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

I barely noticed the notification as I stepped carefully up the trunk. It was much harder to do without arms. While my arms were sufficient for most things I’d attempted to now, they didn’t have thumbs, and not having thumbs made it difficult to grab onto the broken branch stubs.

So instead, I dug in hard with my talons, walking slowly up the slightly sloping tree.

“Skraaaaw!” I heard a xaptor call from behind me. With a glance back, I could see that the pack had managed to get most of the way through the bushes, and could now see me once again.

I sped up my walk.

When I was almost halfway across the Blessed Glade, the xaptors were out of the bushes. I grinned as they approached, stopping at the edge of the glade and looking out warily.

They were just as smart as I thought.

I continued creeping further across the log, and the xaptors hooted angrily. As I laughed at them, my foot slipped, and I dug my talons into the tree hard.

No!

I dangled slightly over the edge before I managed to kick back onto the tree, a cluster of dead bark falling to the forest floor, bouncing across the black soil, and landing in the center of the glade.

I watched it fall, my eyes going wide. My breath caught in my chest. Time seemed to stop. Even the xaptors were silent. I was standing dead on my feet atop the tree. In seconds, the Thragil plant would burst out of the ground and swallow me whole.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the moment I died.

But the earth didn’t stir. After a moment, the sounds of the jungle resumed. Sailboat’s roar sounded out from the distance once more, a blast of air shaking the surrounding trees.

“Kraaaw!” one of the xaptors called back, taking a tentative step onto the fallen tree.

Yeah, c’mere, punk!

I had no idea if the xaptor read my thoughts or if I’d just conveyed them well in my smug glance. He cried again, and then suddenly dashed up the tree towards me. His feathered arms were outstretched, balancing him on the curved surface.

Come on! I grieved. Of course they can climb! I would’ve stomped in frustration if I wasn’t afraid of falling into the death pit.

Instead, I turned back away from the xaptors, and moved as fast as I could toward the end of the log. Occasional glances over my shoulder revealed three more of the pack had joined the bold one and my pursuers were gaining on me once more. The others took the long route, running around the glade.

What I would give for some WD40 right now… Wait…

Lightning struck my brain, and I turned to face the pack of xaptors with a grin on my face. I activated the skill I’d forgotten I possessed, feeling the muscles contract around my stomach, clenching and moving the food within.

Even though it's only been days, it feels like it’s been months since I’ve obtained this skill… You might be able to outrun me and outclimb me, but can you… outbarf me?

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Then I regurgitated the slimy wet worm meat down the slight incline, spewing it across the tree, and sending it sliding down the trunk just as the lead xaptor stepped where I’d aimed. Some of it splashed back up onto me, but I was too busy trying to survive to notice.

“Skaaak!” he screamed as his front leg slipped out from underneath him, sending him hurtling down to the forest floor. He flapped angrily, slowing his fall but not stopping it. Those wings were made for jumping, after all. I swiftly reached the end of the trunk and began to climb down one of the trees the natural bridge had landed on.

Your [Climb] Skill has leveled up. It is now level 3.

I jumped from branch to branch, and as I aimed for a smaller one closer to the forest floor, the glade erupted behind me. The trees shook, and I slipped on the branch, falling the rest of the way to the ground with a thump.

Ouch.

Screams filled the forest, and I sprinted through the trees without looking back. Four Deotrexaptors were down now, but three were still after me, making their way around the Thragil’s trap.

The forest was still dark, but the moon had moved, hinting that day was on the way. If I could just find a place to hide, then maybe I could lose the xaptors and get away during the day. If not, I could always wait an extra night. My body seemed to do fine without eating for a couple of days, anyway.

“Kraaaaaaw!”

I jumped over a boulder in my path.

And screamed as I realized the gap on the other side. I plummeted through the air, falling at least twice the height of my body, but managing to land on my feet somehow.

You have developed a new Skill: [Leap Lvl 1]

No time to read about it, just… hurrah that it helped me land safely!

I dipped around thick trunks and under low-hanging branches as the forest seemed to thin a bit. To my right, I saw something that looked like one of the fruits in the pile underneath the Metamorphic Impersonators.

Observe fired off for me before I could think to do it myself. I really had to figure out why it was doing that, and get it under control.

Skurgis Fruit

Am I in the same area? Maybe… close?

I slowed down as my limbs grew heavy, panting, exhausted. A glance at my status showed my stamina was nearly depleted.

Ah… damn… As in my past life, I’m not meant for running marathons.

I used the last bit of my energy to leap behind a boulder, the xaptors’ clicking becoming audible once more. Their footsteps approaching, I closed my eyes and tried to slow my breathing.

And that’s when I heard the howl.

Wind rushed by my face as six snarling somethings dashed around the boulder to intercept the Deotrexaptors. I opened my eyes and peeked around the corner, using Observe on the black forms that seemed to blend into the darkness as they encircled the xaptors.

Fenrir [Lvl 15] Fenrir [Lvl 17] Fenrir [Lvl 13]

One particularly large one from the other side of the circle caught my gaze. It stood almost twice the height of the others, dwarfing the xaptors in size. Red eyes shone in the darkness as they scanned my pursuers. I got a glimpse of the xaptors through the legs of the attackers as they circled the dinosaurs. The dinos hooted nervously, turning so their backs were to each other in a defensive stance.

Alpha Fenrir [Lvl ???]

If I could’ve found the strength to move, I would’ve tried to sneak away now, while both species were distracted.

Instead, I simply laid there and watched as the xaptors cried into the night, and the black creatures around them growled deeply.