They moved in silence for a while.
The trees grew thinner but stranger—twisted into archways, as if the forest itself had once tried to mimic architecture and failed. Roots clawed at Noah's ankles. The deeper they went, the more the world felt… wrong.
This place isn't dead. It's watching.
He glanced at Mira.
She didn't blink much. Didn't breathe normally either.
Like her body remembered how to be human, but her soul had moved on.
"So what exactly are you?" Noah asked finally.
She tilted her head. "That depends. Are you asking what I was, what I am now, or what I'm turning into?"
"All three."
Mira chuckled softly. "I was a girl from the Black Hollow village. Born with a broken mana gate. I couldn't awaken like the others. My parents thought I was cursed."
Familiar story.
"Then I wandered in here," she continued. "And the forest took me in. Taught me how to survive. Fed me what I needed. Now I'm… something else."
Noah frowned. "You let it change you?"
"I didn't have a choice," she said flatly. "Choice is for people who get picked by gods or born into clans with libraries full of cultivation scrolls. People like us don't get choices. We get hungry, we suffer, and if we're lucky—we adapt."
Noah didn't respond. Because she was right.
[Passive Affinity Detected: Adaptive Kinship – Bond potential increasing.]
The System had never shown that before.
Noah eyed Mira. So it's recognizing her too.
Then the wind shifted.
A foul smell, deeper than rot—like something ancient and wet had just stirred.
Mira stopped walking.
"You feel that?" she asked, tone suddenly sharp.
He nodded.
It was like pressure in his skull. Faint at first, then climbing—scraping behind his eyes.
[System Alert: Anomaly Detected | Subterranean Source | Power Rating: Extremely High]
Noah's stomach twisted.
Even the System felt it.
"What is it?" he muttered.
Mira's expression hardened. "There's something buried under the forest. Beneath the corruption. It pulses every few days… like a heartbeat."
"A dungeon?"
"No." She looked at him. "Older. Deeper."
Then the ground shuddered.
Once. Twice.
[Emergency Quest Triggered: Descend Into the Mouth]
Objective: Investigate the Subterranean CoreRisk: ExtremeReward: Major System Upgrade | ??? Trait RevelationOptional: Bring a companion (Success rate +12%)
Before Noah could even decide, the earth cracked open beneath him.
"NOAH—!"
He fell.
Tumbled through dirt and darkness.
Flashes of corrupted roots, glimmers of glyphs burned into stone, and then—
Impact.
His back slammed into cold rock. He groaned, coughing up soil.
[Fall Damage: -17 HP][Physical Adaptation Engaged: Bone Resilience +0.8%]
He opened his eyes slowly.
Everything was glowing faint green-blue, like being underwater without water. The chamber around him was massive—carved out naturally but refined by something… intelligent.
Spirals. Runes. Glyphs.
And at the center…
A core.
Pulsing with tendrils of black and silver light. Suspended in midair like a heart made of mist and stars.
[Analyzing… Unknown Entity Detected: Proto-Origin Core | Status: Dormant | Corruption: 91%]
[Warning: Presence Alone May Induce System Instability]
Noah felt his vision blur.
This… thing… it's alive.
He staggered forward, drawn to it without understanding why.
[Passive Trigger: Echo of the Dead—Absorbing residual memories.]
And then—
He saw it.
A flash of another time. Another person. Another life.
A boy. Older than Noah, maybe sixteen. Desperate. Crying. Bleeding. Reaching toward the core.
"Please… I have nothing left. Give me power. I'll do anything."
And the core answered.
It opened.
And consumed him.
The vision vanished.
Noah stumbled back, gasping.
[Echo Stored: Proto-Origin Attempt #213 | Outcome: Rejection – Host Lost]
Mira's voice echoed faintly from above.
"NOAH! Are you—?!"
"I'm fine!" he shouted, though he wasn't sure.
The core pulsed again. Once. Loud.
Then—
[A choice must be made.]
Assimilate Fragment (Low Risk, Low Reward)Bind Core (Extreme Risk, Unknown Reward)Walk Away
Noah stared.
His heart thundered.
The System didn't guide him this time. No blinking arrows. No helpful hints.
Just silence.
"You said you wanted to be something more," he whispered to himself."Then prove it."
He stepped forward.
And placed his hand on the core.