After getting up from the grassy ground, he looks around.
Closing his eyes, he used the wind as a sensor, and it didn't take long to pick up information about animals that weren't too far away. In other words, this was indeed the hunting dimension—not the first map, but almost certainly the second!
He thought of a possibility: 'So… The moment I completed the first map, I gained authority to use it almost as I please… In other words, if I complete the second map, will it also cease to exist as a hunting dimension and merge with the first map? But… Where did the animals from the first map go?'
There was a lot of mystery surrounding this that he still needed to unravel.
His guesses might or might not be correct.
For now, he decided to gather more information instead of continuing to speculate.
He looked around. This region of grassy plains had taller grass than the previous one. The grass was over three meters high.
"ROAR!!"
*BOOM!*
Hearing the distant roar of a beast and loud sounds of battle, he thought: 'Although I can't say I didn't like having access to the first map, which I now call the Garden of Eden, I can't deny that at this moment I still prefer it to be a hunting dimension…'
But it seemed he got the best of both worlds. He had the hunting dimension and the Garden of Eden.
'I knew it, Lady Goddess of Luck didn't abandon me!' He smiled.
At that moment, he looked to the left.
The rustling of the grass could be heard.
Then, five black-scaled leopards appeared, each three meters tall. They had a horrific horn and a whip-like tail.
They stared at him with their black eyes, showing their sharp fangs.
If he were still an ordinary human, seeing this scene would've scared him senseless.
However, all he could feel at that moment was joy.
And how could it be otherwise? What he thought he had lost turned out to be just a bit different from what he expected, but not in a bad way.
At that moment, those leopards seemed even cuter than the giant rabbits from the first map.
"ROAR!"
The one that took the lead among them roared in his direction.
The corners of his lips curled up. With a playful smile on his lips, Rito began transforming into a three-meter-tall lion.
When the transformation was complete, flames manifested like armor, and he roared.
"ROAR!!!"
His roar caused vibrations, and strangely, he felt capable of using the abilities copied from Yami.
A king is a king… Just by doing this, he saw the intimidating leopards show caution and fear they hadn't displayed at the start.
However, it didn't last long before one of them roared, and then they slightly lowered their bodies and charged at him. Their bodies turned into a black blur.
His golden lion mane grew, becoming massive fists surrounded by flames, catching the leopards by surprise as he charged at them even faster than they could move.
*POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!*
"Roar!"
Five hits, five kills.
He looked at the five leopards slowly turning into dust.
'Respect the King!' He thought in a cheerful tone, laughing in his mind: 'Just kidding.'
Canceling the transformation, he extended his hand and made the leopards' orbs float toward him.
Each leopard dropped two to three red orbs, even darker than before, along with a darker purple orb.
'No divine art…'
A bit disappointing, true, but since he was happy, honestly? He didn't even care.
Not to mention, the energy in the red and purple orbs these leopards dropped was superior to those he got from the animals in the first map. That alone was enough to satisfy him.
He collected the five purple orbs and twelve red orbs and began to walk.
He moved through the grass vigilantly.
Although Rito felt very strong, he knew there were many who were stronger than him.
Just like in the first map, before it became a part of him, he wasn't able to use the three-dimensional space orbs in his mind. Otherwise, he would've liked to keep the Sage's Eyes active.
...
After walking for a while, he found new prey.
The prey was a beast resembling a sheep, with a pair of sharp horns and smooth fur. There were a total of eleven of them. Each one was at least three meters tall.
'I feel like instead of the animals here being giant compared to Earth's animals, it's me who's shrunk…'
The monstrous sheep were eating the grass, but when they sensed Rito's presence, they immediately looked up, vigilant.
Then, without even seeming to think or fear, the sheep bared their sharp teeth and charged at him, their red eyes glowing dangerously.
Rito's hands transformed into 1.5-meter blades.
*Whooosh!*
He moved calmly and sliced off the head of the first sheep that charged at him.
This served as a warning to the rest, but he didn't give them time to regret or retreat, advancing faster and cutting off each of their heads with ease.
'As expected, I've become much stronger…'
Now, he could keep this ability active without feeling his spiritual mana being drained much.
However… The reality was that he possessed a much larger amount compared to before.
Using the wind, he brought the orbs to him. There were twenty-six red light orbs and eleven purple light orbs. The intensity of each orb was similar to those from the leopards earlier, just slightly weaker. And, once again, no crystal orb.
'Well, this must be the beginner part of the second map…' He thought.
Canceling the blade transformation of his hands, he collected the orbs and resumed walking.
But, unlike the rabbits that from start to finish didn't possess divine arts, he knew that these animals at deeper levels did.
*Whoosh!*
"Dog shit!"
Suddenly, he sensed something coming toward him—it was a wind blade, five meters tall, slicing vertically.
He activated the Sage's Eyes on instinct, but then his eyes began to bleed just from copying that attack, and before he could dodge, he was split in two.
...
Opening his eyes in his room, Rito's mouth twitched slightly.
His lips were dry and trembling.
The worst part wasn't even the pain; the truth was that, just like having his head cut off, he didn't feel pain, but… It's not exactly fun to be sliced in two.
However, sadness didn't overcome him.
'Was that the attack of one of the map's bosses?'
He caught a glimpse of a large blue bird, which made him think it could be one of the bosses of the second map, but… There was a real chance it was just one of many other blue birds that existed in that map.
'By the way… My danger and vigilance sensor needs improvement.'
He only sensed danger when the attack from that large blue bird was almost hitting him.
If he wanted to survive in that map, he couldn't let things continue like this.
'This also applies to real life… If my danger sensor is this bad… Sooner or later, I won't even know who claimed my head…'
Now, he knew there was something to be done: increase his vigilance and not let himself be caught off guard.
He relied too much on the wind to warn him of danger, but he didn't consider that the enemy might control it better than he could. Because of that, he wasn't alerted in time.
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