The obsidian floor beneath Elias's paws wasn't stone at all it was charred volcanic rock, cooled by the humid, heavy air of the tropics. As the System's reboot completed, the map in his mind's eye flickered into focus.
[LOCATION IDENTIFIED: SIERRA MADRE MOUNTAINS, PHILIPPINES]
Current Sector: Aurora Province - Deep Jungle
Mana Density: Low (Suppressed by ancient Diwata seals)
Elias shook his silver-grey coat, sending a cloud of soot into the air. He wasn't in some distant fantasy realm; he had been reborn back on Earth, but a version of Earth where the thin veil between myths and reality had been shredded. The forest around him was a wall of tangled balete trees and giant ferns, humming with the rhythmic, deafening trill of cicadas.
The Guardian of the Highlands
He moved through the brush, his sapphire eyes scanning the canopy. He missed the girl, Lyra. The explosion had sent her toward the lowlands, likely toward the sprawling, neon-choked ruins of what used to be Manila.
But Elias had bigger problems.
[DETECTION: LOCAL SPIRIT ENTITY]
Class: Sigbin (Shadow-Hunter)
Threat Level: D-Rank
From the shadows of a massive strangler fig, a creature emerged that looked like a nightmare woven from leather and bone. It was a Sigbin, a twisted, dog-like spirit with ears that flapped like wings and a tail used as a whip. It sniffed the air, its nostrils flaring as it caught the scent of Elias's astral mana.
To the Sigbin, this Galaxy Dragon Cat wasn't a predator; it was a rare delicacy, a soul made of starlight.
The First Skill Evolution
Elias felt the empty mana bar in his vision pulse. He didn't have enough energy for a [Void Step], and the Sigbin was closing in, its backward-facing legs clicking against the rock.
I survived a knife in a supermarket, Elias thought, his whiskers twitching. I'm not dying to a Filipino ghost.
[CRITICAL ADAPTATION TRIGGERED]
Environment: Tropical Jungle Skill Mutating...
[Galaxy Consumption] -> [Astral Camouflage: Jungle Ghost]
Elias's charcoal stripes didn't just hide him; they began to bleed into the surrounding greenery. His silver fur took on the hue of moonlight hitting wet leaves. When the Sigbin lunged, its teeth snapping at thin air, Elias was already behind it.
He didn't use claws this time. He focused the tiny bit of mana he had left into his tail. It stiffened, glowing with a sharp, blue light like a laser-edged whip.
CRACK.
The Sigbin yowled as the astral edge severed its connection to the physical plane. It dissolved into a puddle of brackish water and a single, glowing pearl.
[LOOT DROPPED: SPIRIT PEARL]
Effect: Restores 50 Mana / Increases local reputation with the "Diwata" faction.
Elias swallowed the pearl. A warm, golden light flooded his chest, refilling the blue meter in his vision. He looked toward the horizon, where the distant lights of a city flickered through the mountain mist.
He was a Galaxy Dragon Cat in the heart of the Philippines, and he was just getting started.