Chapter 136 – The Silent Forest

Chapter 136: Chapter 136 – The Silent Forest

The eastern observation station remained quiet throughout the night.

The instructors had established several monitoring formations around the station, while the researchers continued recording every fluctuation in the surrounding energy. Nothing unusual happened during the first few hours. The forest remained still, the wildlife stayed away from the area, and the strange resonance did not return.

By early morning, Marcus had already lost interest in staring at the monitoring formations.

"This is officially the most boring expedition we’ve ever been on."

Ryan, sitting beside him with a cup of warm tea, nodded. "Finally, something we can agree on."

Elena glanced at them from across the camp. "You two spent half the night complaining that something might attack us."

"That’s different," Marcus replied. "Being attacked is exciting."

Sophia laughed. "You’re impossible."

A short distance away, Azrael stood at the edge of the forest.

He had been there for several minutes without moving.

Seraphina noticed and walked over.

"You feel it again?"

Azrael shook his head.

"No."

She looked toward the forest. "Then what are you listening to?"

"The absence."

Seraphina became quiet.

Azrael’s eyes remained fixed on the trees. The forest was still, but it wasn’t the same stillness they had encountered the previous day. Yesterday, the silence had felt like something had passed through the area.

Now it felt as though the forest itself was waiting.

Seraphina closed her eyes and extended her Genesis perception.

At first, she sensed almost nothing.

Then she noticed something unusual.

"There are roots."

Azrael glanced at her.

"Under the forest?"

She nodded. "They extend much farther than the visible trees. Some of them are connected to one another beneath the ground."

Azrael placed his hand against the soil.

His perception followed the network beneath them.

The roots were unusually dense.

They weren’t simply growing naturally.

They were connected around something.

"There’s a structure underneath us," Azrael said.

Seraphina opened her eyes.

"How deep?"

"Not far."

Before either of them could continue, Orion approached.

"I heard."

Azrael looked toward him.

"There is something beneath the forest. The roots are growing around it."

Orion’s expression became serious.

"Can you determine what it is?"

Azrael shook his head.

"Not yet."

Orion considered the forest for several seconds before looking toward the instructors.

"We investigate carefully. No one moves ahead alone."

The expedition group gathered shortly afterward.

Unlike the previous day’s exploration, they now had a specific objective. The researchers brought additional instruments while the instructors prepared detection formations. Marcus and Ryan were assigned to help clear a safe path, while Caelan, Lyanna, Sophia, and Elena remained close to the twins.

They entered the forest again.

The silence was even stranger in the morning light.

Sunlight passed through the branches overhead, illuminating patches of grass and moss. Yet there were no birds, no insects, and almost no movement among the trees.

After walking for nearly half an hour, Azrael suddenly stopped.

"Here."

The group gathered around him.

He pointed toward the ground.

At first, nothing seemed unusual.

Then Seraphina noticed the plants.

They were growing in a perfect circular pattern.

"This isn’t natural."

Azrael nodded.

The instructors carefully removed the layer of soil covering the area.

Beneath it was stone.

Not ordinary stone.

A smooth, dark surface had been buried beneath the roots.

The researchers immediately began scanning it.

One of them frowned.

"I can’t identify the material."

Marcus crouched nearby. "Is it a ruin?"

"Not exactly."

The researcher brushed more dirt away.

A faint line appeared across the stone.

Then another.

Soon, the group realized they were looking at the top of a massive circular structure.

Lyanna looked around.

"How large is it?"

Azrael extended his perception.

"At least fifty meters."

Ryan stared at the ground.

"You’re telling me there’s something fifty meters wide buried under this forest?"

"Apparently."

Marcus grinned.

"I knew this expedition would get interesting."

Elena sighed.

"You said that like you wanted it to happen."

"I did."

"No one asked you."

Seraphina ignored their argument and knelt beside the exposed stone.

She placed her hand against it.

Genesis energy flowed gently through her fingers.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the stone responded.

A faint golden light traveled beneath its surface.

Seraphina immediately withdrew her hand.

"It reacted to Genesis."

Azrael stepped forward.

He touched the same surface.

The golden glow disappeared.

A black line appeared instead.

Everyone became silent.

Azrael frowned.

"It’s not rejecting us."

Seraphina looked at him.

"It’s recognizing us."

The two energies slowly met beneath the stone.

Gold and black formed a thin circle around the point where their hands had touched.

Then something else appeared.

A colorless line emerged between them.

Azrael’s expression changed.

"The same principle."

Seraphina nodded slowly.

"Genesis, Oblivion, and Choice."

Orion immediately ordered everyone to step back.

The circular structure began vibrating.

Not violently.

Almost like a machine beginning to operate after centuries of silence.

The roots surrounding it trembled.

Dust fell from the trees.

Then the resonance returned.

This time, however, Azrael could hear it clearly.

It wasn’t coming from the eastern forest.

It was coming from beneath them.

The pulse traveled through the buried structure and spread outward through the ground.

Seraphina felt it at the same moment.

But unlike Azrael, she felt something else within it.

"There’s life below."

Azrael looked at her.

"Life?"

She nodded.

"Something is alive."

The researchers exchanged uneasy glances.

Orion remained calm.

"Can you tell what it is?"

Seraphina closed her eyes.

"No."

She paused.

"But it isn’t afraid."

Azrael studied the structure beneath them.

The resonance wasn’t aggressive.

It wasn’t calling them either.

It was simply responding to their presence.

He remembered the lesson from his old master.

Understanding did not always come from forcing something open.

Sometimes, the correct action was to listen.

Azrael lowered his hand.

"We shouldn’t open it."

Marcus blinked.

"Seriously?"

Azrael nodded.

"We don’t understand what it is yet."

Orion looked at him for a moment before giving a small approving nod.

"Then we observe."

The researchers began establishing instruments around the structure instead of attempting to activate it. The instructors created a temporary perimeter while Seraphina continued studying the life signature beneath the ground.

Hours passed.

Nothing attacked them.

Nothing emerged.

The structure simply remained beneath the forest, quietly resonating with the world around it.

By late afternoon, the researchers had gathered enough information to confirm that the buried structure was far older than the surrounding forest. Its energy signature also didn’t match any known human construction methods.

Orion looked over the collected data.

"This will require a larger investigation."

Azrael glanced toward the distant trees.

"Yes."

Seraphina stood beside him.

"And whatever is beneath it isn’t trying to hurt us."

"Not yet," Elena said.

Marcus looked at her.

"You really know how to make things sound cheerful."

Elena smiled faintly.

"I’m realistic."

As evening approached, the expedition returned to the observation station, leaving the buried structure untouched.

The forest remained silent behind them.

But this time, the silence no longer felt empty.

Something beneath the earth had noticed them.

And for reasons they did not yet understand, it had chosen to respond.