The frog's corpse vanished into thick smoke and air, just like the hyena, disappearing completely as if it had never existed. It was worth noting that something like this didn't happen on Earth, or even inside a dungeon.
Could this be the effect of the feature Loot? he thought.
Roy felt his body slowing down, the paralysing effect rooting him to the spot as his legs gave way. Even after killing it, he was still suffering.
And there was no level-up this time, which might have eased the venom. Fortunately, the venom was only paralysing and not life-threatening. After about two minutes, he regained his complete mobility as its effects wore off.
"Huh, there were no venomous frogs like this in the studies," Roy muttered, searching through his memory. And he had a couple of huge libraries full of books stored in his head. Most of them were on mundane topics, with only a few dozen related to Ascendants.
Moreover, they got to study the evolved creatures as a compulsory subject.
He considered examining the venomous gland, but decided to leave it for later. No need to risk getting paralysed again.
Roy was contemplating his next move when something fell from the sky—or rather, from a tree. It wasn't as large as the frog monster, but it was big for an ant. Fortunately, it was a known enemy.
Giant Killer Ants weren't much of a threat, at least not at a low level and not without a swarming colony.
So when the ant charged at him, Roy was ready for it. He shattered its exoskeleton with a satisfying crunch, pinning it underfoot to crush it.
[You have defeated a Giant Killer Ant Level 3.]
Roy didn't fear one giant killer ant, but if they came in numbers...
He looked left, right, back, forward, and even up, easily spotting several giant ants, some even larger than the one he killed, busy on their trees, still oblivious to his presence.
Let's get the fuck out of here, Roy thought inwardly, and collected his arrows quickly.
He moved away slowly at first, then began dashing in a chosen direction. He only stopped when he detected no giant ants on a nearby tree.
Now, with all this running and hectic business, he was getting hungry. Not to mention, he barely had anything to eat this morning before he was transported to this place.
Roy looked ahead, now in search of something to fill his stomach.
It took him over an hour to find something edible, though it tasted no good. He also managed to hunt down a couple more of those red giant frogs on the way, nearing closer to another level up.
Roy devoured the wild berries with intensity after confirming they weren't poisonous. They didn't taste great, a bitter acrid taste, which was probably a side effect of the bleeding sun. Well, they did fill his stomach.
There was no shortage of edible fruits around the place. Hundreds of papaya plants, vines of wild berries, and melons spread across rows and columns. Roy would've considered it a well-cultivated land if not for the roughness of the terrain and plants. Still, it looked like it had once been farmland, though it seemed to have been abandoned for some time.
There was even a rundown house on the side, which he hadn't checked out yet.
The sun didn't seem to move much from its high position, still scorching with intensity. Now it was time for some good old hunting, except it wasn't old to him. Four hours wasn't enough to make him an experienced survivor. Roy was new to this, but his augmented power and trait made him somewhat motivated.
Well, as long as the things he hunted were limited in numbers and not too terrifying.
Just then, he sensed a disturbance behind him and turned. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the tangled undergrowth, searching.
A man stood up from the undergrowth, with a weird-looking, long-piped vintage gun in hand. The man crackled in laughter and shot.
A dart flew out and stuck him.
Roy tried to duck, but it came at him with terrifying speed, stinging his neck and immediately putting him on high alert.
He cried out, his hand reaching to yank the dart out as coldness spread through his body.
The man was round and plump, and stood twenty metres away. He looked at him with interest, still cackling a laugh, holding his dart shooter.
As though it was only a game to him, he shot once more into his chest. Roy saw it coming, but like last time, unable to do anything about it.
A deep sense of weakness overtook him. He fell on his knees.
Mana withering poison? His mind cried. He only read about it—a type of poison which empties an awakened's mana almost immediately after injection.
"The lord has finally shown kindness to me," the man laughed, his voice growing near. "The lad will last for a week if I hide it from the others...."
Roy's vision blurred, his head grew heavy, and he heard the man say something more, but they didn't register in his mind. He couldn't tell what it was, but he was damn sure it was nothing good.
Then he collapsed to the ground, unconscious, hoping his [Heart of the Dawn] would be able to help with the poison too.
***