Chapter 37: The seed and the soul

Chapter 37: The seed and the soulDING! ~----~ [SYSTEM NOTIFICATION] [Behemorph Slain!] [Designation: Tunnel-Crowned Deathspine Centipede] [Classification: Subterranean Predator] [Crown Type: Thorn Crown] [Genesis Rank: Initiate Ember] [You have slain a Behemorph within a corrupted Genesis Field!] >Genesis Embers Extracted +4. ... [Aspect Synergy Detected] >Rootlash Dominion reacts to predatory neural patterns. >Passive enhancement to subterranean Rootlash binding speed. [Verdant Tyranny has recorded this prey.] [New Behemorph Memory imprinted.] [Updated Lore Node: "Tunnel-Crowned Deathspine Centipede" added to Codex.] ~----~ The corpse of the mutated centipede still steamed. Clayton stood above it, unmoving. Not out of fear, not even surprise, but disorientation. ’Behemorph? Is that what they’re called?’ ’Crown Type? Genesis Rank? Codex?’ He stood still, disoriented by everything, including how a body as small as his was able to overpower and murder a centipede as big as a literal van! Everything around him was wrong. The world was cracked open and stitched back together by powers that shouldn’t exist. Buildings slouched like drunk giants. Trees grew sideways from concrete. The sun itself flickered behind a cloud like it couldn’t decide whether to stay or just disappear. And then there was the System. It had changed. Or maybe evolved was the better word. ~----~ [Genesis Protocols: TRIAL 2 – EARTHFALL] >Status: Soul Awakening Confirmed. >Class: Verdant Lord. >Genesis Rank: Initiate Ember. >Aspect: Verdant Tyranny. >Aspect Ability: Rootlash Dominion. ~----~ That word again. Aspect. His mind reeled as he reread the notification. It felt like something sacred, etched in stone, not code. His Verdant Lord form still existed, rooted miles away in his domain like a beast in hibernation. But the power that had once been sealed within it now lived inside his humanoid body too. He turned his palm upward. Slowly, carefully. The skin there shimmered faintly with a deep green hue, darker than the raw vitality of before. It was the color of dominance; not life given, but life taken and bent to will. His veins had shifted, flowing with chlorokinetic energy that throbbed like roots beneath ancient earth. Then, a name flashed in his mind. ’Rootlash Dominion’. His body responded before he could fully comprehend. Roots erupted from the ground beneath his feet; dense, coiling masses that snarled up from cracks in the street, wrapping around each other in a spiral storm. They bent to him like whipped serpents. Hungry. Obedient. With a thought, they surged forward; a ten meter lash of pure, spiked root, splitting a ruined vehicle in two with a wet, echoing crunch. The lash snapped back, coiled again, and then froze. Waiting. Breathing. Alive. DING! ~----~ [Aspect Ability: Rootlash Dominion] >Description: Commands flora-root energy through sheer will. Enables summoning of adaptive root-lashes from any natural or corrupted surface. [Passive Effect: All flora in a 30m radius recognizes the user as dominant. Minor Vitality regeneration when in contact with natural surfaces.] [Active Effect: Manifest root-based constructs for offense, entrapment, or traversal. Damage scales with Genesis rank and terrain density.] ~----~ His Aspect Ability, simplified and explained in a more understandable form. He could feel it deep in his bones now, the Verdant Tyranny. He wasn’t just a flora-bonded being anymore. He was a king of roots. He would pull Earth’s spine up by the soil, if necessary. Then, Clayton sat down. Not from exhaustion. From information overload. His mind buzzed with more questions than answers still. After killing the centipede, though subtly, he felt stronger. The system confirmed it by indicating that he extracted +4 Genesis Embers. What are Genesis Embers? How could he be this powerful, on Earth? He had so many questions. Why had he been granted this aspect? Were others like him given different ones? Could he only use one ability? Would the next trial give him another? What about the Verdant Lord form? Could he still switch? Split consciousness? He closed his eyes, and slipped sideways. Not physically, but mentally. He let his awareness dive downward, rooting into the hidden half of his soul. A second heartbeat answered. Far from the ruins of the dead city, in a hollowed temple of bone and moss, a towering monster opened its eyes. Green light poured from its bark-split chest. The Verdant Lord. Towering. Radiant. Silent. He could control it, feel through its eyes, command its power. But not yet. There were limits. Distance. Density. Energy cost. The System hadn’t given him a handbook. He would have to learn the hard way. Clayton pulled back into his humanoid form with a gasp. The moment passed, his heart thudding in both bodies. "Alright," he muttered, pushing to his feet. "I’m alive. I’m awake. I’m... not alone". Because despite the empty city, despite the bones of skyscrapers and the ghosts of civilization... He could feel presence. Faint soul pressure. Like ripples across water. Someone, or something was out there. But he wouldn’t go chasing it just yet. Not until he finished testing the rest. He raised his arm. Verdant Warden. His first weapon in this second trial. He still didn’t know what the Mythprint meant, but he would learn with time. Just like everything else. He opened the interface. Sёarch* The NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ~----~ [Artifact: Regalia of the Verdant Warden – Bound] [Rank: Initiate Ember] [Class: Mythprint] [Type: Soulbound Adaptive Weapon] [Functions:] >Soulbound. (Cannot be removed, transferred, or destroyed while host remains alive). >Dual-Form Weapon. (Adapts to humanoid form or integrate with flora form. Also adapts into a spear or bow based on combat intent). >Thorncall. (Summon and direct a burst of thorned vines from surrounding terrain or condensed Genesis matter. May summon sentient biomass constructs for limited durations). >Verdant Reign. (Amplifies biomass manipulation and doubles territory influence while anchored. Temporarily amplify all plant-based Genesis abilities and regenerative factors within a targeted radius). ~----~ He summoned it with thought, not effort. The weapon answered, blooming into existence from his palm like a flower unraveling. At first, it took the shape of a long, ornate spear; its shaft twisted like a living branch, inlaid with faint green veins that pulsed to the rhythm of his soul. Then it shimmered, its form folding with a quiet elegance, limbs shifting into tension. A bow now. Tall. Sleek. Ready. Dual-Form Weapon. He couldn’t help but smile, just a little. The Thorncall came next. He knelt, pressing his palm to the fractured earth, and willed. The response was immediate. The ground quivered, and in the space of a breath, a cluster of vicious vines exploded outward in a five-meter arc, curling with thorns and hunger. They writhed for a moment, then turned still. He smiled. He knew he could do more with Thorncall, but he stopped. These vines, they weren’t just projections. They were real. Rooted. Alive. And they obeyed him. ’What a powerful weapon’. He thought. Verdant Reign... he didn’t test that one yet. He didn’t’ need to. It’s name alone sang with pressure; something vast and royal, something to be used when the field was chaos and he needed it to bend to him. Later. He dismissed the weapon, and it folded back into his soul like a memory returning home. The interface dimmed. But his thoughts burned bright. DING! ~----~ [Soul State: Germinal Bloom – Progress: 1%] [Trial Threshold: Unknown] ~----~ The number stared at him like a challenge. He had power. But power without clarity was a loaded gun in a child’s hand. So Clayton inhaled slowly, letting the wind of the ruined city whip around him. He turned toward the rising sun. And started walking.