New World, Old Problems

"...and that about sums up your choices for transference. Any questions?"

"Uhh..."

Despite having been given an unnecessarily elaborate explanation about how he would be transferred over to another world, Jaguar Platina couldn't help but to give the divine being a look of pure and utter confusion.

It was a lot of information to digest, even if he didn't have a physical body slowing him down at the moment.

He was just about to ask the divine being a series of questions to helped provide additional clarity...but was thoroughly shut down when the divine being had this say.

"Alright, now that you have been briefed, I'll be sending you over to the the other world...now!"

"Wait, wha-"

Before Jaguar Platina could even finish his sentence, he could feel the world around him suddenly shift and heave as his soul was, for a lack of a better, sent flying towards a predetermined direction.

Evidently, he was sent flying so quickly and suddenly, that he didn't have time to fully process the divine being's parting words until much, much later.

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World Name: Panterros

World Classification: Arcane Cultivation hybrid.

Description: Panterros is a strange world that can actually be divided into three realms that are stacked on top of each other and connected via giant pillar-like gates that run through all three of them at the same time, causing a lot of migration between the three. These realms are known to the locals as the Sky Realm, Middle Realm and Under Realm.

...

The Sky Realm is home to the Celestial Clans, beings known for being beautiful, have incredibly long lives and are capable of wielding the power of natural phenomena and forces of nature known as "tianqi". Of the three realms, the Sky Realm is often considered to be the most beautifu, orderly l and peaceful, but that also considered to be the most...underhanded. After all, bureaucracy is often easy to manipulate if you know the right words and people, and even the most powerful authorities may turn a blind eye for the right price.

...

The Under Realm is where the Demon Tribes call home, and they're often considered the most brutal and vicious looking of the bunch. However, they're also considered to be the most "honest". They'll smash an axe into your face if they don't like you, but at least they'll tell you about it first. Just like the Celestial Clans though, the Demon Tribes can live up to hundreds of years as well. Here, the demon tribes can use something known as "ma-ki", demon energy.

In contrast to tianqi, ma-ki was focused less on the natural and more on the unnatural. Illusions, brutality, lust, pollution, machines, the types of things that can only occur in civilizations and places detached from the realms of nature.

That said, the Under Realm is said to be the most brutal of the realms, a place where only the strong and survive and thrive. After all, it's kind of hard to be anything but when even the flowers spit thorns made of acid and spite.

...

The Middle Realm is where the people collectively known as the Folk live, and this place is often considered to be "neutral ground" as it were.

Here the average lifespan is about seventy to a hundred years and the folk have the ability to use both tianqi and ma-ki but have to be taught in order to use either. That said, the Middle Realm didn't have its own type of power, but instead had complete flexibility.

Both the Sky Realm and the Under Realm have a tendency to "leak" their respective energies and influence the Middle Realm in a myriad of weird and unexpected ways, even by both realm's standards.

That said, the Middle Realm is widely considered the safest of the three realms. At the very least, people can enjoy the easy farm life without worrying about overbearing nobles or wild monsters every five seconds.

...

Now, one would think this disparate distribution of abilities and people would lead to interplanar warfare more often than not, but that isn't the case due to all three realms having access to a universal energy known as "allcana."

Allcana is the energy that flows between the three realms...literally.

The three realms used to be separate from one another, but when the first pillar gates opened several dozen millenia ago, the energy known as allcana became accessible to all.

Allcana was the ultimate equalizer, for it allowed celestials to mimic demons, demons to mimic celestial and folks to...continue do whatever they want without having to learn tianqi or ma-qi.

...

It should be noted that despite the naming conventions of the three realms, and the varying lifespans, all beings that compose them are collectively referred to as, "mortals", due to death being an inevitably for them all.

Whether it was as by time or by violence, all mortals will eventually perish.

That is...unless they cultivate allcana...

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Note that the following is a partial translation from Spanish for the sake of comedic effect.

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*Pop!*

"Bah! Estupido divinity! Give a cabron a warning before you send them flying across space-time! Aish!"

When Jaguar Platina's soul finally arrived to its intended destination, he could feel his soul literally slow down it's flight speed to almost a tenth of its original velocity.

"Alright, donde estoy?"

Jaguar found himself floating over what appeared to be a vast forest, filled with strange plants and creatures he had only seen in books and games.

From what he could recall in that weirdly long lecture from the god-like being, Jaguar Platina had three options in regards on how he manifested on this new world.

The first option was to simply reincarnate. He would need to find a pregnant mother and insert his soul into the developing fetus. Apparently babies didn't develop souls until the literal moment of birth, so there was no moral quandary in accidentally wiping out someone else's chance for a future.

That said, he was mildy reluctant on this idea, since this would mean he would have all of his past experience getting jumbled with his new ones, but it was the best choice of the three.

His second option was to find a place of ancient power and take the form of a living relic.

This would allow him to retain all his memories and develop new abilities in a way completely separate from the usual way everyone else in this world developed power, but with one massive drawback.

He needed to be found by someone, and that could take forever and a year.

This was the second worst option in his opinion, because it was highly dependent on somebody finding him, and then being someone he could get along with.

As for the last option...it gave him the opportunity to preserve all of his memories.

Preserve all of his skills.

And even allow him to skip all of the unnecessary growing and learning necessary to become a full native of his new world.

There was just one problem.

He needed to find a recently deceased body to take over...which he found a little distasteful.

'Even if I got over my aversion to wanting to violate someone's final rest, where would I begin to find a-'

*BOOM!*

'QUE?!'

Just as Jaguar Platina was about to continue his body searching journey, the sound of nearby explosion caught his attention...followed by the sounds crying and screaming.

'Oh no! I have to help!'

Running on pure heroic instinct, Jaguar Platina began to fly towards the source of the noises.

'Screw my own discomfort! Sooner I find a body, the sooner I can help!'

(Un)fortunately, he was going to have quite the selection of bodies to choose from.

...

"Run little worms, run!"

"Aaaaaaah!"

"Bahahaha! Look on the face of this one!"

"Mommy, no!"

"I suggest you simmer down little one, lest you want me to pop your head like I did your old man's!"

"You-you monsters!"

"HAHA! Flattery will get you nowhere!"

In the Shadowmarked Valley, it was a bit of a unspoken rule that unless a village swore fealty to one of the two kingdoms vying for dominance, they were otherwise considered fair game for raiders, bandits and rogue soldiers from either side.

Tokuwa Village was, unfortunately, one such place.

One of the few hybrid villages where Folks, Celestials and Demons all congregated, a majority of the civilians at Tokuwa made their living raising and selling a type of oily grain that could serve as both food and fuel, with some of the more martially inclined villagers opting to be guardsmen or hunters.

Unfortunately, those martially inclined villagers were helpless in front of the power of these bandits.

However, it was moments like these when people's backs were against the wall, and desperation kicks in, that the truly heroic have a tendency to appear from the most unlikely of sources.

...

As the village burned, a not so happy scene was taking place.

On one side, a village girl, a Wood Ermine Folk maiden was doing her best to run away.

On the other, a pair of bandits, one a Hawk-Winged Celestial and a Hammer-Tailed Lizard Demon.

The latter duo had the former backed up against the wall of a burning hut, with rather...unsavory intentions plain on their faces.

Needless to say, the Ermine girl wasn't too happy to be in such a situation. In fact, she was down right terrified.

"No! Stay away! Stay away!," she shouted with fear in her voice.

"Oh don't be like that love, we just want a hug!," the Hawk-Wing joked with a clicking of his talons.

"A nice deep one," the Hammer-Tailed Lizard Demon agreed with a growl.

"Nooooo!"

"Hey! Leave her alone!"

"Huh?"