ch 31

Chapter 31: Roots Beneath, Eyes Above

The shard was quiet.

Elric had placed it in a wooden box lined with straw and sealed it under his bed. But even through layers of wood and cloth, he could still feel it.

Like a heartbeat.

A second rhythm behind his own.

The morning came too slow and too gray. No birds. No wind. Just that heavy silence again.

But the village moved on.

Sort of.

Kain had begun walking the fence line twice a day now. With a spear. Feli stayed closer to home, clinging to her blanket even when she sat outside. Yui had started asking too many questions for a four-year-old.

"Why do the trees look sad?"

"Why is Grandpa always watching the hill?"

"Why did the chickens stop laying eggs?"

Elric didn't know how to answer her.

So instead, he started spending more time with his beasts.

Behind the barn, hidden from view, he knelt in a small clearing surrounded by a ring of stones. It had become his quiet place.

Boneclaw stood guard. Gravebark dozed under a patch of mushrooms. Pebble Jr. hummed in a strange rhythm, floating around Elric like a sleepy firefly.

There was a new presence now.

A dark, coiled shape curled around the largest stone — Hiss, a serpent Elric had summoned two nights ago using only his thoughts and the pulse of the shard.

Hiss was no normal snake. It had stone plates on its head, obsidian fangs, and glowing red eyes that didn't blink.

It didn't speak. But it watched.

And Elric liked it that way.

Main Menu

[Core Sync: 11%]

[Beast Companions: 5 Active | 7 Dormant]

[Core Shepherd Route: Seed Forming…]

[Golem Summon Available — Locked Until Ritual Circle Constructed]

[Territory Influence: Hidden | 3% Spread]

Elric's fingers traced the grass.

"It's growing, isn't it?" he whispered. "Even if they can't see it."

Boneclaw made a low, rattling sound — his way of agreeing.

The System hadn't spoken in words since the fog incident. No more cold instructions. No quests. No annoying advice.

Just the menu.

Elric liked it better that way. Quiet. Simple. It let him think.

He stood up and walked to the old patch of soil he'd been tending behind the barn. It wasn't for vegetables.

It was for bones.

Bits of bird skulls, shattered wolf ribs, broken claws — anything he could gather without raising suspicion. He buried them in specific patterns. He didn't know why. He just… knew he had to.

He could feel something growing.

Not plants.

Something deeper.

That night, as the family sat around the dinner table, laughter tried to return.

Yui told a joke about a donkey and a hat. Feli giggled. Even Elric smiled through his stew.

Grandpa Riven, as always, watched.

Not suspicious. Just… thoughtful.

"Elric," he said softly after dinner, "come outside with me."

They stood under the moonlight together, near the edge of the garden.

"Your roots are changing," Riven said.

Elric raised a brow. "You mean the ground?"

"No," Riven said. "I mean you."

He placed a hand on Elric's shoulder. Strong. Warm.

"I can feel it. Something's blooming under your skin. Something old."

Elric didn't deny it.

"I found a piece of a dungeon."

"I know."

That caught him off guard. "You… knew?"

"I've seen the signs before. A long time ago. Before you were born." Riven's gaze turned distant. "Dungeons don't just hold monsters. Some of them hold seeds. Waiting for the right one to come along."

"The right what?"

"Root-bearers. Shepherds. Children of echo."

Elric blinked. "You're making that up."

"I wish I was," Riven muttered, lighting his pipe. "Just… be careful. Not everything you raise will love you. Some things… just obey."

After midnight, Elric couldn't sleep.

He went back to the clearing, past the fence line. No lantern. No torch.

Just the dark.

The trees around him rustled. Not from wind.

From something else.

A rustle. A low growl.

Then—a howl.

Far.

But too close.

Boneclaw appeared instantly, dragging his halberd. Hiss uncoiled with a hiss. Pebble Jr. flickered bright blue.

Elric turned slowly toward the sound.

Something moved beyond the treeline.

Big.

Furred.

Then it stopped.

But he knew it was still there.

Watching.

He didn't panic.

Instead, he did something he hadn't done before.

He knelt down… and pressed both hands to the soil.

Not to summon.

Not to call.

But to connect.

The shard pulsed from beneath the barn. The menu flickered briefly.

[Core Influence: 4%]

[Warning: External Beast Entity Detected — Hostile Nature Pending]

[Dungeon Trait: Domain Pulse Ready for Activation]

Elric narrowed his eyes.

Not yet.

He rose slowly, brushing dust off his pants.

"Go ahead," he whispered into the dark. "Look all you want."

"I'm growing, t