The announcement came just after dawn.
Riku was mid-task, arranging bone-root segments to test a modular gate design, when his vision pulsed with gold. Not just his — the entire grove shimmered. Even the moss changed tone briefly, like the forest itself had been tagged.
A new system overlay unfolded in front of his eyes — different, cleaner than the Fold interface.
This one was global.
[WORLD NOTICE]
[Ascension Score Rankings: First Update]
#1 – AshCraft – Rank: Sovereign Prime / Zone: Unknown / Status: Hidden]
#2 – KuroTakeda – Rank: Dominion Initiate / Tribe: Flamecarvers]
#3 – EchoLance – Rank: Pactbinder / Tribe: Seraphin Howlers]
…
#17,291 – Riku Yamada – Rank: Provisional]
>> Next Global Update in 7 Days
>> Ascension Score Metric: Unknown to Players
The notification vanished with a soft chime.
But the damage was done.
A moment later, World Chat exploded.
[WORLD CHAT // SYSTEM RANKING THREAD]
>> User: PaleMonk
— Who the hell is AshCraft? How are they already #1??
>> User: FeralTea
— No tribe listed. No zone. Hidden status. That's not fair.
>> User: CyberKoi
— What is the Ascension Score even based on?? Mine didn't change even after I absorbed two wandering clans.
>> User: JuneBuggy
— Calling it now: AshCraft isn't human.
>> User: TenOfSpades
— Wait. I saw someone named Riku Yamada at #17k. That you, Rootboy? 😏
>> User: Riku (Private Whisper):
— No. Wrong person.
He immediately disabled his display name from public chat.
It didn't matter. The attention was already starting. Several private messages began to pour in. He blocked them all.
He turned off Global Chat.
Then stared at the system message again.
Rank: 17,291.
He hadn't applied for it. He hadn't even known scoring existed until this morning.
So how had he made the list?
The Fold didn't explain. It didn't connect to the global system. As far as he knew, no one even suspected it existed. But it was doing something measurable. Something visible to the larger architecture of the world.
Which meant it was leaking influence. Somehow.
Riku closed his eyes, breathing through the surge of anxiety. He couldn't afford attention — not from other players, not from tribes, and definitely not from whatever entity had spoken to him in that mirrored dream-space.
He was just beginning to understand how fragile his control was. How close his own people were to changing their minds. How quickly he could still be replaced.
Still… he'd made the list.
That meant his tribe had.
And the Lorian noticed.
They didn't speak of rankings. But that day, when Riku walked among them, he noticed small changes:
More heads bowed slightly as he passed.
More warriors inclined their heads without hesitation.
Nilo called him "Rootcraft" with a grin, a strange term of respect among Lorian technics.
Even Juran, gruff and suspicious, gave him a nod that didn't carry the usual edge of doubt.
Only Thalya remained silent.
And watching.
That night, she approached him near the heartwood pond, where the tribe's dreams were sometimes stored in rootlight.
"You are climbing," she said.
Riku nodded. "Apparently."
"You did not ask to climb."
"No."
"Then the forest did."
He looked at her. "What does that mean?"
She tilted her head. "The Lorian do not rise by ambition. We rise by necessity. And we fear that which rises without asking."
The pond shimmered. Briefly, Riku saw his own reflection — not his current self, but a version in darker robes, standing before burning trees.
"You are a Sovereign," she said. "But you are also a mirror. And mirrors do not always show what is."
Riku said nothing.
Then Thalya walked away.
He stared at the pond a moment longer.
Then his system whispered.
[Fold Trait Ready: Ascension Pressure – Passive Influence Boost Available]
[Trigger Condition: Accept Public Recognition in World Chat or Alliance Board]
[Warning: Folded Influence Is Not Easily Recalled]
He dismissed it.
For now.
He wasn't ready to be seen.