The darkness beneath the earth was thick — a suffocating silence broken only by the slow thrum of Akira's heartbeat.
Buried deep under layers of stone and decay, he could feel it:
A faint warmth stirring inside him, different from the fragile pulse he once struggled to protect.
Something ancient... something divine... was awakening.
—Crack!
The sound echoed through the void as the core of his being splintered — not from damage, but evolution.
From the fracture bloomed a golden light, rich with primal energy.
> [Primordial Genesis Root Awakening... Complete.]
A rush of information surged into Akira's mind. Memories not his own. Visions of worlds teeming with life. Of towering trees reaching beyond the skies. Of fruits whose scent could birth civilizations.
He wasn't just a survivor anymore.
He was a creator.
> [New Skill Acquired: Primordial Genesis Root]
[You can now produce Divine Fruits. Your existence will nurture life around you. Evolution paths unlocked.]
Akira's roots, once frail and searching, burst outward with vigor.
Where they touched stone, moss bloomed.
Where they brushed ancient bones, flowers of light blossomed.
Where they dug into dry earth, springs of pure water erupted.
It was as if the very world, long forgotten and dead, remembered life again through him.
Akira's consciousness expanded along with his roots.
He could feel tiny organisms — insects, spores, sleeping seeds — awakening, stirred by his mana.
This world wasn't a grave.
It was a nursery waiting for a gardener.
And he was that gardener.
---
Above, on the surface...
A faint tremor shook the barren lands.
A robed figure, one of the last surviving creatures clinging to life in the wastelands, looked up from her ragged shelter.
She gasped — in the distance, a single green sprout had broken through the cracked ground.
It shimmered with light.
Tears streamed down her dirt-stained face.
> "The world... it's breathing again..."
She knelt, forehead pressed to the earth, whispering prayers to the unknown power awakening below.
---
Back underground...
Akira focused inward, sensing a new menu open before him:
> [Divine Fruit Creation Available]
[First Fruit: Fruit of Verdant Awakening]
— Heals lands within a wide radius
— Purifies tainted lifeforms
— Strengthens friendly creatures
A thought, a simple desire, and a tiny bud formed at his core.
It grew, twisting with green and gold, until a radiant fruit hung suspended in the void of his inner world.
Without hesitation, Akira released it into the earth.
The moment the fruit touched soil, an explosion of life erupted.
Forests sprouted.
Rivers carved new paths.
Clouds formed and rain fell — sweet, clean, and warm.
Akira's first Garden was born — a hidden sanctuary deep beneath the ruined world.
A smile formed in his mind, though he had no lips yet.
This... this is just the beginning.
---
System Notification:
> [Warning: Abnormal growth detected by External Entities.]
[Unknown Forces stirring in distant spaces...]
[Prepare for inevitable conflict.]
Akira paused, sensing the faint brush of cold beyond the warm earth.
Something had noticed his awakening.
Something vast.
Something hungry.
He would need strength.
He would need allies.
He would need... a dynasty.