Chapter 70: The Warehouse 7

Carl sat up from his bed, where he always appeared between worlds, with an amused smile on his face. Those five years had actually been quite fun and stress free.

Jumping up from bed he stretched out. It wasn't a good enough stretch for him.

Reaching out for his magic, his figure was soon replaced by a very large Shadow Panther. Carl then stretched out as only a cat can. Paws flexed, his claws unsheathed. His back arched, and his mouth opened in a wide yawn that displayed his deadly teeth.

After finishing his epic stretch, he returned back to his human form.

"Nothing stretches out quite as nicely as a cat." Carl made his way to the shower.

He didn't have any perks from the Cooking Show World to add, so he could skip that part. The next hour was spent as he usually did, taking the time in the kitchen to make himself a truly bountiful breakfast.

While he was feasting, he thought back on the past five years of performing in front of a camera and how fun it actually turned out to be.

He knew that most of the people who go into show business have to constantly worry and work hard to maintain the image they create. They have to obsess about their audience reaction, whether or not their performance will make enough money to keep the producers happy, and a whole host of other issues.

But since he was quite the cheat existence and didn't have those same hang ups and problems, his time in front of the camera was actually quite relaxing. Participating in a television show wasn't something that he would have ever chosen to do on his own. He had pretty much been forced into it by the Jump Chain. But it didn't turn out too bad because he could play by his own rules.

He was absolutely sure that if he didn't have all his cheat abilities he would have hated being in show business.

Once he had cleaned up in the kitchen, Carl wandered around his Warehouse. He didn't particularly feel like watching movies or playing games to while away the week he had until he had to jump to the next world.

After some time wandering idly up and down the aisles, the door in the wall that led to his martial arts dojo caught his eye. It had been a long time since he had entered that building.

Carl opened the door and entered the Japanese style dojo. He had purchased the dojo in his fourth world, History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi. At the time, he had thought he would be using the Dojo a lot to train himself and any friends he made. But things hadn't turned out that way and he hadn't even stepped foot in the dojo for a long time.

Feeling nostalgic, Carl pulled out a bokken from the stacks against the wall and began Joge-Buri strikes. The wooden practice sword whistled through the air as Carl continually practiced the overhead vertical strikes while thinking back to the world he learned it from.

Carl was standing in the yard of Ryozanpaku with a sword drawn and raised above his head. The sunlight glinted off the blade, as he wasn't able to keep it completely stable. He swung the sword down and forward, attempting to imitate the strike he had seen Shigure Sensei show him.

He raised the sword again over his head. The metal of the sword wasn't really that heavy compared to what he had been training at, but after hundreds of swings, he was feeling the burn and could barely hold the sword up and steady.

"Wrong…"

Carl let the sword drop to his side, wiping the sweat from his brow as he looked over at where Shigure Sensei was feeding her mouse, Tochumaru.

"What was that, Shigure Sensei? What am I doing wrong?"

Ever since he had arrived at Ryozanpaku and started training, he barely had any time to think. Everything was train, train, train!

While he had originally intended to only learn Jujutsu from Akisame Sensei, he had fallen into the same pace as Kenichi and was being trained in all the disciplines each of the masters practiced.

After a bit of thought he had immediately thrown away his objections to being taught everything. Even if it took him longer to master, it would only increase his abilities and techniques.

Shigure Sensei was the most standoffish among the masters, and the one that taught Kenichi the least because he had shown a huge fear of weapons. And while Carl had originally thought to focus on the unarmed styles only, seeing the disappointment in Shigure Sensei's eyes when Kenichi had basically rejected her skills because of his fear of weapons had caused Carl to change his mind.

He had then sought out Shigure Sensei to teach him. She had only shown him a bit of how to swing the sword, likely because of how Kenichi reacted, she was hesitant to go all out with him in teaching him.

Which lead to him trying to swing the sword today to practice his sword technique.

Shigure Sensei looked up from teasing her mouse friend with a bit of cheese, dropping the food into his lap to devour. He blank expression hid her feelings to the average person, but Carl could see how eager she was to correct him and teach him the joys of fighting with weapons.

"You don't make…the sword a part of you. You are holding it like…a stick. You have…no focus."

Carl thought about her words seriously. This was a master of bladed weapons. She may have not been describing it in detail, but it was up to him to parse her meaning and apply it to himself if he wanted to learn. She was already his benefactor for being willing to teach him, so he had better focus.

The first thing she said was to make the sword part of him. How does one do that? It's an object he was holding, how does it become a part of him.

Carl held the sword up vertically in front of him and closed his eyes. He felt the weight of the sword, how it's balance shifted with his breathing and muscle twitches. He felt where his hands were gripping it. He started pondering on the sword, thinking of how it extended his reach. How it moved when he swung it or held it.

The more he focused on the sword, the more it became real in his mind's eye. The feeling of the sword in his palms started fading away as he focused on the sword. It stopped feeling like a thing he was holding and started feeling like an extension of his will, his body. He felt like he knew exactly where the sword ended, and he could reach out and touch things with the end of the sword as easy as he could with his finger.

"Good…"

Carl treasured that praise from his normally quiet sword instructor. He memories the feel of having the sword being a part of him. And then he lost the feeling a moment later. But for a moment he had it! He would have to work on that more!

'The next thing she said was I was holding the sword like a stick. What did she mean by that?'

Carl brought to mind the image of Shigure Sensei when she stood in front of him with a spoon. Because Kenichi had been so afraid of the sword, she had substituted a bladed weapon with a spoon to appear non-threatening to Kenichi. And because of Kenichi, Shigure Sensei did the same for him.

But he had looked closely at her stance and attitude. She had held the spoon as if it was a deadly weapon. As if it was a blade that she would use to cut him with. And it had felt...dangerous. The spoon had felt sharp to him.

'Now how to capture that feeling?' Carl thought. 'She said I also have no focus. What is the purpose of wielding a blade? To fight and win. I'm not swinging a sword for exercise. I'm swinging a sword as an extension of myself to fight and defeat opponents. And the weapon I hold will be a deadly extension of my self. Even if it is a spoon, it can be used to disarm, cut, maim, and win.'

Carl imagined an enemy in front of him, poised for attack. He was in a deadly match with the enemy, and he needed to win. He was going to swing his sword, not for the sake of swinging it, or imprinting muscle memory. He was swinging his sword to stop and disable the enemy before he could be killed.

Carl focused on the very next moment. It could be in the very next breath. His swing was going to be fast, faster than his opponent. He would land the blow first. He would strike down his opponent and subdue him. His blade would cut through the enemy's blade, and land the blow.

He felt the sword becoming part of him, sharp and focused on the goal.

He swung.

The air whistling from the passage of his blade felt and sounded different. It sounded beautiful.

Carl stood frozen, exploring the sensation he had felt for a long time. It opened up a whole new world to him. This was the true art of swordsmanship.

Finally, Carl relaxed back into a standing position, attempting to cement the mindset needed for that strike. For that glimpse into the world of being a swordsman.

"Excellent…Carl." Shigure Sensei praised him, which caused Carl to smile hugely at his sensei for the praise.

"Thank you, Sensei." His Sensei blushed at the praise, causing Carl to have certain thoughts. Even though he was in a body that wasn't even 14 yet, he knew plenty about the relations between men and women. And Shigure Sensei was a very attractive woman.

Later that night, after sharing a bath with Shigure Sensei and dinner, when Carl was alone he thought about the matter of his attraction for his quiet sword Sensei.

He thought about how the philosophy of Ryozanpaku and their Life Giving Fist, their determination not to kill, didn't exactly mesh well with his existence.

Even in his first world he had done everything he could to kill any enemies that would threaten him and his family. He didn't try to simply defeat them and be on top. The only way he could have peace of mind was to kill.

But that mindset and attitude didn't mesh well with the masters and their life here. They were dedicated to their art, yes. But they were also dedicated to not killing their opponent.

Carl didn't think he could live through the Jump Chain that way. But it was a beautiful ideal that seemed to work for this world.

But what would Shigure think of him if he came back here, covered in the blood of his enemies and asking her to join him as he continued down that path? Would she become disgusted with him? Would she reject him and his offer to join him?

Carl sighed. He didn't know the answer. He would just have to see where his path takes him. And for now, he would sink into the sweet dream that is Ryozanpaku. The martial arts school that cherishes their enemies as sharpening tools and friendly rivals. Let the future take care of itself.

Carl finished swinging the boken and paused, feeling those sensations of being one with the sword. Having a sword to defeat all enemies, sharp and unblockable. Even if he was just holding a wooden sword, it was an extension of his will.

It has been so long since that night when the lovely Shigure taught him the way of the sword. He had long since made his choice to do what he feels is necessary to protect what is precious to him, even if it means killing.

And he still didn't have an answer to whether or not he would go back to the HSDK world and talk to her. To his lovely sword mistress. He didn't want to face her rejection, really. It's almost better to leave it as a lovely dream, than to shatter the soap bubble.

Carl put the boken back in the rack and left the dojo behind, closing the door. He still had several worlds to go before he had to make the choice whether or not to go back to that world. He would leave the future to take care of itself.

No longer feeling like relaxing around, Carl decided to jump into the next world. He made his way over to the terminal and clicked on it.

Generic Dinosaur Gauntlet

From Jurassic Park to One Million Years BC to Theodore Rex, there is just something about dinosaurs that fascinates most of us. We all have our favorites, and we all have dreamed about being a dino or having one as a pet.

For the next ten years, you are going to be one of these great creatures, pitting yourself against some of the mightiest creatures ever created by nature. Of course, that wouldn't pose much of a challenge to most Jumpers, so you are going to have to manage without the advantages you may have become used to. In fact, you are reduced to just your Body Mod, and you have no access to your Warehouse or items as well. This is going to be human wits against savage fury.

"Huh, another Gauntlet." Carl absentmindedly grinned. "Well, thankfully I'm already cheating thanks to Spere 037." Carl started chuckling while thinking of how his body mod, or basic body, had been altered to include the perks he had been getting. So he wouldn't be as helplessly as he normally would due to the gauntlet.

"Dinosaurs, huh. Which one should I pick?" Since Carl was going to be living as a dinosaur for the next 10 years, it was important to pick a cool one.

"Let's see, since it's a Gauntlet, unfortunately I don't get an additional 1000 cp here, so I 'only' have 3300 cp banked from previous jumps." Carl scrolled down to see the further options.

Age and Gender

You are an adult dinosaur with your choice of gender. As a special note, you will not die of old age before your ten years here is finished, even if your species does not have a long lifespan.

"Looks like I'll start out as an adult male dinosaur." Carl chuckled at a brief thought. "At least I won't be laying any eggs…"

"Okay, then. The location will be picked for me based on the species I choose. That's fine. One dino-land is as good as another, really."

Origins: What kind of dinosaur are you, an Herbivore or Carnivore? You can choose any species of dinosaurs that you want, including any aquatic species, within the classification of your Origin. Don't be afraid to choose Herbivore, even vegetarian dinosaurs are completely awesome!

Carl busted out laughing at the last line. "Yeah, right. Like I'm going to choose to be anything other than a hunter." His shadow panther form and long time as a fighter definitely had a big impact on his personality. The idea of choosing to be prey was just silly. Carl selected Carnivore.

Carnivore

You are a primarily meat eating dinosaur, whether a hunter or a scavenger, such as the constantly misnamed Utahraptor or a mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex.

"But that's an interesting idea, being aquatic based." Carl hummed in thought as he considered it. At one point in time in the past Carl would have definitely chosen either an aquatic or aerial dinosaur form automatically, since he already had a land form of a panther. Having an underwater or flying form available as well would have been amazing. But now, with his growing powers he could easily fly or breath underwater just fine, so it wasn't as big of a consideration for him.

"No, I think I'll skip the underwater dinosaur and pick the king dinosaur that kid Carl would been over the moon about. The mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex." He chuckled as he filled in the information on the document.

"The raptors, or Utahraptors, from the movie Jurassic Park were pretty darn cool too." Carl mused before continuing to read the document. "But the T-Rex's sheer size and badassitude blow them out of the water."

Despite the newer Jurassic Park movie that had the raptors being cool when they interacted with Peter Quill, he still thought the T-Rex was better. Those scenes in the original Jurassic Park with the T-Rex had given him shivers. No way was he going to be a human sized dinosaur when he could be a massive predator!

Once his dinosaur form was selected, he saw that the location automatically changed to North America, where most of the T-Rex roamed, in the year 65 million years B.C.

The next section was the general perks. There were a couple perks that were automatically free, so Carl picked those first.

Basic Instincts 0 cp: You are fully adjusted to your dinosaur form, using it as ably as you could your normal form. You can swim or fly as appropriate to your new form, are accustomed to your new senses and have basic skill in your species' methods of survival.

"Well, at least it won't be a chore to get used to my new dinosaur form. It will probably be similar to how my panther form instincts came to me."

Classic or Scientifically Accurate 0 cp: You get to choose: Classic scales and leathery skin or currently theorized feathers and bright colors. Feathers help retain heat a bit, but are fragile and need to be groomed. This affects not just you, but this entire world. After this gauntlet, you can make minor, purely cosmetic changes to any alt-form or personal equipment, but this has to be decided before a Jump starts.

"Jeez. With how powerful the jump chain is, you'd think they could be better than "currently theorized". Surely the jump chain knows whether it's just a theory or not, right?" Carl thought about it for a bit more. "But then again, all these worlds I've been visiting have seemed to be based on fiction from my original world. There seem to be different world laws in play in different universe, so why wouldn't the dinosaur world also be based on 'fiction'? In some of these worlds the dinosaurs probably had feathers, and in others they probably had hide and scales."

Carl shrugged off the idiosyncrasy of phenomenal cosmic beings that travel the omniverse being rather too vague because there was just so much out there it was hard to be specific in just a few sentences.

"Well, since I picked the T-rex based on what kid Carl would have picked, that image and idea didn't include feathers, because of Jurassic Park. So let's go with Classic." Carl made his selection on the perk.

Next he picked a perk that was cheap and would ensure that he wouldn't be suffering from boredom while being a dinosaur without access to the internet, books, movies, or games. Even in the future when he wasn't a dinosaur, having unlimited patience would probably be a good thing.

Everyday Dino Life 100 cp: Let's face it, even a daily struggle for survival can be monotonous at times. Lucky for you, you are immune to boredom, have unlimited patience, and can find satisfaction and even joy in even the most everyday activities.

Looking over the rest of the general perks Carl chose not to get any of them.

Thunder Lizard 200 cp makes the ground shake when he walks, which ensured that he would never be able to sneak up on prey. He would be a pretty crappy hunter if he took that one.

Do You Think He Saurus? 200 cp made it so that his skin coloration would blend into optical camouflage. Carl was pretty sure that with a bit of practice he could get his Metamorphmagus talent to do the same thing, making the perk redundant. He wasn't willing to pay 200 cp for the perk.

And since I Don't Think He Saurus 100 cp needed the previous perk in order to purchase, he was going to pass on it. Even if having active camouflage would be cool, he decided not to add it to his T-Rex form.

The Alpha 400 cp and Alpha Plus 400 cp perks increase his size if he so chose and make him the dinosaur version of Captain America, enhancing his body to the peak and double the peak of his species respectively. But he chose not to get those. He didn't think the pitiful physical boost was worth it for the high cost. Not when he compared the physical boosts that he already got from Ki and Profound Energy training.

Done with the general perks, Carl moved on to the list of Herbivore Perks, and only chose one of the four available for the plant eaters. It was so good that he couldn't pass it up.

Apex Survivor 600 cp: From the moment that life begins, the struggle for survival is waged. And no creature ever born was better at that struggle than you are. You have a perfect sense for danger, always sensing an attack in time to respond in as effective a manner as your skills allow. You instinctively evaluate the potential threat level of any situation, so you know when to be on guard. In addition, you will always be able to locate any resources necessary for survival and safety, assuming they exist at all, and have at least basic competence with any skill needed to keep you alive. You are also immune to any form of danger that is not directly targeted at you. Natural disasters, plagues, even random attacks with large area-of-effect will miss you completely.

One of the big things that had allowed Carl to flourish in these Jump Chain worlds was the fact that he was basically an unknown to the inhabitants of the worlds. Like in the BtVS world he had first entered, he had entered that world with a basic knowledge of what would happen in Sunnydale, which let him strike from the shadows and strike hard.

It was basically ambush tactics. Ambush fights don't last very long if the ambush was done right. So Carl hadn't given his enemies the time they would have needed to bring their resources to bear on attacking him. If that had happened, he would have been overwhelmed and killed in short order.

And that was how he entered most of his fights. He strove to end the fight as quickly as he could to accomplish his goals.

As a result of using the ambush tactics so much, he knew just how deadly it was. So having this Apex Survivor perk that would protect him against ambush attacks was worth the large cp cost. And that wasn't even taking into account how he wouldn't be killed by natural disasters, plagues, or area of effect attacks. Or being able to find any resources he needed to survive.

Priceless.

With that perk picked, Carl moved on to the selection of Carnivore Perks. He first picked up the 100 cp perk that was discounted to free for those who chose to be a Carnivore.

Predator's Instincts 0 cp: You have the mindset and instincts of a hunter whose very survival relies on taking prey on a regular basis. You are skilled at identifying weaknesses in prey, stalking, planning ambushes, and predicting your prey's attempts to escape.

Carl chuckled a bit at seeing how this perk would add to his ability to be an ambush hunter. With all the hunting perks, he would have to fight against getting too big of an ego, he would be that good.

Clever Girl 100 cp: Even a predator sometimes becomes prey. Whether by a mightier beast or a pack of lesser ones, sometimes the deadliest hunter becomes the hunted. But not you. Any hunter that tries to get you will soon find the tables turned, as you will instinctively know you are being stalked, and you will easily find opportunities to ambush or otherwise turn the tables on them.

Carl already had several perks that let him know when he was being targeted, but since the Clever Girl perk was only 100 cp, he decided to add it to the list. Having an extra perk to reinforce the instincts that would keep him alive wasn't a bad idea. The Apex Survivor perk let him know when an attack was incoming. Clever Girl let him know when he was being stalked, which gave him even more warning that someone was eyeing him up. The more ways his perks let him be in control of any fight, the better chances he had of always winning.

Mighty Roar 200 cp: You proclaim mastery of your territory with a world shaking blast of noise! This great roar will terrify your enemies, inspire your allies, and quite possibly shatter some ear drums. Enemies will find it nigh-impossible to maintain focus or concentration, and any allies will be made instantly aware of any battle plans you might have when they hear you announce yourself. This roar can be heard anywhere in territory claimed by you, no matter the distance.

Carl smiled at buying the Mighty Roar perk, since it was so out of step with his usual modus operandi of sneaking around and ending threats before they could do any damage. But sometimes it was good to be loud and disruptive, rather than silent and deadly. Especially if he could affect an entire battlefield with just a roar, including immediately passing battle plans to his allies, then Carl would find some way to make the perk useful in the future. Probably.

Or he would just roar at things for fun or whatever.

And he certainly wasn't just buying it because then he could recreate the scenes of Jurassic Park with the roaring T-Rex. Nope, definitely not.

Apex Predator 300 cp: You are the deadliest hunter to ever exist, the ultimate predator. Your instincts for stalking, tracking, hunting, and killing are peerless, quickly becoming a master at hunting any new prey in any new environment. You always know where your targets are vulnerable and the optimum way to hit them. Your luck when hunting, whether in general or for specific prey, is bordering on impossibly good. You can kill anything, even things that lack the capacity to die, and anything you kill stays dead.

Carl got a bit excited to see this particular perk. He knew that there were things out there in the omniverse that were impossible to kill. Or that wouldn't say dead for long. So having the jump chain fiat ensure that he could kill those things and that they would stay dead was a great comfort to Carl.

With his perks selected, he began looking over the items that he could purchase. Some of them were quite amusing. Like the one that allowed dinosaur themed music to be playing and change based on the situation. Carl was slightly tempted by the idea of having BGM (battleground music) playing, and ultimately chose to get it. It was just so fun.

Dino Tunes 50 cp: You have a soundtrack that contains all the music from every dinosaur based television show or movie ever made, including all the Godzilla movies, plus all other songs about dinosaurs. This can play as loud as you want it to, and you can choose if anyone besides yourself can hear it. You have a perfect mental index of these songs and can search for a particular song or just let it play randomly, which will produce music appropriate to whatever is occurring.

It was the addition of the Godzilla music that really sold it for Carl.

Jumper Bones 150 cp: You have a complete fossilized skeleton of your dinosaur form in perfect condition, including documentation that would allow them to be accepted at any museum. For an additional 50 cp (150 cp total), you have fossilized skeletons of all the dinosaur species that ever lived on Earth. These are stored in a special display hall that keeps them in perfect condition and is attached to your Warehouse.

It was really the mention of an addition to his warehouse that sold Carl on the Jumper Bones item. Not only would he get a copy of his dino form's bones, but he would get a ginormous museum full of dinosaur bone displays. Even though he was normally very stingy on paying out cp, he couldn't resist. He was letting his inner child out to play on this jump. It was Dinosaurs!

Dinosaur DNA Samples 200 cp: You have viable DNA samples from all dinosaur species, perfectly preserved in stasis. If you take these out of stasis to use them for something, they will replenish in 24 hours.

Carl chuckled at the idea that he could eventually populate a whole world, or several worlds, full of dinosaurs with the DNA samples. He would never run out, he would always have the DNA to play with. While not totally necessary, he decided it would make a useful item.

Hunting/Grazing Grounds 200 cp: You have, attached to your Warehouse, a large area that is perfect for your dinosaur form to hunt or graze, providing all the food and water needed for as many dinosaurs as you have. Any animal you have ever killed will have a population in this area, as will any plant you have ever sampled.

Now this was a purchase that got Carl excited and was completely worth the cp cost. Based on all that he had killed or eaten in the past worlds, this would be a very large area indeed. And it would just get bigger as he continued to hunt and eat things. It was a good thing he was choosing to be a predator in this dinosaur world, because he was going to make a concerted effort to eat everything. And if he missed something, he could just clone it from the DNA samples he had and eat it, to make sure it populated the Hunting/Grazing Grounds. He would have a very large mini-world attached to his Warehouse.

After calming down, Carl moved on to the Drawbacks he could pick to recoup his spending. He was relieved to see that there was no limit to CP he could gain from drawbacks.

Carl chuckled and immediately rejected the Annoying Little Critters +100 cp drawback. He had learned his lesson about just how annoying constantly being pestered by critters could be in the ATG world, and he wanted no more part of it. 100 cp was just not worth it. Sure he could be lazy and just use them as a source of food, but he already had his fill of pests in previous worlds. He would pass.

Natural Disaster +200 cp: You will be caught in at least one major natural disaster during your time here. It could be a flood, a hurricane, a wildfire, a drought, or any other major event.

Carl figured he could handle one guaranteed natural disaster easily. His Apex Survivor perk ensured he would survive. But he wasn't going to pick the next level up for only 100 cp.

Mother Nature Hates You +100 cp: You will forced to deal with a major natural disaster at least once a year during this Gauntlet.

Dealing with a major natural disaster every year for only 100 cp was a horrible price/annoyance ratio. He would pass.

Little Baby Dino +300 cp: Instead of arriving in the world as an adult dinosaur, your Gauntlet will start when you hatch and you will have to survive as you grow to full size. A lot of otherwise non-threats become very dangerous to a baby or adolescent dinosaur.

The warning that there would be threats to him when he was young didn't faze him, since he would be entering the world with his modified body thanks to Spere's cheats. He would be tough and ready to rumble from the moment he was awake. And 300 cp was nice to bank.

There were a couple of drawbacks that Carl considered carefully, and decided to leave to chance. He tossed a coin and it came up heads, so Carl added the first drawback.

Hunter-Gatherers +200 cp: In real life, dinosaurs and humans were separated by millions of years, but that is not the case for you. You will have to deal with hunter-gatherer tribes of humans that might be trying to kill you or might just be competing for resources. Be careful, those hairless apes are more dangerous than they first appear.

With his powers and skills he wasn't feeling threatened by tanks, let alone hunter gatherers. It might just entertain him a bit. Speaking of tanks, he was undecided about choosing the next one as well.

Modern Man (+100 cp): Instead of primitive tribes, you have to deal with modern human beings with all the advantages and technology of a modern society. You are most likely in some sort of Lost World or Land of the Lost scenario.

Carl then flipped the coin once more, and it came up tails, so he shouldn't add the next drawback.

But after thinking about it for some time, Carl decided to go ahead and add the Modern Man drawback, despite the results of the coin toss. He decided he could have some fun with it. Even if he ran into the modern day military, he shouldn't have any problems, and this way he could tap into their internet and troll people online while dicking around in his Lost World.

But as much fun as Carl thought it might be to have man and dinosaurs in the same world, he didn't add the final perk, er…drawback of that chain.

Sci-Fi Safari +100 cp: Instead of modern human beings, you are going to have futuristic hunters, with advanced sci-fi technology, hunting for food and trophies. Again, you are most likely in some kind of Lost World or Land of the Lost scenario, though time travel or a planet-sized nature reserve is also possible.

While he was reasonably certain his tech from Stargate would hold up to most all other sci-fi world's tech, he didn't want to mess about with it while he was something that all the Predator style alien hunters would love to kill. That would be like getting the Annoying Little Critters drawback.

Carl chose not to burden himself with the Death From Above drawback.

Death From Above +400 cp: You have five years to get used to being a dinosaur. Then the world is going to be hit with an extinction level event. This could be an asteroid strike, a mega-volcano eruption, or something else, as long as it is major enough to threaten all life. You will not be caught in the initial impact/event, but you will have to survive in the resulting post-apocalyptic world until the end of this Gauntlet.

Hard pass. He wanted to live in his dinosaur paradise for the time he was here, not a burnt wreckage of a world.

Carl returned to the first drawback in the list and seriously considered it.

Do Dinosaurs Even Live That Long? +50 cp: While normally, you would only have to survive here for ten years, that has now been extended by an additional five years. As a special note, you will not die from old age. This drawback can be taken multiple times.

Before Carl played around with his Time Pearl for using time dilation, he probably would have avoided taking too many instances of this drawback. He had been eager to get through the worlds as quick as he could at first. But now that he had already spent hundreds of years in the Time Pearl, he had already made the decision to get as much out of the Jump as he could before going back to his girls from past worlds.

So he now he felt like using this drawback to amass cp was a decent choice.

His memory was perfect, so he wasn't in danger of forgetting his loved ones, even though it had been a long time since he had been with them. But now with so much time spent in time dilation, he didn't feel like a couple more centuries was going to hurt too much.

On the other hand, having plenty of CP on hand to buy perks would make him more powerful, and when he finally met up with his people again, he could probably use the CP to purchase things for them, hopefully.

Spere 037's advice had been to stockpile up his warehouse points for after the 15th jump. So he expected that having a stockpile of cp would also be very beneficial.

After weighing the pros and cons and thinking about how much time was enough versus too much, Carl added 200 years to his stay in the world. 210 years altogether was quite a long stay, but it would get his cp bank back up to a decent amount. And it wasn't like he hadn't already spent more than 200 years in time compression.

He really hoped he didn't regret making that decision.

At the end of the jump document, Carl saw something that made his eyes gleam in anticipation.

Final Choice

Assuming you survived your time here your dinosaur form will be an Alt-form.

If you survive, you will have to choose your reward. You will pick one of the following two options when you leave this world:

Dinosaur World: You have a full-sized continent attached to your Warehouse that contains a variety of biomes with dinosaurs living wild. You can choose to import this continent into a setting at the beginning of the jump, and can choose if that setting has always contained said continent or if it just appeared, which will cause the world to adapt without massive ecological or geological damage.

Dinosaur Shifter: Rather than just a single Dinosaur alt-form, you can take on the form of any dinosaur known to have existed on Earth. This includes both classic and modern scientifically accurate versions.

Carl was torn. With the Hunting/Grazing Grounds, he already had a very large area that would be populated with dinosaurs and everything that he had eaten. So the Dinosaur World was a little redundant. But more land was more land, and he could bring a lost continent into every world that he visited if he so desired.

On the other hand, being able to change into every kind of dinosaur was pretty damned awesome.

Well, with the dino DNA and his Hunting/Grazing Grounds, he would still be able to introduce dinosaurs to any world he visited anyway. So it would be much cooler to have multiple dinosaur forms.

But…land!

"Decisions, decisions." Carl muttered. "Well, I don't have to pick just yet anyway."

With a final check over his selections, and having looked in satisfaction at the 4200 cp he had banked, Carl paused.

4200 cp was a respectable amount.

It really was.

But he couldn't help think of the ATG world. He had bought out as many perks as he could since they were so useful. Just one world had used up all his banked cp, and it was finally getting back up there.

Should he spend more time in this world to get more cp for the future? How long was too long for the resultant cp payday?

Carl paced back and forth in front of the terminal as he considered the issue. He had two competing urges here.

"Get as much cp stockpiled as he could for the future" versus "The time spent was not worth the extra cp".

"Get through the worlds faster so he could go back to pick up his loved ones" versus "Get stronger so he could protect his loved ones".

Where was the balance point? How to decide which one of his desires won out over the other?

After thinking about it for some time, Carl chose to keep his choices as they were. He was already staying for such a long time in the world as a dinosaur. He didn't want to keep going down that slope because he might end up staying for millennia if he was solely concerned with banking points.

He finalized his selection and his world went dark.