I approached the spot where I’d hatched, not too far away from the river, but a significant enough distance away from the monster on the other side that I felt safe.
Sailboat, I will one day be stronger than you!
Yep. That was his name now. At least, until I came up with a better one, because I wasn’t great with names.
The egg lay shattered upon a fold of massive leaves, the blue and green shell speckled with dots. But I hadn’t come back to the egg to crawl into it anymore. I’d returned to gain experience.
My eyes flicked over the remains as I strained my ears for buzzing. When I moved closer to the egg and looked inside, I could see a small horde of the giant mosquitoes buzzing around inside.
They were drinking from the leftover yolk.
My foot came up, and then it smashed down.
Squish.
Several mosquito corpses lay stuck to my foot, oozing green liquid. I hastily rubbed it off on the moss coating the tree next to me. Just the root itself was bigger than my foot. And despite my title, I wasn't a tiny creature. This truly was another world…
A flood of messages filled my view.
You have developed a new skill: [Stomp Lvl 1]. Your [Stomp] skill has leveled up. It is now level 2. You have received 5 experience points for killing [Egg Sucker]. You have received 5 experience points for killing [Egg Sucker]. You have received 5 experience points for killing [Egg Sucker]. You have received 5 experience points for killing [Egg Sucker]. You have received 5 experience points for killing [Egg Sucker]. You have received 1 experience point for killing [Egg Sucker Larva]. You have received 1 experience point for killing [Egg Sucker Larva]. You have received 1 experience point for killing [Egg Sucker Larva]. You have received 1 experience point for killing [Egg Sucker Larva]. You have received 1 experience point for killing [Egg Sucker Larva]. Congratulations! You have leveled up! You are now level 2 [25/20]. Your [Health] and [Stamina] are restored.
Congratulations! You have leveled up! You are now level 3 [5/30].
I’m going to need those collapsed in the future, magic boxes. Come on.
My stomach growled, and I caught the scent of something delicious. As I sniffed around with my new and improved snout, I located the source. And man, was I disappointed.
Pro tip: When being reborn as a baby dino, and likely as any baby creature hatching from an egg, expect to find yourself unfortunately attracted to disgusting food.
In this case, that disgusting food was a hellish mix of mosquito gut and my own egg yolk.
Well, I was hungry, so I dipped my tongue into the mixture.
And then I found out that it didn’t just smell good. No, I actually liked it!
In a matter of moments, that gooey goodness was gone, and I had consumed every remnant of the bugs I’d killed. Now the egg was nothing more than an empty bowl.
Experimentally, I took a bite. Why not? Already I found delicious satiation in things I never would’ve. Plus, egg shell was the least disgusting thing on my platter today.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
It was okay. Super crunchy. Not too flavorful. Kind of bland. What did you expect from an egg shell?
I heard a crash in the distance, and a few heavy footfalls coming nearby, so I quickly dove for cover under the nearby bushes.
Did I mention that basically all plant life in this new world was massive? Well, so were the bushes. A fully grown human probably could’ve had a comfortable sleeping space inside these bushes.
The stomping grew closer, and as I peered out of the bushes, I saw one of those dinosaurs with the super long necks chewing leaves from the trees.
Ah, a plant-eater.
I sighed in relief, and climbed out of the bush. As much as I liked it, this place felt much too dangerous to stay in, so it was time I started walking.
I chose a direction, away from Sailboat, and started walking. There were a few times I had to climb up hills, using the copious trees to pull myself up the steeper inclines.
Have you ever wondered how hard it was to hike through a jungle? Maybe not, because you’ve hiked through forests, but believe me, it isn’t easy when everything is ten times larger than it used to be, and you’re also a Frail Baby Dino.
There also aren’t any man-made paths or trails for you to traverse.
And there didn’t seem to be any bear trails, either. I only know about those from gaming experience.
It seemed like the dinos probably didn’t have a highway of any kind to travel swiftly and easily. I guess it made sense, because most of them wouldn’t have issues with their massive muscular legs.
Though I didn’t encounter too many saurs while I walked. I did see, once I was atop the tall hill, that down near the river, some more aggressive fights were breaking out between all kinds of dinosaurs.
I guess it was dinnertime or something.
After walking for about twenty minutes, and occasionally chasing some wildlife around playfully, and enjoying my new body, I broke through the trees.
A massive empty expanse greeted me, dotted with lakes and vegetation of all kinds. Massive dinosaurs flew through the skies, and others did battle on land. I didn’t see another of the Sailboat kind, thankfully, but a creature that seemed like a stubbier Tyrannosaurus Rex tore across the plains.
I actually had yet to find out what kind of dinosaur I was.
Status, please. I thought.
Frail Baby Dino
Level: 3 [5/30] Health:
30/30
Stamina:
20/20
Skills
Bite [Lvl 1] Claw [Lvl 1] Flee [Lvl 2] Stomp
[Lvl 2]
Instincts
Fight or Flight [Lvl 2] Freeze
[Lvl 2] Fearful Flight [Lvl 2]
Nothing revealing what type of dinosaur I was. And even though I was level three already, I was still just a Frail Baby Dino. How disappointing.
Didn’t one of the earlier messages say something about evolution, though? Worth a shot.
Evolve!
Sorry, you cannot evolve until you reach the [Frail Baby Dino] maximum level: 5.
Oh, at least I’m close.
I decided not to try my luck in the massive empty expanse, where dinos did battle without care, and instead headed back into the jungle forest. It was probably safer where I had places to hide.