ch 28

Chapter 28: The Eyes in the Fog

System Alert: Environment Unstable — Unknown Beast Activity Detected Near Outer Perimeter

Passive Skill: Shepherd's Intuition — [Faint Unease] Triggered

Advisory: Increase Observation.

The morning mist came too early.

It rolled in like soft fingers over the crops, thick and quiet. The kind of fog that made even crows stop their morning calls.

Elric stood on the porch, barefoot, chewing on a carrot. Boneclaw stood beside him like a statue, eye sockets glowing faintly.

"Too quiet," Elric muttered.

Behind him, the house was warm and noisy. Feli and Yui argued over who got the last sweet bun. Grandpa Riven sipped tea with a thoughtful frown. But outside, it felt like something watched.

System Whisper: Observation nodes disrupted.

Two minor creatures found dead near boundary. Corpses missing eyes. Cause — unknown.

Elric's chewing slowed. "Yeah, that's not normal."

By noon, the fog hadn't lifted.

A few villagers whispered about animals missing. A shepherd boy claimed his dog refused to step past the wheat line. Another girl said her chickens refused to cluck.

The village elder waved it off.

"Storm's probably shifting air," he said. "It's happened before."

But Elric knew better.

Something was close.

That evening, Elric wandered near the boundary stones — old carved slabs that marked the edge of Shepherd's influence. Pebble Jr. floated in his pocket. Boneclaw walked ahead, growling softly.

Suddenly, Boneclaw stopped.

In the mist ahead, something moved.

A large shape — too tall, too thin. It didn't walk. It glided.

Then it was gone.

System Alert: Unknown Beast Type Identified — Not From This Zone.

Classification: "Fog Howler" — Minor Scout Class (Unregistered)

Origin: ???

Intent: Observation, Testing Boundaries.

Elric's fists clenched. He looked back at his village.

"So they're testing us."

He turned to Boneclaw. "Time to test them back."

Later that night, as the village slept, Elric sat near the old well with Boneclaw. The black fang stone glowed faintly in his hand.

From the earth, whispers came — not loud, but real.

System Progression: Memory Thread Growing — Echo Calls Responding.

Passive Trait Evolving — [Grave Sense] Awakening...

Something beyond the jungle-that-was-no-longer-a-jungle stirred. Something darker than beast tamers, more ancient than even the Shepherd bloodline.

But Elric wasn't afraid.

He smiled as a second Sprite curled into his lap — one born from the ashes of an old skull buried beneath the field.

"Welcome home," he whispered.