The morning after the mist valley encounter began with a strange silence. Birds chirped, the wind danced through the leaves, and the stream whispered along the rocks—but none of it seemed normal. It was too perfect. Too quiet. As if the world was holding its breath.
Sid stretched beside the fire, blinking sleep from his eyes. Bob was already awake, perched on a mossy rock with his crimson antlers glowing faintly in the dawn light. The creature, no bigger than a pug, had stubby legs, leathery wings, and the wrinkled face of a perpetually annoyed old man. His pink, hairless skin shimmered faintly in the rising sun.
> [Familiar Named: Bob]
[Familiar Bond Established]
[Trait Activated: Soulbound Misfit]
[Bob has inherited a random passive: 'Reality Warp I']
[WARNING: Effect is unpredictable.]
Bob watched the horizon with uncanny stillness, tail swaying like a pendulum. From time to time, faint warping of the air flickered around him—subtle hints of the unstable reality he carried within.
Near the fire, vines rustled as a large raccoon-shaped creature emerged from the thickets. Its body was composed of intertwining living vines, glowing softly in shades of green. Its eyes, bright with ethereal intelligence, scanned the area.
> [Bond Upgrade: Verdant Thief - Evolution Unlocked]
[New Ability: Echo Step – Steal a memory from the environment and turn it into a physical object.]
[Bond Enhanced: Verdant Thief has reached Sync Level 2.]
[New Ability Gained: Veilshift]
[New Passive: Talisman Lock – A dormant curse is held within your summon. Prevents enemy entities from tracking you via magical means.]
Sid felt the changes too.
> [SYNC BOND LEVEL 3 UNLOCKED]
[NEW ABILITY: Dual Pulse – Sid can now fuse minor aspects of two summons temporarily.]
[Verdant Thief: Shadow Bloom unlocked — passive stealth field in thick foliage.]
[Bob: Probability Snap – low chance to completely nullify an enemy action.]
Mira stood near the stream, arms folded, her expression unusually grim. She had been up long before either of them, pacing, thinking. Her apprentice mage robes were slightly worn but neatly maintained, her staff slung across her back.
"Something's off," Sid muttered as he approached.
Mira turned to face him. "We need to leave this place. Now."
"Trouble?"
She nodded. "No signs of it. And that's the problem. No animal sounds. No insect buzz. Just... quiet. That means a predator. Or something worse."
Sid didn't argue. "Should we wake Alric?"
"He left before sunrise," she said. "Said he had to return to Birchvale before his mentor noticed. He left a note. Thanked us."
Sid blinked. "He's limping and he still left alone?"
Mira glanced away. "Some trials don't allow companions. He's following the rules of his guild."
Before Sid could press further, Bob let out a low rumble. "Eyes to the east."
They turned. In the distance, above the treeline, a dark plume of smoke curled into the morning sky.
"Eldenroot?" Sid asked, his throat dry.
"No," Mira replied, eyes narrowing. "Too far east. That's near the old watchtower."
Bob sniffed the air. "Smells like burning iron. Magic residue too."
Mira looked back at Sid, resolve hardening in her eyes. "We're going to investigate."
---
The path to the watchtower was narrow, riddled with bramble and roots, as though nature itself wanted to keep them away. Bob led the way, occasionally pausing to snap hidden wards with his tusks or blink unpredictably out of existence for a moment, reappearing in an entirely different spot. His presence bent the natural laws, and even the magical wards in the forest seemed confused.
Verdant Thief moved with supernatural grace, using Veilshift to blur into the surrounding foliage. As they neared magical disturbances, it used Echo Step, reaching into the very memory of the terrain to manifest fragments of the past—burned branches, spectral footprints, a torn summoner's glove.
As they climbed the ridge, Sid noticed signs of struggle: scorched trees, shattered crystals, and scattered feathers—none belonging to natural birds.
"We're close," Mira said, brushing her fingers over a damaged summoning sigil etched into a stone. "This was a battle."
At the summit, the old watchtower stood like a scar against the sky. Half-collapsed, its roof had caved in, and fire had blackened the stones. Something terrible had happened here recently.
Bob knelt, sniffed the base of the rubble, then growled. "Verdant Thief," he snarled. "Passed through here."
Sid felt the skin on his arms rise. "But didn't we fight that thing already?"
"We fought an echo," Mira said. "The true one is still out there. And more powerful now."
They stepped inside the remains of the tower. Amid the rubble, they found a sigil—one that pulsed softly with green and violet light. Bob approached it cautiously, growling low.
"A summoner's mark," Mira said. "But not from our region. Foreign. Feral."
Suddenly, the sigil flared, and a projection burst forth—a ghostly figure, tall and wrapped in a flowing cloak of leaves and shadow. Its face was obscured by a shifting mask of bark and bone.
The Verdant Thief's message.
"Whoever you are," the projection rasped, "turn back. The forest remembers its enemies. And it will not forgive."
Then it faded.
Bob roared, cracking a stone beneath his paw. "Coward."
Sid looked to Mira. "What now?"
Mira's response was quiet but certain. "Now we prepare. That was a warning, yes—but it was also a challenge."
---
They descended from the watchtower in silence, the tension wrapping tighter with every step. At camp that night, Mira finally broke it.
"There's something I haven't told you."
Sid, poking at the fire, looked up. "Sounds important."
Mira nodded. "It is. And I wouldn't have brought it up unless I thought you were ready."
Bob tilted his antlered head. "Secrets make worms grow in the brain. Spit it out."
She exhaled. "I need to go to Aurel Hollow."
Sid frowned. "That's a forbidden zone, right?"
"It's forbidden for most. But not for me."
"Why?"
Mira looked away, then reached into her satchel and pulled out a sealed scroll with an emerald ribbon. "This is my family's pact. I'm the last heir to the Hollowbinder lineage. That place—it's where our power comes from. And it's calling me."
Bob rumbled. "Dark place. Twisted roots. Bad memories."
"Yes," Mira whispered. "But it also holds the answers I need."
Sid sat forward. "What kind of answers?"
"About my mother. About why the Verdant Thief is tied to our bloodline. And about the pact magic that went wrong."
The fire crackled. For a moment, only the sounds of the forest surrounded them.
"I'll go with you," Sid said finally.
Mira's eyes widened slightly. "You don't have to—"
"I want to. You've risked a lot for me. It's time I helped you carry some of the weight."
Bob grunted. "If we're doing this, we're doing it loud."
Verdant Thief, nestled in a patch of moss, twitched an ear. The vines along its back glowed faintly, signaling its silent agreement.
Mira smiled faintly. "Thank you. Both of you."
---
That night, under the glowing canopy of starlight, they planned their route to Aurel Hollow. With Sid's Dual Pulse, Bob's erratic power of Reality Warp, and Verdant Thief's evolving stealth and misdirection, they had become something far stranger—and more dangerous—than any typical summoner's party.
It would not be safe.
But nothing worth discovering ever was
The early morning fog clung to the trees like spider silk as Sid, Mira, Bob, and Verdant Thief ventured deeper into the Verdant Crescent, the ancient trail that led toward Aurel Hollow. The world around them felt old, forgotten, and half-asleep. But the forest was very much awake.
Verdant Thief was barely visible, cloaked in the passive field of Shadow Bloom that blurred his outline amid the thick foliage. Only his glowing green eyes gave away his position. Sid, walking beside Mira, could feel the tension in her gait. Bob, meanwhile, trotted confidently ahead, tail flicking with arrogant rhythm.
"So," Sid began, trying to pierce the silence, "this Hollow place. What exactly are we walking into?"
Mira gripped her staff a little tighter. "A place where magic once bloomed unchecked. My family was its caretaker—until something went wrong. The forest turned inwards. Our bloodline fractured. And now... well, you saw what the Verdant Thief is becoming."
Bob snorted. "Becoming? It's already half-wraith, half-thief, and all annoying."
"We don't know if the Verdant Thief is corrupted," Mira countered. "But I need to know the truth. And to do that, we need to pass through the Grove of Dissonance."
"Sounds inviting," Sid muttered. "What lives there?"
"Memories. Mostly twisted ones. Illusions, projections. The Grove remembers. It lures you in by showing you things you want—or things you fear."
Bob huffed. "Let it try. I bite memories."
They reached a crumbling archway wrapped in vines that shimmered faintly with magic. Mira stepped forward and raised her hand.
The arch pulsed. A low hum echoed.
> [Mira used: Hollowbinder's Key Scroll]
The vines recoiled. The path beyond darkened.
"This is it," she said. "Stay close. The Grove feeds on disconnection. If we separate, we may not find each other again."
---
Inside the Grove, the world warped.
The trees grew impossibly tall, their bark reflecting light in unnatural ways. The canopy overhead twisted into unfamiliar constellations. Whispers rode the wind, speaking in voices Sid half-recognized. Faces from his past flickered in the shadows.
Then came the test.
A shimmering mist separated them all in an instant.
> [WARNING: Reality Distortion Active]
Sid turned, but Mira had vanished. Bob was gone. Even Verdant Thief's soft glowing eyes had disappeared.
"Not good," Sid whispered, heart pounding.
The ground beneath him shifted. A figure stood ahead—a mirror version of himself, younger, bloodied, and alone.
"You let them die," the reflection said.
"No," Sid growled. "I survived."
The fake Sid laughed, stepping closer. It raised a blade.
> [SYNC BOND ACTIVATED] [Duel Pulse Enabled]
A surge of power coursed through Sid. For a moment, he felt the energies of both Bob and Verdant Thief merge within him. His hand flared with green and violet light.
The reflection lunged.
Sid dodged, then countered with a swipe of conjured vines overlaid with chaotic distortion—Bob's influence warping the attack into a flickering strike that sliced through illusion.
The reflection shattered.
> [Illusion Purged]
Sid exhaled. "Okay. Still breathing. Still real."
He ran.
---
Elsewhere, Bob stood in front of a stone wall pulsing with mathematical equations, arcane diagrams, and wrinkly faces of bureaucrats.
"My worst nightmare," he muttered. "Middle management."
The wall spoke in a chorus: "Your actions defy protocol. You are a mistake."
Bob grinned, antlers flaring.
> [Reality Warp I Activated]
The entire wall turned into a flock of frogs and scattered. Bob waddled forward.
---
Mira stood in the ruins of her childhood home. Her mother knelt by the hearth, whispering a lullaby Mira hadn't heard in years.
"Come back," her mother said. "Stay."
Tears welled in Mira's eyes.
Then the figure's eyes turned black.
Mira raised her staff.
> [Arcane Snap: Dispel Phantom - Success]
The false mother wailed and burst into flame, revealing a creeping vine beneath it—a remnant of corrupted Verdant magic.
She whispered, "Not today."
---
Eventually, the Grove lost its grip.
One by one, they found each other again near a clearing. Mira emerged, pale and weary. Sid ran toward her. Verdant Thief appeared at his side, shadowy and silent. Bob rolled out of a bush, chewing on a twig.
"Well," Bob said, "that was horrifying."
"But we passed," Mira replied, breath shaky. "That was the Hollow testing our will. Now, it will let us approach."
The final stretch of forest opened into a vast glade. At its center stood a tree unlike any they had seen—twisted, colossal, half-crystal, half-bark, and pulsing with dormant life.
Mira dropped to her knees. "The Hollowcore Tree. We made it."
Sid stared in awe. "What now?"
Mira pulled out the scroll with the emerald ribbon and raised it. The air around the tree shimmered. Glowing glyphs rose from the roots to the canopy.
Then—a low growl echoed from the other side.
Verdant Thief tensed.
"Something else made it here first," Mira whispered.
From the mist, a shadowy beast emerged, wearing fragments of ancient armor, a half-formed summon gone rogue.
> [Entity Detected: Feral Echo]
Bob snarled, stepping forward.
Sid summoned both his companions beside him. "Then we fight. Together."
And together, they charged.