When they emerged from the portal, Professor Arya's displeasure over their performance hung in the air. She walked with a purpose towards a tent where Rook was resting. His expression showed devilish satisfaction laced with relaxed contentment. Only Rook, having borne the day well, was to be excused to rest.

"Rook," Professor Arya entered the tent with a scowl, not bothering to waste words. Rook and Ayush were seated together, Ayush sipped casually at a drink while Rook nibbled at a snack. Rook raised an eyebrow in question as he took an invitation card from Professor Arya.

"This is for the elite hunters' meeting," she said flatly. "Normally, it's reserved for the top student hunter, but I've decided to give it to you."

Rook just nodded, his mind racing, as Professor Arya turned and exited without waiting for an answer. The invitation still in his hands, Rook turned to Ayush with a smirk, knowing full well he was goading him. "Ayush, I'm afraid I can't bring you along. Maybe next time."

Ayush, ever the instigator, leaned back with a mischievous grin. "No problem at all. That meeting is being held at my family's estate."

Now, the irritation in Rook flared; he couldn't retort back. Jealousy had started simmering inside. He silently cursed, resenting the privileges that came along as part of wealthy Ayush's background.

Rook returned to a small, dirty room, too well known to him. But he was cheerful for two reasons: the test of his new powers had turned out to be a success, and more importantly, results were promising as it waas more than what he expected.

Except, of course, that he couldn't quite rid himself of certain thoughts connected with Ayush family back ground. Those musings he set aside for now and began to explore with interest the pocket world.

As he was just about to get settled in, his phone buzzed. Rook read the text greedily: "Dear Rook, thanks for cleaning up the portal. Your share of essence ores will be delivered tomorrow."

His face lit up straight forwardly with excitement. "With these F rank essence ores, I can soon reach Peak F rank. From there, I'll just need an entry pass to E rank and gain some crystals there to progress further ", he thought about his further development.

Rejuvenated, Rook-himself refreshed himself with the refreshing shower. "Now, another journey to another world: how fortunate am I!" he exclaimed in front of himself after getting a little too confident about the new prospects like the pocket world that came his way, all oblivious to the kind of dangers he could encounter.

Not much else would fit in the cramped room, so Rook crossed his legs on his bed. He closed his eyes to posture himself within the white dimension. Opening them again, he found himself in an endless world with dazzling white marble floors right before his very eyes.

He walked up to the card with world-bending sigils on it and an image of a lush grassland. "Pocket World – 1: Faerie Felldown: Enchanting Realm of Fairy Grasslands. Well, what a long name. How do you even spell it?" Rook murmured to himself, bamboozled by the intricate title.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The moment Rook touched the card, he felt a wave of essence come over him, whisking him to the grassy plain, familiar this time. Only this time, it was covered in beasts made of cotton. The round, white creatures that leaped around like rabbits with small, star-likeness in their red eyes—such a sight had almost been soothing, serene. It would have been able to guarantee just from being seen to guarantee a peaceful day to any onlooker.

Rook wasn't interested in the cuteness of such creatures. He wanted more gene species to increase his strength. The gene from these beasts had already provided him more energy than he ever thought it would give, but that wasn't enough. His target was that rat which killed him before.

Determined, Rook began his search in whatever small caves crops of bushes and even holes that were spread in the grassy plain. All attempts were in vain; the rat had vanished. The further out he went, the more subtle the changes around became. The grass grew taller, greener in color, shady green, and the area took on a somewhat creepy feel.

"Is this the same place?" Rook muttered, suddenly remembering that it was here he was murdered by the rat monster before. A chill crept down his spine, but he pressed on, aware that fear might undermine success.

The grass began shaking rapidly all around him. "This, yes, it must be it," thought Rook, his throat tight with a gulp. He was trying to get a grip on his fear, but refuse thoughts of his last death kept gnawing somewhere at the back of his mind.

Rook focused his mind, threshing out all the fear. He moved warily closer. The atmosphere of bad omen seemed to thicken the air, fuel his resolve. The grass quaked with escalating intensity, as his heart threatened to jump through his chest. This was it—confrontation time.

Then, from his lush concealing grass a creature emerged. The rat was huge and dangerous, more than he had remembered it to be. His eyes glowed a wicked red, his body seeming to emanate dark energy as the muscles tightened on Rook.

Rook swung mightily, but the rat had darted out with remarkable celerity. He let fly a storm of slashing set-pieces, each cutting into the grass behind, but the rat had been perfect in its agility, slipping every stroke.

"Gadzooks! You bloody rat, just take one of my punches and I promise you'll see your grandfather in hell!" It was clear in the rising tone of Rook as he began to get irritated. The rat's relentless speed wore him down until finally, he sat down, exhausted and frustrated.

But the rat wasn't afraid; it sat there, recuperating. Its serene demeanor only further infuriated Rook. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He remembered, all of a sudden, the training of Bokken in his childhood. He remembered the lessons; it had imprinted in his mind even though it was so long ago.

Slowly, Rook started to direct his essence to flow in his body—to every bit, to the hands, to the legs, and even to the brain. Now, every organ, including the heart, was pumping with a capacity many times greater. "This is not possible," he thought, promoting massive disbelief. To transfer one's essence that accurately, this needed to be done through a body of great purity.

"This must be the result of those gene crystals," he realized. The essence permeated every cell, enhancing his essence storage and output efficiency.

When he opened his eyes, his vision had sharpened significantly. He could see a dew drop on the grass far away, a feat impossible for an ordinary human. More surprisingly, the world around him seemed to slow down.

That he had picked up clarity and strength changed Rook's approach. The rat still blurred itself with speed, but now Rook could read where it was going. Focused in absolute serenity, he still waited for his time. It leapt, and Rook shifted, a punch slamming into the rat and sending it skidding across the grass.