Wigglenoodle was acting weird again.
It swam in frantic circles, zipped past Grandma's moss patch, and did at least four flips before colliding headfirst into Steve. Steve didn't seem to mind. Steve never minded anything.
Dot pulsed a soft thread. "You good?"
Wigglenoodle didn't respond in pulses. Instead, it spat out a rock.
A weird one.
Not shiny. Not smooth. Just gray. Flat. Cracked down the middle.
"…Cool. A broken pancake."
[Analyzing: Material identified – Mana-Scribed Stone Fragment. Unknown origin. Trace rune residue detected.]
Seek's voice was calm as always, but Dot felt a little spike of interest from it. Seek didn't get excited, but when it said unknown origin, that usually meant something big.
Dot floated closer, letting his mana trace the crack.
The stone whispered.
Not words.
Not sounds.
Just a feeling.
Open. Break. Remember.
Dot pulled back.
"Okay, what the heck was that?"
[Residual mnemonic field detected. Likely a remnant of lost spellwork. No active danger.]
That was Seek's way of saying you probably won't explode.
Probably.
Dot rotated slowly, thinking. He hadn't tried cracking open any relics before. Most things that glowed were better left untouched. But this wasn't glowing. It was humming.
He reached out again. Focused. Let a thread of mana seep into the crack.
The stone pulsed.
[Skill Unlock: Minor Rune Reading – Beginner Tier.]
The whisper became clearer.
"If you hold still, the world will pass you by. If you listen, you might remember how to walk."
Cryptic.
Weird.
Very suspicious.
Dot liked it.
He practiced tracing the lines in the stone over the next few days. Wigglenoodle grew bored quickly and returned to its favorite game: hide a pebble under Grandma and try to find it later.
The stone didn't teach spells. Not directly. But every time Dot traced a line just right, something in his core clicked.
He saw shapes. Ancient lines. Circles within circles. A method. Like notes in a song he almost remembered.
[Passive Skill Progress: Rune Understanding – 12%.]
At 15%, he felt something unlock.
Not in his core. In the world around him.
The river hummed slightly louder. The stones shimmered, just a bit. The moss pulsed faintly with breath.
The world was alive.
And he could almost read it.
Then something else arrived.
It wasn't loud.
It didn't vibrate like predators or travelers.
It… shimmered.
[Mana fluctuation detected. Source: High-tier Relic. Movement: drifting.]
Dot pulsed. A slow scan.
A shape moved along the bottom of the stream.
Flat. Round. Like a disk. Metal, maybe. Glowed faintly with shifting lines.
Runes. Old ones.
Wigglenoodle backed up, nervous.
Dot understood. This wasn't a fish or a stone or a moss puff. This was made.
Constructed. Designed.
And old.
Very old.
[Relic Classification: Pre-Calamity Object. Function: Unknown. Interaction: permitted.]
Seek almost sounded uncertain.
That was rare.
Dot floated closer. The relic didn't react. Just hovered. As if waiting.
He sent out a single pulse.
Soft. Curious. Welcoming.
The relic pulsed back.
And the water shivered.
The rune stone cracked.
The old whisper became a voice.
"Path detected. Initialization complete. Echo Beacon active."
[World Trigger: Minor Ruin Site Activation – Hidden Path Discovered.]
Seek went very quiet.
Dot was less quiet.
"WHAT."
The river around him shimmered again. A patch of moss peeled back. Stones shifted. A tiny hole opened beneath the riverbed — not deep, just a narrow path.
Inside it: faint light.
Mana.
[Optional Quest Added: Explore Hidden Ruin. Difficulty: Unknown. Warning: High anomaly risk.]
He had just wanted a nap.
Instead, the river had decided to unfold itself like a magic burrito.
Wigglenoodle flicked its fins anxiously.
Dot looked down the hole.
"…We're going in, aren't we?"
Wigglenoodle didn't respond. But it did start gathering pebbles like it was preparing for war.
Dot sighed.
He liked being a peaceful dot.
But curiosity was a disease.
They entered the hidden path cautiously. The water grew stiller here. Thicker. Like syrup.
The glow came from a central node—an orb, cracked and embedded in the wall.
Dot pulsed lightly.
The orb replied.
"Welcome, Child of Core. Your echo has been heard."
[Initiating minor trial… syncing mana…]
[Skill Challenge: Pulse Harmony – Complete the Pattern to Proceed.]
It was a puzzle.
A memory game.
Dot had to match pulses with the orb. Not just timing, but emotion. Intent.
First: calm.
Then: curiosity.
Then: protection.
Then: sorrow.
That one hit weirdly hard.
Final pulse: hope.
Dot sent it with everything he had.
The orb glowed.
[Trial Complete. Door Unlocked.]
A section of the wall slid open.
Inside: more moss. But glowing blue. Rich. Ancient.
And in the middle: a tiny pedestal. On it… a crystal.
Not like the one he had before.
This one pulsed with memory.
Not power.
Just stories.
He touched it.
Visions. Not clear. Just flashes.
People walking these halls.
Symbols drawn in light.
A figure sitting beside a stone river, whispering to it.
"Even the smallest echo carries a voice."
Dot's core swelled.
This place remembered things.
And now… it remembered him.
[Title Upgraded: Keeper of Lost Echoes → Echo-Bonded.]
[New Passive: River's Memory – gain fragments of ancient knowledge when resting in mana-rich waters.]
He didn't take the crystal.
He left it there.
Somehow, that felt right.
Back in his rocky den, Dot pulsed softly.
Wigglenoodle curled up beside Steve, who had somehow acquired a second moss hat.
The river felt more alive.
Not louder.
Just present.
He wasn't just floating in it anymore.
He was part of it.
Dot pulsed again.
And the stream answered back.