I stared, completely still, into the piercing yellow eyes of the cat-monster across the river. There was no way he’d noticed me so far away, so the only explanation was that he’d sensed my observation.

I mentally kicked myself.

Idiot! You just went over this! No observing over-threatening creatures!

I hoped at least that my instinct gained plenty of experience off of that. It was the only possible consolation. Torvus stood still, staring at me, as lava dripped down out of his mouth, dripping down his long fangs, and sizzling as it touched the river.

I didn’t move a muscle. My heartbeat grew loud, and I felt as though he could hear how frightened I was. The Aspisauruses had all slowly moved into a protective formation, with their armored manes locking. They pulled their heads in, like turtles, and the only things sticking out of their massive armored wall were their sickeningly sharp horns.

Torvus didn’t care. I’m sure if he wanted to, he could’ve killed some of them before they even knew he was there. That’s what cats did, after all. They were stealth masters.

My heartbeat grew louder as I stared at Torvus.

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

Torvus vanished.

No. Wait. He hadn’t vanished. A blur crossed my vision. Somehow, a song entered my head.

Lava cats are on the move...

And then the cat was suddenly in front of me, a paw the size of my face raised to slice.

So this is how I die. With a stupid theme stuck in my head.

“Skraaaawww!”

Torvus looked to his left, claws still extended towards me. That was all the distraction I needed.

I whipped around, sprinting directly into the woods. Probably not the brightest idea ever, because jungle cats are a thing, but when you’re panicking, you aren’t thinking of the best way to get away.

The only thing running through my mind in that moment was that I needed to put as much distance between myself and that… thing as possible.

I glanced behind me to see if he was chasing me, but as Torvus looked back towards me, a snarl on his face, a feathered dinosaur tackled him, and they disappeared behind the bushes.

The deotrexaptors?

Deotrexaptor [Lvl 21] These vicious beasts form packs and hunt down monsters far stronger than themselves. They follow the strongest among them without question, but will mourn the loss of their weakest all the same.

I didn’t stick around to find out why those idiots might be so suicidal. The swarm of xaptors leapt into my vision, landing on where Torvus and the other xaptor had fallen.

Shrieks and roars called out into the woods, and chills ran up my spine as I realized how frightening this world could really be.

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Crash!

No…

Crash!

Just my luck…

Crash!

Directly in front of me, a massive scaled leg landed. I stopped, following the leg up, and up, and up. A dark sail shot proudly out of the low treeline, cresting the white body splattered with red. Sailboat had arrived.

I stumbled backwards. Caught between a river and a hard place.

A massive foot rose, falling down towards me.

I jumped to the side, rolling out of the way, as Sailboat approached the river. He roared, shaking the trees, and my confidence.

As I watched, xaptor corpses were thrown into the air, some burned, some rended to shreds, landing at the feet of the Jungle God.

I watched as the dinosaurs paused, looking downwards at the tiny corpses littering the ground before him. Torvus’ face peeked over the bushes, and his eyes gave me the impression that he was amused.

Was he… taunting the monster next to me?

The ground erupted into shrapnel as Djanak, Jungle God slammed his two forearms against it, his tail splintering trees as it whipped furiously around.

Then he charged.

As he ran, a savage cry rose from deep within his chest. Torvus leapt across the river, crouching low as he watched the monster approach.

Against my better judgement, I scaled one of the surviving trees nearby, and watched the scene unfold.

Sailboat leaped into the air, his clawed hands spread wide, flying directly towards the cat. Torvus rolled at the very last second, leaving behind a trail of hot lava. Hot lava that Sailboat landed in.

The reptile hissed, barely reacting to the burning flesh. His head shot out like a bullet, a speed I didn’t think he possessed, and his jaws snapped together.

Where the cat had been was simply empty air. The Jungle God roared as he spun, Torvus sitting behind him, casually licking his paw, and running it over the fur on his face.

The titan glared at him, standing completely still while the cat watched him.

Wham!

The cat was sent flying into a tree as the Jungle God’s tail came whipping around, slamming directly into his chest.

There was no way the cat survived a direct attack like that, right? He lay still, collapsed to the ground, many of his pelt’s needles sticking out of the tree.

But as Sailboat stomped at the cat, he vanished again.

I spotted him, atop the tree, as he launched himself out of it, directly for the reptile’s eyes. Sailboat barely managed to turn his head away, and massive claws bit deep into his neck, slicing down his flank.

A blind slap from the titan caught the cat’s hind leg. I heard a snap.

When Torvus landed, he was standing behind his opponent, but limping. His rear leg was broken.

If Sailboat kills him, maybe I can get some of the meat!

Suddenly, Torvus puffed up, the spikes all along his body rising. A red aura coursed through him, and the spikes glowed red-hot. With only three legs, he somehow managed to propel himself into the air as Sailboat turned around, twirling into a flip.

Hundreds of sizzling needles screamed towards the lizard. I couldn’t help myself, and observed the attack.

Molten Rain [Skill Lvl ???]

Your [Observant] has leveled up. It is now level 7.

The needles whistled as they shot towards Sailboat, and his eyes widened as he saw the attack. Then he opened his mouth and screamed.

A wave of energy exploded from him, the epicenter. Trees felled, and the Crontos melted into ash. Even the retreating Aspisauruses were knocked over.

The tree I sat upon shook, but I held on with all my might as the hot air whipped at my face.

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

I didn’t even manage to react to Sailboat’s attack in time to observe it. The needles continued their flight, but they had slowed significantly.

A hundred sharp embers landed against Sailboat’s skin, and he batted them away as though they were irritable bee stings.

Torvus was nowhere to be found.

Did I spawn in a high-level zone or something?