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.

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....