ch 22,23,24
---
Chapter 22 – Roots of the Wild
---
Kael sat beneath the Soulroot tree.
The wind in his Domain had changed since last night. It no longer felt like a hollow breath in a dead world—it was alive now, warm, wild. He leaned back against the bark, watching the faint shimmer of the Gravebloom Lotus. It pulsed like a heart, and in that rhythm, he felt peace… and hunger.
The hunger of something that wanted to grow.
Seventeen's voice returned in that soft, strangely amused tone.
"Rest time's over, Kael. Your Domain wants more than silence."
He sighed. "Of course it does."
A translucent panel blinked open in front of him, hovering beside the God-Shop.
---
[New Tab Unlocked – Tree of Beasts]
[You may now plant Beast Trees to summon and raise species bound to your Domain.]
---
The menu unfurled with gentle shimmer:
Tree of Beasts – Tier 1 Available Trees
[Howlwood Tree – 800 GP]
Grows wolves attuned to sound and speed. Attracts wind-type spirits.
[Stonefang Sapling – 1,200 GP]
Breeds earth-beast cubs with high defense. Can protect Domain walls.
[Mirevine Tree – 1,000 GP]
Grows amphibious and swamp-aligned beasts. Poison resistance and healing mucus generation.
[Shadeclaw Willow – 1,500 GP]
A tree that bonds with necrotic beasts. Shadow-born, perfect for Necromancer synergy.
---
Kael stared.
"Trees that grow beasts…"
"Like an orchard," Seventeen said casually. "But instead of apples, you get a fang-toothed guardian with three heads."
"…Awesome."
And terrifying.
But mostly awesome.
---
He only had 500 GP left after the Soulroot and Gravebloom purchases.
But as if answering that thought, a red crystal floated from his pocket—the leftover beast core from yesterday's corrupted wolf.
[Convert Beast Core into GP? Y/N]
→ [Converted: +600 GP]
"Looks like dinner is currency," Kael muttered.
---
He tapped [Purchase: Howlwood Tree].
The ground behind the Soulroot cracked and opened. A tiny shoot pushed upward, growing within seconds into a lean, silver-furred tree. Its branches curled like hunting horns, and from their ends—tiny buds shaped like sleeping wolves.
They pulsed in time with the Domain's heartbeat.
Kael walked slowly toward it.
The buds twitched.
One unfurled.
A small, fox-sized creature stepped out, yawning.
It blinked at him—one eye silver, one violet. Then it licked his hand and laid at his feet.
"…you're my first beast."
[Howl Pup: Bonded]
[Ability: Wind Step – short-range blink ability usable once every 10 minutes]
---
He sat with the pup for a long time.
He didn't summon undead today. He didn't test any more features. He didn't fight.
He just sat.
Because sometimes, new life didn't need a reason to exist. It just needed to be acknowledged.
That night, back in the real world, Kael ate dinner with his family. His mother joked about his appetite. His brother kept trying to put bugs in his soup. His father grunted in approval when Kael asked about sword forms—even if he couldn't lift one yet.
And his sister?
She hugged him out of nowhere.
"You smell different," she whispered. "Like the forest after rain."
He just smiled and ruffled her hair.
But in the back of his mind, his Domain pulsed again.
Because even while he sat here—peaceful, quiet, full of food and family—
In another world made of his soul…
The Howlwood sang to the stars.
And something else was already listening.
---
---
Chapter 23 – Whispers Beneath the Soil
Part 1: The Stirring Roots
---
The Howl Pup wouldn't stop pacing.
Kael sat cross-legged, watching it from the edge of the shallow stream inside his Domain. The water had started flowing overnight, carving its way through the cracked earth like it remembered where rivers used to run. The air smelled of damp roots, and the faint silver mist from the Howlwood Tree had grown thicker, curling around the trunks like protective fingers.
Something was changing.
Kael felt it in the soil when he pressed his palm to the ground. A thrum. A heartbeat. Not his.
Something… older.
The Gravebloom Lotus in the center of his Domain flickered with violet light, then dimmed. Even the Soulroot Tree—tall and steady as a mountain—rustled slightly, leaves trembling as if holding their breath.
"Seventeen," Kael whispered.
The System's voice came slower than usual, unusually serious.
"The Domain is alive, Kael. That's the part most people forget."
"I thought I was building it."
"You are. But every time you place something, it grows roots. And sometimes... the roots find things."
---
He stood, brushing dust from his shirt. The Howl Pup growled low and looked toward the far edge of the Domain. That part—beyond the field he planned to plant herbs in—was still shadowed. Dark soil. Thick fog. No trees, no beasts. Just… quiet.
Too quiet.
---
[New Domain Alert: Disturbance Detected]
[Warning: Unclaimed Territory has Awakened]
[Reinforce with Stabilization Structure or Expect Random Event within 72 Hours]
---
Kael read the message twice, frowning.
"So... I left a corner of my soul garden untrimmed and now something's moving in?"
"Basically," Seventeen replied. "And if it gets stronger before you're ready, it might not be yours anymore."
Kael felt a chill slide down his back. "What do I do?"
"Stabilize it. Plant something strong. Something yours."
He opened the Shop again. The Tree of Beasts shimmered, but this time, a new category had been added.
---
[Recommended Stabilizers – Domain Tier 1]
[Sentinel Vine – 1,300 GP]
Cleanses corruption and binds small creatures into slumber.
[Lantern Fern – 1,800 GP]
Glows with inner light. Burns dark creatures at night. Strengthens boundaries.
[Ironbark Sprout – 2,000 GP]
Slows time in a 10-meter radius. Increases defense and resistance for summoned beasts nearby.
---
Kael only had 700 GP.
He cursed under his breath.
"Then I need more cores."
"Or you take a risk." Seventeen sounded almost amused. "There's something growing already in that unclaimed zone. You could let it grow… and try to tame it."
Kael narrowed his eyes toward the shadows at the edge.
The Howl Pup let out a sharp bark, then growled again, ears pinned.
Something was definitely there.
---
Back in the Real World
Kael blinked awake to the sound of his brother snoring.
The small wooden room he shared with his younger siblings felt warmer than usual—sunlight streaming through the shutters, motes of dust dancing in the air. His sister clung to his side like a small, grumpy pillow, and he gently pulled her arm off before climbing out of bed.
Downstairs, the smell of bread and sweetroot stew filled the kitchen.
His mother was already humming, stirring the pot with one hand while balancing his baby brother on her hip.
"You're up early," she said without looking.
Kael yawned. "Didn't sleep well."
"Nightmares?"
"…More like wild gardening problems."
She laughed.
His father entered moments later, placing a worn training stick on the table.
"Eat first. Then we spar."
Kael nodded, heart thudding.
Even though his power now came from a secret, invisible world—he still trained with his body. His father didn't believe in skipping the basics. "A weak back makes a weak will," he always said.
And Kael had learned to respect the calluses in his father's hands.
---
The morning passed in sweat and bruises.
Then a knock came at their door.
---
"Little leaf!" a cheerful voice called from outside.
Kael's grandmother stood tall, silver hair tied in a thick braid down her back, a staff resting across her shoulders. She wore traveling leathers and had three wolves flanking her heels—real ones, not summoned.
"Grandma!" Kael shouted, rushing forward.
She caught him in a hug that smelled like pine needles and firewood.
"You've grown again," she said with a smile, brushing his hair from his face. "There's steel in your eyes now."
Kael chuckled nervously. "Just sleep deprivation, I think."
---
They feasted that evening.
The family long-table was full. Roasted meat, buttered roots, wild grain bread, sweet cider.
Laughter. Teasing. Stories of beasts and forest storms. Kael's mother cried when his grandmother brought out a gift—a carved necklace shaped like a phoenix feather. "For protection," she said.
Kael barely ate.
Because in the back of his mind...
Something growled.
From deep inside his Domain, something dark had opened one
Here's Chapter 23 – Part 2 of 3, continuing the tension, blending warm family moments with the growing danger inside Kael's personal Domain.
---
Chapter 23 – Whispers Beneath the Soil
Part 2: The Hunger Grows
---
That night, Kael waited until his siblings were asleep before slipping outside.
He sat on the old bench beneath the Spirit Willow tree, fingers drumming against his thigh. The moonlight shimmered across the leaves, casting strange shadows that danced across the ground.
"Seventeen," he whispered.
"Here," the System replied.
"Can I enter the Domain now?"
"You could."
Kael glanced at the faint shimmer that appeared in the air beside him—a thin tear in space, a gateway only he could see.
"But?" he asked.
"It's not stable."
He looked at the portal again.
Then stepped through.
---
The Domain felt… wrong.
The usual calm wind was gone. The breeze carried whispers—real ones this time. Not mysterious rumors, not divine secrets. Just… hushed, hungry voices. Like vines whispering over bones.
The silver mist from the Soulroot Tree was now streaked with something darker. The Howl Pup growled at nothing, hackles raised.
Kael walked carefully toward the far edge—the Unclaimed Zone.
The soil there was cracked. Uneven. Pulsing.
A shape had begun to form.
Not a beast.
Not a plant.
Something between the two.
It was growing fast. Sharp spines. A bulbous root. Eyes on the trunk. Six tiny mouths, all silent.
Until it spoke.
In a voice that sounded like his own.
"Why did you abandon me?"
Kael froze.
"Seventeen," he whispered. "What the hell is that?"
"A Domain Reflection."
"What?"
"A creature born from your own doubt. From your fear of being weak. You left this area empty. So it grew you."
Kael took a step back.
The creature stepped forward—its legs more like root-stalks, dragging across the dirt.
"I am the part of you that never trusted yourself," it said. "The part that thinks you'll never deserve peace."
Kael clenched his fists.
Then opened the Shop.
---
[Emergency Summon: Soulroot Seedling – Cost: 500 GP]
[Temporary Summon: Boneplate Boar – 200 GP]
He barely had enough, but he bought them both.
The earth cracked open beside him. From the Soulroot Tree's base, a tiny sapling burst upward, releasing waves of calming light. A second later, the Boneplate Boar crashed into view, armored and angry.
The Domain trembled.
Kael gritted his teeth and gave the mental command.
Attack.
The boar charged. The root-creature shrieked. Vines snapped. Kael felt pain echo through his own mind, like cutting off a part of his soul.
But he didn't stop.
The Howl Pup joined the fight, fangs glowing silver. The sapling pulsed, light pushing back the shadows. The air burned with energy.
Finally, the creature let out one last scream and shattered into mist, dissolving into the soil.
The ground stopped shaking.
The Domain let out a long, slow breath.
---
[Unclaimed Zone Cleared: +1 Stability Node Earned]
[Stability Increased. Domain Growth Speed Improved.]
[New Plant Type Unlocked: Whisperroot – Tamed Variant]
---
Kael collapsed to the ground, breathing hard.
"Seventeen?"
"You did well."
"That thing was part of me."
"Yes. And now it's part of your Domain."
Kael sat in the dirt for a long time, watching the sapling's light pulse like a heart.
He felt something shift deep inside.
Maybe, just maybe, he wasn't just a boy pretending to be strong.
Maybe, with this world he was building...
He was becoming something real.
---
Here's Chapter 23 – Part 3 of 3, wrapping up the intense growth in Kael's personal Domain, while laying emotional groundwork for what's to come.
---
Chapter 23 – Whispers Beneath the Soil
Part 3: The Soil Remembers
---
Kael didn't know how long he lay there—face streaked with dirt, eyes staring at the new plant gently swaying at the edge of his Domain.
The Whisperroot, now tamed, had silvery leaves that curled like listening ears. It no longer spoke in voices. Instead, it hummed softly, as if apologizing for what had been born from Kael's fear.
"Seventeen," Kael finally said, voice hoarse. "Do Domains… always reflect the owner like this?"
"Only when left unshaped."
Kael sat up, grimacing as aches rippled through him.
"I've been scared of messing up. Scared of being weak. That thing—it wasn't just doubt. It was me."
"Then shape it, Kael."
The words echoed deeper than they should have. Like an anchor in his soul.
---
He stood slowly and opened the Shop again.
The options had changed slightly.
Now, under the Growth tab, new options blinked in green:
Healing Grove Sapling (1,500 GP)
A tree whose leaves can reduce pain and stabilize wounds.
Shadowfrond Net (900 GP)
A passive defense plant, tangling anything hostile with illusion vines.
Stonejaw Hound Egg (3,000 GP)
A beast used by old-world guardians. Loyal. Tireless.
He had barely 2,000 GP left.
But he chose the Healing Grove Sapling.
It sprouted at the edge of his new Whisperroot patch, its soft golden glow pushing back the last lingering tension in the air.
He felt better just looking at it.
This wasn't just a battlefield.
It was becoming his world.
---
Kael walked through his Domain slowly, fingers brushing the Soulroot Tree's low branches.
The Boneplate Boar was sleeping now, curled near the Howl Pup.
They weren't just summons anymore.
They were his—and they were real.
---
When he stepped out of the Domain and returned to the real world, it was still early morning.
Birds were chirping.
The kitchen smelled faintly of warm bread.
"Kael?"
His mother's soft voice floated from the porch.
Kael turned, trying not to show how tired he was.
But she walked up and put a hand on his cheek anyway.
"You look like you fought a dragon in your sleep."
He smiled tiredly. "Felt like it."
"Your father and brother went to the village early. There's talk about the Awakening Day. It's causing waves."
Kael's eyes narrowed slightly. "What kind of waves?"
"Nothing bad," she said gently. "But they're starting to think something unusual happened. Not many children get rare classes all at once."
He said nothing.
She looked at him for a moment longer, then pulled him into a hug.
"You don't need to carry everything by yourself, Kael. We're here."
He stood frozen for a second.
Then hugged her back.
Hard.
---
That night, he sat by the window in his room, writing in the small notebook his grandfather had gifted him.
> Day 1 of Domain Expansion.
Fought something born from my own fear. Won. Barely.
Healing Grove planted. Whisperroot tamed.
Still scared. But maybe fear can grow roots too. Maybe it can become something useful.
Need more God Points. Time to start hunting.
---
Far away, in another region of the continent, a cracked stone portal pulsed once, faintly.
Something old stirred.
It had felt the Domain
---
Chapter 24 – A Taste of Power
---
The morning began quietly—too quietly for a boy whose soul had fought itself the night before.
Kael stirred awake, not because of sunlight or the gentle breeze wafting in from the open window, but because of the growing heat in his chest. The kind of warmth that signaled a change, a shift, a ripple in the threads of fate.
The System—Seventeen—had said nothing all night.
But Kael could feel it.
Something had changed.
---
"Kael! Breakfast!"
His sister's voice rang through the house, impatient and full of the usual energy of a twelve-year-old who hadn't yet learned the burden of power.
Kael groaned and rolled over before dragging himself out of bed. His muscles were still sore from the Domain battle—though not visibly. Physically, he looked fine. But his bones remembered.
The Whisperroot might have been tamed, but it had left a memory etched into his core.
As he walked into the kitchen, the familiar scent of eggs and herbs greeted him. His mother was already at the stove, humming a soft tune. His little brother, Serin, was pretending to duel his toast with a butter knife. His father was nowhere to be seen—probably at the village council again.
"Sleep okay?" his mother asked without turning.
Kael hesitated.
"…Yeah."
She gave him a glance from the corner of her eye. "Liar."
Kael offered a crooked grin. "Maybe a little restless."
Serin looked up. "You kept muttering weird stuff in your sleep again."
Kael flinched. "Like what?"
"Something about... roots and fire and punching fear in the face?"
His sister snorted orange juice out her nose.
Kael groaned. "I'm never sleeping in the same room again."
---
Later that morning, Kael walked to the field behind the house, a leather bag slung over his shoulder.
Inside were the two beast cores he'd bought from the God Shop—one silver, one bronze. He'd been saving them for the right moment.
The field was quiet.
The tall grass swayed in waves, the same place his father used to train when he was younger.
Kael took a deep breath, held up the silver core, and fed it into his palm.
A sharp sting. Like being jabbed by lightning.
---
> [Beast Core (Silver) consumed.]
Processing...
50% skill absorption roll initiated.
Result: Skill Acquired – Bonebind (Lv.1)
---
Kael's eyes widened.
"Bonebind?"
Seventeen's voice echoed quietly in his mind. "Short-range summoning trap. You can manifest bone chains from the earth to bind low-level beasts for three seconds. Five-second cooldown."
Kael grinned.
Now we're talking.
He quickly fed in the bronze core.
---
> [Beast Core (Bronze) consumed.]
Processing...
Result: Skill not absorbed. Try again later.
Partial Power Converted to 80 God Points.
---
"Damn it," he muttered. "At least give me a second skill..."
"Luck, Kael. Even gods respect probability."
---
A Sudden Scream
Kael turned fast.
It came from deeper in the woods, not far from the trail leading to the east hunting path.
Another scream.
This time, more panicked.
Not human.
A beast?
He grabbed the small bone dagger from his belt and ran.
---
Within minutes, he found the source.
A group of local village boys—hunters-in-training—were cornered by a mutated fanged boar. At least double the normal size. Red veins pulsed across its tusks.
Corrupted.
Kael's heart thudded. His feet moved before thought caught up.
"MOVE!" he shouted.
The boys dove away just as Kael skidded across the dirt.
"SEVENTEEN!"
"On it—Skill: Bonebind—Ready."
Kael stabbed his palm into the ground.
Three white bone-chains erupted from the earth, wrapping around the boar's legs.
It roared, thrashing, but it was stuck.
For three seconds.
Kael didn't waste a single one.
He summoned the Howl Pup.
The beast leapt from his shadow with a growl, pouncing on the boar's back and ripping into its neck.
Kael lunged too, blade sinking into flesh.
The boar let out a final screech—and collapsed.
---
Silence.
Only heavy breathing.
The boys stared at Kael, eyes wide.
"You—how did you…?"
Kael wiped his dagger on the grass.
"I'm just lucky."
---
[Beast Killed: Mutant Fanged Boar]
[Beast Core Collected]
[+130 EXP | +1 Loot Drop]
> [Level Up: Necromancer Lv. 4 → Lv. 5]
New Skill Unlocked – [Grave Pull]
Summons skeletal hands to pull enemies into a chosen location within 10 meters. 15-second cooldown.
---
Kael blinked.
He felt… stronger.
Not by much.
But it was there.
A slight easing in the weight of the world on his shoulders.
And he had earned it.
---
Later that night, when he returned home, his father was waiting.
He'd already heard.
"You saved three boys today," he said quietly.
Kael said nothing.
His father smiled faintly.
"You're walking a dangerous path, Kael. But you're not walking it alone."
Then he ruffled his hair and left him to stew in silence.
---
That night, Kael returned to his Domain.
Planted a second Whisperroot.
Fed his God Points into a new creature: the Lantern Fox, a glowing, shadow-bending creature with sharp eyes and quick feet.
As it took form beside his sleeping boar and pup, Kael sat near the Soulroot Tree.
Watching his Domain grow.
His world—slowly, surely—becoming something real.
And beneath it all, in the soil and the roots and the soft whispers of wind…
The hunger was still there.
But so was the light.
And Kael?
Kael was not the same boy anymore.
---