The land beyond the Tether Spire felt different.
Even before they crossed the ridge that marked the end of the Upper District, the air had grown heavier—not thick with heat or moisture, but with weight. A pressure that settled behind the eyes, an unseen force that made even the bravest take quieter steps.
Ren stood at the edge of the ledge with Ilis, Kael, and Meka behind him. Below them sprawled a desolate expanse of broken stone and overgrown ruins. Vines crawled over shattered buildings like veins, and deep in the horizon, the silhouette of the structure they saw from the spire reached upward.
The hand-shaped tower. Black, metallic, scarred with age.
"Westline Verge," Ilis whispered, as if speaking the name too loudly might disturb the silence.
Ren's system pulsed again.
NEW REGION ENTERED: WESTLINE VERGE
Sync Rate Reduced – Environmental Interference Present
System Resources Adjusted:
– Insight Pulse Range: -40%
– Ember Suppression Cooldown Increased
WARNING: Ambient Corruption Level – Tier III
Proceed with Caution
"I feel like the system's straining just to stay connected," Kael muttered.
"It is," Ilis confirmed. "The Verge was once a testing zone for unstable tech. Even before the fall, it had a reputation."
Ren opened his interface again. The map flickered. Glitch lines streaked across the lower quadrant, like static on old glass.
"Signal's weak, but I think it's pointing us toward that tower."
Meka examined her weapon. "If that's where the voice came from, it better be worth it."
They descended into the Verge slowly.
Paths were broken, and some stretches had no ground at all—bridges made of hanging roots and system-woven platforms formed their way. Strange red moss carpeted sections of ground, glowing faintly under their feet. When Ren stepped on it, it whispered.
Not metaphorically.
It whispered.
Seeder… you walk old paths…
He froze.
"Did anyone else hear that?" he asked quietly.
Meka glanced back. "Hear what?"
Ren stepped back. The moss returned to its silent glow. He crouched and activated Insight Pulse, letting a wave of perceptive light sweep outward.
Object Identified: Echo Moss
Classification: Memory-Touched Flora
Effect: Psionic Residue Transfer (Minor)
Origin: Unknown – Pre-Fall Genetic Experimentation
Kael knelt beside him. "That's the stuff from the Inner Bio-Labs. It was supposed to store fragments of memory, remember?"
Ren nodded slowly. "Looks like it worked too well."
They pressed forward, avoiding thick patches of moss, moving through the ruins where vines had wrapped entire buildings in silence. At one point, they passed a courtyard where a broken statue stood.
A Seeder statue.
The roots held it up, and the face was cracked beyond recognition, but the armor and the seed mark at its chest were unmistakable.
"Another one of us," Ren said softly.
Ilis approached it. "Not one I recognize. But there were many attempts before us. This one might've fallen here long ago."
Ren approached the statue's base. A message was carved into the stone, nearly erased by time.
"Hope buried is not hope lost."
Something shifted in the soil.
System flicker.
Then—
NEW INTERFACE UNLOCKED: SEEDER ARCHIVE – LOST ROOTS
ARCHIVE #021 – VIRA, THE SECOND
Notes: Attempted convergence with the system in Verge. Failed at Tier Transition. Last recorded message: "If I cannot rise, let my knowledge remain."
Ren's heart beat faster.
"Ilis," he said, pointing at the statue, "I can access her memory."
The moment he touched the cracked stone, his system screen shifted.
A faint echo of a woman's voice played. Calm, clear, tired.
"…the seed doesn't break. It waits. And then it grows. I wanted to force it open, but I see now… the world isn't ready until the roots have settled."
"…if someone finds this, know that I failed by rushing. Let the seed breathe. Let it listen."
The voice faded.
Ren stepped back in silence.
They left the archive behind, continuing toward the hand-shaped tower in the distance. As they neared, the winds picked up again—this time unnaturally. Spirals of dust twisted against the direction of the air.
Kael tightened his grip on his blade. "We're being watched."
Meka pointed to the ruins beside them. "There."
Figures moved—slow, erratic, twitching.
They weren't human.
Tall, emaciated bodies covered in bark-like growth. Rooted faces, as if their skulls had been merged with trees. Their movements were glitchy—like corrupted animations that didn't fully sync.
SYSTEM ALERT: CORRUPTED SEED-WRAITHS – DETECTED
Tier Classification: Mid – Adaptive Aggression
Recommended: Avoid Prolonged Contact – Limited Tactical Resistance
Ilis drew her weapon. "These things… used to be people who tried to bond with the system. Failed."
Kael didn't hesitate. He dashed forward, striking the first wraith through its core before it could fully scream. It disintegrated into ash and splinters.
Another moved faster.
Meka spun and activated her Thread Snap skill—thin golden lines laced into the air, severing the limbs of the creature mid-lunge.
Ren stood back, letting them engage.
Instead, he activated Thread Pull.
Lines of light revealed the core structure inside one of the wraiths—a twisting shard of corrupted seed energy. He reached forward with invisible fingers, pulled, and the energy snapped out of the creature's chest.
It collapsed.
The shard hovered in Ren's hand, pulsing like a dying heartbeat.
CORRUPTED SHARD ACQUIRED
Conversion Possible: Seed Purification – 40%
Alternate Use: Upgrade Slot – Ember Receptacle
Ilis wiped her blade. "Efficient."
"We're getting closer," Ren said.
And they were. As the last of the wraiths vanished into ash, the tower loomed ever larger—its fingers now spread open, as if beckoning them forward.
Ren didn't know what they'd find inside.
But he knew they couldn't stop now.