The forest no longer looked at him like a stranger.
Every leaf, every whisper of wind, every moss-covered branch carried a kind of quiet recognition now. Where once the spirits had watched him like a suspicious traveler, now they nodded as he floated past.
He was no longer just "Dot."
He was Amoid—whatever that meant.
He didn't dislike it. Just… wasn't used to it. Felt weird, like trying on a jacket you didn't buy but everyone insisted looked good.
"So. Amoid," Pip said, doing lazy somersaults midair, "what's the plan?"
"Eat, evolve, and try not to die," Amoid said. "Same plan as always."
"Strong plan," Nilo said, trotting up behind them. "Very tactical. Especially the eating part."
Amoid hovered at the forest's edge. Beyond the clearing stretched thicker woods—darker, older, quieter. The kind of quiet that watched.
He didn't want to leave yet.
The spirits had offered him something rare—peace. Guidance. Weird, yes. Cryptic, absolutely. But real. Comfort wasn't something he got often, and this place had been the first to give it freely.
But staying still wasn't evolution.
Seek hummed quietly in his head.
[Evolution Guidance: The next region contains high-density mana lifeforms. Potential for rare traits: High. Threat Level: Medium-High.]
Amoid nodded. "Guess we move."
As they passed the last of the tree-sentinels, a root twitched. One of the smaller spirits, a puffball with leafy arms, waddled over. It held up a glowing seed.
[Item Acquired: Spirit Kernel – Contains ambient forest will. Usable in crafting or planting.]
"...Thanks," Amoid said, accepting it with a flick of his shell.
The puffball saluted. Then sneezed moss.
The deeper forest was a different world.
It didn't hum. It breathed.
Every step forward came with tension—an old energy, thick like wet wool. The kind of magic that predated kings and gods. Amoid could feel his core reacting. Eager. Hungry.
Then he saw it.
A clearing—but not like before. This one was made of bone.
Tall white ribs arched into the sky like fossilized trees. In the center lay a massive skull, cracked down the middle, moss-covered and hollow. Flowers bloomed from its eye sockets.
[Location Discovered: Grave of the Elder Beast.]
[Warning: Ancient remnants detected. Scans unstable.]
"This seems like a place where bad decisions happen," Nilo said casually.
Pip hovered low. "Something's breathing in there."
Amoid listened.
There. Soft. Subtle. Breathing.
He drifted closer.
The moment he crossed the circle of bones, his system flared.
[Mutation Trigger Detected.]
[Absorption Opportunity: Dormant Elder Essence. Caution: High instability. 60% success rate.]
[Proceed?]
He paused.
"Sixty percent's better than last time," he muttered.
"Don't say I didn't warn you if you explode," Pip whispered.
Amoid touched the moss. Absorbed.
Everything stopped.
In that moment, his mind stretched. He wasn't just a core. He was the skull. The beast. The forest. Time peeled back. He saw centuries. Wars. Kingdoms rising and falling. Herds of glowing elk. Fire raining from a god's hand.
Then it snapped.
Pain.
Heat.
And then...
[Success. Elder Mutation Accepted.]
[New Trait: Boneweave – Enables organic armor creation. Reactive. Grows over time.]
[New Ability: Echo Pulse – Releases a memory shockwave. Affects weaker minds.]
[System Note: You now carry the echoes of a forgotten beast. Handle with care.]
Amoid collapsed.
His form twitched, growing lines of faint white threads across his shell. He felt… older.
Not in a tired way.
In a buried way.
Seek's voice was quiet.
[You are no longer just growing. You're becoming something.]
The thought scared him more than it should have.
He didn't want to lose himself.
Not again.
He floated away from the skull. Didn't look back.
The forest grew darker.
Not in color. In mood.
Branches didn't sway. Leaves didn't fall. Everything waited.
They passed a dry riverbed. Bones lined the banks. Old battlefields, maybe. Amoid didn't know.
But then—something moved.
A creature, part root, part snake, slithered from the shadows. It hissed, covered in mushrooms that blinked like eyes.
[Threat Identified: Sporemaw Wyrmling.]
Amoid flared.
Pulse Armor. Boneweave. He darted forward, dodging a tendril.
The beast spat a cloud of green mist—he dodged.
Pip shot a bolt of leaf-light into its side, burning spores. Nilo lunged, biting the tail.
Amoid closed in and Echo Pulsed.
The creature screeched, clawing at nothing. Memories—its memories—flooded the air. Fear. Fire. Being eaten by its own kin.
It fled.
Amoid didn't chase.
They stood quiet. Shaking.
That power… it was cruel.
"Not all tools are clean," Nilo said softly.
"I didn't want to feel it," Amoid said. "I just wanted to win."
"You did," Pip said. "But winning changes you, even if it's small."
They camped that night inside the hollow of an old fallen log. Amoid floated above a small spiritfire Pip summoned. It crackled without heat.
He stared at it.
The system said he was evolving. Gaining power, memories, a name.
But with every piece of something he absorbed, he felt a bit more like a collection, and a bit less like a person.
Seek stirred.
[Evolution isn't just adding. It's choosing what to keep. And what to let go.]
Amoid didn't reply.
He watched the spiritfire flicker.
Tomorrow, the path would continue. Deeper, stranger, more dangerous.
But tonight, he rested. Not as a core, or a tool, or even an orb with too much power.
Just… a boy who once had no life, sitting beside new friends, under a sky full of strange stars.