After a few hours of conversation, and insisting the old man named Hokai to call me by my name, I can conclude that I was in a different place but still on the same planet.

My previous island was quite close to here, just not accessible by the rules of the battle world. It seems like each challenger like me was supposed to finish their 'initial tournament' before they reached places like this where the real battle begins.

The old Hokai, who was almost a hundred years old, explains that there are several Great Beasts like me scattered across the land. Some choose to protect villages or domains, while others choose to terrorize and kill villages and domains.

The village I am in, Boroboro Village, was one of those that is under threat of being destroyed. That was why Old Hokai offered himself to me as a tribute to spare the village. He thinks that if he gave something to the Great Beast, it would be kind enough to spare the village.

"Can you tell me where this threatening Great Beast was? "

"Why do you ask, Great Yohan? "

"Sigh... I just wish to meet with them and maybe have a talk about it.

Maybe I can change their minds. "

"But... But.... you are a Great Beast!

Aren't you supposed to be... like... fearsome and Terrible? "

"Sigh.... I am different, Hokai.

I am a civilized being and I choose to be civilized. "

I was thinking about telling them that I was human before I became a Great Beast, but seeing that asking him to stop calling me Great Beast took almost a full hour, I held my tongue and chose to keep it to myself.

As my conversation with Old Hokai went further, the villagers started to get curious and began to take a look. A few younger villagers look curious, while the older ones have a look that shows either fear or hate.

I can finally understand the fear, but why hate?

*****

I take a seat on the corner of Boroboro Village. I chose this because, aside from this place being secluded and away from the crowd, it will bring me more peace. This also saves me from the shame of having my butt and sword seen by the villagers.

I have at least that much decency!

I am thinking about asking the villagers for some pants, but by the look of it, this village looks like it can barely provide for itself.

Other than keeping myself decent, I also take this place to let me think peacefully. There are several things that I have to address here.

The first is that I am huge. The humans here were the normal size, and I am quite gigantic compared to them. I think I am about five or six meters tall if the humans here have an average height of one hundred seventy centimeters.

This means the other Great Beast could probably be the same size or maybe bigger than me. I hope they are the same size, though.

Secondly, I have to look at the status page.

Mission :

1. Reach a village and become the protector of the village.

2. Reach Rank One on the list and maintain it for six months.

Progress : Rank 10/10

Name : Yohan

Race : Were Lion (Male)

Status : Healthy (normal)

Skills :

- Challengers Mind

- Hybrid Instincts

- Basic Civilization Knowledge

Aside from having two missions, I just realized that my race is now a Were Lion. Of course, I know that naming myself Lion-Man is stupid, but Were Lion does sound better.

Another thing to note is that I have a new skill called Basic Civilization Knowledge, which I think is the reason that I can speak with humans in this world.

They sound just like anyone from my city, while I think I sound like I am talking in their language to them. This skill is magical in one way or another.

Finally, the third thing, is that there is more to the mission than is written on the status page.

As I talked to Old Hokai, he told me that many other challengers besides me had come before, maybe hundreds or even thousands of years ago. Some of them died in battle, while others managed to win and climb up to the next battle.

Is there another battle after that? Even the Old Hokai has no answer to that, despite his age, that comes close to a fossil. Hah!

Seriously, this means I have to fight for my life, reach higher battles, or die uselessly. Of course, I don't want to die, but I also don't want to fight. Can I just leave all this and go back home? Bail out and forget everything?

As my heart begins to stir and fear crawls into my heart, a soothing wave suddenly appears out of nowhere and calms me down. I think it is a skill. I know it is. Trust me!

I am done contemplating, and it is time to move. The Old Hokai has answered my question and filled me with the knowledge that I didn't have, which means I have to repay his kindness by helping them escape the danger that haunts them.

Old Hokai said that the Great Beast is somewhere in the distance, right behind the very place where I first woke up today. There was supposed to be a hole in the ground where the Great Beast takes its lair.

Without saying anything to Old Hokai, I stood up and left the village. Of course, my big body will let everyone in the village know that I am leaving, but at least the vibe will make me look like a soldier leaving battle. That somehow feels so cool!

I walked fast, and in no time I reached the place where I first woke up. I don't know how, but there was no sign that I had ever been there. The grass looks healthy and fine as if nothing is ever happening here.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Then I walk away from my waking place and go into the far distance. I walked for another hour and began to wonder why I was not getting tired. I conclude my question immediately by thinking that it is one of the few perks of being a Were-Lion.

I walked some more, and, after another hour, I found the hole. Or holes, if I want to be more precise. It was like landmines in a war zone, with holes filling the land as far as the eyes could see.

I tried to look into the nearest hole and had to accept that I could not see anything at all inside. It was too dark.

Then how can I find the Great Beast? Hmm.

Let's do it like a normal human in a modern human civilization.

"HELLO, GREAT BEAST!

COME OUT! I WANT TO TALK TO YOU! "

Yep! It is very civilized.

Shouting as loudly as I can right into the hole is the most civilized thing I can do in this situation.

Brrrrr!

The ground suddenly begins to tremble as if something, or many things, is moving. Oh, I hope I didn't poke a hornet's nest!

I take a few, maybe more than a few, a lot of steps back and see rows of stone-skinned rabbits climbing up from the holes. Each of them was covered in different kinds of stones that act as both skin and armor.

The rabbit's size was about that of a human when standing, with some variations, while a few select ones seem bigger than a human.

Then a bigger rabbit appears in the middle of the stone-skinned rabbit. Its size is about a little shorter than mine, also covered in stones, and it appears to be confused when it sees me.

"Hello, there are new challengers.

Why are you calling me out? "

The rabbit's voice sounds like that of a girl. Based on the voice, was comparable to that of a young, fresh-graduated girl around seventeen to eighteen years old.

"Hello there!

My name is Yohan, and I am here to talk about your attack on the nearby villages.

I want you to stop attacking them, as it puts them in danger of hunger and death. "

"How long have you been here?

Did you know that we have missions?

My mission is to destroy the villages and make sure none of the villagers survive. "

"You have that kind of mission?

My mission is to protect the village, can you at least spare one for me? "

"No, my target is the village around here, and that means everyone has to die.

Thank you for stopping by, new challengers, but since our missions collide with each other, that means I have to kill you.

Kids! Kill this beast for me. "

Kiikk kikkk kiikk

Oh boy, that was going way south of my plan. I quickly turned around and began to run while about a hundred of the stone rabbits started to chase me.

I ran as fast as I could, running in another direction from Boroboro Village, to avoid bringing them into the problem that I created.

It turns out my speed was way faster than that of the stone rabbits, but they kept chasing me anyway. Even when I already left them for quite a distance, they soon appeared and prepared themselves to kill me. Can we have a civilized conversation here?

Running out of options while also being afraid to drive too far from Boroboro Village, I decided to stand my ground and fight.

These rabbits were small, so I could probably kill them quite easily.

soon, one of the rabbits managed to get close enough to attack me. It jumped at me and tried to bite me. I responded with a fist to its face. The results were both satisfying and humiliating.

Satisfying because I can see the rabbits burst like balloons, bits of flesh and blood sprayed around like water.

Humiliating because somehow I forgot that I have claws, which means that when my hand balled into a punch, my claws stabbed into my palm and wounded my hand.

Ever seen a lion forget that it has claws? That was me.

The other rabbits soon follow the first one and pounce at me, trying to either bite me or slam me with their stone bodies. Now that I remember that I have claws, I respond to their attacks by clawing them. Each swipe of my claws can kill two or three rabbits, while their bites leave a little scratch on my body.

Scratch that soon turns into bloody wounds as the number of rabbits somehow keeps increasing. I began to get tired after I killed about two hundred rabbits. My muscles feel sore, while my head feels like spinning from looking around and finding my next target for so long.

Frustrated and tired, I instinctively roared with all my might.

ROAAAARRRR

My roar appears to have had a significant effect on the rabbits. They started to look hesitant, while some in the distance began to run away.

I roared once more, a lion roaring filled with frustration and anger from being attacked for no reason other than having a different mission. I feel wronged. I got the same feeling when my supervisor blamed me for a job that he failed to do.

My second roar somehow had a more potent effect, as the nearest rabbits to me started to fall unconscious with their mouths foaming while the next one started to run away in panic.

Soon all the rabbits ran away, leaving some unconscious rabbits near me. I decided to just kill the unconscious one and collect their body as a goodwill offering to the Boroboro Village. Maybe they could help me make pants from these rabbit furs?

Meanwhile, a blue screen appears behind my back, showing a new kind of notification for me.

Congratulations!

New Skills Learned :

Thundering Roar