Sid had only been in Eldenroot for a few days, but already he could sense its rhythm—a heartbeat hidden beneath bark and stone. The village itself, alive in ways few outsiders would ever understand, pulsed with quiet energy. Vines slithered subtly across the thatched rooftops, ancient trees leaned protectively over homes, and flowers bloomed in response to footsteps. Eldenroot was a sanctuary, yes—but also a keeper of ancient grudges.
Mira led him deeper into the southern district, where houses stood atop enormous roots and clockwork mechanisms ticked in perfect synchrony. Here, the village revealed a more mechanical side—crafted not from steel, but from enchanted wood and druidic engineering. It was where nature met invention.
"We're heading to the Archive Quarter," Mira explained, brushing past a floating lantern shaped like a blooming lily. "It's where they store blueprints, grimoires, and relics too dangerous or valuable for the main academy."
Bob trotted beside them, his stubby legs clicking softly on the bark-carved path. He paused only to glare at a squirrel-shaped golem that dared to chitter too loudly.
"This place stinks of scroll dust and broken dreams," Bob muttered, swatting at the golem with his tail. "Exactly the kind of place Sid belongs."
"Thanks?" Sid blinked.
Verdant Thief materialized from a nearby tree trunk, vines uncoiling like silent whispers. Its glowing eyes blinked once before it fell into step behind them.
"Anything we should be looking for in particular?" Sid asked Mira.
"Yes. My father's grimoire. It disappeared the night the Hollowbinder household fell." Her voice held a sharper edge than usual. "He was researching ancient fusion magic. The kind that could enhance summon pacts permanently."
Sid's eyes narrowed. "So this might be related to the freaky stuff happening around us."
"Exactly. And someone here didn't want his research found."
---
The Archive Quarter resembled a library carved from the inside of a colossal tree trunk. Wooden shelves lined the spiral walls, winding up into the branches above. Floating platforms hovered at various levels, allowing access to books sealed by arcane locks. Crystalline golems patrolled the hallways, their cores glowing green.
Mira produced a sigil-stamped medallion and pressed it against the entry ward. The bark shifted open, revealing a hidden passage that led downward.
"We're not using the main entrance?" Sid asked.
"No. Too many eyes. This way's forgotten by most."
Bob sniffed. "Except the one who doesn't want us here."
As they descended, the air grew colder, damper. Sigils etched in moss pulsed dimly on the walls. Mira stopped in front of a door made from roots twisted around gears.
"This is it. Sub-Archive 12. My father used to call it the 'Grudge Vault.'"
She whispered a phrase in an old dialect—root-speak. The door creaked open.
Inside, the chamber was circular and dim, illuminated by a single glowing seed suspended in the center. Around it, arcane tomes floated midair, spinning slowly. Mechanical arms re-shelved or rotated them.
"Stay sharp," Mira said. "Some of these books can bite."
Sid scanned the room until he noticed a locked pedestal near the far wall, covered in leafy chains and runic wards.
"That looks promising."
Mira approached cautiously. "It's his. The wards are familiar. But someone's tampered with it."
Verdant Thief stepped forward and extended a vine toward the lock, shimmering slightly. It whispered into the pedestal. The wards shimmered, then cracked open like ice.
Bob growled. "Something's waking up."
From behind one of the shelves, a massive shape stirred—a golem, its limbs a fusion of bark, stone, and iron gears. Its eyes flared open with red malice.
"INTRUDER. IDENTIFY."
Mira backed up. "They upgraded the guardian. This one wasn't here last year."
Sid summoned both Bob and Verdant Thief beside him.
> [SYNC BOND LEVEL 3 UNLOCKED] [NEW ABILITY: Dual Pulse Activated]
Sid clapped his hands together. "Time to see what fusion feels like."
Sid had barely stepped away from the workshop when Mira returned, her face glowing with a faint excitement. She held a small parchment in her hand, the seal of the Eldenroot Archives still intact.
"I think I found something," she said, catching her breath.
Sid leaned in. Bob, perched on a nearby branch like a grotesque fruit, squinted. "Hope it's worth the ink."
Mira unsealed the parchment and unrolled it. "The archives held a record from the Mage Rebellion Era. There was a Summoner who lived in Eldenroot three hundred years ago. They called him the Clockwright."
Sid raised an eyebrow. "Clockwright? Sounds like a time-obsessed lunatic."
"He was," Mira said with a smirk. "But he was also a genius. According to this, he combined mechanical constructs with living summons. That's... unheard of."
Bob grumbled. "That's abominable. Summons are bound spirits. Fusing them with gears and wires is like putting a crown on a toad."
"But it might be a clue," Mira pressed. "If we can find where the Clockwright lived, we might uncover how summoners like you and him gained abilities outside the norm."
"Outside the norm... like Bob and Verdant Thief?"
She nodded.
"Then we find him. Or what's left of him," Sid said, determination hardening in his voice.
---
The trail led them to the ruins of a forge on the northern edge of Eldenroot, veiled by gnarled roots and overgrown vines. Unlike the vibrant rest of the village, this area felt suffocated by silence and soot.
Verdant Thief melted from the shadows beside them, eyes aglow with subtle recognition. The leaves across its vine-body twitched.
"Something died here," it hissed, its voice more plant than beast.
Mira stepped carefully across broken gears and scorched glyphs. "This is definitely the Clockwright's lab. Look at the arcane schematics."
Bob floated closer to a pedestal in the center of the room, his tiny wings flapping like annoyed flags. "This one used weird magic. Like the boy. But darker. Sadder."
Sid examined a broken tome fused into a metal console. The pages were stiff with age and cinders, but one page remained legible:
> To command time is to burden the soul. To forge a being of both brass and spirit is to hear eternity scream.
"That's poetic," Sid muttered. "And terrifying."
Mira nodded solemnly. "He tried to make a summon that lived across timelines. It must've driven him mad."
"Or worse," Bob added, sniffing at the console. "He may still be here. Trapped."
They explored further. At the back of the forge was a sealed door engraved with intertwining runes. Mira traced them with her hand.
"These are protection seals—three-layered. If we open this, we need to be ready for anything."
Sid looked to Bob and Verdant Thief. "You two ready?"
"Always," Bob grunted.
Verdant Thief shimmered and vanished into partial invisibility. "Watching. Waiting."
Mira began the dispelling chant. The runes fought her at every syllable, twisting and flaring violently. The air thickened with static as the door creaked open inch by inch. A rush of old, arcane air swept out—a scent like burning parchment and rusted dreams.
Inside was a chamber filled with inert constructs, all humanoid in shape but hollow in spirit. At the center, slumped over a dais, was a metallic body with a cracked crystal core in its chest.
"Is that... him?" Sid whispered.
Mira approached and cast a light glyph. The construct twitched.
Bob roared. "It's alive!"
The body jerked upright, its eyes glowing amber. A voice rasped, tin and sorrowful:
"Who... summons the broken past?"
Sid stepped forward. "I'm Sid. A summoner. Maybe one like you."
The figure trembled. "Summoner... or fool... I was once Eiran, the Clockwright. Now I am only Echo."
Mira spoke gently. "We found your notes. We're trying to understand—why did you bind yourself like this?"
"Because time was unkind to those who summoned monsters. I sought a way to survive it... to remain. I failed."
"You succeeded in part," Sid said. "We're here. Maybe your knowledge can help us."
The construct paused. Then, slowly, it lifted an arm and extended a metallic finger toward Sid. A soft spark of light leapt from it to Sid's palm.
> [NEW MEMORY UNLOCKED: Clockwright's Echo]
[Sid gains Passive: Temporal Thread – Can sense the recent magical history of a place or item.]
Echo's lights began to dim. "I pass to you what I preserved. Beware those who hunt the odd. They fear what they don't control."
"Who?" Mira asked.
But it was too late. The light in the construct died out. Echo was gone.
Bob stepped beside Sid. "He chose you. That means something."
---
Back at camp, Sid stared at the flame, deep in thought.
"They hunted him," he murmured. "For being different. For his summons. Just like me."
Mira nodded. "But he tried to hide. You're doing the opposite. You're learning. Fighting. Becoming."
Bob perched beside him. "And you've got us. Echo didn't. That's what'll make the difference."
Verdant Thief curled nearby, faintly humming as it played with stolen components from the forge.
Sid looked at them—his companions, his familiars, his family. He clenched his fists.
"We won't hide. Not now. Not ever."
The night wind stirred, and somewhere deep in Eldenroot, old gears clicked back into motion.