章 5: First skill point
The hunt that day was more fruitful than Sobek expected: the river bank looked bare, but it was actually teeming with small creatures. Sobek had managed to catch two more frogs, a large millipede and a strange chameleon-like lizard with long colorful spikes on its back called longisquama.
Of course, the credit wasn't his alone. Without the help of the other spinosaurus pups he probably would have been able to catch only the millipede, another demonstration of the benefits of having a herd. To thank them Sobek had helped them catch another lizard.
He certainly hadn't done it for charity: simply he felt that his stomach was already full, so he couldn't continue eating. So he could spend some time playing with his siblings, and while he did this he would also have improved his skills as a hunter.
With all those preys he had already obtained 210 experience points (30 for each of the three frogs, 50 for the fish brought by his father, another 50 for the longisquama and 20 for the millipede). He had hoped that at least one of them would have given him some skill points, but unfortunately all his prey were classified as 'insectivores', so they didn't give him any points.
Sobek was disappointed, but he wasn't too bad. After all, his first thought at the moment was to level up at least four or five times so that he could become a decent sized predator; at that point he would have dedicated himself to hunting real carnivores.
His goal at the moment was to reach the 1,000 experience points required for the first advancement. As he digested the meal, Sobek calculated based on the position of the sun that he could have hunted once more before evening came. At this rate he could have advanced a level within a few days.
While he waited he continued to play with his siblings. At one point he opened the System and noticed a pleasant surprise: his strength and agility were increasing by a few points.
Apparently, his attributes increased as he 'trained'!
After all, the little spinosaurs improved their hunting skills and their fine motor skills just playing. In fact with physical exertion the muscles swelled, which improved their abilities. All the cubs in animal kingdom, especially the carnivores, learned while they played; with simple games of chase and fight they improved their physical abilities and their predatory skills. One day, their playful chase of small animals would have become the basis of their hunt and the fighting skills learned by playing with their siblings would have guaranteed their survival.
In just one day his strength had gone from 10 to 12 and his agility from 10 to 11. Sobek suspected that to improve his defense he would have had to get hit by something to make his skin more hard and resistant to pain, but he certainly didn't want to try: he didn't want risk to remain injured.
While he played with his siblings he discovered another interesting thing: the System was activated only at a certain distance from the prey. Sobek calculated that this distance must have been about ten meters. Even if he could see the prey first, the System notification didn't arrive.
When the sun began to set he resumed the hunt, but the preys on the river bank had begun to run out. However, fate reserved for him one last dessert: while he was walking on the river's beach searching other frogs or lizards he found a small snake about twenty centimeters long. Initially he was frightened, fearing it was a viper, but then he noticed that it had an oval head and not the triangular one typical of the vipers. The System notification confirmed his assumptions.
[Prey identified: Natrix helvetica, natricidae. Experience: 120 points]
'Natrix helvetica' was the scientific name of the water snake, or collared snake; it was a harmless snake with no venom, but it was still a dangerous predator: it could wrap itself around its preys and crush them. This combined with its size meant that it could provide more experience points than all the other preys!
Not only that, but it was also a carnivorous animal: it could provide skill points!
Sobek would not have risked approaching the snake if he had been alone: he was bigger than it, but if the reptile had tightened around his neck it would have easily suffocated him. However, he wasn't alone at all!
During the day he had learned to coordinate with his brothers and sisters; at a sign from him, all of them distributed themselves around the snake and enclosed it in an impassable wall. The snake panicked and began to flail from side to side, but it couldn't look in all directions at the same time. Also, so many spinosaurs beating the ground with their paws disoriented it even further, because it felt the vibrations of the ground as if they were an earthquake. Sobek waited for the snake to show him its blind spot, then he attacked lightly: he blocked its body with his claws and bit it in the neck with all the strength he had. The snake moved its tail which tightened around its paws, but it was all in vain: very quickly it was choke to death.
Sobek breathed a sigh of relief. Even if it had only used its tail, the snake still had a vigorous strength: it was no coincidence that it was a constrictor, even if a small one. If he hadn't pinned its body and wrapped itself around his neck, Sobek would probably have been the one to suffocate.
However, there was no point in made negative thoughts. He happily feasted on his new trophy which quickly vanished in his stomach.
Thanks to the snake, his experience points rose to 330!
However, this time Sobek was more interested in something else. Opening the System's interface, he found out that he had indeed received 0.3 skill points!
He wasn't surprised by the low number: if apex predators like tyrannosaurus or megalodon only provided 10 skill points, then it was impossible for a tiny water snake to give him more. It was still a great milestone for him: it was his first skill points!
Even if they weren't many, if he had been able to find other small carnivorous animals like that water snake he could have easily reached the goal of 5 skill points that he needed to improve at least one of his skills. Even if he was able to hunt only predators capable of giving him 0.3 skill points each time, if he was able to catch at least one of them for day he would have been able to upgrade a skill in a little more than two weeks.
When he returned to the nest he feel more satisfied. Under the protection of his huge parents he could sleep quietly, so he lay down in the center of the nest and fell asleep. Before closing his eyes, however, he felt several warm bodies pile up beside him: his brothers and sisters were all positioning themselves close together, creating something similar to a living blanket. Sobek couldn't hold back himself to smile: he was sure that from the outside that scene was extremely tender.
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