The winds were quiet. Almost too quiet.
After leaving the Land of Elbrus, the atmosphere had shifted again. The sky no longer hummed with the warm pulses of distant mana—now it was thick, like it had inhaled and refused to exhale. Each wave that brushed against the hull of my ship felt heavier, darker… corrupted.
"Nyx… are you sensing this?" I muttered, one hand gripping the helm while the other hovered near my void blade's hilt.
Kzzuu… [Darkness stirs ahead.] Nyx's voice crackled in my mind, quieter than usual. [This place feels… wrong. Even the mana refuses to flow normally.]
The map marked it clearly—"Dark Tree". A landmark buried in whispers and scribbled warnings. And now, it stood in front of me, miles tall, its dead canopy blotting out what little sunlight pierced the oceanic mists.
The closer I got, the more I could feel it.
Roots.
They weren't just underground—they were everywhere. Crawling across the broken land, weaving through cliffsides, even jutting out from the ocean like skeletal limbs. And all of them pulsed with a cursed, sickly red glow.
> [ WARNING: Cursed Energy Detected ]
[ Suggest: Protective Barrier | System Connection Weakening ]
[ Active Status Effects: Mild Paralysis (resisted), UI Fluctuation ]
My system screen jittered for a moment, flickering, warping text, until finally stabilizing. That's when the whispers began.
Not from outside.
From within.
> "Daughter of Ash. Child of Blackened Fire. Your roots grow from rot, just like ours."
"Join us… Plath daughter… We remember your blood."
"What the hell—" I clenched my jaw, grabbing my temple. "Shut up. Get out of my head."
KZZUUU! [They're talking to you? That's… not good.] Nyx said, already hovering close. His body was flickering too, like his soul flame was dimming near the corrupted roots.
Then, I saw it. A towering structure in the shape of a massive, dying tree—blackened branches curled like claws against a blood-colored sky. Around its base, hundreds of rootlike vines writhed and coiled like hungry serpents.
> [ Cursed Landmark Discovered: The Dark Tree ]
[ Initiating Lineage Reclamation Sequence… ]
[ Warning: Memory Flux Incoming ]
A pulse of cold hit my chest. The world blurred.
And for a single heartbeat—I wasn't me anymore.
I saw flickers of battles. An ancestor, cloaked in obsidian robes, wielding a flame-blackened spear. She fought a monstrosity, a beast made of roots and shadows, screaming as it fell. That ancestor… her eyes were crimson like mine. The name echoed faintly—Vaelaria Plath.
Then everything snapped back.
I gasped for air and dropped to my knees on the deck. My system flickered again.
> [ Fragmented Memory Synch – Partial Success ]
[ Lineage Bond Activated: Rootborne Resilience (Passive Perk Acquired) ]
[ You have gained resistance to Cursed Forest Effects. ]
"Of course," I whispered, standing up with the Void Sword in hand, its core faintly glowing. "This place was connected to my family all along…"
The Dark Tree loomed ahead, and I knew this wasn't going to be a simple 'pass through and collect rewards' moment.
It wanted to test me.
Or worse… it remembered me.
I stepped off the ship and onto the land that led toward the Dark Tree—and immediately, the ground pulsed beneath my boots. It wasn't just cursed… it was alive.
The roots shifted, just slightly, like they felt me arrive.
"Alright then," I murmured, drawing my Void Sword and spinning it once in my palm. "If you're watching, I'm not here to kneel."
> [ Rootborne Resilience: ACTIVE ]
[ Environmental Resistance: 60% Cursed Energy | 30% Illusion Influence ]
[ Caution: Area destabilized by past trauma—proceed with care. ]
Nyx floated beside me, his form flickering like a dying candle flame.
Kzzuu… [This whole forest was a battlefield. I can smell the blood in the dirt.]
We moved slowly, every step forward matched by another shift in the environment. The air was thick with silence—too still. No wind. No chirping mana beasts. Even the clouds above seemed frozen in place.
Suddenly—snap.
A tendril of root lashed out, slicing the air beside my face.
> [ Threat Detected: Corrupted Guardian Root ]
[ Tier Rank: 6 | Status: Bound to Tree Core ]
[ Hostility: 100% ]
I spun, ducked, and cleaved the tendril in half with a flash of my blade. It howled as black ichor splattered across the broken stone.
But it wasn't alone.
Dozens more began to slither out from the base of the Dark Tree, like worms pulled from a festering corpse.
"Tch. This again?"
> [ Activating Skill: Shadow Veil Step ]
[ Cooldown: 20 seconds ]
In a blur, I flickered forward, slicing through three roots as I danced between their attacks. The void blade thrummed with energy—every kill fed it, every parry strengthened my momentum.
But then—
> [ Cursed Barrier Triggered ]
[ Mana Absorption Initiated – MP Drain: 3% per second ]
[ Warning: Do not engage core unless shield is removed. ]
The battlefield shifted again. The roots weren't trying to kill me—they were buying time.
And then I saw it. The Tree's base had opened, revealing a hollow shrine beneath its twisted form. Inside was a floating crystal—black and red, throbbing like a heart. But what disturbed me most was the statue beside it.
A tall demon woman. Crimson eyes. A blackened crown.
"…Vaelaria," I whispered.
My ancestor. The one I saw in the memory flux. She was sealed here. No—she sealed herself.
> [ Memory Fragment Detected – Vaelaria Plath ]
[ Do you wish to unlock it? ]
[ Yes / No ]
My finger hovered.
"Not yet," I muttered. "I'll need time to process this… and I still have to destroy that cursed core first."
Roots burst from the shrine, lunging straight for my chest.
> [ Activating Limit Skill: Oblivion Arc Slash ]
[ Void Resonance: 87% ]
[ Status: High-Speed Execution Enabled ]
I leapt.
My blade ignited with a black flame as I roared through the air, slicing the tendrils apart with a single devastating arc. The cursed core cracked, a shudder running through the entire island.
Everything froze.
And then…
> [ Core Weakened – Cursed Field Dampened by 50% ]
[ Unlocking Shrine Access… ]
[ Memory Fragment Ready for Retrieval ]
I landed on one knee, breath heavy, body trembling from the effort.
"Yeah," I muttered, smiling faintly. "This journey's only getting weirder."
I stepped toward the opened shrine, dust and old air swirling like whispers around my boots. The darkness inside wasn't threatening—it was quiet. Almost sacred.
The memory fragment still floated above the altar, pulsing in slow rhythm, like a heartbeat carved in light.
> [ Memory Fragment – Vaelaria Plath ]
[ Confirm Unlock: Yes / No ]
> You may only witness this once.
"…Yes."
As soon as I touched it, the world shattered.
No, it didn't shatter—it peeled. The air cracked like glass, the floor beneath my feet vanished, and I fell—weightless—into the memory.
Four thousand years ago.
I stood in a different body. Or maybe I was just a ghost this time. Either way, I wasn't in control. I watched, helpless, as Vaelaria Plath, regal and armored in obsidian and silver, stood before a withered version of the Dark Tree—what once had been a Tree of Light.
The land was burning.
Demons, once born with mana blessings, now screamed and wept. Their blessings had turned into curses. The worshippers had betrayed them. Again.
"Take it all," Vaelaria whispered, standing before the tree, her blade embedded into the roots. "All my power. My blessing. My curse. I will become the seal… for them."
A voice echoed from behind—one I couldn't see, but felt deep in my chest.
> "If you become the seal, you will never return. No one will remember you, Vaelaria. Not even your bloodline."
Vaelaria smiled.
"They don't need to remember me. They just need a future."
The tree erupted. Mana howled. The roots turned black and bound around her. Her body faded, not into dust, but into code. Into something the system consumed and buried.
She wasn't killed.
She offered herself—willingly.
I woke up gasping.
> [ Memory Fragment Absorbed ]
[ Skill Seed: Root Seal Authority – Acquired (Dormant) ]
[ Locked. Will unlock upon visiting 'Void Whirlpool' location. ]
So that was it.
She was one of us. One of the Plath line. And she gave up everything to protect something she didn't even get to see grow.
"…You're not forgotten," I whispered. "Not anymore."
The shrine behind me dimmed, the light fading into silence. The air had changed. The cursed forest was still dangerous, but the malice in the wind had lessened.
Even the roots had stopped moving.
Nyx emerged from the trees, wings flickering in concern.
Kzzuu… Did you see something? You were standing there for minutes, frozen.
"I saw a legacy," I whispered. "One I have to carry… because no one else will."
> [ Quest Update: Awaken the Dormant Legacy of Vaelaria ]
[ Status: In Progress ]
[ Progression Step 1 of 3 – Visit the Void Whirlpool ]
I tightened the grip on my Void Sword and stepped back into the shadowed path.
"Let's move, Nyx. We've got more roots to cut, and more truths to dig up."
The silence didn't last long.
As Nyx and I moved deeper through the clearing past the ancient shrine, the ground beneath our feet began to pulse. Not shake—pulse—as if the earth itself had a heartbeat. The cursed roots writhed, no longer hiding beneath the soil. They slithered across the surface like veins looking for a wound to infect.
Then I heard it.
A cry. Not human, not beast. It was something in between—something that had long forgotten what it used to be.
> [ Warning: Rootborn Abominations detected ]
[ Tier: 7 | Corruption Level: 89% | Hostility: 100% ]
From the dark trunks and twisted foliage, creatures emerged—twisted mockeries of demonkind. Their bodies were built from bark, rotted bone, and corrupted mana. Fungal eyes blinked from behind hollow sockets. One of them had multiple arms, each fused with rusted weapons, dragging behind like a broken puppet.
My system flared.
> [ New Combat Skill: Veil Slash – Activated ]
[ Passive: Black Thread Vision – Detects corrupted mana weak points ]
I took a deep breath. "Let's do this."
Nyx let out a shriek beside me, her wings splitting open like blades as she darted into the air. I lunged forward, slicing through the closest abomination's leg. My Void Sword sizzled as it met the corruption—not cutting, but consuming.
> [ Critical Hit – Weak Point Exploited ]
[ Rootborn Abomination HP: 67% ]
But it didn't stop. It roared, mouth stretching wider than it should, vines bursting from its chest like parasitic tongues.
"Gross."
I spun, activating [Shadow Snap]—teleporting a few feet back just before the vines could catch my ankle. Nyx darted in, her black feathers flaring, and slammed into another creature's core. It cracked like glass and exploded into ash.
> [ Rootborn Abomination Defeated – 1/5 ]
[ Bonus Drop: Corrupted Sap x2 | Rootbone Shard x1 ]
Four more to go.
I grinned, heart racing. These monsters were brutal, no doubt. But I'd faced worse. The Blue Ocean had almost eaten me alive. These things? They were just the ghosts of a broken forest trying to drag me back down.
I refused to sink again.
The second came at me with a screech, leaping through the air with unnatural speed. I rolled under it, slicing up as I passed. [Veil Slash] ignited along the edge of my sword, tearing through its spine.
> [ Rootborn Abomination Defeated – 2/5 ]
The third and fourth came together—twins, fused at the side, carrying a shriveled demon head between them that muttered nonsense spells in a language older than death.
Their corrupted magic started distorting my vision, warping my system UI with glitching text.
> [ Illusion Attempt Detected – Nullified by Authority: Void Host ]
[ Suggestion: Use Aura Pulse to destabilize mental influence ]
"On it." I focused, channeling mana to my palm.
"Aura Pulse."
A shockwave burst from me, disrupting the illusion and knocking the twin abominations off balance. Nyx swooped down and tore through one while I stabbed the other right through the heart-like core in its shoulder.
> [ Rootborn Abominations Defeated – 3/5 & 4/5 ]
The last one was watching. It didn't attack. Just stood there—its head cocked sideways, hands twitching like it remembered how to pray.
Then it whispered something.
"We remember her."
I froze.
"…Who?"
"Vaelaria. She fed us. Now… we rot."
Before I could respond, it charged, its body bursting into a thousand thorny tendrils.
I didn't hesitate. I let all my mana surge to the blade, activating everything I had.
> [ Void Sword – Full Charge Mode: ON ]
[ Skill: Spiral Annihilation – Unlocked (Temporary Sync with Nyx) ]
[ Host-Soul Beast Link: 79% Sync Achieved ]
Together, Nyx and I spun midair. Our energies collided in a brilliant spiral of black and crimson light. The final Rootborn was consumed in the storm.
> [ Rootborn Abomination Defeated – 5/5 ]
[ Area Purged: Dark Tree Clearing – Temporary Safety Zone Created ]
[ XP Gained: +8200 ]
[ System Level Up – 22 → 23 ]
I collapsed to my knees, panting, sweat dripping from my chin.
Nyx landed beside me, nudging her head against my arm. Kzzuu... We survived. Again.
"Yeah," I whispered, smiling through the ache in my bones. "But the real monsters are still waiting."
The silence after battle was always the loudest. Not the absence of sound, but the echo of adrenaline in my blood, the thrum of mana still buzzing through my fingertips.
> [ Area Status: Safe – 17 Minutes Remaining ]
[ You may rest or access inventory and system interface ]
[ Suggestion: Interact with Dark Tree Core Fragment ]
I turned to the massive, gnarled trunk at the center of the clearing—the source of the curse, the birthplace of those Rootborn creatures. The bark pulsed faintly, like breathing wood, and its roots shimmered faintly with residual mana.
Nyx perched on a low branch nearby, eyes glowing. That's not an ordinary tree.
"No kidding."
I approached carefully, Void Sword still glowing faintly. The core fragment, embedded in the bark, radiated a dull red light. Carved runes surrounded it—old demon language, one I couldn't read entirely, but recognized bits of.
"Vow… Sealed… Devourer…"
> [ System Prompt: Interact with Dark Tree Core Fragment? ]
[ Yes / No ]
"Let's do it."
> [ You have obtained: Dark Tree Core Fragment (Cursed) ]
[ + Unique Passive Unlocked: "Memory of the Root" ]
[ Grants temporary resistance to Corruption-type Mana & environmental illusions ]
The moment I touched the fragment, a faint pulse entered my hand—a memory. Not a full vision, not a realm transport like White Coastal Essence, but more like a dying echo.
I saw a demon kneeling, hands pressed to the tree.
"I bind my children to you. Let them rot, if I must. But let them be remembered."
His body disintegrated into the bark, and the forest screamed.
"…This island... no, this land was sacrificed to seal something far worse."
Nyx tilted her head. The Devourer?
"Maybe," I said. "Or maybe something even older."
> [ New Quest Unlocked: "Roots of Vow" (Side Quest) ]
[ Description: Investigate the sealed memory within the Dark Tree ruins. Clues may lead deeper into the Bulgaria Forest or toward the Void Whirlpool. ]
I sighed, closing my interface. Another quest. Another burden.
But I didn't feel afraid anymore.
Instead… I felt stronger.
> [ System Status Updated ]
> Level: 23
Title: Voidborne Survivor
HP: 960/1400
MP: 1770/2400
Authority: 4
Skills Improved:
– Veil Slash (Rank II)
– Shadow Snap (Cooldown Reduced)
– Aura Pulse (Expanded Radius)
Soul Beast Link Sync: 79%
Nyx Condition: Stable, recovering mana
I leaned back against a mossy rock, watching the corrupted tree slowly fade into stillness. The wind had shifted. It smelled less like rot, more like dew now.
The danger had passed—for now.
But I had the feeling this tree was just the beginning. The deeper I went into the Dark Ocean… the deeper I was diving into forgotten history, sealed gods, and twisted truths about my own bloodline.
"We move at first light," I said to Nyx. "We're headed for Bulgaria Forest next."
She nodded, already curling up to rest. I followed her example, gripping my Void Sword as I closed my eyes.
Even paradise could rot.
But I wouldn't.
Not again.