The attack came at dusk.
The forest had gone still — unnaturally so. Even the ever-present hum of the trees had faded into breathless silence. No insects. No breeze. Just the distant, low groaning of something moving against nature.
Riku stood near the edge of the Lorian settlement, watching the mist shift uneasily between the trees. The glowing flora had dimmed, as if afraid to be seen. Nilo had vanished into the undergrowth two hours ago, searching for something he refused to name. Juran had left with five warriors to scout, leaving only Thalya and two silent guards nearby.
Something was wrong.
That was when the scream came.
It wasn't human. It sounded like glass shattering inside a furnace — high-pitched and hateful. And it was getting closer.
Thalya rose from her place on the moss-covered dais. "North edge," she said, voice cool but tense. "It found the scent."
"What found—"
A massive form tore through the canopy.
It landed with the weight of a dropped boulder, scattering debris and sending a wave of choking heat outward. Its body was ape-like — massive arms, hunched shoulders — but where skin should have been, jagged black crystals jutted outward like infected armor. Its eyes were pits of red fire, and its breath steamed in the air like boiling blood.
The Lorian warriors formed a loose semicircle. Their weapons were bone-hooks and vine-slings — nothing that looked like it could stop that.
Riku's heart pounded. He stumbled backward instinctively—then caught himself. No. Not now. If he ran, it was over. The tribe would never trust him again.
He had to do something. Anything.
He scanned the environment—trees, slope, roots, tension in the air. There was a narrow path leading downward—muddy, overgrown, lined with moss-covered rocks.
Trap it.
He ran toward the slope.
"Riku—!" Thalya's voice cut off as he skidded into the path and began slicing through moss with his bone knife, clearing a section of slick mud. He grabbed vine-roots, wrapped them between trees, and created a trip point.
He grabbed a glowing seedpod from a nearby branch—something Nilo had once used to create blinding flashes.
Then he waited.
The creature roared again, charging through the grove with unnatural speed. Two warriors moved to intercept — too slow. One was slammed into a tree, unmoving. The other screamed as a crystal shard slashed his arm open.
"Bring it this way!" Riku yelled. "Here! Follow me!"
The beast turned to him.
And charged.
Riku bolted down the slope, slipping on purpose to draw it in. The creature lunged—
And hit the vine-line at full speed.
It stumbled, roared—
And fell into the slick mud, crashing down with a bone-shaking thud.
Riku yanked the seedpod free, smashed it against a stone, and rolled aside.
Light exploded — blinding white mixed with screaming blue fire.
The creature thrashed, slamming its fists into the ground. But it was wounded now. Disoriented. The warriors moved in. Juran returned at the exact moment needed, spear driving deep into the creature's side.
It howled — one final, furious scream — and collapsed.
Dead.
Smoke drifted from the body, its crystals flickering dimly.
The forest remained silent.
Then… movement.
Thalya stepped toward Riku. She said nothing at first. Her gaze was unreadable.
Then, she nodded. Just once.
"You did not run."
"I… I couldn't," he said, breathless. "If I had, you would've—"
"We would have lived," she said flatly. "But differently."
The other Lorian gathered slowly, cautiously.
One stepped forward—a boy no older than Riku, with bark-wrapped hands and moss-dyed hair. He knelt in front of Riku, touching his forehead to the ground.
A second followed.
Then a third.
Riku blinked, unsure whether to speak or stop them.
Thalya simply said, "They dreamt of this."
A shimmer passed across Riku's vision.
The system.
[Fold Initiated]
[Trait Acquired: Tribal Belief — "Protector Beyond Pattern"]
[Multiplier Seed: x1.00 → x2.00]
[Fold Target: Loyalty]
[Effect: Passive Loyalty regeneration activated. Cultural Memory node unlocked.]
The words disappeared as quickly as they came.
But Riku understood one thing very clearly:
This was the first step. The beginning of something far bigger than himself.
That night, a feast of silence was held. No music. No speech. The Lorian honored survival by sitting together in the stillness, drinking rootwine and placing fragments of the creature's crystal body into bowls of glowing water.
It wasn't celebration.
It was memory.
Riku sat among them, watching, learning. Feeling something shift beneath the surface.
Later, when the grove was quiet and the fire-bowls dimmed, Thalya sat beside him.
"You are still not Chosen," she said.
"I know."
"But you are not unworthy."
He looked at her. "That's... something, I guess."
She gave him a slow, almost-smile.
And above them, unseen, the system shimmered again.
Watching.
Waiting.
Multiplying.