At some point, I’d fallen asleep again. But as I came to and my dreams faded to a distant memory, one fragmented piece of them remained firmly rooted in my memory. In my dream, I’d been visited by the Elder Nature Spirit, or at least, I’d dreamt that. The two of us held the same conversation as the first time, but this go around, there was a slight difference, and I noticed something.

I observed her as she turned around.

Elder Nature Spirit [Lvl ???]

She brought a hand to her chest. [Me?]

I nodded.

She paused, a finger to her lip as she thought to herself. [Well, didn’t you just see for yourself?]

That’s when I woke up, those words echoing in my mind.

[Didn’t you just see for yourself?]

She hadn’t actually said such a thing to me yesterday, but… did that nymph lady know that I could obtain details about her just by activating my Instinct?

My subconscious seemed to think so, else I wouldn’t have dreamt what I had… right? And if that were the case, then perhaps it really was the case that Sailboat had only seen me because I’d done the same thing.

Though, nothing else had yet reacted to my observations… The beetles, the bees, the Deotrexaptors, and even the high-level worm… None of them had shown any sign that they’d been aware of my presence.

But with Sailboat, he’d seen me hiding in the bushes, even when I was sure I’d concealed myself completely. I supposed it was possible he’d smelled the worm juice I was covered in, and realized a thief was nearby, but… it was suspiciously awful timing for me, having just used Observe.

Did Rex know, then, that I’d observed him?

The implications of my scanning ability being detectable by enemies I couldn’t possibly challenge was terrifying. And if I didn’t get a handle on my Instinct, and stop it from firing off on its own from time to time, then I was cooking a recipe named “Disaster”.

I shook my head, my body following suit, and stood up to stretch. For now, I would just have to be careful until I got a handle on my abilities. But first, my stomach was grumbling. I guess full recovery takes a lot out of an attractive young dinosaur like myself.

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I took a step toward the cave exit, dim rays of light leaking through the leafy cover.

Huh. Is it going on night already?

While I couldn’t be sure of the time of day, I cocked my head, and listening revealed why the outside world was so dark. The sound of rain pattering against the leaves caught my attention.

Guess it’s a grumpy sky today…

I had no desire to spend time in the rain. Once was enough for me. As hungry as I was, I could wait. Instead, I looked around for my butler.

The Gorlen was curled up in a ball in the corner of the room near my makeshift bed in an area devoid of the rush floor covering I’d laid down. It looked like she’d pushed them away… How she could be comfortable simply laying on the stone floor escaped me. It reminded me of the dogs I’d owned. Both Genghis and Murphy had no problem whatsoever with collapsing on the asphalt driveway outside. Even when it was boiling that day.

Those dogs– Genghis a mastiff and Murphy a boxer-labrador mix– were absolute units. And if you had to define an iron stomach, I’m certain scientists wouldn’t have been against putting a picture of those boys there in the dictionary.

Come to think of it… I wonder whose stomach would be more versatile now… My late good boys’ or mine?

Though… there were some things I was unwilling to consume that those two held no qualms about.

Well, anyway, with nothing to do but sit around in the cave until the rain passed or my stomach won the battle of will, I considered evolving.

My tummy growled again.

What?! I challenged. You got beef with me?!

This time, we both growled together, agreeing that mine had been a poor choice of words.

Welp, evolving was out of the question at the moment, for two reasons. One, the last time I’d chosen to evolve, I’d been lucky to be surrounded by food. It seemed the process really burned through all available fuel.

The second reason was Corpse Hatching. If possible, I’d like to find a body of something I’d not yet hatched inside of, preferably an incredibly strong foe. Not only would I be able to gain hella boons from evolving inside of such a beast, but I’d then also be surrounded by food for the starving that came afterward.

Compared to the hunger I’m sure I would feel if I evolved in this moment, my current rumblies were nothing.

So instead, I resigned myself to relaxing in the cave, enjoying the peaceful sounds of rain against our leafy roof and watching the water slowly run down the sloped entrance. The occasional breeze also brought with it the aroma of petrichor, a relaxing scent.

Eventually, as the light faded away, my new furry butler woke herself up. Sniffing the air, she turned to me. Her head twisted quizzically, as though asking about my wellbeing. She patted the scar on my belly, her cute big eyes looking up into mine.

She really gave me the impression of a smarter puppy. It made me smile… though, I’m not sure it doesn’t look more like a snarl.

Frieda seemed to get it, though, and snorted cutely before scampering over to the entrance to the cave. She touched the water that was leaking into our abode, then shook it off her hand and turned back to me.

Yeah, I know… I replied in my mind. Rainy day…

We sat there for a little while, just kind of staring at each other and thinking. So to try to break the monotony, I grabbed some sticks that were laying around and tossed them between us.

She tilted her head at me.

So… you wanna play Pick Up Sticks or Tic Tac Toe?