[Cass]
Sleep didn't come easily. Not after Rootwater.
Every time Cass closed his eyes, he saw the centipede-thing's jaws snapping in the lantern light. He felt the sting of the acid water. He heard the screech echoing in his bones.
But the satchel of herbs lay beside him, proof that the risk was worth it. Proof that the hamlet might see another week.
When he finally drifted into a shallow sleep, the System woke him.
[System]:Infection Status Updated - Blue Bloom sighted near Rivermere Delta.
[System]:Global Notice - Unknown outbreaks reported.
Cass sat up, heart pounding. Rivermere. That was surface. This wasn't just their fight.
[Global Forum]
[DeltaScout]: "Anyone else seen glowing veins in the water? Fish acting weird, dying off."
[HerbMaster22]: "Confirmed. Rivermere fish stocks collapsing. Traders reporting shortages."
[Skeptik]: "Fake again. Every week some clown cries plague."
[GuildBroker]: "Auction prices for dried food already spiking. 30% increase overnight."
[BloodPrinceTV]: "BREAKING: Stream tomorrow. We'll test if 'Blue Bloom' is real or just panic-bait. Don't miss it."
[Thread Mod]: Pinned post: System confirmed infection outbreak. Stay vigilant.
[Cass]
Eshna cornered him in the healing cavern the next morning, fury in her eyes. "It's spreading. Rivermere's fish are dying. Caravans will bring that sickness here, Cass. It's not just us anymore."
He met her gaze. "I know."
"Then you know one satchel won't be enough. If the surface collapses..." She broke off, clutching her arms as though to hold herself together. "We'll be starved before we're infected."
Cass thought of his mother, pale in her hospital bed. He thought of the five-year deadline ticking down. He thought of the cavern full of villagers who looked at him as though sunlight itself poured from his hands.
"I'll go deeper," he said quietly.
Eshna's head snapped up. "Rootwater will kill you."
"Not before I take something from it."
Later, at the Dawn Hole, the Warbles gathered as he prepared supplies again. Children whispered, clutching each other. Torv approached, arms crossed, jaw tense.
"You keep going back down there," Torv said. "One day you won't return."
Cass adjusted the straps on his pack. "If I don't go, none of us will return."
Torv's fists tightened. "Then teach me. Don't carry this alone."
Cass studied him. The boy had grown stronger since their first meeting. His eyes burned with conviction.
"Not yet," Cass said. "But soon."
Torv's jaw worked as though to argue. Then he nodded stiffly and left.
At night, when most of the hamlet slept, Cass sat near the faint draft of the Dawn Hole. He stared up at that narrow shaft of light, wondering what the surface looked like now. Wondering if Rivermere truly shimmered with veins of death.
The System didn't lie. But it didn't comfort either.
[System]:Global Quest Unlocked – The Blooming Plague.
[Objective]: Investigate and contain the infection before it spreads.
[Failure]: Regional collapse. Population loss permanent.
[World's Dawn Chronicles Broadcast – TV]
The anchor's smile was polished, but her eyes betrayed unease.
"Reports are flooding in across multiple regions. The so-called Blue Bloom has begun to spread. Rivermere traders confirm fish stocks collapsing. Delta guilds warn of famine within weeks. Officials insist containment measures are underway, but…" She paused, lips pressing tight. "Confidence is low."
A panel of analysts filled the screen, each arguing louder than the last. Was this a scripted event? Was it random? Could guilds exploit it?
The final commentator leaned forward. "Mark my words. This isn't flavor text. This is a wave. And when it crashes, only the prepared will survive."
Back underground, Cass checked the herbs he had gathered. Even with Eshna rationing them carefully, they wouldn't last long. Not with the infection reaching the surface.
He touched the spear resting beside him, the eel-chitin scarred from Rootwater's depths. His path was clear.
[System]:Quest Progression – Rootwater's Depths available. Accept?
Cass closed his eyes, then whispered: "Accept."
The cavern seemed to lean in closer, as if listening.
[Forum – Side Thread]
[Explorer88]: "Why's the infection showing up in two places at once?"
[MetaWatcher]: "System seeded it global. Forces Lords to prep food, medicine, hygiene. Anti-turtle mechanic."
[GhostLordRumors]: "Bet Ghost Lord's already farming it."
[IronFist88]: "Or he's dead. No one lasts long underground."
[Anonymous]: "What if he brings the cure?"
[Cass]
That night, Cass couldn't sleep again. The infection was rising, the world was fracturing, and everyone looked to ghosts - rumors, faceless Lords, masked names - for salvation.
He wasn't a savior. He was a man trying to save one life. But if that path meant walking deeper into Rootwater, deeper into the dark, then so be it.
He sharpened his spear by the lantern light, steady, methodical. The hiss of metal on stone echoed in the silence like a promise.