The days that followed their descent into the Rootworld were unlike anything Ren had known. There was no sun, yet time passed. No moon, yet dreams still found him. The world beneath the Citadel was not merely alive—it was remembering.
Ren sat beneath the golden-rooted tree, fingers extended to the glowing interface hovering before him. The new Seeder Class panel unfolded with a quiet hum, petals of light spreading out like an artificial lotus.
SEEDER CLASS INTERFACE
Status: Active
Core Trait: Genesis Thread
Passive Ability: Rootsense (Detect dormant life signatures)
Active Ability: Shaping Touch – Alter or restore natural structures within connected worlds
System Message: Deeper integration with Rootworld ecosystem enabled
Meka leaned against a nearby stone, arms folded, watching the interface as if it might lunge at them.
"So what now?" she asked. "You grow a tree and suddenly you're some kind of god?"
Ren shook his head. "Not god. Gardener."
Kael laughed softly from where he knelt by a pool of glowing water. "We went from dungeon crawling to divine landscaping. Hells, I didn't see that coming."
Ilis, however, remained silent. Her eyes were fixed on one of the side chambers that had opened when the Seed of Origin was awakened.
It pulsed with blue light.
Ren followed her gaze. The moment he stood, the system reacted again.
New Chamber Unlocked: Memory Roots
Contents: Ancestral Fragments, System Echoes, Proto-Seeds
Warning: Exposure may trigger memory drift
Entry Authorized: Worldbearer Only
Ilis looked at him. "You'll need to go in alone."
Ren didn't question her. Not this time. Somehow, she always knew what the system didn't explain.
The chamber door slid open with a hiss of wind and petals. Inside, the blue glow thickened like fog. The moment Ren stepped across the threshold, he felt it—memories not his own whispering against the edges of his thoughts.
They weren't clear. More like impressions.
A child holding a crystal, crying in a ruined garden.
A voice chanting in an unknown tongue beneath a fractured moon.
A Seed shattering, not from damage—but from grief.
He walked deeper.
And then, a voice spoke—not aloud, but within.
Bearer Prime… you seek to grow. But do you know what was lost?
"I don't."
Then kneel. Remember.
He obeyed.
The roots around him shifted, forming a circle. Images bloomed into the air—people, systems, cities. A world that came before. A world of Builders. They had shaped reality with Seeds not for power, but for art, for sustenance, for balance.
But something had gone wrong.
The system showed him: the corruption of one Seed. A mind that fractured. A will that refused to yield.
A war not of armies—but of worlds.
And at the center of that war…
Another Bearer.
Face obscured.
But the same mark glowing in their chest.
Do not make the same mistake.
Power must be paired with remembrance.
With humility.
The chamber faded. The roots retreated. Ren rose slowly, feeling something now etched into him. A sense of legacy. Of burden.
When he returned to the others, Ilis met his eyes and nodded. She knew. Somehow, she always knew.
"What did you see?" Kael asked.
Ren looked toward the open branches leading deeper into the Rootworld.
"I saw what happens when we forget why we build."
They walked on.
The path turned, split, reformed beneath their feet—alive and responsive to Ren's intent. His system glowed steadily now, not just reacting but anticipating. Every touch of his fingers left faint impressions on the air—paths, possibilities, blueprints for what might yet come.
They passed through chambers of stasis, where dormant Seeds floated in crystal like suspended stars. Through tunnels where ancient glyphs moved like flowing water. And eventually, they arrived at a boundary.
A gate.
Tall, silent, veiled in woven vines and embedded with glowing symbols.
Ren stepped forward.
Warning: This gate leads to an Unlinked Branch Realm
Realm: Ashborn Bastion
State: Infected
Risk Level: Extreme
Suggested Action: Observe Only
Seeder Override Available – Proceed?
Meka groaned. "I'm getting real tired of the system calling everything 'extreme.'"
Kael squinted. "Ashborn… sounds like a vacation spot."
Ilis stepped beside Ren. "It's a dead world."
"Dead?" he asked.
"Burned. But not destroyed. Some fires sleep."
Ren turned to them. "We're not going there now. But it's connected. Which means something still survives."
"And you want to grow it?" Meka asked.
"Maybe," Ren said. "Or maybe we need to understand what killed it first."
He placed his hand on the gate—not to open it, but to mark it. The system responded with a soft chime.
Branch Realm Marked for Observation
Seeder Beacon Planted
Return Possible: Yes
They turned away for now, heading back toward the blooming center of the Rootworld.
As they walked, Kael broke the silence. "You know, I used to think all this system stuff was about levels. Loot. Power."
"It still is," Meka said with a shrug.
"No," Kael replied. "It's about restoration. This isn't a game. It's a garden."
Ren smiled slightly at that.
Not a game.
A garden.
And he was its seed.