The tunnels opened into silence so vast it almost made a sound.
Lucas froze at the threshold, one hand braced on the cold stone, breath fogging against his mask. The air here was different — thin, electric, humming like a powerline buried in the rock. Every breath tasted faintly of copper and ozone.
The golden glow ahead wasn't just light anymore. It pulsed in measured waves, as if the mountain itself were breathing. Each beat vibrated through the floor, up his legs, settling behind his ribs where his own pulse began to echo it — two hearts trying to find rhythm with one another.
He swallowed hard. "Right," he muttered to himself. "Supernatural cardio training. Great idea, Lucas."
The walls around him were alive.
Veins of light crawled across their surface — not random, but branching with deliberate geometry, like a colossal vascular system built from molten gold. The deeper he went, the more his Vein Sense bled into his other senses. The air tasted like static. Every step vibrated in his bones, carrying faint whispers that weren't quite sound.
When he closed his eyes, he could see the flow — threads of energy streaming through stone, converging somewhere ahead like rivers merging into an ocean.
He followed them.
The tunnel widened gradually, the floor sloping downward into a cavern that could have swallowed a cathedral. The walls arched high above him, lined with shimmering roots of gold and blue that pulsed in harmony. In the center floated something that shouldn't exist — a crystalline core the size of a house, suspended by nothing, burning from within with a soft, living light.
Every pulse from it sent ripples of illumination cascading through the veins, painting the cavern in molten sunrise hues. For a moment, Lucas forgot to breathe.
"The Heart of the Holdfast," he whispered.
The words felt instinctive, like he wasn't the one who thought them.
The flow is broken… the chains run deep…
The voice was softer now — less of a whisper and more of a resonance that rippled through his chest and skull. His bracer began to hum faintly, golden runes flickering across its surface like a heartbeat trying to sync with the Heart's rhythm.
You were not meant to arrive… yet you are here.
Lucas rubbed the back of his neck. "You and me both, buddy."
He stepped forward, slow and careful. His boots brushed dust that hadn't been disturbed in centuries — yet as soon as he crossed the chamber's edge, the dust lifted, swirling into tiny golden spirals that drifted toward the core. The energy here reacted to movement, to breath, to life.
He turned in a slow circle. Tools half-fused with stone. Rusted chains embedded in the walls. The blackened impressions of what might once have been hands. Whatever happened here, it wasn't peaceful.
He took another step closer. The warmth hit him first — soft, soothing, but layered with pressure that made his veins hum. His bracer brightened in reply, faint lines tracing along its bands until it glowed like a piece of the Heart itself.
"Okay," he said, voice low. "You're obviously… alive? Conscious? So… what are you?"
The light rippled.
Names are for those who forget. I remember.
Lucas exhaled sharply. "Still cryptic. Good talk."
He knelt and brushed his hand along the ground. The stone beneath his fingers pulsed faintly, matching the Heart's rhythm. He could feel the energy moving through the rock — countless tiny threads flowing toward the core like blood to an organ. His Vein Channeling flared unconsciously, responding to it. The energy brushed his skin, warm and liquid.
A faint pulse of light ran up his arm — from the ground, through his veins, into the bracer.
[Vein Resonance Detected]
[Source Connection: 12%]
[System Integration Pending…]
The text flickered and vanished before he could react.
He blinked. "Wait, what?"
No answer — only another slow, deliberate pulse from the Heart.
Lucas stood, staring at the crystalline mass. Up close, it wasn't perfect. Cracks ran across its surface, glowing faintly blue, leaking wisps of light like escaping breath. Deep inside, shadows moved — the faintest silhouettes of faces, figures, flickering like echoes trapped in amber.
He stepped closer, reaching out. The glow reached back — tendrils of light stretching toward his hand, curling through the air without touching. His bracer reacted again, golden lines locking in rhythm with the Heart.
The flow answers you… as it once answered others.
"Others?" Lucas whispered. His voice sounded small in the vast space.
No reply, but the air vibrated — not just with energy, but with something like recognition.
He laughed softly, the sound nervous. "Right. I'm having a conversation with a giant light crystal. Totally fine. Totally normal."
The warmth deepened, wrapping around him. His veins tingled beneath his skin, glowing faintly gold through the dust. He felt no pain this time — only connection, the strange comfort of being understood without words.
The Heart pulsed brighter, its cracks flaring golden instead of blue. For a brief moment, the entire cavern glowed as if dawn had broken underground.
Lucas shielded his eyes, and the faint outline of those trapped faces appeared again — clearer now. They weren't screaming. They looked… peaceful. Resting.
When the light faded, the Heart looked stronger.
The cracks had dimmed, just a little.
He stood there, awestruck, breath shaky behind his mask. "You wanted me to see this, didn't you? The veins, the energy… all of it."
To remember. To mend.
The voice resonated through his bones — quiet, certain.
He felt his bracer vibrate once more.
[System Message: Source Stabilization Detected]
[Link Integrity: 37%]
[Warning: Integration Incomplete]
Lucas swallowed. "I… don't understand any of this."
But somewhere deep down, maybe he did.
He wasn't just in the Holdfast anymore — he was part of it. The veins around him pulsed with the same rhythm as his heartbeat. The mountain knew him now. And it was waiting.
He let out a soft laugh. "Alright," he said quietly. "Guess we'll figure it out together."
He stared at the Heart for one last moment before stepping closer into the glow — its light swallowing him in gold.
The chamber seemed to breathe with him, one unified pulse.