Vic dragged the armored tyrannosaur's corpse toward the cliff. He wasn't about to pass up such fine prey, and besides, he was badly injured and needed food to recover. This was the strongest prey he had hunted so far, and he would pull out its teeth and keep them.
Back at the cabin, he set aside half the meat. The armored tyrannosaur was enormous, like a small hill, and there was no way Vic could finish it in one meal. He would also take some of the dinosaur meat off the island.
Once he had prepared that half of the meat, he started roasting it. As it cooked, Vic fell into thought again. Today he had reached the Realm of Cutting Steel, but he had only just entered it, and there was still plenty of room for improvement. His body and mind could continue to grow stronger, and he would be able to cut through more things. With his talent, steady progress would be no problem, but he couldn't spend too much time on the island. He needed more intense battles. "It's decided! Once my injuries heal, I'll go hunting in the inner forest, hahaha!" Vic was brimming with bold ambition.
After he ate the dinosaur meat, the changes in his body were obvious. His injuries had mostly healed, and a day of rest would see him fully recovered. The density of his muscles and bones had also increased greatly. Dinosaur meat was incredibly nourishing.
Dinosaur bones lay scattered all over the ground. Vic lay down outside, and the moon overhead was much rounder than before. After watching it for a while, he fell asleep. No animals came to disturb him. The ground was covered in dinosaur bones, and these were, after all, the bones of the outer area's overlord. Though only bones remained, its aura lingered, so the animals in the outer area wouldn't come near. Animals from the inner area rarely came to the outer area, so Vic was very safe.
The next day, Vic didn't go hunting. He scattered the dinosaur bones in a circle around the cabin to keep animals from the outer area from accidentally wandering in.
Once he had dealt with the bones, Vic sat cross-legged in the clearing and began to meditate. He wanted to revisit his understanding of this realm, solidify it, and deepen it further.
After all, Vic had entered this realm step by step. He hadn't suddenly leaped in for a look only to fall back out again. His grasp of the realm was very stable, and now he only needed to wield it with ease-as the saying went, acting at will, with the sword moving as the heart desired.
Another day, Vic dragged his prey back to the cabin. He had gone to the inner area that day and felt that there were hardly any large animals in the region between the inner and outer areas. The animals inside the inner area had behaved somewhat strangely. They were all quiet, none preyed on one another, and he had seen few fights. It was completely different from what he had seen in the outer area.
"The forest's a little different today. What's going on? Could it be that the animals in the inner area all live together so peacefully? Are they even wild beasts?" Vic felt that the forest was a little different today. It was very quiet, and the animals were all lying low, but the excitement in their eyes was hard to hide. They were waiting for something. Vic felt that the island was somewhat mysterious, but with his current strength, he still couldn't reach the lake region at its center.
Vic stopped thinking about the forest. He had to take things one step at a time and couldn't take too big a stride. The island's secrets were not something he could covet at present.
Vic prepared the day's catch and began cooking. He roasted most of it, saving some for soup and other dishes. He ate and drank his fill against the hazy sea and a sky full of stars. The moon had not fully risen yet, but it was already very round. Vic regretted not having any wine; if he did, it would have been perfect.
Although Vic was alone on the island, he didn't feel lonely. He had lived alone for so many years in his previous life that he was used to it. Now he looked forward to this world, with so many familiar figures waiting for him to meet them. That was why Vic wanted to grow stronger. If he stood at a higher level, the people he could meet would be more interesting too, wouldn't they?
Vic fell asleep. He didn't know how much time had passed before he was awakened by repeated roars. He went to the cliff and, by the light of the full moon, saw many Sea Kings rising and falling in the water. Because of the cliff, they went around it and came ashore elsewhere. Vic remembered Koshiro saying that he had seen Sea Kings on the island. Vic had been there for half a month without seeing any come ashore, and he hadn't expected it to happen today. He looked up at the bright full moon. Could it have something to do with that?
Vic thought about it for a while but couldn't find any necessary connection. Surely it couldn't be because the moonlight was brightest tonight and the Sea Kings could see where they were going without fear of tripping? Even he didn't believe that. He decided to follow them and take a look. There was definitely something hidden behind this.
Why would the Sea Kings come to the island at the risk of fighting its giant beasts? Vic made his way stealthily toward the shallows, following behind an enormous spiny-eel-shaped Sea King. This kind of Sea King had no legs, so it certainly wouldn't be as dangerous to face on land as it was in the sea. Following it, he met no obstacles along the way. Many animals that were foolish enough to block its path were swallowed whole in a single gulp. Just like that, they reached the center of the forest.
As they neared the edge of the great lake at the center, many animals, large and small, had already gathered around it. When they saw the spiny-eel Sea King approaching, they hurriedly made way.
Vic didn't continue forward. Instead, he jumped to the top of a large tree, then made several leaps across the trees until he reached one at the edge of the great lake. He glanced around and was instantly dumbfounded.
Creatures surrounded the entire lake. The ones closest to it were also the largest, with those farther back growing progressively smaller. Vic could recognize very few of the giant beasts in their various forms. He stared in astonishment. With thousands upon thousands of animals gathered together, it should have been extremely noisy, but that wasn't the case here. Only the occasional roar rang out, and even those were over a good spot. They all faced the lake, anticipation faintly visible in their eyes.
Vic was very puzzled. If they were so interested in the lake, why didn't they go into the water? Soon, he found out.
Two giant beasts were fighting over territory, and one knocked the other into the lake. The water immediately boiled, releasing great clouds of white vapor. The beast screamed repeatedly, and red waves churned in the water. Before long, all that could be seen was a skeleton rolling over once before sinking.
Vic sucked in a breath. He knew how powerful these animals were; even Koshiro had said he couldn't beat them. Despite such formidable defenses, the beast had vanished in just a few minutes. Melted would be a more accurate description. The lake was very strange. Vic knew this world had many wondrous islands and phenomena, but this was his first time experiencing one firsthand.
If I run into a powerful enemy I can't handle in the future, I could lure him here and let him have a taste, Vic thought to himself.
Vic remained hidden in the treetops. He wanted to see just what these ferocious beasts were waiting for, but half an hour passed without anything happening.
When the moon was almost directly overhead, the lake finally changed. A mass of bubbles rose from its center, and waves surged outward in all directions.
This continued for a quarter of an hour, and then the waves grew even larger. Something could dimly be seen emerging from the water, like aquatic plants. Branches of water plants appeared all across the lake's surface, and as they continued to rise, more and more of them appeared.
Time passed, and the surface of the lake for a kilometer around its center was covered with branches. They no longer looked like mere branches; at the highest point, it was as though a huge tree stood there. Vic wondered if there was a whole forest in the lake, about to rise to the surface tonight.
Reality was even more outrageous than he had imagined. As the forest continued to rise, all the branches joined together. That was right: it was just one tree. It was simply absurdly large, its branches spreading almost two kilometers across. The entire treetop formed an arc like part of a great circle. He still couldn't see what was beneath it, as the canopy blocked everything below.
By now, Vic's mouth was hanging open in shock. He had never seen a tree this big in either of his two lives. Perhaps only Jianmu from myth and legend could compare. This world also had Treasure Tree Adam, Sunlight Tree Eve, and the Tree of Knowledge in Ohara, but Vic had never seen those trees. Vic was amazed by the trees in this world. They were enormous! If one were chopped into firewood, how long would it burn?