Chapter 60: The strongest of the river

[Caution! You have reached the necessary amount of fame points to evolve!] "Uh? Already? Well, I should have expected that" Sobek thought as soon as he heard the notification of the System. After all, even though not too much time had passed, it had still been a while since he had finally gotten rid of the little girl. By now, a lot of people had surely been informed of what had happened, so it was no surprise that his fame points had risen enough to warrant his second evolution. Unbeknownst to him, the news was still circulating around the world. However, just as Sobek had predicted, ordinary people would have forgotten that event in a matter of months. The only ones who would have remembered it would have been biologists, zoologists and enthusiasts. since they were the ones who were really interested in it; but outside this limited circle of people, very few would have retained the memory. Even so, however, Sobek discovered that his fame points had reached 27 million! He could now start the evolution at any time, but he knew it was better to wait. In those days he had seen no sheltered place to hide as the two weeks he would have gone into hibernation passed. While it was unlikely that a large predator would come looking for trouble with him while he slept given his size, it was still a very real possibility, too real to ignore. He also wanted to maximize his abilities before evolving. He had managed to level up again, reaching a length of 23 meters and a height of 7.5 meters. He had already accumulated 12 skill points, but he hadn't spent them yet because he wanted to upgrade [Deadly claws] first. Luck had finally come to his aid. After several days of searching and stalking he had finally found what he had searched so much. The inostrancevia had tried to escape as soon as it saw him, but it was all in vain. The gorgonopsid had given him 4 skill points, for a total of 16! "At a long last!" Sobek thought as he updated [Deadly claws]. Now that he had maxed them out, they were strong enough to cut steel! Eager to try them, he hit a tree more than half a meter thick. The trunk snapped as if it were made of paper! If he hit any dinosaur, he would almost certainly have killed it instantly! Now [Deadly claws] was in accordance with its name! Of course, that didn't mean he was invincible. He still had to fear the largest carnivorous dinosaurs. Perhaps he could have risked his luck against a single tyrannosaurus, but certainly not with two or more. He didn't want to repeat the experience of feeling a predator's teeth sink into his neck. Now he just had to focus on finding a cave that could hide him until he evolved. The one where he had slept last time seemed ideal. It was very spacious and well hidden. If it hadn't been occupied by someone it would have been perfect. He just had to go up the river. It would not have taken long: his outward journey had been long, but only because he had stopped constantly to hunt. He therefore decided that on the way back he would have eaten mostly crocodiles to spare time. It would have been easy to find them and they would have given him skill points to improve [Fast eating]. He would have preferred to have that skill at most once evolution started: if he was right it was likely that the skill points needed to improve future skills would have been higher, so it was better to be able to consume prey faster. In addition, he now needed 240,000 experience points to level up and they would have increased even more in the future. He needed to eat as fast as possible in order to hunt more. He hadn't updated it before because he was more focused on his safety. [Regeneration] and [Deadly claws] were much more useful for survival. But now both skills were at their peak; Sobek felt proud of himself when he saw level 5/5 on each of them. He could then focus on improving [Fast eating]. More, he hoped he could get enough skill points to be able to upgrade a skill immediately after his second evolution, as it did after his first evolution. When he got to the river he could start immediately. A group of crocodiles rested placidly on the shore. They were pretty young crocodiles and couldn't give him more than 2 skill points, but Sobek wasn't a fussy eater. Capturing them was simple: he just had to go around and attack them from the water, preventing him from diving into the river. He didn't even need to use [Ambush]. On land they couldn't escape. Although some of them managed to surpass him and dive, most were devoured. In a flash, his skill points shot up to 13! [Fast eating] was immediately updated to level 2/5. Satisfied, Sobek plunged into the river, beginning his return journey. ************* Over the next few days Sobek hardly came out of the river, except to sleep. He had mostly eaten fishes and had only managed to catch a few big common crocodiles. He couldn't help but feel disappointed, but also confused. The area had been full of crocodiles and freshwater sharks before, why were they all suddenly gone? That gave him the idea that there was another predator in that river. Someone enough big to scary the majority of small carnivores. Now he was excited. He hoped to find some suchomimus or barionyx along the way. With his current size and abilities they would have been a pleasant snack for him. However, fate reserved a completely different surprise for him. [Prey identified: Sarcosuchus imperator, pholidosauridae. Experience: 65,000 points] "Sarcosuchus!?" Sobek's courage faltered. The sarcosuchus was the largest crocodile ever existed, at least twelve meters long. However, the specimen in front of him looked much larger. maybe even fifteen meters long! When he had found a nine-meter deinosuchus in the river some time ago, Sobek hadn't dared to attack it. With what willpower could he try his luck against its even more dangerous cousin? However, he was no longer what he used to be. Now, he wasn't a Spinosaurus aegyptiacus anymore; he was a Spinosaurus superior. His fighting skills were at their peak and he could regenerate quickly. Besides, he was the king of the river; what kind of coward would he had been in leaving that territorial supremacy unsolved? It had to be said, however, that the sarcosuchus' bite was equal to that of the tyrannosaurus, if not even stronger. If it had bitten him it would surely have hurt him badly. Sobek, however, now had [Regeneration] to the fullest; with such power, even if the crocodile had severed one of his legs, it would have grown back. In the end it was the sarcosuchus who chose for him. After spotting him, it didn't think twice about attacking him! Apparently it cared about the question of 'territorial supremacy' much more than Sobek. Seeing a twelve-meter crocodile approaching him, Sobek for a moment was overwhelmed by the urge to flee. However, he wanted to play that game. Unfortunately in the water the sarcosuchus was as agile as he was. He couldn't hit it and it quickly dodged his blows, and it rapidly bit his right hind leg. If he had been out of the water, Sobek would have roared in pain. He felt his leg twist as the sarcosuchus began to rotate on itself to detach it from him. But in that fight, size matter! Sobek was more than twenty meters long and very flexible. While most living creatures wouldn't have been able to free themselves from the crocodile's grasp, he could flex his body and stretch his limbs to reach it! With this thought he rotated his body of ninety degrees and unsheathed his claws. The sarcosuchus opened his eyes wide, astonished, but it was too late: Sobek threw a paw in the face. The blow was so strong that the shockwave spread through the water to the shore. The body of the sarcosuchus remained helpless to float, the head completely smashed. Sobek was surprised too. [Deadly claws] was truly an amazing skill! Knocking out the largest crocodile ever appeared on Earth with one blow made him feel as powerful as ever! Now he was the undisputed king of the river! The only creature that could have threatened him was perhaps a titanoboa, but Sobek had never met one, a sign that he probably lived in a deeper part of the forest. His leg was back to normal in moments thanks to [Regeneration]. Once completely healed he dragged the body of the sarcosuchus to the shore and devoured it leaving only the skeleton. The giant crocodile gave him 8 skill points, as expected from an apex predator! The sarcosuchus was much stronger than the torvosaurs, but unlike them, it was solitary. In a one-on-one match, Sobek could do it very well! Now, he could absolutely call himself the strongest on the river! No creature that swam in those waters could stand over him anymore! He still had 6 skill points gained from the hunt of the previous days, which added to those of the sarcosuchus allowed him to upgrade [Fast eating]. Sobek watched with satisfaction as the skill level went up from 2/5 to 3/5. Two more levels and he would have maximized it. With some luck, he would have succeeded before he reached the cave and started his second evolution.