The path was weird.
Dot wasn't sure if it was made of moss or magic, or both. Every time he floated a few inches forward, the ground behind him folded away like a closing book. Like it didn't need to exist anymore. Trees leaned overhead like nosy uncles. Every single leaf watched. Some literally had tiny blinking eyes.
"I feel judged," Dot whispered.
"You are," said the fox-thing, trotting ahead. "The forest spirits don't get new guests often. Especially not ones who survive a fusion evolution. Half of them thought you'd pop like a mana balloon."
"Comforting," Dot said flatly.
The fox didn't slow down. "Name's Nilo, by the way. Herald of the Deep Wild. Mail delivery fox. Occasional singer. I also eat snacks I find in unattended shrines."
Pip perked up. "Same hat."
Nilo smirked. "Figures. Leaf sprites always have that chaotic hungry cousin energy."
Dot wasn't sure what that meant, but it sounded about right.
Eventually, the path ended. Not in a dramatic cliff, or a shrine, or a glowing tree. No, it just opened. Like a dream turning lucid. They stepped—or in Dot's case, hovered—into a vast hollow with no walls. The trees here didn't grow upward. They grew inward, like they were holding something in. A clearing made of woven roots.
And the eyes? Oh boy. Thousands. Floating orbs. Leaf-shaped eyes. Glowing beetle shells that blinked in time with each breath of wind.
"Why do I feel like I'm about to get sacrificed?" Dot muttered.
Nilo turned, amused. "That only happens on Tuesdays."
"It is Tuesday," Pip pointed out.
Dot made a mental gulp.
But instead of ritual daggers or chanting cultists, something soft happened. The clearing pulsed gently, and from the center rose a being that looked like a tree given form. Bark became skin. Branches, arms. A face made of leaves and moss.
It spoke, not with a voice, but a vibration.
"New one. Dot. You have become what should not be."
"Oh no," Dot whispered.
"You fused paths. Ignored order. Danced between branches of fate. Risked self."
Dot thought about trying to deny it. But what would be the point? "I didn't want to be stuck. I didn't want to pick something just because it was safe. I chose all of them because... I don't know who I'm supposed to be yet."
There was silence.
Then—
"Good answer."
Suddenly, the eyes blinked in harmony. The wind shifted. The ground trembled like it was clapping without hands.
"You pass," Nilo said. "Which means now we give you weird things and tell you stuff you don't understand until later."
A fruit dropped from a nearby root. Glowed faintly. Smelled like burnt sugar.
"Eat," said the tree-being. "Gift of Growth. It may hurt."
Dot sighed. "Of course it will."
He absorbed it.
Immediately, every inch of his core lit up like a carnival. Heat surged. His shell vibrated. And then—
[System Update Detected.]
[Unique Trait Gained: Rooted Memory – Enables partial recall of absorbed entities' experiences.]
[Stat Unlocked: Emotional Resonance.]
[System Note: You can now feel the creatures you absorb. Their instincts. Their fears. Their memories.]
Dot reeled. This was new. And dangerous.
"What... what even is emotional resonance?" he asked, woozy.
Seek responded quietly.
[It is what makes gods cry and monsters hesitate.]
Dot wanted to lie down, but he didn't have a spine.
He drifted for a while, absorbing the murmurs of the clearing. The forest spirits didn't speak. But they watched. Listened. Welcomed without words.
It was... strange. And oddly peaceful.
Then a spark shot through the clearing. A screech echoed. Something like a lightning bolt and a swarm of bats crashed into the trees above.
Nilo's eyes widened. "That's not part of the ceremony."
From the sky came a beast. Metallic. Spiked. Half machine, half something worse. It roared as it dove toward the clearing.
Dot didn't think.
He shifted.
His shell changed instantly. Pulse Armor activated. Bloom Spikes flared.
He fired.
And the clearing exploded.