Second World

"How?" Leavemealone asked.

"By drawing his attention," Tiger God answered.

The hall around them suddenly vanished. Everything turned into a void. Ariki and Tapu were also gone. Only Domon, Mohmed, and Ihhi were still there with him. Everything else was darkness. Even the flaming image of the Tiger God had vanished as well.

"What happens?" Ihhi asked. Leavemealone turned to her. Everyone was moving again.

"We have been transferred to a pocket dimension," Carnelia explained to her. She had been flying around checking the place out when it transformed.

"Must be part of the rite," Mohmed said.

"I thought Tapu was going to explain the rite to us first before sending us here?" Domon asked.

"I think she herself doesn't know the detail of the rite," Mohmed offered his opinion.

"Prepare yourselves, my warriors," the powerful voice from the Tiger God was heard again.

"Prepare for what?" Leavemealone asked.

"Who are you talking to?" Ihhi asked.

Leavemealone looked at her confused expression. He then also noticed the others' expressions.

"I don't think they heard it," Carnelia said. "The voice is only for you. I can hear it because I am connected to you."

"Hear what?" Ihhi asked again.

Suddenly a loud thump was heard. Leavemealone felt as if his chest was getting torn from the inside. The sudden pain was so unbearable it caused him to scream, "AARRGGHHH…!!!"

Everyone was taken aback by his scream. They saw Leavemealone's chest shine with white light. The light intensified and soon covered his whole body. It was as if Leavemealone was being burned from the inside by an intense white flame.

"Haon…!!" Domon called out with worry. He tried to approach Leavemealone but it was like a solid and hot wall was preventing him from moving forward.

The light abruptly disappeared and before them was Leavemealone in his white tiger emperor form. He was panting.

"Why do you change?" Ihhi asked.

"I… I don't… It just happens by itself," Leavemealone replied.

"Then we will be in trouble if we need the white tiger emperor at a critical time. What if your beast form is still in cooldown then?"

"Do not worry," It was the Tiger God who answered, but only Leavemealone could hear it. "Inside my realm, your white tiger emperor form will last indefinitely. I will also grant all of you my blessings."

Four small wisps of white flame fell from the dark sky. The others were alarmed when they saw these falling flames.

"It's okay! Don't need to worry!" Leavemealone told them. He just stood there and let the white flame fall on him. He felt himself getting washed by an incredible feeling. He felt empowered.

The others, who saw Leavemealone calmly receive the falling flame, also embraced these flames. The flame went inside them. They felt a similar feeling to Leavemealone. There was also a thin layer of white aura enveloping their bodies.

Leavemealone checked the status bestowed by this flame.

*

Tiger God's Might (Temporary passive skill)

HP +10,000

Stamina +5,000

All attributes +100%

Recover 100 HP every second

All skills' cooldowns are decreased to 50%

Duration: As long as within the Tiger God's realm

*

Leavemealone was amazed by the buffs. The HP increase was not much for Ihhi and Mohmed, but for him, it practically doubled his entire HP. That was also already considered the HP increase from beast form.

Leavemealone heard the Tiger God's voice again, "I can't hold my other half for long. He has sensed your intrusion here. He will soon give you his attention. Try to last for as long as possible. As long as his attention is on you, I will be able to slowly subdue him again. But beware, you won't be able to use the skills from your divine treasure here. I've disabled all divine-level skills in this realm. Trust me, you don't want to face my other half who has access to his divine skills."

The Tiger God was gone after that. The Tiger God never showed himself, but Leavemealone could feel that they were alone now. Not for long, though. He soon sensed a similar presence to the Tiger God, except more sinister, more malevolent.

"Interloper…!" A booming voice was heard. This time, it was not only Leavemealone who heard it. Everyone felt a shiver. "How dare you come here. I will feast on your bones for this!!"

Shadows appeared in the void. It was blurry at first, but they became clearer. These shadows took shape into a man-shape tiger. Not quite like the cat folks. They were larger, had more muscles, and wore golden armor. Their tiger faces were stiff. It was as if they were wearing masks instead of faces. A thin layer of black light covered their exposed skin.

There were tens of these man-tigers. Most of them were level 60 special elites, a few were level 50 rare elites. They surrounded the four so-called interlopers. Leavemealone and the others had their backs together, facing four different directions.

"What should we do?" Ihhi asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Leavemealone asked back. "Beat them to a pulp!"

"Each person handles one side!" Domon exclaimed.

"Yes, master!" Mohmed uttered.

The four rushed out in the direction they were facing. The man-tigers also advanced. Their hands opened and revealed long dark claws.

Leavemealone used his evolved skill, Fire-infused Fist. His claws burst with red flame. He barged through the man-tigers using White Tiger Charge, then followed up with White Tiger Roar, before activating White Tiger Claws. The elongated claws coated with flame sliced through the man tigers who were still immobilized by the roar.

Leavemealone combined his available skills with his martial arts. He didn't just hit the enemies with his claws. He also used elbows, kicks, throws, or other moves depending on the situation. He fully utilized the advantage provided by his beast form, overpowering his opponents with both brute strength and skills.

On the opposite side, Domon used Ki-weapon enhanced with mana manipulation. The energy light enveloping his glaive was much thicker and longer than normal. Domon's expertise in using mana manipulation on game skills had increased another notch.

With the power-up, Domon used his martial art, Soul Pursuit Hurricane. His glaive danced around the man-tigers who tried to claw at him. The glaive alternated between defensive and offensive with a fluid motion. None of the man-tigers managed to touch him while his glaive repeatedly cut their bodies.

On the other side, Mohmed's tiger-head fist weapons struck with deadly accuracy and speed. Each hit staggered the opponent and allowed him to direct his focus to the next one. Domon had taught Mohmed the Arhat Fist. It was a simple fighting style but highly effective. In its advanced application, it could also become deceptive, striking from unexpected angles.

When there was a chance for Mohmed to use a big move, he would focus his mana manipulation and execute Tiger Punch. Just as when Leavemealone performed the move, a tiger's head image appeared following his fist. The roaring voice of a tiger sounded as the tiger's head smashed into the opponent, who was then struck flying a distance away.

The one who was slightly in trouble was Ihhi. She had the lowest level among the four. Her experience and martial expertise were also the least. But she was fast. She fought with dual-weapon style using twin kukris, which were super rare grade set weapons.

This set weapon had a set ability that provided wind enchantment. The enchantment increased the weapons' attack speed as well dealing additional wind damage.

As the daughter of the headman, she also wore better armor than Mohmed. A complete set of super rare grade protector armor, each at level 55. The complete set gave many extra effects that boosted her performance.

She also had Jack's Flash Step skill and Leavemealone's Illusive Form skill. The Illusive Form increased her movement speed and left mirror images that trailed behind her movement, confusing the opponents that tried to pinpoint her position.

These skills and equipment allowed her to cope with the situation even if she didn't beat the man-tigers as well as her other three comrades. She was having trouble only when she was beset by the level 50 rare elites. But these rare elites seemingly have worse equipment than her.

The man-tigers had the number, but with the Tiger God's Might supporting the four, they managed to slowly defeat the man-tigers.

When the last of the man-tigers fell. The four regrouped again. Ihhi was panting. She also suffered damage. But as a native with a large pool of HP, it was still safe for her if another battle happened. The Tiger God's Might gave her HP recovery ability so her life was slowly recovering.

"Here," Leavemealon gave her a bottle of Greater Healing Potion. This potion healed 2,000 HP instantly. It was not much for a native, but it was still better than none. Ihhi didn't reject the offer. She took the potion and drank them.

"How dare you people resist me… Hmph. We will see how long you can last," The sinister voice was heard again.

Not long after, shadows were seen again. They materialized into the same man-tigers from before but with more numbers this time. Additionally, there were a few large tigers with dark fur behind them. These dark tigers were level 60 rare elites.

"Can you all still go on?" Leavemealone asked.

"It was hardly a warm-up just now," Domon replied.

"No problem!" Mohmed exclaimed.

Ihhi didn't say anything.

"Don't push yourself too much. Stay near me," Leavemealone said to her.

"… Just worry about yourself," Ihhi responded.