The rope tied tight around my waist felt strange, but if this worked, it'd make the fight much easier. In the far distance, the moon vanished beyond the horizon and only the stars sparkled in the sky. The sun would rise soon.

Now, I needed the Spino to stop whatever it was working on in that cave and get its massive self out here. Sooner rather than later, preferably. Time was passing, and it wouldn't be long before John would be around drawing attention.

My dark vision helped, and I spotted a rock the size of my fist near my feet. Before I thought about it too much, I picked it up and chucked it as far as I could across the clearing.

It slammed into the trunk of a tree on the way to the river.

I blinked in shock at the distance.

But then, the scratching stopped.

I stepped back a few feet, where the outcropping angled back toward the rocks, and readied myself. My fingers tightened around my knife as I crouched down and counted.

Stomp stomp stomp.

At five, it stopped. The fucker stopped in the opening of the cavern. Not that I could see it, but that must have been where it was.

Be patient, this will work.

My hands shook as adrenalin raced through me. I let out a shallow breath, seeing the top of its head as it stepped forward.

Then I leaped before I could think enough to hesitate.

The Aggressive Spinosaurus' head stared in the direction of the water, turned to the north where a buzzing came from the distance, as a dark speck flew over the treetops.

I stared at the spot I wanted to land, right before the fin began and right behind its head near its skull, as I flew through the air.

It didn't even notice me until my feet made contact.

I put everything into striking its fin, shoving my knife through the hole it burned in the beautiful tapestry of skin. The rope tied to the end of the knife made it through the hole, and I frantically tied a knot.

The Spino's head tried to snap at me, but it couldn't reach me right behind its head.

I used the moment to untie my knife. Then a clawed hand scraped at me, but I darted to the other side of its fin. The talons scraped by me, missing and hitting the fin instead.

I smiled as my plan worked. My knife lengthed into a spear as I targeted just beneath the back of its skull. It cut in, but then the Spino shook its head like a dog, the rope around my waist jerking me about. I bounced, clutching my spear and the fin, holding on for dear life.

My brain rattled inside my head, but as soon as it stopped, I stabbed again, still dizzy as everything spun.

This time it flung its head back, roaring as my spear dug deeper into its neck before loosening at the sudden movement. My feet slipped, and I dangled from the rope around my waist as the spear came free.

A roar answered the first, coming from within the cavern.

Not good. Not good at all.

The Spino's head lowered, and I climbed over the ridge of its neckline just as it clawed at the area I dangled from. I sliced longwise into its neck as I went past, which widened the wound I'd started at the back of the monster's head.

I had to get to the spine, or a major artery, and I needed to move faster than I'd thought, before whatever had answered its call from the cavern made it out here.

The beast must have decided this wasn't working, and it started stomping away from the clearing, heading toward the river path.

The thought raced through my body, a ticking clock setting a short time limit before the worst-case scenario. In the water, I'd drown unless I untied myself. If I did that, though, I'd be worse than the fish it'd caught earlier.

I cut again, this time going for another wider slice on the back of its neck rather than going as deep as I could with my spear.

The beast roared again and sped up.

A buzzing picked up in the sky and swooped down. Bullets slammed into the dirt in front of the Spino, sending rocks and dust flying into the air in front of it.

The beast twisted away to the left, and I cut again. Then again.

It roared, lowering its head, and both clawed hands came up to scratch its neck. One grazed the side of me, cutting through my leather armor like it was nothing. The scaled armor did its best to reduce the damage from the pressure of the claw, but pain ripped through me. The scent of my blood filled my nose.

A boom and an impact came from the left, and the beast stumbled to the right, talons jerking away.

I slammed my spear into the back of its neck again, within the wound I'd made before, feeling woozy from the cut I'd taken. Soothing energy flowed from the crystal on my neck, sealing the gash and clearing my head.

The Spino stumbled toward the water, shaking its head again like a dog, but this time it could barely move from side to side.

It whimpered.

I struck again, this time trying to dig as deep as I could with my spear. The gash on my side tore open again and I gritted my teeth against the pain. If I gave in, I'd die, so I just didn't give in. The pain could wait.

A roar came from behind us in the clearing, but I didn't dare turn to look. The shuttle fired a few times in that direction, the sound of gunfire filling the air.

I yanked my spear back as the Spino stumbled forward, before trying again to end this.

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[You have gained bonus experience from combat for surviving against a level 50, Aggressive Spinosaurus.]

Other notifications popped up, but I shoved them to the side as the creature dropped to the ground. I darted to the other side of it before impact, but I still bounced twice. Pain made my vision go blurry before I reached the ground. Well, the side of the dinosaur. The rope prevented me from making it all the way to the ground.

I yanked a hunk of meat from my inventory and took a few bites before trying to lift myself up. A little more cool energy flowed from the healing crystal as I hummed.

Enough so, I cut the rope connecting me to the dinosaur and finally glanced up. A large dinosaur stood in the clearing as the shuttle circled overhead, keeping its attention up.

[Spinosaurus, Level 35, Prey, Unknown.]

Other even smaller dinosaurs fought with the people from camp. A giant gun smoked on Hammy's shoulder as he fired a small rifle at the closest creature.

[Spinosaurus, Level 23, Prey, Unknown.]

Arrows fired from multiple directions at the smaller creatures, trying to down the minions first. Two dropped as I watched, dropping the numbers below those fighting on my side. Again the shuttle fired a round at the bigger dinosaur, while something the size of a backpack dropped from above.

Everyone on the ground dove away.

Boom!

The backpack-sied thing exploded as it made contact with the large dinosaur, which screamed in fury. It jumped, trying to reach the shuttle, but these dinos weren't made for jumping and John was maintaining too much altitude.

That had to be Doc, strapped to the open ramp. Another object dropped on the beast, who bit at the object just as it exploded in the Spino's mouth. Blood dripped from its jaws.

Still, the large dinosaur stood, its head tracking the shuttle as it lowered itself to jump again.

I didn't want to join the fight, but I forced myself to get up as I shoved another piece of meat in my mouth. It was only freaking level 35. Jumping in now felt like stealing the kill, especially after I'd killed my target.

Hammy's smaller enemy died, and he fired on the big one, taking heavy steps in its direction. Each of his shots made more impact on its side.

The beast's head snapped down at Hammy, but a golden shield appeared that its snout bounced off of. Abby was hiding behind Hammy, her hands raised.

[Abby, Sentinel, Level 22, Prey, Unknown.]

[Hammy, Mech Warrior, Level 32, Prey, Unknown.]

"Go Hammy," I mumbled as I regained my strength, chewing on meat. Yet, I still found myself holding back. Noseen's words about fighting those too much lower level then yourself coming back to haunt me.

We were winning. If that changed, I'd step in.

Water splashed behind me, and I twisted about, ready to go.

"No, you don't!" I screamed as a crocodile creature tried to sneak toward the Spinosaurus. "Mine!"

I jumped to the other side of the carcass, growling.

[Scaled Hunter, Level 25, Prey, Tasty.]

It froze at my scream, then very slowly took a step back, followed by another. It was almost as if it thought moving slowly would keep me from attacking it.

I took another step forward, and it fled.

"Fucking scavengers." I turned back to the carcass, thinking about grabbing the heart just in case, when electricity ran up my spine. I leaped across my kill again, landing on the other side, something snapping right behind me.

I twisted about, my spear extending in my right hand.

[Grizzled Spinosaurus, Level 40, Prey, Unknown.]

This one had green spots instead of blue, and the fin on its back was broken, leaving a jagged edge to the crest. A scar covered its face and one of its eyes was gone.

"What the fuck?"

Its one eye stayed on me, not moving.

I growled again, like I had at the Hunter.

"This is my kill." I wouldn't feel bad about attacking this one, it'd attacked me first. Though, I waited for it to make a move. I really wanted a bit more time to recover before I got into another fight.

The sounds of fighting behind me slowed down.

"You claim land?" growled the Spinosaurus. The words came out of nowhere.

The quest mentioned something about the territory of the Spinosaurus.

"Yes, I do."

"I go." It sniffed once, growling softly as it took a careful step back toward the water. It looked back once, before vanishing under the surface of the water.

I nodded in surprise, but I didn't move as my prey sense tracked it away from this location, heading down what had to be a river. It moved quickly out of my range.

After another few moments, I relaxed my guard, feeling the others standing behind me.

"Yo, Alex, what's an unclaimed territory?" asked Hammy.

"What?" My head snapped around to glance at him.

"I got this weird notification during the battle when you killed that beast."

Huffing, I pulled up my notifications to figure out what was going on.

[You have gained bonus experience from combat for surviving against a level 50, Aggressive Spinosaurus.]

[Your title Badass has upgraded to Slayer, for taking down a beast a rank higher than yours. While fighting against enemies higher level than you, you gain bonus experience and your attacks do more damage. ]

[You have leveled.]

[You have leveled.]

[You have leveled.]

[You have leveled.]

[The Aggressive Spinosaurus' territory is unclaimed. Do you wish to claim the territory?]

"Yes, I do." My prey sense more than doubled in size, and I felt so much more than that. The Grizzled Spinosaurus had fled to the far reaches of the territory, but I couldn't tell how big of a distance it was, just a lot farther than I would have guessed.

Something lurked deep in the lake, sleeping, but I didn't get a bad feeling from it. More that it preferred the water, and the crystals below. Something else in that cavern nudged my senses, but in a good way.

More notifications popped up.

[You have claimed the nearby territory. If you lose a fight while in your territory, a challenger will be able to claim it for themselves. You have unlocked the territory menu.]

[You have completed the Quest: Claim the territory of the Aggressive Spinosaurus, Level 50. From: Noseen. Reward pending from Noseen.]

[You have completed the Fourth Quest(Path to Citizenship): Complete a quest from the local quest board.]

[You have unlocked the Final Quest(Path to Citizenship): Decide on your true name. Any experience gained once level 50 is reached will be banked. This quest must be completed before you Rank up or it will be forfeited.]

"How do I…" I stopped talking aloud when the territory menu opened just by thinking about it.

Territory - Unnamed

Claimed by Alex

Level 0

Citizens: 1

Benefits: None

"Well, how do I make them…"

"Woah, dude," said Hammy. "Yes, please."

[You have gained a citizen, Hammy.]

[You have gained a citizen, Hellion.]

[You have gained a citizen, John.]

[You have gained a citizen, Hawk.]

"Woah, I don't need all those notifications." I closed the window and found the others staring at me. "Well, I finished the quest."

"Good," said Hawk, turning to everyone else. "John's going to head back to go pick up the others. We need to process the kills and set a perimeter for our people."

Everyone scrambled off at his orders, while I turned to look at the Spinosaurus.

"You okay?" asked my father, staring at the torn armor.

"I will be. I heal pretty quickly after I eat." I motioned to the kill. "Gonna get to work on that. We'll need to find a decent place to build a village, right?"

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