ch 33

---

Chapter 33: The Cellar Beneath the Oak

The wind was restless that morning.

It didn't howl. It didn't scream.

It whispered.

Through the trees. Along the fence. Over the roofs of the village. Soft like a voice not quite trying to speak.

Elric stood at the edge of the garden, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the woods.

He had barely slept. Not because of nightmares, but because of possibility.

The golem—Rocky—was still at the circle, dormant again after his first awakening. His breathing had slowed. He looked like a rock now. Still. Harmless.

But Elric knew better.

There was power sleeping in that body.

A different kind than Boneclaw or Hiss.

Older. Heavier.

Made of this land.

---

Inside the house, Feli tried to braid Yui's hair while humming. Their mother swept the floor, already making breakfast. The scent of fried onions filled the small wooden home. Familiar. Warm.

Elric sat on the edge of the table, munching on a thick slice of dry bread and watching Grandpa Riven sip his tea like nothing had changed.

But Elric knew.

There was something in the way his grandfather's eyes kept flicking toward the door. Like he was expecting someone. Or something.

After a while, Elric couldn't take it anymore.

"Grandpa," he said, licking crumbs off his fingers. "I saw it again."

Riven didn't look up. "The thing in the forest?"

"Yeah."

"Growl or laugh?"

Elric blinked. "...Laugh."

That got Riven's attention.

He set down his tea.

"I see."

"That's all you're gonna say?" Elric asked, raising a brow. "Not 'stay inside, boy,' or 'don't poke ancient monsters with sticks'?"

Riven stood up and walked over to the window. His hand gently touched the frame. Then he reached up and pulled down a thick brown curtain that had been nailed to the wall.

Behind it: a hidden trapdoor.

Elric stared.

"What's that?"

Riven didn't answer.

Instead, he looked toward Elric and gave the softest smile he'd ever worn.

"Put on your shoes."

---

The cellar was narrow.

And cold.

A stone tunnel twisted downward, lit only by Riven's old lantern. The air smelled like earth and dried herbs. The walls were rough and uneven—clearly dug by hand long ago.

Elric stayed quiet as they walked.

Step after step, deeper into the dark.

At the end of the tunnel, there was a room.

Small. Square. Lined with wooden shelves covered in dust. A table in the center with scratch marks burned into the wood. Runes carved into the stone around the base.

And on the far wall—painted in faded red—was a symbol.

A tree with eyes for leaves.

Elric tilted his head. "Creepy decor."

Riven set the lantern down and turned slowly.

"I built this place before your father was born."

Elric blinked. "Wait... seriously?"

"I used to be a Dungeon Hunter."

Elric felt his heartbeat pause.

"Like... you cleared dungeons?"

Riven nodded.

"No wonder you're weird."

The old man chuckled.

"I've seen more than I'd like to admit. I know what happens when dungeon fragments are left behind. I know what they become."

His voice dropped lower.

"And I know what they choose."

Elric swallowed.

"Is that what I am?" he asked. "Chosen?"

Riven looked at him for a long moment.

Then he walked over to one of the shelves and pulled out a leather book. Old. Bound in black thread. No title.

He handed it to Elric.

"Read the third chapter. Slowly. Alone."

Elric flipped it open and skimmed until he reached the third chapter. The page was rough, words scribbled in thick charcoal ink.

> "There are those born with fragments.

Not inside their minds, but within the core of their being.

They do not tame beasts.

They attract them.

As a flame draws moths.

As a storm pulls lightning.

These are the Shepherds of Ruin.

The Warden-Binders.

The ones who will shape the land, not with command—

But with presence."

Elric slowly closed the book.

"So that's what I am?"

Riven didn't answer.

Instead, he opened a small wooden box hidden beneath the stone table.

Inside: bones. Tiny ones. Shards of crystal. A rusted key. And a folded map, inked in blood-red.

He handed the map to Elric.

"Do you remember the big tree on the west edge of the village? The one the kids say is haunted?"

"Yeah."

"There's a door beneath it."

Elric raised a brow. "Like a fairy tale?"

"No," Riven said, eyes hard. "Like a dungeon."

Elric's throat went dry.

"A real one?"

"An old one. Broken. Cracked. But not dead. Your father helped me seal it before you were born. We didn't destroy it."

"Why?"

"Because some things aren't meant to die." Riven turned toward the lantern. "They're meant to wait."

---

They returned to the surface just before lunch. Riven looked tired, his steps slower than before. But Elric felt lighter.

He had answers.

Not all of them.

But enough.

He spent the rest of the afternoon sketching the map from memory. Rocky sat nearby, motionless, like a statue. Boneclaw and Hiss stayed close. Feli brought him a pear and a hug. Yui asked if he wanted to play sword fight later.

He smiled and nodded.

Everything felt… normal.

But only for now.

---

That night, the System flickered again.

No tasks.

No quests.

Just quiet text on the edge of his vision.

> [Core Shepherd: Link Deepening]

[Summoning Skill Acquired: Whisper Husk — Dormant until Emotion Trigger Met]

[Golem Link: Rocky (Stabilized | Loyalty Forming)]

[New Menu Option: Domain Anchor — Conditions Unknown]

Elric raised a brow.

Whisper Husk?

That didn't sound friendly.

But something about it felt… useful.

He didn't ask for it. But it came.

That was how the system worked now.

Silent gifts. Creeping changes.

And Elric didn't mind.

He was no hero. No savior.

But he was building something.

Stone by stone.

Beast by beast.

---

Later that evening, the wind returned.

But this time, it brought something new.

Smoke.

Elric smelled it before anyone else.

Not from their chimney.

Not from a fire pit.

From the woods.

He stepped outside and stared into the trees.

A soft glow shimmered just behind the hill. Orange. Flickering.

Not natural.

And then, faint—barely more than a whisper—

The laugh returned.

Low. Cruel. Ancient.

Elric clenched his fist.

Behind him, Rocky rose.

Boneclaw's blade scraped the ground.

And Hiss hissed, red eyes glowing like lanterns in the dark.

Elric didn't say a word.

He just walked forward—into the night.

Toward the flame.

---