As I feasted, I read up on the new abilities I’d obtained.
Okay, so Corpse Hatching is disgusting, as I suspected.
Guided Evolution, however… now that was an ability I could roll with. Having a small spoiler of what I was heading towards could be very helpful with maximizing my potential.
And that meant that the evolutions weren’t totally random. So I was likely correct in my assumption of the Baby Inocu being available to me because of my Observe instinct.
The other abilities were simple things that didn’t tell me much, and the names were pretty self-explanatory, although I wondered if Blend would lead me towards a chameleon path or something similar.
It was also interesting to note that my abilities could mutate at evolution. I’d lost Fight or Flight, but it didn’t bother me too much right now because I hadn’t planned to use it anyway. It just left me slightly worried about if I would lose something I grew attached to.
Well, I’d probably evolve towards something I used a lot anyway, right?
Traits were strange, though. When I observed Nocturnal, I’d gotten a simple explanation of what it did, and Guided Evolution was very detailed. However, Risky Business didn’t tell me much at all! I felt cheated.
But maybe I could cheat the system a little.
Evolve!
Heh. I’m a genius. Speaking of levels, though... where the hell is my experience?
I was starting to grow full, my stomach burbling happily. I’d eaten quite a fair amount, though, so either I’d been inside the worm for quite some time, or my body required a ton of energy to evolve. Either way, this worm gave me a ton of experience last time but no messages had yet arrived to tell me of my massive gains. I pushed another chunk of the pink meat into my mouth.
Ohhh! It tastes even better than before!
I might have noticed that the meat tasted funny the first time if I hadn’t been starving when I’d taken the first bite, but now it was so delicious I couldn’t stop eating. My arms, which had gained velocity as I continued to swallow piece after piece of the meat I ripped off the corpse, began to slow their movements. I must’ve eaten twice as much as earlier, which made sense because I was probably bigger.
Things did feel… off. And I’d only just gotten used to my other body! I sighed. I guess when you’re born as a dinosaur, these are the kinds of sacrifices you’ll have to be willing to make if you want to survive. Being constantly confused by your own body is a bug that might never be patched. A shame, really.
I burped again and shook my head as I sat in the pile of meat, which isn’t as gross as you might think-- not when you’re a hungry dinosaur. But I was full now, and there was no way I could eat any more. So it was time to leave.
Where the hell is my experience? I asked again, peering through the darkness at the meat stuck to my claws.
Eh…?
Did the little tag next to the name-- experienced-- mean that once I’d eaten that kind of food, I could no longer gain the massive amount of exp it provided?? What about the skills? Was I stuck with only the two?
No…
No! No! No!
If I’d known that, I’d have searched for more mosquitoes before eating the worm meat! I wasted so much free experience because of my dino’s level cap!
No!
I bashed my head into the side of the worm angrily.
Squish!
I guess I’ll have to level up the hard way…
But why, then, did I not gain experience from eating the mosquitoes? Were they too weak for me to get anything out of them?
My strategy for dealing with the Deotrexaptors having failed, I now crept toward the worm’s mouth, getting ready for Plan B.
That’s okay, I consoled myself. I didn’t pick Grancher, which would have been putting all my eggs in one nest. So that’s good, at least.
I kicked myself mentally. Maybe I should’ve picked Inocu. At least that dinosaur was supposed to be fast.
Peeking my head out into the night through the slimy opening at the head of the worm, I surveyed the area carefully. The moon shone brightly down from high above toward the clearing, as though it were a spotlight telling me to move. It must’ve been a few hours since I’d first jumped into the worm because darkness had only just been falling when I’d snuck up to it.
But now it was time to dip.
No xaptors… If I’m going, I’m going now.
Gathering as much meat as I could (hopefully) carry in my clawed hands, I coiled my legs, inhaling deeply and calming my nerves. Then I shot out of my temporary abode, ducking between the massive sharp teeth of the worm, running as fast as I could toward the safety of the woods.
Visit the discord I frequent here.
Which one would win? Who knows? ^~^
