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

[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.