Chapter Five: New Skill—Wossia Rodentodon

Claw Frenzy!

Chu Xu was overjoyed. After twenty days of rigorous training, he had finally mastered this elementary skill.

“Swish, swish, swish!”

Unable to contain his excitement, Chu Xu rushed into the thicket, targeting a tree he had already stripped bare with his claws, and boldly unleashed Claw Frenzy!

In a mere instant, Chu Xu launched three consecutive claw strikes, tearing three crisscrossing gashes into the trunk, scattering shards of bark across the ground.

Not only had his attack speed greatly increased, but his strength and destructive power had also improved significantly.

[Congratulations! You have successfully upgraded a basic skill to an elementary skill. Reward: 10 attribute points and a new skill unlocked.]

[Bite (0/100): Basic skill. Open your jaws to tear and gnaw at enemies, inflicting physical damage.]

[Bite — Shatter Bite — Flame Fangs — Dragon’s Fatal Bite…]

[Charge (0/100): Basic skill. Ram your body into the enemy to deal physical damage.]

[Charge — Fierce Ram — Flash Blaze Charge — Ultimate Impact…]

[Run (0/100): Basic skill. Propel your hind legs to sprint.]

[Run — Acceleration — High-Speed Movement — Instantaneous Shift…]

…

Ten attribute points, plus three new basic skills, each capable of continuous upgrades!

Chu Xu’s spirits lifted, utterly convinced of the power of his golden finger.

From now on, instead of calling himself a Tyrannosaurus rex, he might as well go by Dragon Proud Sky.

However, this was a journey that would require steady, step-by-step accumulation of proficiency over time.

With ten attribute points at hand, Chu Xu followed his principle of balanced distribution with an emphasis on constitution—adding two points each to strength, agility, and spirit, and four points to constitution.

“Time to grind!”

Chu Xu resumed his training. He bit and gnawed at tree branches, rammed his body repeatedly against trunks, and darted around near the dragon egg nest.

After half a day’s effort, his proficiency in the three basic skills had only increased by five points each.

Continuing this practice, it would take another twenty days to upgrade these skills smoothly.

As for Claw Frenzy, now an elementary skill, it could gain up to five proficiency points per day, with a maximum proficiency cap of 1,000 points.

This meant that reaching full mastery would require at least half a year—still a long and arduous road ahead!

After half a day’s training, Chu Xu’s stomach rumbled loudly, but the household was out of extra food. Dragon Mother had gone out hunting, leaving him, Dragon Sister, and Dragon Brother alone at home.

There was no helping it; as a growing youngster, he was a bottomless pit.

Dragon Mother, a fully grown Tyrannosaurus, already had an enormous appetite, and the three young tyrannosaurs’ hunger increased daily alongside their growth.

So hunting alone was a tremendous burden for Dragon Mother.

“Unfortunately, at my current size and strength, I can’t help them at all.”

Chu Xu wished he could ease some of the hunting burden, but he was powerless.

This was not the peaceful world of his past life, but the Cretaceous Period, a realm ruled by survival of the fittest and rampant dinosaurs. Any predatory dinosaur here was far more terrifying than wolves or big cats in later eras.

Thus, staying alive during the early stages was the top priority.

The area around the dragon egg nest was Dragon Mother’s core territory. She regularly marked it with urine and claw marks, and with Dragon Father’s presence guarding the outer borders, no reckless creature dared approach.

Unconsciously, dusk fell. The vast mountains stretched like seas under the blood-red setting sun—truly a magnificent sight.

“Rustle, rustle…”

While Chu Xu patiently awaited Dragon Mother’s return from hunting, a faint rustling noise suddenly emerged from nearby foliage.

Chu Xu immediately became alert.

Ling Yue and Liu Xing were by his side, but it wasn’t their sounds.

Could there be other creatures nearby?

Without rushing into action, Chu Xu tilted his head toward the sound and listened carefully.

The tyrannosaur’s highly developed inner ear granted him sharp hearing and a broad auditory range, enabling him to perceive low-frequency sounds far beyond human capability.

“The sound is coming from underground?”

Chu Xu soon pinpointed the strange source: it resembled digging noises, growing louder and closer to the surface.

“Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!”

Soon, a stout, rat-like creature poked its head out—a size comparable to a badger. Though small in stature, its sharp teeth and claws spelled danger.

“That’s… a Repenomamus!”

Chu Xu recognized the sudden appearance instantly.

Repenomamus lived during the Late Cretaceous and belonged to the mammalian subclass Theria. It had distant kinship with later marsupials like kangaroos and opossums.

During the Cretaceous, dinosaurs undisputedly reigned supreme.

Mammals had only recently emerged and were usually small, occupying the bottom rungs of the food chain, preyed upon by dinosaurs.

Yet this Repenomamus was an exception—despite its size, it was a formidable predator.

Its diet included carrion, plants, insects, and even juvenile small dinosaurs!

Its most fearsome weapon was its teeth—canines resembling those of later hyenas, combined with a robust skull and powerful jaw muscles capable of crushing bone.

“What terrible luck…”

Fixing his gaze on the Repenomamus nearby, Chu Xu’s heart tightened, cold sweat breaking out.

He hadn’t expected to face a life-or-death threat so soon.

If bitten by this creature, his life would be in grave danger.

“Squeak! Squeak!”

Meanwhile, the Repenomamus sniffed the scent of Chu Xu, Ling Yue, and Liu Xing, turning its round head toward their location, its eyes gleaming with anticipation.

Three tender-skinned young dinosaurs, unguarded by any adults—what luck! Today would be a feast indeed!

…