Lvl 2]

Instincts

[Risky Business]

[Lvl 1]

[Blend]

[Lvl 1]

[Fearful Flight]

[Lvl 5]

[Observe]

[Lvl 8]

[Watervision]

[Lvl 3]

[Pack Mentality]

[Lvl 1]

Hmm… Not too bad. Well, I say that even though it’s way better than it was when I first hatched. Though… I don’t really know what’s comparably “good” in this world. Scratch that. I don’t really know anything about this world yet.

I assumed Rex and Sailboat were exceptions to the rule, but still, there were probably some way stronger dinosaurs out there than me. Being a “baby” usually meant being weak, anyway.

Right! The next thing on my to-do list is grinding!

I idly wondered if Grandpa Greedy would let me chain experience off him. Did power-leveling work in this world?

I looked over at the titan.

He looked back at me with a calculating gaze.

Come to think of it, asking Daddy Doomray for help might be a dangerous request.

A roar shook the trees nearby. Sticking out of the leaves, jutting menacingly into the air like a shark fin, was a dark crimson sail.

Ah.

I looked at the tyrannosaurus rex next to me.

So… You wanna handle this?