The cavern's silence did not fade. It deepened, spreading through the cold air like ink. Thalanil stood frozen, torn between fear and disbelief, while Calnor paced slowly around the petrified trunk, his hand grazing the runes as if seeking an answer carved into the very bone of the world.
Aeryn's chest rose and fell with steady but controlled breaths. He felt the echo of the void still clinging to his mind like lingering frost. The System pulsed quietly in the back of his vision—subdued, almost cautious, as if it too were recovering from the collision with something far older than itself.
Thalanil eventually found his voice. "Aeryn… if what you saw is true, then keeping this secret may determine your survival."
Aeryn nodded. He already understood. The more he learned about the Interface—the Etherbound System—the more he realized its nature alone could shift the balance of clans, kingdoms, and ancient orders. If the Arbiters believed he housed something that could rival the Root-Spiral's authority, they would not hesitate.
Calnor halted, turning toward Aeryn with a gaze that no longer hid its weight. "What you carry is not simply power. It is a catalyst. A fracture point. Something that will force the world to react…"
He raised a hand toward the trunk.
"…as it is reacting now."
The petrified wood groaned. The runes pulsed harder. The roots overhead trembled as if something deep beneath the sanctuary had begun shifting in its slumber.
A low sound—half hum, half growl—vibrated through the cavern floor.
Aeryn steadied his feet. "What's happening?"
Calnor's voice thinned. "Your Interface's resonance awakened more than just memories. It stirred the dormant echo within the Worldroot."
Thalanil hissed sharply. "That hasn't happened since the Era of Phantoms."
"And yet…" Calnor gestured around them. "…the echo stirs."
The rumbling grew louder. Dust drifted down in soft curtains from the ceiling. The roots overhead pulsed with an irregular rhythm, as if trying to match Aeryn's heartbeat—or resist it.
Aeryn stepped back slightly. "Should we evacuate?"
"It would not matter," Calnor replied calmly. "Whatever responds to you, responds through the world itself. Distance does not grant safety from what is bound to the roots."
A crack split the stone floor. Aether mist surged upward through the fracture, glowing brighter than before, swirling around Aeryn as if drawn to him.
Thalanil raised his arm defensively. "Calnor—!"
"Do not interfere," Calnor warned sharply. "It is not attacking him. It is testing him."
Aeryn kept still. The mist coiled around him with delicate slowness, forming spirals that ran from his feet to his shoulders. It did not burn. It did not freeze. It simply observed him, the way a living ancient beast might inspect a creature half its size.
The System flickered.
[Unknown energy field interacting with Interface core.]
[Attempting stabilization.]
[Absorption not recommended.]
Aeryn spoke quietly in his mind. "What is it?"
The answer arrived delayed, fragmented.
[Root-Source Ether… anomalous… identified as pre-systemic essence.]
Before he could ask more, a whisper drifted through the cavern.
Not a voice. More like a memory of a voice. Thin. Echoing. Detached from any throat.
"…Bearer… witness…"
Aeryn stiffened.
The mist tightened around him, pressing gently against his skin, sliding across his arms, his jaw, the side of his neck. It wrapped around his temples with eerie tenderness.
Thalanil stepped forward instinctively. "Enough! Whatever this is—"
Calnor blocked him with a single raised hand. "If the Worldroot wishes to speak, we do not silence it, Thalanil."
"But it is choosing a student barely past his maturation! It has never done this—"
"Yes," Calnor murmured. "Which means this is not a summons… but a reaction. The Interface provokes resonance that should not be possible."
The mist flashed—green, then gold, then white.
Aeryn felt a tug behind his eyes. Not the same overwhelming collapse as before. This time it was gentle, like drifting into a half-dream. The cavern blurred.
Then something else formed behind it.
He saw a colossal tree—far larger than the Worldroot, its branches piercing starless sky. He stood at its base, dwarfed by its enormity. The bark was blackened, split by glowing scars like molten rivers.
In the distance, armies of shadows marched across plains of silver dust, their figures indistinct yet filled with murderous intent. And above them, a broken sphere—just like the one inside the System—hung shattered, dripping streams of crimson light that evaporated before touching the ground.
The whisper returned.
"…We remember…"
A pulse surged through Aeryn's chest. He doubled over, gripping his sternum. The vision shattered. The cavern snapped back into focus.
The mist scattered, dissolving into thin threads that sank back through the fractured stone.
Thalanil rushed to him. "Aeryn! Are you conscious?"
Aeryn steadied himself with slow breaths. "I'm… fine."
But he wasn't. Sweat trailed down his temple. His heart raced with a strange urgency, as if something within him had been forced awake before its time.
Calnor approached, his expression grim. "What did you see?"
Aeryn hesitated, then spoke. "A tree larger than anything I've ever seen. Burned. Scarred. And a broken sphere in the sky."
Calnor inhaled sharply. "The Astral Remnant."
Thalanil froze. "Impossible. That is only depicted in the Mythic Tablets."
"Nothing is impossible anymore," Calnor muttered darkly. "If Aeryn's Interface is truly the last fragment of the void-star, then he may be connected to the era that preceded all clans."
Aeryn straightened. "What does that mean for me?"
Calnor met his eyes. "It means you hold knowledge that was never meant for this world to reclaim."
Thalanil exhaled shakily. "So… what do we do now?"
Calnor closed his eyes for a moment, weighing possibilities. When he spoke, his words carried grim finality.
"We must suppress this. For now. We seal the resonance. We ensure the Interface cannot accidentally intertwine with the roots again."
Aeryn tensed. "Seal it?"
"Temporarily," Calnor clarified. "Not your power—just the resonance that awakened the echo. If left unchecked, the Worldroot itself may draw toward you… or worse, draw the attention of those who guard its deeper layers."
Aeryn understood the danger. But there was something else—a faint burn behind his ribs. A new imprint from the System, still fresh.
Thalanil placed a hand on his shoulder. "Aeryn. Trust us. If the Arbiters discover this before we understand it ourselves, they will not be merciful."
Calnor positioned himself before the trunk, lifting his staff. "Stand still. This will take only a moment."
Aeryn faced the petrified wood. The runes pulsed one by one, as though identifying him.
Calnor tapped the staff to the ground.
A sigil flared beneath Aeryn's feet, runes spiraling outward like a blooming flower of light.
The System reacted instantly.
[Warning: External suppression attempt detected.]
[Initiating protective counterfilters.]
Aeryn whispered internally, "Don't resist."
The System paused.
[Awaiting confirmation.]
He hesitated for a heartbeat, then projected calm permission.
"Let them proceed."
The System dimmed.
[Protective counterfilters disabled.]
Calnor began chanting. His voice echoed through the cavern, each word resonating with the roots overhead. The sigil tightened around Aeryn's legs, climbing to his waist, then his chest.
Aeryn felt no pain. Just pressure. Like someone placing weighted palms against his skin.
Thalanil watched anxiously.
Calnor lifted his staff high. "Seal."
The runes flashed—
And something went wrong.
The pressure slammed into Aeryn instead of diffusing. His body convulsed. Light erupted from his back like wings made of fractured glass. The System screamed warnings across his vision.
[ALERT — Interface core destabilization!]
[ALERT — Resonance overload!]
Thalanil shouted, "Stop the ritual!"
Calnor yelled back, "It's not me—something is overriding the seal!"
The cavern shook violently. Segments of stone tore loose and crashed down. The mist surged again, coiling around Aeryn like a vortex.
Aeryn's body lifted from the ground. His consciousness wavered. He heard nothing but the deafening pulse of the System rebinding itself to him like chains reforging under fire.
Then, as abruptly as it began, the overload snapped.
Aeryn crashed to the floor. The sigil shattered into fading motes. The cavern went utterly still.
Thalanil ran to him, voice shaking. "Aeryn! Speak to me!"
Aeryn coughed, pushing himself up slowly. His limbs trembled, but his eyes were clear.
"I'm… alright."
Calnor knelt, sweat beading on his brow. "The seal rejected you entirely. Something within your Interface refused to be separated from the world."
Aeryn felt a faint heat beneath his sternum. The System pulsed.
A new message appeared.
[New Directive Imprinted]
["Witness. Endure. Remember."]
Calnor saw the shift in Aeryn's expression. "What did it show you?"
Aeryn lifted his gaze.
"It didn't show me anything. It… told me something."
Thalanil stiffened. "What?"
Aeryn exhaled, voice steady and unnervingly calm.
"It said the echo isn't done with me."
A long silence followed.
Then Calnor whispered, almost too quietly—
"Then this world has begun turning toward you, Aeryn Vaelorian. And it will not turn back."
The roots above dimmed.
The echoes beneath the sanctuary sank into uneasy slumber.
And Aeryn realized that from the moment he awakened the Interface, the world had started watching him back.