Alright. Pro tip, though: If you hear the buzzing, don’t go towards it.

And now you’re probably like “Yeah, idiot, that’s obvious”.

Sorry. I’m a curious dinosaur.

It just so happens that when a tunnel fills with buzzing, and it’s way deeper than any kind of insect buzzing I’ve ever heard, I’ve gotta see what makes that kind of noise.

Plus, for some reason, I didn’t find myself as scared of stuff as I used to be.

I don’t know. Maybe it was my Risky Business instinct.

Maybe it was the near-death experience.

Whatever it was, I was feeling ballsy AF (as fossil, for you degenerates out there).

So, into the tunnel I went, creeping up on all fours, feeling like a cat. Or maybe a ninja.

Perhaps a ninja cat.

Well I was definitely going to class into that as soon as that option appeared. That’s just too darn good to pass up.

Mrrow! Watch out! Kitty ninja coming through!

These thoughts had me chuckling as I snuck down the tunnel, the buzzing becoming louder and louder as I traveled further in. On a real note, though, cats would probably be the perfect hired assassins, because they just don’t care!

Dim light guided me towards the end of the tunnel, towards the next large room. As I passed through the gateway, I could see that I stood at the top of a stony hill. A rapid decline would bring me down to the center.

The center of hell.

The massive circular room had tunnels going in every direction from the walls, and out of those walls flew gigantic bugs. Two types of bugs dominated the arena-like room. First were the glowing bees, which illuminated the room slightly. They were each the size of a dufflebag, with three stingers on their chests and rears. Giant silver compound eyes crested their tiny heads. Somehow, these bees stayed afloat, as they flew from hole to hole, despite their size. Also, they dripped, and the glowing liquid that fell off of them sizzled as it hit the rock, leaving scars in the floors and walls.

The other bugs gave them a huge berth. Those bugs were the beetles, twice the size of the bees. With mandibles half the size of their bodies, and horns that protruded viciously from their heads, the beetles carried massive globs of some brown material.

Eww… Is that… poop?

I observed it to be sure.

Dung

Excrement from a creature.

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Honestly, what was I expecting... Then those had to be dung beetles, but they were the biggest, and only, dung beetles I had ever seen. I observed them next.

Jungle Tunneler [Lvl 5]

This giant insect gathers globs of dung to dip in the acid of the bees it is in a symbiotic relationship with. Then, it rolls them against materials to drill tunnels. Unintelligent, but viciously territorial.

Might as well check out the bees, too.

Jungle Stinger [Lvl 2]

This giant insect is capable of delivering devastating attacks of acid using its stingers, but it avoids combat. If a stinger is pulled out of the creature, it will die. It is protected by the beetles it is in a symbiotic relationship with. Unintelligent and cowardly.

Well at least the bees wouldn’t be a problem. I was sort of worried about the beetles though. What if they decided to expand their territory and found Frieda and I?

I should probably get back, warn her, and move to another tunnel. It’d be a shame to abandon the Dino Cave, but it might be necessary.

I took a last glance around the cave before deciding to leave. One of the beetles flew into a tunnel, rolling his huge boulder of poop down into it, and crawled back out, wiggling his butt in the air in a dance.

As if called by him, several bees turned and flew towards the dancing beetle.

Mating Call [Skill Lvl 3]

The creature summons nearby females of various species to its location.

Wow. That dude had some serious game. Several beetles also flew towards him as he danced, wiggling his butt around in the air for all to see. More beetles began to land in tunnels, dropping their droppings and performing the mating call. I scanned every one to make sure I could get as much experience for my observant instinct as possible.

Only a few bugs remained in the room after the players took their bug harems down the tunnels, and they flew into or out of the massive tunnel directly across from where I stood. The ones that flew out carried the dung, so that’s probably where they were getting it from.

It was time to go. I turned to leave, and stepped directly in a large pile of poop.

Ew! I said, pulling my leg free and stepping back.

Stepping back directly out into open air.

Woah!

“Graag!” I shouted in surprise, slipping and sliding down the slope, covering myself in the same dung I’d stepped in.

Right into the center of the massive chamber.

The nine or ten beetles currently flying in the room turned their raging eyes on me while the bees scattered.

Oh...poop…

This was not what I had wanted. I didn’t want to challenge the creatures on their own turf, let alone covered in the same muck they shoved their faces in.

Now that I was in the center of it, I could tell the room reeked.

Hey! If you guys are going to handle so much poo, at least use shampoo!

The beetles charged, dropping the dung and snapping their massive mandibles.

Yep. It was time to go.

I started scrambling up the slope, slipping in wet, brown goop, but managing to get to the top just before the first beetle got to me.

I guess running was never an option, huh?

I turned to fight off the horde of giant insects that wanted my blood.

This… was going to be interesting. But also absolutely terrifying.

I shook my head.

So be it.

And then I charged at the closest snapping menace.