The morning air was crisp against Davin's skin, carrying the scent of damp earth and the fading sweetness of violet spores.
But he barely noticed.
He sat a while longer at the cliff's edge, watching sunlight bleed slowly into the darkened western horizon.
A headache throbbed softly behind his eyes, and something deep in his chest ached with the weight of something forgotten.
He exhaled slowly, then stood.
He didn't know why, but his feet began to move.
Not with purpose.
Just… moving.
Down a worn path through tangled underbrush and trees, their leaves rustling like secrets whispered behind his back.
His gaze was unfocused, eyes half-lidded, his body moving almost of its own accord.
The dream—if that's what it had been—gnawed at the edge of his awareness like a word on the tip of the tongue.
He frowned, lifting a hand to his temple.
"What was it about again...?" he murmured.
[You seem distressed. You appear to be exhibiting symptoms of mild memory dissonance.]
The System's voice hummed gently in his mind.
He blinked, remembering. The System could replay anything he'd seen.
'System. The dream I had... can you recall it?'
[Negative.]
Davin stopped mid-step.
'What do you mean "negative"? You monitor everything. Stats, vitals… even my thoughts during combat.'
A brief pause then...
[That is correct. I monitor your body, neural activity, and environmental stimuli. However, memories are categorized as spiritual assets.]
"Spiritual assets?"
[Affirmative.]
[Memories belong to the soul. They are not data to be harvested or stored.]
[They are your soul's treasures, host.]
Davin's brow furrowed.
'So I dreamed something important… but I can't remember. And even you can't help me recover it.'
[Correct.]
He sighed, rubbing the back of his head.
'Great. This fog in my mind won't go away...'
[...]
He resumed walking, slower this time. His fingers drifted along the bark of moss-covered trees. The forest felt… different.
The wind had gone quiet. He could even hear insects crackling beneath a nearby tree's bark, and the faint rustle of unseen things watching from the underbrush.
It was peaceful yes, but also… off.
He had barely registered that he had walked far enough when, at some point, he realized the trees had grown denser, their trunks leaning closer like silent sentinels in conference.
Then he saw them—two old oaks, bark gnarled and gray with age, their roots entwined at the base like clasped hands.
While their thick branches reached toward one another, twisting and locking above, forming an archway.
Beneath that arch, the air shimmered—just faintly.
Like a heat haze and like a ripple across still waters.
Davin blinked. He'd nearly walked straight through it without noticing.
He tilted his head and stepped closer, puzzled.
'Um… System?'
[No threat detected. Try using your skill: Celestial Eye…]
The System's voice remained calm as usual.
'Activate Celestial—'
He never got to finish his statement when...
Whump!
The wind imploded inward.
Davin's body jerked, yanked by an invisible force. His feet left the ground. The archway flared with sudden light, and the distortion thickened—revealing a swirling vortex of translucent air: silent, colorless… and ravenous.
His instincts kicked in. He tried to resist, but the pull was irresistible.
"Shit—!"
And in a heartbeat, he was gone.
The portal swallowed him whole.
The forest vanished behind him. It's earlier stillness returning as if no one had been just sucked through the secret oak doorway, mere seconds ago...
~
He crashed through something soft—vines or foliage—before his shoulder slammed into a low branch, breaking his momentum. And tumbled down, hitting the dirt with a grunt.
[HP: 260/280]
He lay there expressionless, staring up through unfamiliar leaves.
These trees weren't the ones from before. They were taller, their leaves laced with faintly glowing blue veins. Luminescent moss pulsed along the trunks like slow-moving blood.
The air buzzed—not with insects, but with raw energy. Everything felt… alive in a way deeper than life itself.
[Environment analysis complete.]
[Warning: You have entered a different zone.]
Davin groaned and sat up. "A what now?"
[This area's mana signature does not match that of the previous forest.]
Davin scowled. "You're saying I just fell into a different world or something?"
[More of a place than world...]
[…But you are not in danger. At least, not yet.]
He stood, brushing off leaves, scanning the glowing woods. A pale mist hugged the roots, and distant, melodic chimes echoed faintly through the canopy.
"This doesn't feel like a coincidence," he muttered.
[...]
'You brought me here!'
[No. You brought yourself here. I mean, technically—you followed your heart, didn't you?]
'But you had to have sensed that portal! Why didn't you warn me?'
[As I said before, you are on a quest that requires you to follow your inner will. I cannot interfere.]
'Fantastic. So how the hell do I get out of here before something eats me?'
[The same way you came in.]
~
While somewhere, deep in the shifting haze of the trees, a presence stirred.
Large green eyes blinked open, turning toward the intruder in its humble abode…