The Hollow didn't sleep.
Even when the wind died and the moon rose high, even when every bird silenced its cry, the forest pulsed with unseen life—ancient, watchful, and no longer entirely neutral.
Ren walked the boundary of the camp alone. Kael had insisted on posting additional wards, while others from the Green Wake reinforced the perimeter with enchanted totems—glowing stones etched with sigils older than language.
He stopped beside a tree.
It was wide enough to shelter a house beneath its branches, and older than anything Ren had ever touched. He placed his hand on the bark.
It trembled.
Not with fear. With memory.
System Prompt
Ancestral Echo Detected
Access Memory Fragment? [Yes / No]
Ren hesitated.
Then: Yes.
His vision blurred. Not into the bright projections of the Echo Module, but deeper. Into sensation.
He stood—not in his own body—but in someone else's. A figure cloaked in green-gray, with skin rough like bark and eyes that shimmered gold. He was digging. Planting. Not seeds, but something... glowing, humming.
A voice echoed from somewhere within: "So the cycle will never break. From life, we craft death. From death, we birth strength. Let the root bind what memory forgets."
Then it ended.
Ren staggered back, chest rising and falling. The Hollow, still and vast, rustled as if it remembered too.
Memory Fragment Acquired: Rootbinder's Insight
+5% Affinity with Hollow
Passive Trait Unlocked: Whispersense – Sense low-tier consciousness within natural elements.
That last part intrigued him. Consciousness within natural elements?
He closed his eyes. Focused.
And slowly—like tuning into a silent channel—he began to hear them.
Tiny voices.
Scattered, faint, not speaking words exactly, but impressions.
The moss curled with contentment.
The trees whispered of something circling them.
The roots deep beneath? Afraid.
System Alert
Root Network Disturbance Detected
Origin: Subterranean Channel
Threat Potential: Unknown
Suggestion: Investigate before stabilization attempts.
A knock on the air beside him pulled him from the trance.
It was Moss. The fox blinked slowly, fur bristling, tail low.
"Something underground?" Ren murmured.
Moss gave a single nod.
Ren turned toward the base of the ancient tree. Its roots arched and twisted over one another like a cage. Between them, a dark opening yawned. It hadn't been there yesterday.
He summoned the system panel and activated Pulse Sight.
Subterranean Pathway Identified
Estimated Depth: 43m
Status: Dormant Layer – Echo Residue Present
Environmental Modifier: Hollow-touched Cavern
He sent a signal to Kael through the comm crystal. The mercenary's gruff voice answered immediately.
"Found something under the old tree," Ren said. "Going in."
"You need backup?"
"Maybe. But if I don't check now, it might vanish."
Kael hesitated. "Be careful. I don't like what I felt earlier. Something's trying to get your attention, and not in a good way."
Ren descended into the dark.
The roots grew denser, then gave way to soil, then stone. Bioluminescent fungi lit the walls in dim purples and greens. The further he went, the colder the air became—not physically, but spiritually. Like a chill along the spine that came from somewhere older than nerves.
At last, the tunnel opened into a chamber.
The walls were etched with spiraling glyphs—patterns Ren had seen only once before, during the Echo Memory of the Warden of Embers.
System Notice:
Forgotten Sanctum Discovered
Classification: Seed Cradle (Damaged)
Last Use: 837 years ago
Residual Power: 18%
Functionality: Inactive
In the center of the room, nestled in a cracked stone basin, sat something he didn't expect to see.
A third seed.
Unlike the others—one green, one ash-gray—this one pulsed with a soft blue glow, like the sky at dawn. Not angry. Not corrupted.
Waiting.
Item Identified: Azure Seed of Resonance
Classification: Rare / Harmonizer
Description: A seed designed to temper discord between opposing forces. Used by ancient Keepers to prevent seed fusion failures.
Compatibility: High
Ren reached for it.
His hand barely brushed the surface before the chamber shook.
From the wall, a figure formed—not from flesh or wood, but shadow and memory. A hollow-eyed remnant, cloaked in the torn garb of a Seed Bearer, face twisted by sorrow.
"Did you come to finish what we started... or what we failed?"
Ren stood his ground. "I came to rebuild. Not repeat."
The figure trembled. Its voice splintered between tones. "Then carry the burden. Let memory root itself. Let silence fall where ambition once bloomed."
System Combat Interface – Passive Echo Engagement
Objective: Survive Memory Trial
Conditions: Do not destroy remnant. Endure until harmonization completes.
Ren didn't move.
The remnant surged at him—blades of root and shadow, slashing. Ren raised his arms, barrier flickering.
Struck.
Once.
Twice.
Pain lanced through his shoulder. But he didn't attack.
He understood.
This wasn't a fight of strength. It was resonance.
He focused on the Azure Seed. Let his breath align with its pulse. The remnant paused mid-strike.
It shivered.
Sank to its knees.
Its voice now softer. "We only wanted it to grow... but we fed it poison."
The chamber glowed.
Azure Seed Harmonized
Inventory Slot Updated
Seed Integration Expanded
New Trait Acquired: Seed Resonance – Level 1
— Enables stabilization of conflicting systems and energy types.
— Reduces mental strain under fusion pressure.
+3% Domain Resonance
The remnant faded.
The room sighed, and the walls shed dust like the exhale of an ancient god.
Ren took the seed.
And the Hollow above shifted in response.
He climbed back into the night—seed in hand, mind heavier but clearer.
And now, with three seeds, the system pulsed anew.
Something deeper was awakening.