Chapter 72: The lake

By the time the leveling up was over, Sobek had reached a length of 25 meters and a height of 8 meters. Its size was now something no terrestrial predator had ever achieved. He was now even bigger than some sauropods! He was literally a titan among the titans. No other land predator was as big and powerful as he was! Once his abilities would have been maximized he would have been absolutely invincible. Soon, the Tyrannosaurus would officially lose its throne as king of the dinosaurs! The pack of pachyrhinosaurs had departed, but Sobek quickly found them just by sniffing the air. Now he could run at a speed of 26 km/h, almost on par with a t-rex. The pachyrhinosaurs could reach 35 km/h, but that was if they were alone and on the run; there was no way a whole herd could move so quickly. Too many animals in the same spot greatly reduced their mobility, and until they noticed the presence of a predator they had no reason to escape at maximum speed. Once he found it he was able to resume his hunting activity. Over the next few days, Sobek waited, hoping to see more gorgosaurs appear on the scene. Like all carnivores, in fact, they lived in herds of a dozen specimens; sniffing the air he had been able to verify their presence nearby. He certainly wouldn't have attacked the whole pack, but if the gorgosaurs had kept their pair hunting strategy, he could have used the pachyrhinosaurs pack to exploit the same strategy. He was sure the herd would get their attention: it was a very tasty food for them. However, the gorgosaurs from that day kept their distance from the pack. Initially Sobek didn't comprehend, but then he understood: the gorgosaurs had followed the tracks of their two fallen companions and had discovered that they had died near the pack. As a result, the pachyrhinosaurs in their minds had become a threat to stay away from. Sobek had been frustrated. He wanted to go hunting the gorgosaurs himself, but without the protection of the pachyrhinosaur pack he had very little chances. If the gorgosaurs had immobilized him as the torvosaurs had, then it could have end very bad for him. They couldn't break his bones, but if they used too much pressure they could twist his neck. Only with [Reinforced skin] at max level he would have been completely immune to their attacks, but at the current level colliding with two or more gorgosaurs was a risk. He then decided that he would have returned to them once he had maximized [Reinforced skin]. He would have used them as fuel to improve [Powerful bite]. Each gorgosaurus offered 8 skill points and from their scent Sobek believed there were at least ten of them, so if the number remained the same they would have given him 80 skill points, almost enough to maximize [Powerful bite]! However, before making any moves against the gorgosaurs, he had to get the 30 skill points he needed to maximize [Reinforced skin]. He followed the pack of pachyrhinosaurs for two entires month. Even with his indiscriminate hunting, it took a long time to devour all those animals. The rain now wasn't a problem anymore: there is no way that a pack so big could hidden, so Sobek didn't care if he lost the smells for a while. With all that experience he was able to level up three more times, reaching the titanic size of 28 meters in length and 9 meters in height! It was now almost as tall as a three-story house. The problem was that he had very few skill points. He had hoped that the herd would have attracted some other predators, but it hadn't: the other dinosaurs had sensed that there was something wrong with the herd that was thinning by the day and had stayed away from it. The only prey he had obtained had been a lone metriacantosaurus who had decided to try its luck with the herd. Even though it wasn't what could be called an apex predator, it still gave him 6 skill points. Once he had finished consuming the last pachyrhinosaurs Sobek had searched the length and breadth of the jungle, but luck hadn't helped him. He hadn't found any notable carnivores. However, one day a strong smell of fresh water hit him in the nostrils. Following it, he reached the shore of a lake. He discovered that the river in which he had been used to fish entered inside a large basin, creating a huge reservoir. At a guess, the diameter of that lake was at least one hundred kilometers. Sobek initially thought about leaving: after all he had set himself the goal of staying away from waterways, where it was easier for humans to find him. However, he changed his mind as soon as he saw a group of gigantoraptors drinking from the lake. They were at least a mile away from him, but now he had eyesight as powerful as a t-rex's and he could see them clearly. It didn't take him long to remember that the lakes were the gathering of infinite forms of life! Any animal that wished to drink would have been drawn to it! And predators weren't different. If he had stay there, he would have much more chances to find a carnivorous dinosaur to devour! Sure, the human problem remained... but maybe he could afford that little risk. After all, he was now far from human territory and it had been... how much time had passed? He had no idea, but he was pretty sure it was a lot. A month? Maybe two? Well, it wasn't important. The bottom line was that it was very unlikely to find humans there, in that lake, considering both spatial and temporal distances. Plus, with his new senses he could sense their arrival far in advance and run away before they even noticed. And at night he would have slept in the thick forest surrounding the lake, hidden from view, so that he couldn't be taken by surprise. It was a good plan. After thinking about it for a long time, Sobek decided that he would have done so. So, he left the thick of the trees and approached the shore of the lake. The loud croaking of some flying reptiles circling above the waters sounded like a good omen. Sobek wasn't superstitious, but he looked pleased with the that creatures. [Prey identified: Dimorphodon macronyx, dimorphodontidae. Experience: 500 points] Not now. He certainly wouldn't have wasted energy to catch a flying animal! It was a challenge he had absolutely no desire to engage in, especially for preys so little and poor of experience points. He just watched them dive for the fishes. However, when one of them lowered, a giant crocodile head emerged from the water and devoured it! With the prey still in its jaws it sank again, showing however a large sail on its back. [Prey identified: Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, spinosauridae. Experience: 70,000 points] Sobek's eyes shone. In that lake there were spinosaurs! He had encountered members of his own kind only at the old basin in the eastern bend of the river. After the pack had left, he had never seen any more spinosaurs. But now he knew where they were. They had all gathered in that lake! It was probably a migration or something. Sobek was beaming. The abundance of spinosaurs could only mean the presence of large preys, such as crocodiles, freshwater sharks, freshwater dolphins, large fishes and amphibians. It was literally heaven! Sobek was now a terrestrial predator, but that didn't mean he no longer knew how to hunt in the water. Aquatic carnivores didn't provide skill points like terrestrial ones, but they were still a good figure. With this thought he dived and flattened to the bottom of the lake, waiting for the food to show up at his door. He didn't have to wait long: as soon as the waters calmed, schools of large sawfish began to move above him. [Prey identified: Onchopristis numidus, sclerorhynchidae. Experience: 13,000 points] Sobek felt the instinct to hunt activate, but he was able to suppress it. He was aiming for another prey, which was not long in coming. Very soon in fact a huge fish similar to a five meters long trout appeared and attacked one of the onchopristis, breaking its bones with its huge mouth. [Prey identified: Hyneria lindae, tristichopteridae. Experience: 10,000 points] Sobek didn't wait any longer and jumped out of his hiding place; with his speed, the hyneria couldn't escape him! He grabbed it by the tail and dragged him to the shore, and than he just waited that it died for suffocating. The big fish gave him 4 skill points, a pretty good amount! Sobek would continue the hunt, but the sun was setting now. Even though he was a gigantic predator, getting into the water at night was always a risk: the crocodiles had a eyesight much better than him under the water and some of them had bites comparable to the one of the t-rex. So it was better to wait the next day before restart the hunt. He found a comfortable corner by the lake and fell asleep.