Chapter 44: Fight among rivals

"YOU AGAIN!?" was what Sobek wanted to scream at that moment if he had had a human voice. That day hadn't absolutly started in the best way. First he woke up and discovered that the little girl had disappeared, which was already enough to irritate him: come on, someone gave you food and protection and you ran away like that? Even though he knew it was a normal reaction from a human point of view, for his animal self it was an absolute lack of respect: since it was difficult for animals to get food, giving it to others was a very altruistic action, therefore not receiving trust in return was equivalent to a great lack of respect. He had been tempted to just leave, but that shred of humanity that he still had in the end prevailed and so he began to follow the olfactory traces left by the girl, sure that she would have gotten into some trouble. And when he finally found her, not only she was (obviously) in serious danger, but the source of that danger was the same carcharodontosaurus that had chased him for days! Sobek didn't know how the theropod had managed to cross the river or how it had tracked him down; what was certain was that once again it had come to bother him! "Who does this idiot think it is, my rival or something?" he thought furiously as he looked the carcharodontosaurus in the eyes. As if he wanted to answer him, the carcharodontosaurus let out a breath with its teeth and its lips seemed to curl as if it were smiling maliciously. "Looks like you really are someone who bear the grudge, huh?" Sobek thought. "Okay, asshole. You and I don't like each other, so we might as well resolve the issue right now. Do you want to be beaten? Then come here!" Under normal circumstances he would never have dared to fight a carcharodontosaurus, since it was still a very dangerous opponent for him, but it was now clear that the predator would never have left him alone again. Sobek had no intention of being hunted for all his life, also because he would soon have had to evolve again and would not have slept soundly knowing that the carcharodontosaurus could have tracked him down and killed him while he was asleep due to evolution. So it was better to finish it right away. And then, even if he wanted to escape, the river was now too far away. Sobek still wasn't able to run fast enough to outrun a carcharodontosaurus: despite their size, theropods were designed to run very fast. And then Sobek wasn't certainly without weapons: with [Deadly claws] at level 4/5, he was already capable of inflicting a mortal wound with one blow. Furthermore, the nature of the carcharodontosaurus itself came to its aid: it lived alone as opposed to tyrannosaurids or megalosaurids, so Sobek didn't take the risk of someone attacking him from behind. The two dinosaurs squared off intensely and roared at each other. They began to walk in circles, looking at each other as if they were two hungry sharks. Menacing growls continually emerged from their throats as they studied each other to find a weak point. Even though it was the one who had sought the fight, the carcharodontosaurus didn't seem willing to attack first. Even though it had a more powerful bite and was much more agile, Sobek still had size and strength on his side. That was a very risky fight for both of them. Eventually Sobek chose to take the initiative and advanced. If the threats didn't work, then they might fight as well! He raised his claws and waved them at the carcharodontosaurus, trying to hit it. But the carcharodontosaurus was certainly not a vegetarian. It absolutly had no intention of letting the claws as sharp as daggers hit it. Quickly moving its body and neck it managed to dodge the opponent's blows and then jumped to the side, biting the base of Sobek's head. Sobek growled; the teeth of the carcharodontosaurus pierced his skin as if they were sharp knives. As if that weren't enough, the theropod forced its hind legs and pushed him against a tree. The trunk broke off with a loud crash and Sobek fell to the ground with a thunderous thud. Several birds in the treetops screeched in terror and took off quickly; many small creatures, such as rats and lizards, quickly fled to their lairs, frightened by the battle between the two superpredators. Only a madman would have remained in the midst of the fight of two such large animals. Sobek tried to get up by pivoting with all four legs, but the carcharodontosaurus was on him again and bit him again, this time aiming for the dorsal sail. The vertebrae snapped neatly under the pressure of the predator's bite. Sobek roared in pain, but also for anger: he wasn't willing to continue to suffer the blows of his opponent. With a jump he got to his feet and threw a head at the carcharodontosaurus, so hard that the theropod was thrown back at least two meters, but by pivoting with its legs it managed to remain standing. But Sobek didn't wait any longer and attacked, this time more aggressively than before. The carcharodontosaurus backed several paces, trying to keep away from him, but Sobek kept running towards it. This time the carcharodontosaurus was visibly frightened: after all, Sobek was still a dinosaur weighing more than ten tons, and if it came at it at that speed he would have sent it to the ground and break half of its ribs at least. Indeed that was Sobek's plan, but the carcharodontosaurus was more adept at battles. For a moment it slowed down, giving him the illusion of gaining ground, but at the last it moved to the side and Sobek missed it; taking advantage of that moment, the carcharodontosaurus jumped on him again and bit his dorsal sail again. This time, however, the carcharodontosaurus had exposed itself a little too much: Sobek wasn't lying on the ground as before and could still use his claws. And in fact the spinosaurus didn't hesitate to throw a paw on the opponent's side. The carcharodontosaurus noticed it at the last and let go of its grip quickly moving away, but the tip of Sobek's claws hit it anyway, opening three conspicuous bleeding wounds on its back. Sobek growled satisfied to see the blood gush copiously from the animal's body. He knew his back sail was probably no better, but he didn't care: just having hurt the carcharodontosaurus was a source of satisfaction for him. He had finally managed to do some serious damage to it. The carcharodontosaurus trudged and gasped, trying to ignore the pain of its injuries. With a roar it launched himself at Sobek again, aiming directly at the jugular. But this time the carcharodontosaurus had been too hasty. Just as it was about to hit him in the neck, Sobek raised his claws and threw a blow in its left side, and this time he hit the target. The impact was so strong that the carcharodontosaurus was thrown away and tumbled to the ground with a thud. Under the power of [Deadly claws] its ribs had broken as if they were made of butter, and judging by the shape that the animal's torso had taken, one of them had probably also pierced a lung. The carcharodontosaurus appeared to have been hit by a hydraulic press. The dinosaur scrambled to its feet spitting blood from its mouth. It was a miracle that it could stand on its legs. The carcharodontosaurus remained motionless for a moment panting, then turned around and limped off. Sobek urged his retreat with a roar. Normally he would have fought until the enemy was dead, because he wanted skill points; but this time he too was hurt and tired. He didn't want to take any further risks: he could barely stand up from his breathlessness. His back and neck hurt terribly. He therefore preferred to end the battle there: he didn't want to risk that the carcharodontosaurus, cornered, started to fight even more violently and ended up inflicting more wounds on him. Under normal conditions the injuries Sobek already had would have already been fatal: the dorsal sail was broken in several places and bleeding would certainly have developed very quickly. However, Sobek was confident that [Regeneration], even though it was only at level 2/5, could heal him before it was too late. Besides, the carcharodontosaurus couldn't heal as fast as he did: Sobek could have waited to recover and look for his rival in a second time. And that time he would have had to face a wounded and weakened dinosaur, while he would be back in his full strength thanks to [Regeneration]: the victory would have been his without any doubt. But now the priority was to rest. He decided to return to a spot near the river so that he could leave if some other predator came looking for him. He was already on his way when a voice called him back: "Hey, wait!" Oh, right. That was why he had gone there.