Chapter 2 - The Beast World

The sun shone intensely over a vast meadow. In the middle of this expansive field, several large trees could be seen, all of the same type but varying in size.

Beneath one of these large trees, a young man was peacefully asleep, the tree providing shade in the scorching heat of the day. The strong winds blowing made it seem almost impossible for the young man to wake from his deep slumber.

The young man sleeping so soundly was Arthur, who had now transmigrated into another world, the Beast World.

Arthur had not yet realized that he was no longer in his small rented room, but instead, he was fast asleep beneath one of the massive trees in the middle of a vast meadow in the Beast World.

Time passed quickly, and soon it was late afternoon. The darkness of night descended quickly in this strange world. Arthur, still asleep, was awoken by the cold night wind. As he stirred from his sleep, he looked around in confusion, noticing that it was growing darker around him.

"Is this a dream? Where am I?"

Arthur was shocked by the sight before him. He should have been in his small rented bedroom, not in a meadow with large trees around him. He was especially taken aback by the sheer size of the trees.

To make sure he wasn't dreaming, Arthur pinched himself. To his surprise, the pain confirmed that what he saw was real.

Arthur even hit his head against the ground to double-check. When he realized that this was not a dream and that what he saw was real, he was even more confused.

"What happened? Why am I suddenly in this meadow?"

Arthur looked around again, trying to recall where he was and how he ended up here.

"I've never known a place like this on Earth," he muttered. Arthur was certain that this could not be on Earth, as he had studied geography thoroughly during his time in college and had memorized almost every place on Earth.

As Arthur tried to piece together his situation, the night fell faster, and the darkness made it harder to see.

He was now beneath the shade of a giant tree, its thick foliage blocking the moonlight, leaving the surrounding area in total darkness.

He decided to move towards an area of the meadow that didn't have large trees so the moonlight could provide some illumination in the dark night.

"What a beautiful sky. I never imagined the night sky could be so stunning."

As Arthur walked toward the open meadow, free from large trees blocking the moonlight, he marveled at the night sky above him.

On Earth, the night sky could be considered beautiful when the stars shone brightly, but here, not only did the stars shine brightly, but the surface of the moon was also clearly visible without the aid of any tools, and there was a stunning, colorful aurora in the sky.

Boom!

Just as Arthur was entranced by the beauty of the sky, a loud explosion echoed in the distance. Startled, he turned in the direction of the sound.

From a distance, Arthur could see that the explosion seemed to come from one of the large trees in the southern direction from where he stood. Curious about what was happening, he decided to investigate. Perhaps he could find out more about where he was, since Arthur was certain that no place like this existed on Earth.

The explosion was about 500 meters away from Arthur, and the distance from the large tree where he had been sleeping to the source of the explosion was about 1000 meters. As he walked toward the explosion, Arthur observed his surroundings. He noticed that the large trees in this vast meadow grew well, spaced about 1000 meters apart.

He also observed that all the large trees were of the same species, differing only in size. The tree Arthur had slept under was around 20 meters tall, with thick leaves. The tree he was heading toward, however, appeared even larger, possibly over 30 meters tall.

As Arthur neared the source of the explosion, another loud "Boom!" echoed in the air. Arthur, now much closer, was stunned by what he saw.

A massive fireball, roughly the size of a car, formed in the air and suddenly struck a large bird, causing another loud explosion.

The bird looked like a giant eagle, but it had horns, and its wings resembled sharp blades, colored gray.

In the opposite direction from the giant bird stood a young man wearing a bright red headband and clothes that resembled a martial artist's gi, but more elegant and suitable for formal occasions.

"This time, you will become one of my beasts!" the young man shouted at the giant bird.

The young man then raised his hands, and another fireball formed in the air. It started small, the size of a tennis ball, but quickly grew larger until it reached the size of a car. Once the fireball reached its full size, the young man yelled an incantation, and the fireball sped toward the giant bird.

The large bird screeched angrily at the young man's actions. The fireball quickly headed for the bird and collided with it.

The bird appeared to be no match for the fireball, and it fell, crashing into one of the large tree branches.

Seeing that the giant bird seemed to be on its last legs, the young man muttered another incantation. From his chest, a white smoke in the shape of chains emerged and headed straight for the bird.

The chains entered the bird's body, and the bird, which had been angry and vengeful moments earlier, now appeared calm and docile.

The giant bird shrank rapidly, its size reducing from that of a house to that of a butterfly.

"Enter!" the young man said, and the tiny bird immediately flew into his chest and disappeared.

"Is this an illusion?" Arthur muttered, his mind racing with disbelief. He rubbed his eyes several times to make sure he wasn't imagining things.

While Arthur was still trying to process what he had just witnessed, the young man turned and seemed to notice that someone was watching him.

"I don't sense any aura from that person. Could they be a mortal, not a hunter?" The young man murmured to himself, staring in Arthur's direction. The young man then decided to approach Arthur to confirm his identity.

In the Beast World, mortals rarely wandered the wilds, as they usually stayed within cities, the safest places free from the dangers of wild beasts. Not sensing any hunter aura from Arthur, the young man was curious and wanted to find out why Arthur dared to wander the wild.

The wilds were dangerous, full of powerful beasts, and only hunters had the courage to travel through them. Mortals typically only lived in cities, where it was certain they wouldn't encounter any dangerous beasts.

Another danger in the wilds was the hunters who followed the path of evil, often torturing any mortals they came across and treating them as slaves.