The sun was brutal, blazing down on the endless savannah like a god's unforgiving gaze. The dry wind whispered through golden grass, brushing over a cracked earth that had seen far too much death.
A pride of lions lay hidden in the shade of a rugged outcrop. Among them, nestled between the thick paws of a powerful lioness, a tiny cub squirmed in its sleep.
Leon rolled to one side, warmth enveloping him like a heavy blanket. The heat was suffocating, but oddly comforting. He mumbled in his daze, instinctively trying to stretch out an arm to wipe the sweat off his brow.
But… there was no arm.
His eyes shot open.
Where the hell are my arms?!
Leon's heart pounded. He tried to shout, but what escaped his throat was a high-pitched mewl.
No… this can't be real.
Panicked, he twisted his body, craning his neck awkwardly. What he saw made his blood run cold. Pale tan fur. A stubby tail. Oversized paws and a too-small body. He wasn't human anymore.
He was a lion cub.
A damn lion cub.
His breathing quickened, mind spinning. What the hell happened to me?!
It came rushing back—the cave. The expedition. The impossible coffin.
Leon had been leading an independent exploration in East Africa. Wealthy, arrogant, and thrill-seeking, he always pushed the limit. Archaeology was more than a degree; it was an addiction. The latest dig had taken him into a collapsed valley untouched by time, where he found something no human should've ever seen: a monolithic sarcophagus, carved from obsidian and etched with primitive celestial patterns. Its presence was... wrong. Like it didn't belong to this age, or even this world.
He remembered tracing the inscriptions. Fragments came back to him now:
"Solar catastrophe... divine ascension... evolutionary purge..."
Then came the dizzy spell. The world tilted. Darkness swallowed him whole.
Now here he was.
Reincarnated? Transformed? This is insane...
Out of disbelief, he bit his foreleg hard.
Yow! Pain flared, real and immediate. He wasn't dreaming.
Just as the wave of panic began to crest again, something strange occurred. A faint shimmer lit up in front of him, like light glinting off invisible glass. A translucent blue panel appeared, floating mid-air.
Name: Leonidas(Leon)
Species: Lion
Level: 0 (Next: 10 Evolution Points required)
Vitality: 10
Stamina: 1
Strength: 1
Defense: 1
Agility: 1
Evolution Points: 0
Devour Evolution system activated. Welcome, Host. Initial bonus granted: Ten Potential Stimulants (develop latent biological traits).
Leon blinked. A system? Like in a game?
Hope flickered deep inside. Maybe this wasn't entirely hopeless. He may be a cub... but with this system, there was a way to rise.
"Devour Evolution." The name itself hinted at violence and progress. He needed to feed, to fight, to grow. And judging by the panel, "Vitality" acted like his health pool—drop it to zero, and he was done for. "Stamina" governed physical endurance. "Strength" and "Defense" were self-explanatory. "Agility" would be key to movement and reaction.
And those Potential Stimulants? They might be his only edge in this unfamiliar body.
Leon's analytical mind kicked into high gear. If he could figure out how this system functioned—optimize it—then there was a way forward. He wasn't the type to curl up and die.
Adapt. Survive. Evolve.
He turned his head toward the lioness beside him. Her presence was imposing even in sleep. A natural aura of command radiated from her muscular form.
Just then, another panel blinked open.
Name: Unknown
Level: 4
Vitality: 420
Stamina: 38
Strength: 34
Defense: 32
Agility: 29
Her stats dwarfed his. Damn… that's the baseline for adult lions?
Several other lions lay nearby—siblings, likely. One, a massive male with a thick, dark mane, rested at the center of the pride's circle, basking in a shaft of sunlight.
Leon's eyes scanned him, and sure enough, another panel formed.
Name: Unknown
Species: Lion (Alpha Male)
Level: 6
Vitality: 570
Stamina: 65
Strength: 56
Defense: 54
Agility: 52
So that's the king of this pride.
Leon didn't yet understand the rules of this new world, but the system made one thing clear: power was everything. Levels mattered. Stats mattered. And he was at the bottom of the food chain.
Just then, a movement broke his thoughts. The lioness shifted, dragging Leon back into the curve of her body with a soft grunt. He tried to squirm away, but her grip was absolute.
That's when he noticed the tiny cub nestled beside him—a younger sister, perhaps. Her eyes were still closed, but her mouth suckled eagerly.
A primal hunger suddenly struck Leon like a punch to the gut.
No way... do I really have to—?
Before he could stop himself, instinct overpowered hesitation. He latched onto a nipple and began sucking.
A chime rang in his mind.
Consumed Lioness Milk. Evolution Points +0.1
His eyes widened.
So even this gave Evolution Points?
Then maybe… just maybe… he had more tools than he thought.
As the sweet warmth flowed through his tiny body and the system softly hummed with progress, a glimmer of resolve began to form behind his golden cub eyes.
If this world demanded strength to survive…
He would become the apex.
No matter what.