Michael needed to move. Each second he spent standing still or not moving towards the Draco’s nest means more seconds in which Evelyn has to fight the Draco. The longer he spent not finishing his task increased the probability of Evelyn dying by the Draco’s claws or teeth.
Looking at the super reptiles surrounding him, Michael immediately charges at the one in front of him.
The advancing super reptiles suddenly stopped due to Michael’s charge. They did not expect their “prey” to run toward them.
Michael hefts his steel spear, an advanced weapon that elevated humanity from a bunch of cavemen to a warfaring species. And unlike the primitive stone spear, Michael was confident that his current weapon wouldn’t break.
Then he throws the spear.
The steel spear flies through the air with great speed. Its target sees it but its large body prevents it from dodging. It roars in pain when the spear lodges itself deep in the super reptile’s shoulder.
The impaled super reptile shakes its body in a desperate attempt to remove the weapon but the spear stays. It sees Michael and its eyes squint in fear when the human closes the gap between them.
The super reptile moved forward to bite Michael but Bob was faster. Bob raises his arm and throws a rock at the super reptile’s eyes. It flinched from the rock and was temporarily blinded. It loses sight of Michael.
Michael takes advantage of Bob’s help and leaps upward, landing on the super reptile’s back. He grabs the tough handle of the Draco slayer then he wrenches it forward.
Blood splatters all over Michael as the super reptile’s shoulder is almost fully ripped apart from the body. Bone protrudes from its shoulder. The super reptile releases a pained and pitiful roar.
Michael ignored it.
Tightly gripping the spear, Michael makes use of the leverage and jumps up. He uses his weight and fully pushes the spear in, piercing the super reptile’s body, entering through its wide-open shoulder, and exiting through its chest. Michael immediately wrenches the spear backward which causes the super reptile’s limb to limp to the side, unable to be used anymore.
The impaled super reptile pathetically calls its family for help. The other super reptiles angrily charge forward to tear Michael limb from limb.
Still, on top of the mangled super reptile, Michael counts the super reptiles charging towards him.
One.
Michael leaps upward when a super reptile tries to bite his legs.
Two.
Michael lands on the super reptile’s head that tried to bite him. Drawing his steel dagger, he stabs it in the eyes, immediately piercing its tough protective layer. It screams as Michael wrenches the dagger forward. Unlike before when he used a stone dagger, Michael didn’t feel any resistance as he carved the super reptile’s head.
Three.
Michael lets go of the steel dagger as he dodges backward when another super reptile almost bites his leg off.
Four.
Michael barely dodges when a super reptile behind him almost claws his back.
A total of five.
Landing a few feet away from the five super reptiles, Michael frowns. There were 5 super reptiles around him. Two of them were wounded but this was still risky. Against such an amount of strong creatures, Michael would run away. In addition, any of these 5 super reptiles could spontaneously evolve if he took too long to kill them.
But he couldn’t run away now. He was in the territory of the super reptiles. No matter how fast he runs, they’ll be able to track him. And even if he somehow avoids them until he reaches the Draco’s eggs, they can suddenly evolve again.
Michael takes note of the five super reptiles. The first one he attacked was limping with its right front leg. Despite that, it wanted nothing more than to rip Michael in half. Looking at the super reptile’s mangled shoulder, Michael notes that he should retrieve the spear the moment he gets a chance.
The super reptile that was stabbed in one eye was having a hard time following Michael. He notes that he also needs to recover the dagger.
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Stay in the blind spot, Michael. I need to kill that one too.
The other three were healthy but very hungry as well.
Looking at the two wounded super reptiles, Michael made his decision. He glares at the impaled super reptile.
You first.
Michael moves toward the impaled super reptile. It roars, preparing to attack Michael. The other super reptiles surround Michael as he rushes to the impaled super reptile.
But that wasn’t the target. Michael immediately turns his heel and rushes towards the half-blind super reptile. The other super reptiles crash into one another as they try to simultaneously attack Michael.
The impaled super reptile tries to attack Michael but its useless leg prevents it from moving fast.
The half-blind super reptile did not expect Michael’s sudden movement change and it desperately attacked the incoming human. Michael easily dodges the super reptile’s jaws. He then enters the super reptile’s blind spot. The super reptile started to turn but Michael stuck beside it, preventing the super reptile from seeing him.
Pulling out a backup stone dagger behind him, Michael stabs the creature’s joints. The stone dagger shatters from the force of the impact.
Doesn’t matter.
Michael quickly pulls out another and stabs the blind super reptile’s side. This time, the dagger embeds itself into the blinded super reptile’s side. It roars in pain as it feels a sharp and intrusive object rip into its insides.
Michael dodges to the side and approaches a nearby tree. He quickly throws Bob towards it, who then climbs it. Bob immediately turns around to see Michale’s sign towards him.
+Bob, support!+
Bob gives a thumbs-up as he climbs higher into the trees to look for a vantage point. Michael turns to face the super reptiles once more.
They manage to untangle themselves. All five of them were glaring at him with rage.
The wounded ones felt weak and at any other time, they would run away to escape but they drew strength from their healthier brethren. For them, as long as they had each other, they would triumph.
Michael thought otherwise.
Taking out another stone knife from his supplies, Michael puts down his fur bags, backpack, and small pouches. The super reptiles growl and hiss at him. Lowering his body, Michael takes a small pouch and attaches it to his belt.
The super reptiles roar at him as they prepare to charge forward.
Michael smiles with bared teeth.
At least, without Evelyn, I don’t have to hold back with how much blood I’m going to be drenched with.
Then he charges forward.
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It was a nameless creature because the concept of names is new in Teremarae.
Fortunately, the two humans on the planet had the ability to speak and gave this creature’s species a name
The berserker ape.
Despite its species name, the dying berserker ape wanted to be recognized as someone special. In his tribe, this specific berserker ape is considered to be the strongest. He is stronger than all of the other adults. He was smarter too. While his tribe used crude tools, he had a better grasp when it came to manipulating the tools they had, a sign of great wisdom and intelligence. Lastly, he was the best combatant. Considering all of these factors, the berserker ape challenged the monarch of the forest.
The nameless berserker ape believed that he was strong enough to defeat the self-proclaimed king of the forest.
He was wrong.
The Draco wasn’t a king or any type of monarch. A king could be toppled, murdered, assassinated, or removed from power but the Draco was neither. According to the stories of its mutilated tribe members, the Draco was a creature of unparalleled strength. Its body was made of pure muscle and strength. Its claws could destroy anything and its scales could defend against anything. Despite all of the warnings, the nameless berserker ape wanted to be special so it challenged the Draco. It firmly believed that he was different and special.
Once the nameless berserker ape starts fighting the Draco, it quickly realizes one important thing. The Draco wasn’t a king, it was a god.
Facing the consequences of this realization, the nameless berserker ape was on the floor clutching its caved-in chest. He was bleeding out. Despite attacking first and being supported by an unknown entity, the berserker ape pathetically lost to the god of the forest.
If it died here, the nameless berserker ape would amount to nothing. All of its achievements and abilities were nothing compared to the god of the forest.
Now, the Draco was leaving it to die. It didn’t even deign to finish the nameless berserker off, something that was considered to be the greatest form of insult in the berserker ape’s tribe.
It weakly turned its head to look at the Draco’s receding body.
It hated this. It hated its weakness.
In its last moments, the berserker ape at least wanted to see its benefactor.
Then it does.
Standing up, Evelyn aims her bow at the Draco. The Draco ignores the incoming arrows with glee. The Draco was excited because it was aware of Michael, the only other creature that it considers a true threat. Now, the Draco saw Evelyn, a creature that was very similar to Michael.
The ape sees Evelyn.
It saw a small bipedal creature that had some type of fur on the top of its head. It was holding a tool that it wasn’t familiar with. Using this, the small bipedal creature released sharp objects toward the Draco.
At the very least, the nameless berserker ape was thankful that it saw Evelyn. Due to her help, it was able to stand up to the Draco even if it was for a short moment.
The nameless berserker ape felt its body become weaker and weaker. Warmth started to leave its body and the cold touch of death slowly took over. Its vision was getting darker and it could no longer hear the Draco’s footsteps. Then finally its heart stops.
The nameless berserker died in a random spot in a random forest clearing with no significance with no great immortalizing achievement under its name. It died pathetically and felt immense regret.
Its last memory was the bipedal creature that continued attacking the Draco.
Then everything was black.
But suddenly, a thought seemingly resurfaced from all of the blackness that death created. The berserker ape saw the bipedal creature again. The bipedal creature suddenly became its focus and for a moment, the berserker’s ape started beating again.
Unknown to the berserker ape, the animals of Teremarae evolved at an unbelievable rate when it was in contact with humans. Seeing Evelyn allowed this unknown phenomenon to activate its evolution just at its final moments.
But the berserker ape didn’t understand this. It thought that the bipedal creature had the ability to resurrect or bring back what was dead. It thought to itself that only something like a god could do that.
The nameless berserker ape then twitches. Its heart starts to heal as the phenomenon of spontaneous evolution starts to take effect.
Then its caved chest reforms itself and closes, leaving newly formed tissue in the shape and image of a scar. Its chest had the shape of a permanently branded claw mark on it.
The berserker ape starts to feel immense strength flow in its veins. Slowly, it was becoming more awake and conscious. And it remembered the anger which was extinguished by death.
It started to tremble then it slowly got up.
Then it let loose an ear-shattering roar.
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Michael stopped mid-charge when he heard the roar of the berserker ape.
The other super reptiles temporarily cower.
Michael even sees Bob cover his ears.
Oh no…
Michael recognized that effect that came from a roar.
It meant that another superspecies appeared.