---
Deep within the Hollow, beneath root-woven stone and moss-crushed ruins, *it* stirred.
A shudder ran through the stillness, unnoticed by birds, ignored by insects. The Hollow itself recognized the movement—and paused.
It had no true name, not anymore. Once, it had been known in hushed tones as the **Seeker of Silence**, a spectral predator born of emotionless void and hungry echoes. A beast neither living nor fully dead—formed when a dying guardian of the Hollow was devoured by a voidling from the outer dark. The result: a stitched existence of ancient instincts and eldritch madness.
Now it *felt* again.
A flare of soul-flame.
A harmonic resonance never heard since the "falling star."
Something *new*—and *wrong*—had entered its range.
And it was *calling*.
---
Far above, Yuki pressed forward, his senses still echoing with the memory of the Whispering Stone. His body crackled faintly with the subdued energy of \[Soulflame Mantle], and his \[Mindforge Core] pulsed like a second heart, subtly weaving focus and perception together. Every step felt *anchored*, more aware.
> **Passive Effect: Mindforge Focus**
> Emotional noise reduced. Soul-pressure contained.
> Beast intuition reinforced with cognitive strategy.
That's when he felt it.
A ripple—not in the air, but in the very feeling of the forest. Trees tensed. Small creatures fled from unseen paths. The light dimmed even though the sun hadn't moved.
> **Warning: Predator-Class Entity Detected – Unknown Alignment**
> **Estimated Threat Level: High-A Rank (Adaptive Soul-Type)**
>
> Tracking Source: Active Lock on Soul Signature Detected.
"Something's following me," Yuki thought, his tail twitching low. He turned slowly, planting his claws into the mossy ground, letting his mana seep into it.
He caught the faintest whisper.
Not a sound, but a *lack* of one.
A silence so profound it muffled the chirps of birds, the rustling of leaves. The nearby trees bent *away* from the shadow slipping between trunks like a broken mirage.
Out it came—a creature unlike any he had seen.
Thin. Tall. Almost humanoid in shape, but covered in bramble-like growths fused with bone. Its limbs were jagged and jointless, with no eyes and no mouth. A single rune glowed across its chest: a void spiral, endlessly turning.
> **Entity Analyzed: Hollowborn Stalker – "Seeker of Silence"**
>
> Origin: Fragmented guardian soul fused with external void entity.
>
> Affinities: Void-Essence, Emotion Eater, Shadow Bind
>
> Skills Detected: \[Silence Zone], \[Soul Pin], \[Predator's Null], \[Unnameable Glare]
The creature tilted its head.
Then it *charged*.
Yuki reacted instinctively—flame bursting from his scales as he activated \[Flame Clad] and shifted to the new \[Soulflame Mantle]. His breath condensed, laced with spiritual heat, and a pulse of \[Draconic Roar] rippled outward, shaking the branches.
But the creature wasn't fazed.
In a flicker of motion, it vanished—only to reappear beside him, blade-like arms lashing toward his chest.
*Clang!*
The impact knocked him back, but his reinforced scales and new soul-wrapped defense held. Pain bloomed faintly, but so did understanding.
"Void-based. Ignores conventional barriers. Eats… emotions?" Yuki's mind ticked rapidly.
He flared his wings and shot upward, loosing a breath attack—*not* flame, but a compressed soulfire beam. The blast struck true, charring part of the creature's shoulder. It reeled back, hissing without sound.
Its body flickered. Regrew. Shifted form slightly.
> **Soulburn Successful – Entity Temporarily Weakened**
>
> Mindforge Core Response: Adaptive Counterforming Initiated.
Yuki's core throbbed, and suddenly his mind narrowed to a thread of clarity.
"Don't just attack the body—attack what makes it move."
He shifted his focus inward and then *outward*, synchronizing with the creature's flickering essence.
With a rush of motion, he shot downward—\[Aether Drift] activating to distort the space between them.
He *slammed* into the Seeker from above, claws glowing with flaming soul-light, and *tore* through its right arm. It let out a shriek—not audible, but *in his mind*—a horrible scraping of thought and decay.
Yuki roared back, his \[Mindforge Core] pulsing brighter as the creature staggered.
> **Emotion Feedback Overload: Seeker Temporarily Stunned**
>
> Soul Signal Saturation Exceeded – Battle advantage gained.
Yuki didn't wait.
He flared \[Soulflame Mantle], compressed it into his chest, and unleashed a short-range pulse—the *Phoenix Pulse*—like a starburst of burning soul-energy.
The Seeker twisted, contorting into knots, and *vanished*, its form collapsing into shadow threads that burrowed into the ground.
> **Hollowborn Stalker – Severely Damaged**
>
> Entity Status: Retreating.
>
> Connection to Mindforge Core – Fragmented.
> A Mark has been placed.
As silence returned, Yuki hovered above the clearing, breath heaving, eyes narrowed.
That… thing had *hunted* him for his awakening.
And it wouldn't be the last.
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