It had been a long time since anything had surprised it.
Ages passed differently at this depth—measured not in years, but in shifts of the world itself. Kingdoms rose. Magic systems formed. Monsters evolved, adapted, and obeyed.
Everything followed rules.
Until now.
The forest had spoken.
Not with words.
With reaction.
The pulse had been unmistakable—an echo that did not belong to any known category. Not spellcraft. Not divine interference. Not corruption.
Something else.
The Watcher turned its attention upward, through layers of stone, roots, and forgotten ley paths.
It observed without eyes.
Listened without sound.
And found the source.
A human.
Copper-ranked.
Unremarkable.
Weak.
And yet—
The world leaned toward him.
Mana gathered around his presence without command. The land itself had responded before his awareness, amplifying what should not amplify.
The Watcher processed this slowly.
**Impossible.**
Anomalies existed. They always had. But even anomalies obeyed boundaries.
This one did not.
> *He does not reach for power,*
> *and yet power answers.*
Monsters had felt it too.
High-tier entities—beings driven by instinct older than civilization—had hesitated. Some had retreated. Others had frozen entirely, awaiting a signal that never came.
They did not recognize him.
That frightened them.
The Watcher considered intervention.
Then dismissed it.
Interference would accelerate recognition.
Observation was required.
The system—ancient, layered, and self-correcting—shifted subtly, attempting to classify the anomaly.
It failed.
No designation applied.
No threat index stabilized.
No corrective force engaged.
For the first time in recorded cycles, the world itself hesitated.
The Watcher focused again on the human.
He was afraid.
Confused.
Unaware.
And that made him dangerous.
> *If he learns what he is,*
> *the world will change.*
>
> *If he does not,*
> *the world will still change.*
The Watcher withdrew its attention—not retreating, not abandoning.
Waiting.
This anomaly did not need pursuit.
Existence would draw consequences to him on its own.
And when the next echo occurred—
It would not be contained by a forest.