Leo approached the collapsed stone doorway. With a mere thought, he used Terrakinesis not with force, but with a delicate precision that belied its earth-shattering potential. The rubble shuddered, then flowed aside like water, the individual stones neatly stacking themselves to the side to create a clear, arched entrance. He hadn't even raised a hand.
[That's useful,] he thought, pleased.
He glided inside. The interior was a single, circular chamber, thick with dust and the smell of ages. The ceiling was domed, with a single shaft of light piercing the gloom from a small oculus at the top. Unlike the rough-hewn outside, the walls inside were smooth, carved with intricate, faded murals depicting robed figures pointing staffs at stars. In the center of the room sat a stone pedestal, and on it rested a single object: a bronze compass, its surface green with patina, but its needle still and firm.
[Artifact detected. Possesses a persistent, low-level magical signature. Purpose: Unknown.]
As Leo moved closer to inspect it, his foot-or rather, the part of his form serving as a foot-brushed against a seemingly empty patch of floor. A complex magic circle, invisible until now, flared to life with a malevolent purple light beneath him. Jagged shards of crystallized shadow erupted from the circle, shooting up to impale him. It was a magical trap, centuries old but still potent, designed to shred any intruder.
The shards passed through him.
There was no resistance. No tear. No sound of impact. One moment they were there, the next his gelatinous body had simply flowed around their existence, and they clattered harmlessly against the far wall before dissipating into smoke. The trap had been triggered, had executed its function perfectly, and had achieved absolutely nothing.
[Defensive trap neutralized. Threat level: Negligible.]
Leo looked from the dissipating smoke back to his own, completely undisturbed body.
[Sage,] he began, a new kind of curiosity stirring. [The list. The first thing on my skill list. [Adaptive Immortality]. What does that mean?]
There was a pause, longer than usual. [Sage] was calculating, not the answer, but the consequences of giving it.
[It is the foundational property of your vessel,] the voice finally replied, its tone carefully neutral. [It means that any form of harm, erasure, or negation will only be effective a single time. The vessel... learns. It adapts. It becomes permanently immune.]
Leo processed this. He thought of the Gloom Bruin's claws. The Jackals' fangs. The Titan's stomp. The shadow shards.
[So...] he thought, the magnitude of it slowly dawning in his simple, direct way. [If something tries to burn me, and it works... it will never work again?]
[Correct.]
[If something tries to erase me from the world, and it works... I will come back, and it can never erase me again?]
[That is the functional principle.]
A profound, quiet understanding settled over Leo. He wasn't just strong. He wasn't just durable. He was... a finished puzzle. Every attack against him was just another piece of the puzzle being locked permanently into place, making him more complete, more absolute. He was, for all intents and purposes, becoming a law of reality.
[Oh,] he thought. There was no arrogance in the realization, only a placid acceptance. [So I really am safe.]
The concept of "threat" was redefined in an instant. A threat was merely a temporary inconvenience, a teacher presenting a lesson he only needed to learn once.
He turned his attention back to the bronze compass on the pedestal. He reached out a gelatinous pseudopod and touched it. The moment he made contact, he felt a faint drain, a minuscule cost for using his telekinetic ability to lift it. But that tiny loss was instantly replaced. Energy flowed into him from the air, from the faint magic in the compass, from the very dust motes in the sunbeam-a constant, passive trickle that kept him perfectly, perpetually full.
[Query: What is this?] he asked, holding the compass before his eye.
[This unit lacks specific data. Hypothesis: A navigational tool. Its magical signature suggests it does not point to magnetic north, but to a specific, pre-determined location or source of power.]
The compass needle, which had been still, suddenly twitched. It swung away from the entrance, pointing insistently towards the back wall of the chamber, towards the deepest, darkest part of the Dark Forest continent.
A new purpose ignited. A pointer. A direction.
[Let's see where it leads,] Leo thought, his momentary contemplation of his own god-like power already fading, replaced by the simple, compelling call of the unknown. He tucked the compass into his own body, where it floated suspended within his jade-green form, its needle a constant, guiding spark.
The king of the local food chain had just found a treasure map.