As the Kristal ng Potensyal touched Miguel's skin, it burst into brilliant light—colors swirling across its surface like a galaxy being born. Red nodes blazed to life across his body, then blue, then green, then gold—until the entire chart on the wall seemed to glow in response.
"Hindi maaaring mangyari—this cannot be," Amihan breathed, stepping back in awe.
Lola Sabel's eyes were wide with wonder as she traced the light trails across Miguel's skin. "Forty nodes… fifty… sixty… it won't stop. The crystal has never shown this before."
"What does it mean?" Miguel asked, watching as the light continued to spread.
"It means your potential is limitless," Lola Sabel said, her voice trembling slightly. "You can awaken every node in every cultivation level—and perhaps even nodes we didn't know existed. The ancestors spoke of this, but we thought it was only legend."
A younger Babaylan named Lila rushed into the hut, her face pale. "Elder—we've spotted smoke to the north. Strange tracks in the earth—they look like… like claws, but twisted, wrong."
Lola Sabel's expression hardened. "Evil cultivators. They've found our trail." She turned to Miguel. "Your training must accelerate. We'll start with Body Cultivation—Sub-Level One, the first node at the base of your spine."
"Teach me," Miguel said firmly. "I won't let them harm this place."