ch 37

Ch 37

Chapter 37: Beneath the Roots

The morning sun crept over the hills, casting long golden rays across the village rooftops. Dew clung to the grass like tiny stars that had fallen from the sky overnight. Birds chirped quietly, not in celebration but as if whispering secrets to one another.

Elric sat cross-legged in the center of the training field just beyond his house, surrounded by his growing pack.

Rocky lay at his back like a weathered wall. Hiss coiled near his shoulder, his silver scales barely catching the light. Melo, the newest member, was curled protectively around a patch of wildflowers, softly humming a calming rhythm that somehow matched Elric's heartbeat.

"Again," Elric whispered.

The air shimmered around his fingers, forming a thin thread of energy. He focused—not on strength, but on connection. The thread moved toward Melo first, softly weaving itself into the vines of the guardian creature. Melo stirred, vines flexing like muscles under skin, and looked up at Elric with calm, glowing eyes.

Not a command.

A conversation.

Elric didn't order his beasts. He felt them. Talked to them without words. Shared emotions and intent until their actions became second nature.

"Good," he said with a small smile. "You're learning faster than I thought."

"Or maybe you're just weirdly good at this," Riven muttered from the fencepost nearby, chewing a blade of grass. "Most summoners scream commands. You… hum lullabies to rocks and plants."

Elric raised a brow. "Worked on you, didn't it?"

Riven snorted. "Barely."

He tossed the blade of grass and jumped down from the post, walking toward Elric with a hint of seriousness in his expression. "That tremor last night? It happened again. Around sunrise. Stronger."

Elric stood up, brushing dirt from his pants. "Still no source?"

"No. But old man Ferris says some of his root cellar jars exploded. And the well behind the bakery? The water's started glowing."

"Glowing?" Elric asked.

"Soft green," Riven nodded. "Not harmful—yet."

Elric's gaze drifted toward the horizon. The Greenrest Forest looked peaceful as always, but he knew better now. Beneath its roots, something had changed.

Something had woken up.

Back at home, the morning routine was already in full swing.

Ma was outside, hanging fresh linens. Feli was chasing Yui around with a feather duster, and Grandpa was… asleep on the porch again, snoring loud enough to shake the fence.

Elric paused before stepping into the house, taking a moment to just watch it all.

He had died once.

Back on Earth, his memories were slowly fading—names, buildings, the faces of people he once called friends. But this? This was real. This messy, loud, wonderful chaos of a family… was worth more than anything his past life ever gave him.

"ELRIC!" his mother shouted from the yard, holding up a mangled tunic. "Did you sneak out again without washing?"

"I have beasts to summon and monsters to investigate!" he called back, ducking inside.

"Monsters can wait! Laundry doesn't!"

He grinned and slipped into the main room, where Grandpa had finally woken and was now lighting his pipe.

"Boy," Grandpa said, exhaling smoke. "You're starting to get that look."

"What look?"

"The look a man gets before he dives headfirst into a bad idea and thinks it's destiny."

Elric chuckled. "You always say that."

"Because it's always true," Grandpa muttered. "Now sit down. I had a dream."

Elric blinked. "A dream?"

"A bad one."

That made Elric sit.

"When I was younger—long before you were born—there was a quake. A deep one. Shook the bones of the mountain. Few days later, an entire hunting party vanished." Grandpa tapped his pipe. "We found nothing but a circle of scorched earth."

"What caused it?"

"We never found out. But it started the same way. Small tremors. Glowing roots. Beasts moving strangely."

Elric frowned. "Do you think it's happening again?"

Grandpa looked him dead in the eyes. "I know it is."

Later that afternoon, Elric and Riven stood at the edge of the Greenrest, a basket of food between them and three summons trailing behind.

"I don't like this," Riven muttered, scanning the treeline.

"You say that every time we leave the village."

"Yeah. And I'm usually right."

Elric knelt and ran his fingers along the soil. He focused again—this time deeper. Not for energy, but for movement. For rhythm. For life.

The earth pulsed.

Once. Twice.

A heartbeat far beneath the surface.

Not mechanical. Not magical.

Living.

"What is that…?" he whispered.

Melo crouched beside him, vines tightening.

Even Rocky growled.

Elric's connection flared. They weren't scared. They were… confused.

The thing underground wasn't trying to attack.

It was watching.

Suddenly, the ground cracked.

Thin lines of energy flickered through the dirt like lightning veins. From the earth rose a flower—black petals, glowing white veins, and a soft pulse in its center.

System text flashed faintly in Elric's mind:

[Wild Seed Detected – Classification Unknown]

This flora carries a dormant soul.

— Touch to connect

— Warning: External will detected

External will?

"Elric," Riven warned, hand on his blade.

Elric stared at the flower.

Then—very gently—he touched it.

The world went white.

He was no longer in the forest.

He was somewhere else.

A chamber of roots. A throne of bones. And above it, a shadow—not beast, not human, not fully real.

It spoke without words.

"You are not the first Shepherd."

Elric's heart pounded.

"You walk the same path as one who came before. A boy who named beasts. A man who conquered dungeons. A god who forgot he was once a child."

Images flashed—a city of glass shattered by vines, a winged lion kneeling before a child, a throne melting under the weight of its own crown.

Then the voice grew cold.

"You carry his gift. But do you carry his curse?"

Elric tried to speak—but he had no mouth here. Only thoughts.

"Who are you?"

The shadow leaned forward.

"The soil remembers. The roots whisper. And now… I watch you too."

And just like that—

—he was back.

Gasping.

Kneeling.

Sweat pouring down his face.

The flower had vanished.

Only a small mark remained burned into the soil: a spiral of thorns.

"Elric!" Riven grabbed his shoulder. "What happened?!"

Elric stared at the mark, then looked at his pack.

Rocky stood firm.

Hiss trembled slightly.

And Melo was weeping.

Tiny drops of glowing sap fell from her vines into the earth.

"Something ancient," Elric whispered. "Something that knows my class. My future."

Riven frowned. "What does it want?"

Elric's voice was hollow.

"I don't think even it knows."

That night, Elric sat beside the fireplace.

His sisters were asleep. Grandpa snored again. Ma had gone to bed.

He stared into the flames, whispering to the System.

"Show me the main menu."

[Main System Menu]

— Class: Legendary Shepherd

— Pack Members: 3 Active

— Echo Forge: Online

— Dungeon Affinity: 7%

— Next Skill Progression: Dormant

Note: A dungeon is awakening beneath Greenrest.

Elric's eyes narrowed.

No tasks.

No world will.

No false quests.

Just a quiet warning.

And the truth was simple:

He wasn't just calling beasts anymore.

Now?

Something was calling back.