CHAPTER 74: ECHOES OF A FERAL EARTH

Why did Clayton really come to Verdis Hold?

It was a question of reason, and drive.

Back in Echoterra, it was easier for Clayton to know what he was doing.

He knew he was in an alien world, populated by monster plants and beasts who wanted to do nothing more than to kill him.

Heck, even the world rebelled against him, the system constantly manipulating things from the shadows to put him under the most threat and stress to push him to evolve... or die trying.

Then, it was easier. All Clayton thought of was survival.

Fight... kill... survive.

With spite, this was the perfect recipe that Clayton came up with to survive the fierce crucible called Echoterra. The Genesis Protocols’ first trial.

Besides, even then, he had a goal, to exceed 100 square meters territory.

But here, according to the system when he came back to Earth, trial II already started but it didn’t indicate what he had to do, what the trial requirement was.

Clayton didn’t know what to do, and it left him in the dark, confused.

When he met the Ironblood Remnants for the first time, he felt relief at the realization that he was not the last of his race, but then, in a cruel twist of fate, he had to kill them.

Clayton was no stranger to killing, but humans? In the Apocalypse?

Somehow, he just felt wrong, and that brought the problem of purpose.

What was he supposed to do in the Apocalypse?

As one of the candidates of the very first system pull for the Genesis Protocols’ Trial I, was it just a random occurrence, or was it fate?

Was it a divine encounter?

Was he supposed to be some hero of humanity to save it in the Apocalypse?

Well, when it came to that, Clayton certainly didn’t feel like a hero. But still, he felt like he needed a reason to keep on living, to keep on fighting.

This was why he wanted to know the fate of humanity and the 7 continents.

This was why he went to Verdis Hold.

...

Clayton sat in a shadowed inn, Shedskin cloaking his aura, sipping sap-wine, ears sharp. The Codex ping from dusk lingered, its data flooding his Heartseed Core.

He opened it, Architect Aspect processing the System’s secrets.

DING!

~----~

[System Notification: Codex Entry Unlocked – Genesis Protocols: Earth’s Feral Dawn]

[Summary: The Genesis Protocols, a multi-trial crucible, selected a fragment of humanity, those with genetic markers, compatibility traits, or unknown potential, for evolutionary trials...]

[Billions remained on Earth, untouched by extraction, but not unchanged. Trial II reshaped Earth: the Verdant Invasion awakened flora and fauna, granting ecosystems intelligence. Plants became predators, nature reclaimed cities, collapsing civilization within a century...]

[Humanity fractured into tribal, cult-like, or militarized strongholds, surviving only in Europe, America, and Africa- 10% of Earth’s surface. Antarctica fell first to the Behemorphs, a hive of Verdant Warden titans...]

[Some humans Awakened naturally through powers bleeding from Protocol interference. Those pulled into the Protocols faced Trial I: most died, unable to adapt; survivors like Clayton Hunt progressed to Trial II; others remained trapped in cycles of frozen progress; a few reached Ascendant Trials, their purpose unknown...]

[Time dilation fractures experiences; centuries for some, days for others. Potential exists for rivals, monsters, or factions from former humans serving alien ecosystems...]

[Those that arrived first from Trial I are the only reason why humanity survived the Apocalypse and didn’t go extinct.]

[They kept a semblance of order.]

[They protected the order.]

[They are heroes.]

~----~

Silence. Clayton just sat in stunned stillness.

His gut twisted, his face a silent grimace, but he tried to hide it as he slowly sipped on his sap-wine.

This codex entry unlock confirmed a lot of his suspicions after all the information that he gathered in this town.

"World went feral, huh? And here I am playing king in a jungle of freaks". He cursed.

Billions gone, cities turned to dust, Antarctica a Behemorph hell. He knew before, he’d known since, but this confirmed it again... his era’s Earth was long dead.

What was left was just an echo of Earth.

Friends, rivals, trapped in trials or twisted by ecosystems could lurk anywhere. But it also gave him hope.

’Maybe, just maybe, I may get to meet someone from back then’.

Back in Echoterra, isolated as a plant, he fought against loneliness for such a long time till he found his kin, and saved him.

With his kin around, a human, he no longer felt isolated and alone.

He thought he would return home after completing Trial I, but what he returned to was not home. Home was long gone.

This was why, the mere idea of meeting someone from back then left him thrilled all of a sudden.

Clayton sipped more of his sap-wine.

Of course, he could easily see the flaw in his thinking. Just like the Apostates, there was a high chance that apart from him, every other survivor from back then may have already been corrupted by the System or they were still stuck in Echoterra.

Heck, how was he sure he wasn’t corrupted already?

Maybe this was how the corrupted live, thinking they’re normal whereas they’ve already been consumed by the Genesis Protocols.

For one, he only looked remotely human now. His skin now looked more like a fiendish breed born from an abominable union of a human and a tree!

’Doesn’t matter’. He thought in the end.

He stayed silent, more thoughts flowing through his head as he digested the contents of the new codex entry that he unlocked.

The Earthcore Nexus’s hunger pulsed, a cosmic reminder of Earth’s collapse.

Verdis Hold’s chatter, Europe’s Ironclad Bastions, Africa’s Ashen Covenants, American’s enclaves; all of it matched the Codex, humanity clinging to scraps. And for some reason, they called to him.

Maybe it was his inherent spirit of thrill and adventure.

His Rootsite was his stronghold, but the Codex urged exploration. Europe... or perhaps Africa, where Ember Witches thrived called loudest.

As night fell, Mycoglyphs flared, Groveheart Bastion humming.

Clayton lingered, overhearing a group at the inn’s hearth; five Awakened adventurers, led by Torren, a regular Luminous Seed Awakened at the inn with Flamevine Wrath Aspect (pyro-root blasts), his red-vined armor glowing.

His team comprising two Luminous Seed, and two Initiate Ember scouts planned a journey.

Clayton had overheard conversations like this in the past in this inn, but this time, he paid particular attention to it.

"Africa," Torren said, voice steady. "We brave the wilds, trade Embers with Ashen Covenants. Verdis Hold needs allies".

Veyra, a Thornstrike Archer, one of the two other Luminous Seed adventurers in the group nodded, her bow rootwoven. "Behemorphs rule the seas, but land routes... the Scorchpaths... might work".

Clayton’s ears pricked, Hive-Sight pinging his Aphid Network, still hunting.

Africa’s wilds, Scorchpaths; Drayce’s ash-choked memory flickered, a path to answers.

He leaned closer, Shedskin cloaking, and asked, voice low.

"We’ll pass through the Scorchpaths, right?"