Chapter 12: Still Waters, Deep Roots
The flames vanished.
Riven stood panting in a space that shimmered like glass, the burning trial behind him.
A new gate appeared.
Cool. Silent. Carved from translucent stone.
At its center swirled a single glyph—deep blue, rippling like waves under moonlight.
"The Second Gate is Water," the voice intoned again. "Will you yield to the tide, or fight against it?"
Riven stepped forward. As soon as he touched the gate—he vanished again.
He fell.
Into a sea.
But it wasn't made of water.
It was made of memories.
Each droplet carried a moment from his past life—the moment he died, the experiments, the laughter of old comrades. Then older memories still, stretching back into the depths of his soul.
Even before the experiment.
"You must remember without breaking," the voice echoed from the deep.
The water tried to pull him under, to drown him in what he used to be. What he lost. Who he failed.
But Riven clenched his teeth. He wasn't that man anymore.
He wasn't the dead scientist.
He wasn't a tool of the old government.
He was something new. Rooted in fire and water.
Rooted in pain and choice.
"I accept who I was," he whispered. "But I walk forward."
The tide shifted.
Outside, Kara deflected the Guardian's strike, her body skidding along the stone floor, feet digging trenches. The Remnant Guardian hissed, bones groaning, bark-shell vibrating with eerie harmonics.
Elysia dropped beside her, blades flashing, slicing at the Guardian's hind legs, while Vera summoned waves of force with every arc of her hands.
"We're not slowing it down!" Kara growled.
"We're not meant to!" Yen shouted from behind. "We're just keeping it away from him long enough—"
A roar cut her off.
The Guardian surged forward—and the runes around Riven's unconscious body began glowing fiercely, reacting to the tension.
Then… the air cracked.
In the Cradle Plane, Riven's eyes opened beneath the sea.
From deep within his dantian, the Water Root bloomed, forming its second ring of resonance. Cold, but calming.
You have awakened the Fifth Vein of Body Foundation.
Water root harmonization: 37%.
He surfaced in the dream-sea, gasping as the illusion shattered.
The next platform awaited.
Outside, the Guardian froze mid-lunge.
Five sharp roots burst from the ground beneath Riven's body, glowing blue and red—the first signs of the tree's true defense.
The Guardian hesitated. Snarled.
Then struck again.
But this time… it was pushed back.
A barrier of raw elemental force surrounded Riven, humming with power.
Yen narrowed her eyes. "He's pushing through. That means…"
Elysia smirked. "The tree's waking up."
Far beyond the ruined valley, on a floating citadel cloaked in clouds, a figure in white robes stood at the edge of a balcony.
His eyes glowed faintly—watching the elements spiral from afar.
A servant approached. "My Lord, it is confirmed. The Fivefold Root has awakened in the boy."
The man didn't answer immediately.
Then, softly:
"Tell the Legacy Council… that the Trial Tree has begun to bud."
Back within the Plane, Riven looked ahead.
Three gates remained: Earth. Air. Lightning.
He wiped blood from his mouth. His arms ached. His soul trembled from the strain.
But still—he smiled.
"This is just the start