Chapter 87: The first subordinate

With that single battle, Sobek had resolved all his doubts. Even though he already knew it, it was a great satisfaction to be able to take down a tyrannosaurus. Watching the predator try in vain to bite him was something truly rewarding! Its bite hadn't even tickled him. How many people could say they felt nothing when a thirteen meters long tyrannosaurus bit them? Now he could say with certainty that the title 'apex superpredator' was not fake. He had truly become the absolute pinnacle of the food chain. But what made him most happy was realizing that [Linguistics] hadn't bothered him. Even though he had heard that dying tyrannosaurus begging its brother to escape, he hadn't felt the slightest pity for it. In his head there was nothing but pride in completing the kill. Being a spinosaurus had really turned his heart to stone. He didn't know if this was due to his nature or if all his adventures had tempered him, but he felt absolutely nothing in killing a living being who spoke and pleaded. Most humans in his place would at least have felt pity. But after all, in a world where the law of the jungle applies, where either you kill or you are killed, pity can become the cause of death. Many films Sobek remembered seeing in his previous life proved this hypothesis. Humans behaved well and acted like compassionate people only when the machines worked and they could call 911; as soon as someone or something took away those privileges, most of them became primitive and savage. After all, in a situation where civilization can no longer help you, the only survival strategy is to forget how to be civil and think about yourself first. Once the tyrannosaurus was killed, however, Sobek realized that he had the opportunity to try another experiment: thanks to [Linguistics], he could try to recruit the surviving tyrannosaurus. "I advise you to not following his advice. I'm faster than you" he said diverting his attention from the dead body of the t-rex and pointing it at the other. "Now answer me. Do you want to live or do you prefer to follow your brother?" The tyrannosaurus was clearly surprised: his pupils enlarged like two tubs. "You... can you talk?" the former king of the dinosaurs whispered; after all, from his point of view, there were no other creatures who could 'speak'. "I speak many languages, and in the future I will speak much, much more of them" Sobek replied, deliberately keeping himself vague. After all, there was no point in explaining things in detail. "You didn't answer my question. Do you want to live or die?" The tyrannosaurus lowered his head at those words. Sobek was using a deliberately threatening tone, which combined with his terrifying size and obvious strength made him a pressing and unsustainable presence. "I want to live" was the answer. Sobek let out a satisfied growl. "Very good. So, from this moment, I'm your pack leader" he said bluntly. "Do you agree?" "Yes" the tyrannosaurus replied without any hesitation. Sobek was satisfied. That was the law of the jungle: the moment you were the strongest, everyone obeyed you, provided of course they understood what you were saying. For the young tyrannosaurus, in fact, that wasn't an unusual situation: in his mind, the mere fact that Sobek could speak made him an 'honorary tyrannosaurus'. As a result, he could claim the rank of pack leader whenever he wanted. And since he was stronger than him, it was only fair that he submit. The stronger dominates the weaker: those were the rules. For the tyrannosaurus, nothing unusual was happening: he had simply found a new pack leader willing to accept him as his follower, consequently he would obey him as he had done with the one he had before. Sobek was still enjoying the moment when a System notification appeared before his eyes. [Caution! You have successfully formed a subordinate contract with an unnamed tyrannosaurus. Would you like to give him a name?] "Uh? What is this stuff?" Sobek thought. He didn't remember seeing it in the [Guide]... Could it be the classic web novel type of contract, where one creature submits to another one for eternity? He couldn't know at the moment; it could only follow the directives of the System. "Do you have a name?" he asked. Even if he already knew the answer, it was better to pretend ignorance. The tyrannosaurus looked confused. "A what?" "A name. A word that identifies you, that makes you say: 'I am...'. Mine is Sobek, keep that in mind. Do you have one?" Sobek patiently explained. "Oh... then no, I don't think" the tyrannosaurus shook his head. He didn't seem to have understood much, but that was enough for Sobek. "Then I'll give one to you. From today, you will be Buck!" he said, shooting the first name that came to his mind. For some reason, it was the name of the ferret appeared in the movie 'Ice Age 3'. When he said this, a new notification from the System appeared before his eyes. [You referred to this unnamed tyrannosaurus as 'Buck'. Do you want to start sharing skills?] "Uh? What is this now?" Sobek wondered in surprise. [You have started skill sharing. You can share two skills with your servant at a time. Current shared skills: none] "EEEEEH!?" was Sobek's thought as he read the notification. Share his skills? Did that mean he could give Buck [Powerful bite], [Reinforced skin] and the others? He had to see clearly. "Very good. Buck, go over there, lie down and wait for my orders. I'm going to eat your brother; you have something to complain?" "Absolutely not" Buck replied, going to a spot in the trees and lying down quietly. At that moment, Buck felt no grudge against Sobek for killing his brother, or for wanting to eat him. The only thing he felt was a strong sadness for his dead brother, but he didn't have the slightest impulse for revenge. Pets could sometimes get mad when they lost a friend. However, in nature death was something common. Wild animals like Buck were used to seeing siblings, parents, children or companions killed and mauled by other animals. It wasn't even unusual for two family members to kill each other. Therefore, it was foolish to blame his brother's killer: what had happened was absolutely normal. His brother had challenged this dinosaur, consequently this dinosaur had killed him. That's it. Buck could only mourn his brother's death, but other than that he wasn't angry or furious with his new pack leader. He didn't even care if his brother got eaten. Things like burial or regard for the dead were typical of humans, or high social animals like elephants. But for predators like tyrannosaurs, getting eaten after dying from challenging the wrong opponent was normal. Buck would have been more angry if his brother's body was left on the ground to rot: it would have meant that his death was useless. Even though Sobek had just killed his brother and was eating him, Buck's loyalty to him was the same as he would have shown any other pack leader. Until someone stronger came to defeat the spinosaurus, he would faithfully obey him and he would never even think of betraying him. Sobek began to consume the tyrannosaurus body. The now fallen king of the dinosaurs would offer him 100,000 experience points and 10 skill points; a pretty good loot that would have allowed him to reach level 29. However, it wasn't the time to level up now. As he ate, Sobek tried to find out more about the contract. To his surprise, a new page appeared in the System interface: [Contracts]! Apparently it was a hidden page that unlocked on the first contract. It was a bit like the [Secondary systems], except that these were visible. Sobek wondered if there were other hidden System windows that unlocked by unspecified events. 'So God put in the System some hidden quests too?' he thought as he turned the page. Apparently he wasn't wrong: he could indeed share his skills with his subordinates! As long as the contract existed (so until either of them died) he could provide the abilities at any time. Furthermore, they weren't binding: he could change them when and how he wanted. This clearly opened up bright horizons for him. Imagine a group of pathetic humans stopping the charge of an army of dinosaurs protected by [Reinforced skin]! But the most interesting thing was that the contracts could also be created by other dinosaurs that were under him. For example, if Buck had recruited another dinosaur, Sobek would have received the System notification immediately and could have provided him with abilities! This could clearly bring many benefits. To his surprise, however, he discovered that the contracts weren't as binding for eternity as he had thought: the dinosaur in question could break it at any time. They were of value only as long as the dinosaur was part of the pack. However, that was an obstacle that could be bridged: in nature only strength mattered, so no dinosaur that would join his herd would want to get out of it. Moreover, that was also an assurance of the future: if by pure chance someone ever wanted to betray him (which is almost impossible: casual betrayal was an exclusively human construct, for animals, as already mentioned, as long as a leader was strong, no risk) would have known immediately as his contract would have disappeared. As he finished consuming the tyrannosaur's body, Sobek felt radiant. Not only had he recruited his first soldier, he had also discovered a great way to improve and upgrade his army in a short time! Sobek walked over to Buck. The young t-rex had remained motionless at the spot Sobek ordered him and he didn't dare to look him in the eyes, clearly expressing his total submission to his new pack leader. However, Sobek didn't just want submission from his subordinates. Even if that was enough for animals, he who was partly human knew how much difference there was between an army that loved its commander and one that only feared him. He therefore wanted to take advantage of the contract function to make a gift to his first servant. He had initially wondered why he could share two skills rather than just one; however, he soon realized the reason. One of the skills he was supposed to share with ALL dinosaurs was [Linguistics], since it was needed to communicate with each other; as a result, he could only deliver a skill fit for battle. So, in fact, he could only sharing one skill. "Buck" he ordered. "Get up" The tyrannosaurus promptly executed his order. "Time to go hunting" Sobek explained. "And since you are the first member of my pack, I'll give you a gift" "A gift?" Buck was confused. From what he remembered, the pack leaders didn't give gifts. "Yes. You must know that I have special powers, and now I intend to deliver one to you. I'll give you the strongest bite you've ever seen!" and with that said, Sobek shared the [Powerful bite] ability. Buck felt a tingle in his mouth and immediately felt his jaws became different; it was as if they had grown stronger, more robust... more lethal. He barely moved them, feeling a much greater muscle strength than he was used to. He tried to bite into a tree trunk and it split like a stick under his bite. The bite of an adult tyrannosaurus could exert pressure from 7.8 to 8 tons in weight, but the [Powerful bite] ability allowed it to reach 25. For Buck, what he had just received was an inconceivable power! "Incredible! How is this possible?" the tyrannosaur exclaimed continuing to shake his jaws to test their robustness. "I told you, I have special powers. Now you can use one of them too" Sobek replied, deliberately remaining vague. He wasn't afraid that Buck would use [Powerful bite] against him: besides the fact that he could take the ability from him whenever he wanted, Sobek also had [Reinforced skin], which could withstand a pressure of 30 tons, far greater at 25, reachable with [Powerful bite]. Buck felt omnipotent. He waved his jaws and roared loudly, savoring all the power he had received. His eyes rested on Sobek, and now a new feeling was present in them. Animals didn't have concepts like gods and monsters, because they didn't question the meaning of life. For them, there was only strength and survival. Consequently, any small animal would have felt referential awe of larger ones no different to what humans would have felt in front of monsters. To a canary, a cat was a cruel and merciless monster to keep away from. However, there was a creature who had changed this law. The human being had taken on, at least with regard to domestic animals, a new figure. His love, his gifts, his protection and his friendship created a feeling of absolute reverence and fidelity in pets. When a dog looked at his master, he was a god in his eyes. He was always afraid of his strength, but he was also honest and loyal thanks to the love that was shown to him. This is because giving an animal something, whether it was food, a home or a simple family, was tantamount to rising to the rank of a god in his mind. Consequently, now in the eyes of Buck Sobek, who had given him unrivaled power, could only have become a god. And thanks to that, a feeling of loyalty had begun to form in him, marking the birth of a much deeper bond than the simple relationship between a pack leader and any member of the pack. Buck felt sorry for his brother. If they had known before that this mysterious dinosaur named Sobek was so powerful, yet so charitable at the same time, they would never have attacked him. Perhaps now his brother would still be alive and how he would be blessed with Sobek's gifts... This kind of feeling was exactly what Sobek wanted to create. "Follow me" he ordered. "Since you have received a gift, it is right that you put it into practice" The two dinosaurs returned to the lake. Several dinosaurs fled as they passed. Sobek didn't stop: he had already chosen which prey to aim for. The biggest he had ever hunted so far! On the shore of the lake, a group of sauropods were drinking. They had very long and thin necks and were at least eleven meters tall and seemed to weigh as much as ten male elephants. [Prey identified: Mamenchisaurus constructus, mamenchisauridae. Experience: 230,000 points] An adult mamenchisaurus was a creature devoid of natural predators. Even with all the weapons he obtained and his enormous size, Sobek still hadn't had the courage to attack one on his own. But in two, then the story changed. "You have to show me what you are able to do" Sobek said to Buck. "Therefore, this time you will attack first. I will distract one and you will attack him from behind" Sobek was repeating the technique used by the tyrannosaurs because it was the one Buck was most familiar with. He wanted him to attack from behind for two reasons: First, he wanted Buck to fully savor the power of [Powerful bite]; second, he was better suited to bait thanks to [Reinforced skin] protecting him. Buck nodded and hid in the trees. Thanks to his nose, Sobek knew where he was. It was time for his part of the plan. Sobek emerged from the forest and positioned himself in front of the group of mamenchisaurs. Many of them became agitated and began to make frightened noises, but they could not escape: it was impossible for the sauropods to run fast. If they had grouped together they would have had a better chance of safety, but when he appeared they had responded by dispersing. After all, sauropods were known to have brains as small as a peanut. Sobek chose a particularly large mamenchisaur and started blowing at it. The mamenchisaurus wagged its tail and rose repeatedly on its hind legs, creating a small earthquake every time it landed. Sobek realized that his previous fears were unfounded. Even alone he would have easily been right against the giant: he was too slow to hurt him. Sobek could have easily dodged his whip tail and killed him instantly. However, he held back: he wanted Buck to attack. The tyrannosaurus did not disappoint him: while the mamenchisaurus was distracted, he emerged from the trees and charged. Within seconds he jumped to the sauropod's neck and bit it. Under the pressure of [Powerful bite], the animal's neck shattered like nothing. Sobek imitated him and bit it too, definitively breaking its life. When the huge body of the mamenchisaurus fell to the ground lifeless, it generated such a tremor that those who had not seen the scene would probably have thought that there had been a landslide in the distance. Buck looked at the dead mamenchisaur with satisfaction. Adult sauropods had always been adversaries beyond his reach, but thanks to his new pack leader he had been able to take down one! Sobek's reputation rose several points in his eyes. "Very good" Sobek complimented him. Buck looked like a dog being praised by his master. "Now let's eat" The two of them stripped the carcass together. Buck was surprised to see how much meat Sobek could eat, but he said nothing: after all Sobek was much bigger than him, it was only natural that he ate so much. The mamenchisaurus carcass that would have fed an entire pack of tyrannosaurs for months was quickly completely devoured by his new pack leader. Even though he had shared food with Buck, Sobek was still able to recover 180,000 experience points. This reminded him that he could now level up! Under Buck's astonished gaze, his size grew to a length of 29 meters and a height of 9.3 meters. "What... How?" the tyrannosaurus murmured without words. "I told you, I have powers. One of them allows me to increase my size when I eat enough food" Sobek replied without blinking, and then looked amused at Buck, who still had wide eyes. "And you will help me improve those powers. Get ready, because from tomorrow we will go hunting much more often!"