I Built a Divine Zoo in Another World

For a brief moment, everything went dark, an absolute void where time seemed to have no meaning. Then vision returned, revealing a new world.

But it was not his vision.

The ground was very close. Extremely close, as if his eyes were glued to the ground. Dry leaves filled much of his field of vision, their irregular edges stretching out like an alien landscape.

Small twigs seemed enormous, like fallen trunks. Rocks that Lukas would normally ignore now seemed like considerable obstacles, miniature mountains.

And then came the smell.

Lukas almost recoiled, the intensity hitting him like a wave. It was overwhelming, a cascade of sensory information that his human brain could barely process.

Damp earth. Rotting leaves. Exposed roots. Growing moss. Hidden insects. Decomposing wood.

Hundreds of different scents mixed together in a single forest, each one telling a story.

His human brain needed a few seconds to comprehend that amount of information, to separate the individual smells into a coherent image of the world.

He realized that the rat was standing near a small pile of leaves, chewing on something dark with its tiny teeth. The movement was automatic, instinctive, and without consciousness.

Lukas did not interfere. He simply observed, a silent spectator inside the body of another creature.

The sensation was strange, difficult to describe in words. It did not feel like being inside that animal’s body, nor did he share its sensations or thoughts. It was more like watching the world through a living window, a screen stretching out before him.

The rat continued completely normally, unaware of the presence of his consciousness. It did not seem to realize that it was being watched, nor did it show any reaction to the connection. It continued on its way, sniffing the air and exploring its surroundings.

That confirmed one thing: the connection really worked over distance, regardless of physical proximity. Even though it was almost at the five-kilometer limit, he had managed to establish contact with that distant rat.

Lukas remained like that for a few seconds, absorbing the experience.

Then he decided to return.

He thought of his own body, of the sensation of the wind against his face. The vision disappeared like a bubble bursting, and in an instant, he was once again sitting atop the great rock, the afternoon sun warming his skin.

The wind struck his face, cool and real. The forest was once again simply the forest, its familiar and comforting sounds surrounding him.

Lukas opened his eyes, an expression of amazement on his face.

"Impressive..."

A small smile appeared on his lips, but there was still the most interesting part to test: the commands.

He closed his eyes again, plunging back into the inner darkness. This time, he chose a much closer rat, perhaps five hundred meters away, its presence shining like a nearby star.

The connection happened almost instantly, the transition smooth and natural. His perspective changed, and now he was observing a small creature hidden among the bushes, its black eyes shining in the dim light.

Lukas felt his own heart accelerate, excitement growing in his chest. He knew this was different from what he had done before. He did not merely want to observe, he did not merely want to witness. He wanted to discover whether he could transmit an instruction, whether his will could guide the actions of that animal.

He thought for a few seconds, formulating the command in his mind. Then, clearly, he sent the command.

{Climb to the highest point in the area.}

The reaction was immediate.

The rat stopped, its small body becoming completely motionless, as if it had been frozen in time. For a second, it seemed confused, its tiny ears moving as if it were trying to understand something.

Then it began to move, its instincts responding to the command.

It ran toward a nearby tree, its tiny paws finding the rough bark. Its claws gripped the surface, and the animal began to climb with impressive agility, its tail moving to maintain its balance.

Lukas followed everything through that vision, feeling every movement, every leap. The rat reached one branch, then another, climbing higher and higher. It jumped between two branches, its small body describing an arc through the air. Finally, it reached one of the highest parts of the tree, a privileged position that offered a wide view of the forest.

And then it stopped, waiting.

At that sight, Lukas felt a wave of satisfaction run through his body. It worked. The command was not merely a suggestion or a request; the rat had actually obeyed, executing the command with precision.

Lukas immediately returned to his own body, the connection unraveling like a thread snapping. He opened his eyes and, for a few seconds, remained silent, processing what had just happened.

Then he looked at his own hand, as if seeing something new in it.

"I can really give orders..."

He slowly closed his fingers, feeling the strength in his hand. The discovery was much greater than simply being able to see through animals; he could command them, guide them, and use them as extensions of his will.

And there was another detail, a crucial observation that he needed to consider. The instant he sent the command, Lukas had felt a small change within the Lunar Source, an almost imperceptible decrease in his energy.

A tiny amount of mana had disappeared, consumed by the execution of the command.

It was almost insignificant, but it was there.

Lukas concentrated again and analyzed his own Source, assessing the expenditure.

"So commands really do consume mana..."

The ability was not free; it could not be used indefinitely. The greater the number of rats controlled, the greater the expenditure would be, with each command requiring a portion of his energy.

Lukas began making rough calculations in his mind, estimating the amount of mana consumed by that single command. If each individual command required that amount...

"Maybe I can give approximately fifty commands to a single rat before exhausting the available mana..."

He thought a little longer, expanding his reasoning.

"Or a single command to fifty rats at the same time, depending on the complexity of the command."

It was only an estimate, a guess based on a single experience. He would need to test it many more times before being certain, exploring the limits of his new ability.

But even so, it was powerful. Very powerful.

A smile slowly appeared on Lukas’s face, illuminating his features. He looked at the forest around him, at the sea of green stretching all the way to the horizon. Twenty thousand rats, an area of approximately five kilometers, an ability capable of transmitting commands, and there was still the possibility of evolution, of growth, of new powers that could awaken with time.

Lukas let out a small laugh, the sound echoing across the hill.

"So..." He rose from the rock, his movements filled with energy.

"Now I can consider myself a new Rat King, can’t I?"

The sentence came out almost like a joke, a pun he could not resist. But there was truth in it, a reality he was still processing.

He still did not know whether Rourke also possessed that ability, whether the little rat had any control over his fellow rats.

Perhaps the former Rat King had passed something on to him, a spark of his power.

After all, the intelligence required to formulate complex commands seemed very different from the natural instinct of an animal. The former Rat King was a Rank A creature, intelligent, dangerous, and capable of controlling an enormous horde with millimetric precision.

Rourke... was simply Rourke. A small rat that liked sleeping near him, that explored the forest with curiosity, that trusted him without reservation.

Lukas had no way of knowing how much of that ability truly belonged to the small animal, nor what the exact nature of their connection was. He would only discover that with time, with more experiments and more observations.

For now, he did not need to worry. He had obtained an extraordinary ability, a power that would change the way he interacted with the world. And, more importantly, it came from someone he trusted, a connection he valued more than any power.

"Alright!" Lukas clapped his hands once, the sound echoing across the hill.

"You can come back!"

His voice echoed across the hill, filled with joy.

It did not take long. The beating of wings appeared above the trees, and Astra appeared first, descending in elegant circles before landing on Lukas’s arm, her wings folding with precision.

Soon after, the vegetation moved, and Tilbo emerged from among the bushes, walking heavily toward him, his antennae moving in recognition.

Rourke was the last. The small rat emerged from behind a root, his gray form coming out of the vegetation, and ran across the grass with his characteristic agility. When he reached Lukas’s feet, he began climbing up his leg, his tiny paws gripping the fabric.

Lukas laughed and helped him, placing him back into the pocket of his robe, feeling his small, warm body against the fabric.

"And you, little Rat King..."

Rourke poked only his snout out, his whiskers trembling.

Lukas gently touched his head, his fingers stroking the soft fur.

"We still have a lot to discover."

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