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 G̶̙̲͊u̴̮̕i̶͔͑d̸̫̦͝ë̸͔́d̴͖͈͝ ̷̛̤̊E̵̳͕̓v̵̮̮̅o̵̫̩̾̐l̵̥̀u̷̡̲̽͐t̸̪̜̆i̶̟͈̍o̶̻̮͝n̸͍̑̋ [DISABLED] Nature's Embrace

[Lvl ---]

Lifetime Gambler

[Lvl ---]

World's Voice

[Lvl 9̴̖͊9̸̦̄̆9̶̺̥̃̄]

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?”