Chapter 11

Rob’s heart pounded in his chest. He breathed deeply in and out.

The battle was over. The hunt was finished.

It had been as satisfying as he had hoped and he was already looking forward to his next fight.

He looked over the system prompts from the battle once more.

It was interesting that his first kill had gotten the most amount of system credits, despite the fact that his first kill had been a level 4 Jungle Lizard, rather than a level 5.

There must be other qualifiers other than level to how much system credits you could earn. Rob wondered if because it had been a strategic and devastating stealth attack whether that had added an extra bonus to the system credits he earned from the kill.

Works for me, he grinned.

Once his heart rate steadied and he checked with his Perception that there weren’t any more nearby hostile enemies, he got to work on post-battle clean up.

He looted the five dead Jungle Lizard corpses, grinning like a mad man as he gained loads of extra lizard hides, meat, and bones, not to mention the odd lizard tooth.

There were three toxic sacs across the five lizards, and so Rob quickly found some more bamboo and mud to make containers to carry the poison safely.

His satchel was definitely overloaded at this point. He would need to craft a bigger bag, and thankfully, he had the materials to do so.

He was debating heading back closer to the beach, when a horrible feeling overtook him.

A cold and awful sensation filled his body.

It took Rob a moment to understand what he was feeling because it was probably the most intense version of the sensation he’d ever felt before.

He was feeling pure and raw fear.

It was his Perception stat. He was picking something up in the distance.

Something significantly more powerful than him.

He quickly retreated back to the bushes where he’d been hiding.

Rob heard the powerful creature before he saw it.

Its steps were quick and heavy. Its breath was hot and wide. The creature was definitely big.

From the shadows, Rob could make out the silhouette of a massive creature emerging in the clearing nearby.

Rob held his breath, and fought against the overwhelming feeling that the sheer presence of the massive creature instilled inside of him.

Emerging from the other end of the clearing was a massive, heavily armored lizard-like beast. It was many multiples bigger than the Jungle Lizards Rob had been fighting.

The creature’s body was covered in thick, overlapping scales of green and gold, giving it a natural camouflage that blended in with the jungle. Along its spine ran a jagged row of spikes and horns, jutting out in irregular and intimidating patterns.

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Rob remained frozen still in his hiding spot. He triggered Identify on the massive beast a few meters away from him.

Holy crap.

The Jungle Lizard was at a high enough level that his Identify skill wasn’t working. Rob wondered with awe at how big their level discrepancy might be.

The creature slowly moved its head across the clearing, taking it in.

The creature’s head was broad and powerful, with a ridged brow and a single large horn rising from its snout–almost like a rhinoceros. The creature’s slanted hostile eyes glowed with a fierce amber, radiating a predatory intelligence.

Rob considered whether it was safer to make a break for it or to stay perfectly still.

The Jungle Lizard Queen’s head quickly swerved.