Looking at the enormous creature standing before him, Shad Darc couldn't help but grin.
At first glance, it looked like nothing more than an oversized house cat.
Everything about it reminded him of a feline: its posture, its movements, the shape of its head, and even the faint curiosity in its gaze. The only obvious difference was its eyes.
They resembled those of a reptile, with vertically slit pupils surrounded by a mixture of pure white and dark green.
Its fur was a combination of dark gray and white, and its apparent size was roughly comparable to that of a fully grown male lion.
Shad didn't know where his confidence came from. Facing a creature that large should have made him cautious, especially after everything he had experienced in this forest.
Yet one thing remained certain.
He wasn't planning to lose.
"Still, this is an oversized cat. It should be more troublesome than the creatures I've fought before."
'At the same time, it might be easier,' the Pondering Fighter remarked.
'You've grown considerably stronger since you first arrived in this world,' the Meditating Advisor added. 'Your control over Energy Flow has also improved.'
'But if it possesses even a few characteristics of an actual house cat, it could be more troublesome than the previous creatures,' the Lonely King said.
Shad's grin faded slightly.
"Why does that sound worse than what you just said?"
He began moving toward the creature.
The oversized cat didn't react.
It simply stood where it was, watching him in silence.
It made no attempt to attack, retreat, or even adopt a defensive posture. Instead, its reptilian eyes remained fixed on Shad, carrying a strange mixture of surprise and confusion.
Of course, Shad couldn't know what the creature was thinking.
But for some reason, he felt as though it was looking down on him.
Not cautiously.
Not fearfully.
Almost as if it considered him an amusing little creature that had wandered too close.
The thought irritated him.
He stopped when the distance between them had narrowed to roughly thirty or forty meters.
To his surprise, the oversized cat began walking toward him.
Shad raised an eyebrow.
"Have I finally caught your interest?"
'I think you're interpreting the situation incorrectly.'
The Meditating Advisor's voice interrupted him.
"What do you mean?"
'Hmm. The creature doesn't appear to consider you a threat. It seems to regard you as something amusing.'
The Pondering Fighter followed up.
'Well, that's hardly surprising. Nobody ever seems to take you seriously. Even on Earth, people usually saw you as an ordinary weakling rather than a genuine threat.'
Shad's expression twitched.
"Now that you mention it, that's actually how things have always been."
He shrugged.
"People never really saw me as dangerous. But I can't blame them. If only they knew what I—"
Something touched the top of his head.
Shad froze.
A massive paw rested gently against his skull.
For a moment, his thoughts stopped.
He slowly raised his eyes.
The creature's paw alone was large enough to cover most of his head.
Then his perception changed.
The creature before him was not the size of a fully grown lion.
Not even close.
His mind struggled to process what he was seeing. The creature's body rose far above him, its massive frame stretching across his field of vision.
It was larger than an adult male African elephant.
Shad had never seen a living elephant in person. They had already become extinct on Earth long before his time. However, he had seen photographs and videos.
Those memories were enough.
His heart sank.
A wave of fear surged through his body.
He lowered his head instinctively, sweat appearing across his forehead. When he looked up again, the oversized cat seemed to be smiling.
Or at least, its expression resembled a smile.
That was the most terrifying part.
Shad immediately pulled away.
He stumbled backward, putting distance between himself and the creature. His breathing became rough and uneven, as though he had just sprinted for several kilometers.
"Calm down, Shad Darc. There's no need to panic. Just calm down."
He tried to steady his breathing.
It didn't work.
His heart continued pounding violently, and his body began to tremble. No matter how hard he tried to regain control, the fear seemed to have taken hold of him completely.
This was wrong.
Very wrong.
Shad had experienced fear before. He had faced dangerous opponents, endured life-threatening situations, and fought creatures that could have killed him in an instant.
But this was different.
His body was reacting far more intensely than his mind believed it should.
The giant cat continued watching him.
Its reptilian eyes held what appeared to be amusement.
Shad was visibly terrified, but the extent of his reaction didn't make sense to him. He was afraid, yes, but not to the point where his body should have been shaking uncontrollably.
He remembered exactly what had happened.
The creature had moved.
It had placed its paw on his head.
And he had been unable to move.
Why?
Why had his body frozen at that moment?
And why had the fear become so overwhelming?
Shad clenched his fists, trying to force his trembling muscles into submission.
It took nearly all his willpower just to maintain his distance.
'This reminds me of what happened with the giant anaconda,' he thought.
'There are similarities,' the Pondering Fighter replied. 'You failed to perceive their true sizes at first. You only understood the reality after the situation had escalated.'
"But this is different," Shad muttered. "I recognized this creature's true size before a life-or-death battle."
'Exactly,' the Meditating Advisor said. 'You saw its true size without needing to fight it first.'
Shad swallowed.
"Then do you think there's a reason for that?"
'No.'
The Lonely King answered so plainly that Shad almost felt offended.
'The most likely explanation is that you've grown stronger. Or perhaps you've become more attuned to this strange environment. You're beginning to perceive the truth of this world, just as you did with the trees and plants.'
A brief pause followed.
'And don't ask me how I know. I don't know either.'
Shad released a mental sigh.
'Yeah. That makes sense. It's similar to what happened when I finally recognized the true size of the trees and plants. That realization helped me understand how large the bear-like creature and the giant anaconda actually were.'
'Hmm. Too many things about this place remain unexplained,' the Meditating Advisor said. 'There may be more going on than we currently understand.'
'Save that for later,' Shad replied. 'Right now, I need to regain control of my body.'
'Then treat it like sleep paralysis.'
Shad's eyes narrowed slightly.
'You know how difficult it can become when you're trapped in that state. Think of this as forcing yourself to wake up. Don't fight the fear directly. Force your body to respond despite it.'
Shad took a slow breath.
"Let's try it."
He focused on his muscles.
His legs trembled. His hands shook. His breathing remained unstable, but he forced himself to stand straighter. He concentrated on every small movement, pushing against the overwhelming instinct to cower.
The process was agonizing.
It felt as though he were trying to drag his body out of a deep paralysis through sheer willpower.
But gradually, the trembling weakened.
His breathing steadied.
His muscles began to obey him again.
After what felt like an eternity, Shad finally managed to regain control.
"Phew."
He wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his hand.
"That was harder than I expected."
The giant cat raised one eyebrow.
At least, that was how Shad interpreted the movement.
The creature appeared surprised.
Then its eyes gleamed with renewed amusement, as though the small creature before it had just performed an unexpectedly interesting trick.
Despite its size, it still didn't appear to regard Shad as anything special.
Shad noticed that immediately.
He adjusted his posture and forced a polite smile onto his face.
"First of all, thank you for not attacking a weak and defenseless human like me. I'm truly grateful. I'll remember this day for the rest of my life."
The words sounded sincere.
They weren't.
Even while his body had been overwhelmed by fear, Shad had never truly believed that the creature would kill him if it attacked.
That was the part he couldn't explain.
His body had reacted as though death were inevitable, yet some deeper part of him remained strangely calm.
He continued smiling.
"Now then..."
Shad glanced up at the enormous creature.
"Can we proceed to the next stage?"