Michael slowly sneaked into the Draco’s nest. It was surprisingly empty.
Hmmm… weird.
Michael turns to his small companion and looks upward. Bob follows Michael’s line of sight. The ceiling of the cave had many large unnatural holes.
The holes had a foreboding feeling and Michael felt his skin crawl.
The Draco doesn’t need to crawl on the ceiling… it just needs to fly. What made those hole-
Then Michael’s senses screamed murder. Dodging backward, Michael barely avoids the jaws of an exceptionally large super reptile.
Michael moves away and immediately grabs Bob. With a quick flick of his arm, he throws Bob upward to one of the many rock outcrops. He then pulls out his spear as the large super reptile charges toward him. It looked rabid and immensely angry.
The creature quickly closes the gap. Michael stabs forward but his lack of momentum causes the spear to bounce off the monster’s scales. The beast roars and quickly bats away the metal spear.
Michael feels an immense amount of force flow through his right arm as he struggles to hold onto his spear. The reptile swings its claw and Michael backs his head away, only to realize that the creature targeted his spear.
What?!
Unprepared for the super reptile’s tactical attack, Michael feels the spear fly off of his hands. Then the super reptile immediately snaps its jaw toward Michael’s shoulder. The superhuman immediately drops down on the floor, narrowly dodging a possibly lethal bite.
In the process of falling down, Michael unsheathes his steel dagger and stabs upward. The steel dagger breaks the super reptile’s skin but Michael quickly realizes that the ultra reptile’s flesh was tougher than the common super reptile's. His attack leaves only a superficial wound.
He immediately rolls to the right as the beast leans down to chomp on him.
Tsk.
Like all the creatures in Teremarae, they ignored common sense and quickly moved despite their massive size.
He stops rolling as the ultra reptile struck an area where he was supposed to roll to. Looking up, Michael was face to face with the ultra reptile’s large maw. It roars at him and lunges downward. Michael quickly moves downward, avoiding the creature’s maw.
Reaching the ultra reptile’s hindlimbs, he uses the momentum to stand up. Without looking back, Michael runs away from the ultra reptile only to duck, avoiding a lethal bite to the head.
He continues to run with the ultra reptile hot on his trail. He looks around and sees the spear on the floor. He quickly changes his direction and moves toward the spear.
The ultra reptile was fast for its size and it was gaining on Michael.
As he was about to reach the spear, Michael hears the sound of jaw opening, accompanied by a hiss. He had to dodge away as the ultra reptile almost bit his back. He frowns as he couldn’t get the spear again. The ultra reptile doesn’t realize that it is currently on top of the spear.
Michael needed the spear if he wanted to kill this evolved super reptile.
So close.
Michael bends his knees, ready to rush toward the spear. The ultra reptile lowers its body as well, preparing to put strength into its legs. While Michael put strength into his legs, he made sure to signal Bob as well.
Then he dashes forward.
The ultra reptile hisses and charges forward, opening its maw.
The two evolved creatures were about to get closer but Michael didn’t bother to move away or dodge. He saw the ultra reptile’s maw become larger and more up-close but he wasn’t afraid. His eyes manage to catch the silhouette of his ally and he rushes onward, fully trusting in Bob.
The ultra reptile was close and it imagined crushing Michael’s body in its jaws. As it was about to close its mouth and release an unbelievable amount of crush force, the ultra reptile feels an object enter its mouth. The object shatters, releasing a putrid and rotten liquid that quickly permeates the ultra reptile’s mouth. The beast gags and retches as the vile liquid seeps into every nook and cranny of its mouth.
It lost its momentum and its focus quickly diverts from Michael to the poison in its mouth. Then it feels a sharp object pierce its shoulder.
Without any warning or delay, the sharp object twists to the side, ripping apart a large chunk of flesh.
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Ximi blacked out the moment his body struck the tree. Opening his eyes, he sees the impossibly powerful Draco threateningly spread its wings in front of Evelyn. It clearly considered her a threat.
Sitting up, Ximi felt weak. He wasn’t mortally wounded and he was still able to fight but Ximi no longer wanted to fight the Draco. Despite his combined efforts with Evelyn, the Draco still looked healthy. It truly felt like Ximi was fighting an unstoppable monster.
He contemplated retreating. After all, he’s already evolved to the point that he could rule his tribe without contest. And if any of his tribe members questioned his honor, he could just kill them.
Looking at the Draco, Ximi was overwhelmed with the desire to run.
The only thing that stopped him from sprinting away was Evelyn. He saw the much smaller creature standing her ground in front of the immensely powerful Draco. While he couldn’t read her facial expressions, he knew that she was determined to finish this fight one way or another.
This caused him a large amount of shame.
While Ximi was thinking about running away, the Draco glares at Evelyn with its remaining eye. It felt angry but most importantly, it felt helpless. This feeling brings up an important but hated memory.
The Draco remembers its first evolution. It almost died from the assault of a group of newly evolved beasts. It managed to survive and kill its enemies but despite that, it somehow knew that those creatures weren’t the reason it was forced to evolve.
It was something else.
Its primitive thoughts suddenly go to one of its greatest enemies, Michael. The Draco considered Evelyn to be a threat but even then, it has fought Michael multiple times and thinks that he is the most dangerous threat to its rule. Despite having no evidence, the Draco knew that Michael was somehow connected to its powerful evolution.
Looking at its current enemy, the Draco had an evil thought. Would she be able to nurture another evolution within it?
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It smiled, revealing rows of sharp teeth. It wanted to evolve again.
It roars and charges forward. Evelyn quickly runs to her enemy’s blind spot. The Draco turns but it was slower and Evelyn quickly dodges its charge.
Staying in the Draco’s blind spot, Evelyn continues to move around the Draco’s body. Near the Draco, Evelyn couldn’t hit it with arrows. At this range, they would just harmlessly bounce off the Draco’s scales.
I need to make space.
Going to the farthest part of the Draco’s blindspot, Evelyn then immediately runs away from the Draco, causing it to turn towards her. The Draco finally sees Evelyn but she manages to create a gap between them.
The Draco roars as it chases her. Its heavy footfalls shake the earth which causes the nearby animals to run away in fear.
Evelyn was fast but the Draco was faster so she used the surrounding trees and foliage to prevent the monstrous beast from following her through a straight line.
But Evelyn clearly did something to anger the Draco. Using its brute strength, the Draco plowed through the greenery, ignoring the bruises and damage it was taking from its charge.
When it hit a tree it couldn’t push aside, it chomped on its trunk and ripped it apart. Seeing that, Evelyn’s mind screamed at her.
FUCKKKKK!!!!
Evelyn dodges the incoming trunk that the Draco threw at her. Looking back, Evelyn saw that the Draco was grabbing objects to throw at her.
She started panicking.
Michael told her that evolution was a very fickle thing. It didn’t always manifest as a physical change and personally, Michael found that mental evolutions were the most terrifying type. After all, if an animal mentally evolved enough, it would eventually start using tools.
The Draco grabs a large rock and throws it toward Evelyn, albeit inaccurately. Despite missing, Evelyn sees the rock pulverize the tree it struck. She couldn’t risk being hit by one of those.
Evelyn continued to run. There was no use in letting her panic confuse her. After all, Michael and she already knew that in their attempt to kill the Draco, it would evolve. They just needed to kill it before it killed them.
She just needed to follow through with their plan.
As she ran through the forest, Evelyn saw the telltale signs of their death zone, a large area full of lethal traps.
The first sign she saw was an almost invisible tautly pulled string.
Familiar with the trap, Evelyn jumps over the string.
The Draco rushes onward, unaware of Evelyn’s malicious intentions. Its forelimbs trip the string, activating the trap. Before it could realize what it did, a giant log falls from a tree. Too large to quickly move away, the Draco roars in pain as the heavy log lands on its back.
Evelyn immediately follows up by notching two steel arrows. She quickly lets them go and they fly through the air, piercing the Draco’s body. Its roar was cut short as it hisses in pain. It shrugs off the log off of its body then it charges forward again.
The huntress smiles.
Come here you goddamn lizard!
The Draco shakes its head, a bit dizzy from the log. It looks for Evelyn and finds her a few meters away. She smiles at the Draco causing it to grimace in anger.
Evelyn ignores the Draco’s murderous expression and runs forward. She sees the next trap which relieves some of her fear.
Looking back, Evelyn notices that the Draco was being careful. It was still charging but its eyes quickly darted around while it carefully put its claws on the floor.
It evolved again?
Evelyn started to worry about how quickly the Draco was evolving, albeit mentally.
Doesn’t matter though.
Due to the Draco taking its time by being careful, Evelyn was able to use one of the traps. Aiming with her bow, she targets an almost imperceptible strand of rope to the far right of the Draco. She lets the arrow loose cutting the thin rope which causes a wooden board on top of the trees to swing towards the Draco.
The wooden board was tipped with dozens of sharp wooden spikes.
It strikes the Draco’s body and Evelyn watches as the wooden spikes splinter against the Draco’s unbelievably tough scales.
It’s enough!
But the wounds created by the arrows were able to create openings that the wooden spikes widened. The Draco roars in pain as its wounds were exacerbated by the excess force. It was starting to see red but it knew that it couldn’t underestimate Evelyn. It needed a clear head. It roared again to focus.
For a moment, the Draco manages to clear its head but a flying arrow pierces its neck, immediately reinvigorating its rage.
It sees Evelyn in the distance, waiting for its next move.
This action angers the Draco even more.
Grabbing the ruined board with spikes, the Draco lifts it with its unparalleled strength.
Evelyn’s face goes pale. Then the Draco throws the spike board.
FUCK FUCK FUCK!
The spike board flies toward her with blinding speed. She barely dodges to the side as the spike board shatters on impact.
Evelyn hisses in pain as one of the spikes managed to pierce her defenses. She quickly pulls the spike out of her body. Fortunately, it didn’t go too deep.
Fucking hell! This thing is so goddamn strong…
Seeing the Draco approach, Evelyn contemplated using the active power of her gift but she knew that it wasn’t time. It didn’t help that she’d feel exhausted to the point of being knocked unconscious when she uses it.
Instead, she curses the Draco again. Standing up, she ignores her wounded leg. Anger and annoyance start to build up within Evelyn.
She glares at the Draco who seems to take pleasure in her pain. Gritting her teeth, Evelyn promises that she would do her best to kill the Draco.
Come here you goddamn lizard! I’ll kill you before you have a chance of seeing Michael!
She notches another arrow which resumes their fight.
The Draco roars and charges again.
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The ultra-reptile backed away from Michael.
It looked at Michael with fear. Earlier, it considered Michael its prey but now, it knew it was wrong. Michael was not its prey, it was her hunter.
Michael was tall by human standards but when faced with the ultra reptile or the Draco, he was small. But right now, the ultra reptile feels that Michael was large.
Holding the reinforced steel spear in his hand with a sharp metal dagger on the other, Michael exuded a terrifying aura. His fur clothing reinforced with scales was a testament to his skill. The way he moved showed his confidence in murdering his prey.
All of these traits combined made Michael the perfect hunter.
Seeing that the ultra reptile backed away, Michael readied another stance.
Their original plan was to destroy the Draco’s eggs and kill the Draco itself but Michael knew that another objective was added. He needed to take the ultra reptile down now because it was also an evolved creature.
Evolved creatures were dangerous but something Michael noticed is that once a creature has evolved once or twice, they’re more prone to evolve than creatures that haven’t evolved once.
The ultra reptile wasn’t as strong as the Draco but it was still dangerous. It was large and quick. It also appeared to be compatible with regular super reptiles.
Michael thought of how dangerous the Draco was.
And this one could evolve even more.
Michael took one step forward but the ultra reptile took a step back. He frowns.
What a pain…
The ultra reptile was larger than the average super reptile but its large size belied its quick speed. Like all the evolved creatures in Teremarae, the ultra reptile’s abilities were no longer in the realm of common sense and Michael was not sure he would be able to catch up if it ran away in full speed. In addition, if he did chase it, he would have to delay destroying the Draco’s eggs.
Looking around him, Michael noticed that the ultra reptile was closer to the cave entrance than he was. If he wasn’t careful, it would escape to the forest where many other super reptiles lived.
Michael tightened his grip on his spear. He needed to kill the ultra reptile.
Moving closer, Michael hears the ultra reptile hiss at him in a poor attempt to scare him.
He didn’t react. After all, he wasn’t afraid of the ultra-reptile. He takes another step which causes the monster to flinch.
With each step forward, Michael seemed to become larger in the ultra reptile’s eyes. His silhouette seemed to grow, terrifying the animalistic ultra-reptile.
It took a step backward but it stopped. Looking past Michael’s body, it saw its nest. Its eggs were in the process of hatching. Leaving now would guarantee its offspring’s doom.
The ultra reptile needed to protect its nest, at least until its mate came back. Knowing it would doom her children, the ultra reptile resolves itself.
It rears its head upward. Michael felt a trickle of fear. Then the ultra reptile releases an ear-shattering roar.
That trickle of fear that Michael felt suddenly turned to a deluge of terror.
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Evelyn released an arrow that pierced the charging Draco. Ignoring the pain, the Draco charges forward and delivers a lethal blow.
Moving as quickly as she can, Evelyn dodges the attack by rolling toward the Draco’s blindside. She feels a sharp pain as the Draco’s claw managed to snag her shoulder.
Entering the Draco’s blindside, Evelyn holds the bow in one hand while she swings her steel dagger with all of her strength, grazing the Draco’s side. It barely feels the pain, if any, and responds by swinging its large claws, rending tree and stone.
Evelyn expected the Draco to miss but this time, it cleanly struck her chest by predicting where she would go. Her hand-sewn clothes were torn asunder, revealing her skin. She screams in pain as the Draco’s strength pierces her defenses.
“Fucker!”
She quickly creates space between them by making use of the surrounding forest. While running toward a trap, Evelyn assesses the damage. There weren’t any ripped chunks of flesh but there were cuts.
Despite being in pain, Evelyn heaved a sigh of relief. If it was Michael who fought the Draco and he took a direct hit to the chest, his ribcage would be gone in one hit.
But he’d easily dodge the attacks that would hit me. Tsk… I haven’t evolved to the next level yet… If only I was on the same level as Michael, I would fare better against this thing.
Looking at the Draco, Evelyn frowns. It sees her bloody chest and wounded shoulder and it releases an insulting roar.
Stupid lizard.
Evelyn lowered her stance. She needed to move faster if she wanted to save her clothing.
The Draco lowered its stance as well. It was preparing to pounce.
Evelyn noticed that there were many trees surrounding her. If the Draco pounced, it could get blocked but Evelyn knew better than to underestimate the Draco.
She was a few feet away from the nearest trap. She just needed to lure the Draco into it. Fortunately, the Draco was a few feet away from her as well. It stopped chasing her after it managed to wound her twice. It reveled in its viciousness.
With such a short distance between the two of them, Evelyn stows away her bow for a bit. Fortunately, it was a tough weapon, or else it would be destroyed if she was thrown around by the Draco.
She tightly gripped the dagger in her hand. Its metal blade gleamed in the sunlight.
The Draco sunk its claws into the ground. Its teeth were just as dangerous as steel, if not more.
They were both ready to clash again. Metal and claws would strike each other again and Evelyn wasn’t sure if she would come out on top.
Then they heard the desperate roar of a mother.