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Chapter Two: Echoes in the Living Grove

  Ethan emerged from the clearing, the ley-line’s glow thinning but still visible ahead. The forest around him seemed to breathe—leaves rustling without wind, trunks twisting in subtle, deliberate motions. As he followed the thread, the panel reappeared:

  Next Objective: Investigate Rune Shard UX-05

  Location Hint: Arbora — The Living Grove

  He rounded a moss-covered hill, and the sight stole his breath: massive trees intertwined to form a natural cathedral. Their bark pulsed with veins of emerald data, and at the center, a crystalline pool shimmered with fractal patterns.

  “Incredible…” he whispered, mesmerized.

  Suddenly, a voice—soft but firm—called out. “You’re not the only one.”

  He spun. A figure stepped from behind a tree: a woman clad in leathers stitched with glowing glyphs. A slender bow rested on her back, and her eyes shone with purpose.

  “Lyra,” the panel identified, “Class: Huntress, Player: Unknown.” Ethan frowned. “Player?”

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  Her gaze flicked to his runes. “You’re the new Architect? I heard rumors.”

  “Rumors…?” He closed the distance. “I just woke up here.”

  Lyra studied him. “Name’s Lyra Stardrift. I’ve been tracking an anomaly—Shard UX-05. It’s causing the Grove’s heartwood to overgrow then rot, killing the saplings.”

  The pool’s ripples coalesced into an image: a shard-shaped fractal hovering above its depths.

  “That’s the puzzle,” she said. “You’ll need to import the Regrowth() function into a new rune to stabilize cell division patterns. But alone, you’ll get lost in loops.”

  Ethan’s mind raced. “Import… like a library?”

  Lyra nodded. She raised her hand, and an interface bloomed midair

  import Regrowth from CommonRunes;

  HealLoop(target, cycles) {

  for (i = 0; i < cycles; i++) {

  Regrowth(target);

  }

  }

  “See? You call one function from another. Optimize cycles

  to prevent runaway growth.”

  Ethan’s pulse steadied. “Okay. Let me try…”

  He focused, molding the code import regrowth The keyword blinked Then:

  HealLoop(poolID, 5) {

  for (i = 0; i < 5; i++) {

  Regrowth(poolID);

  }

  }

  He executed it. Glyph fluttered in, eyes wide. “Efficient—exactly five cycles.”

  The pool’s corroded edges blinked back to life, data veins realigning in perfect symmetry.

  Lyra exhaled in relief. “That’s it. The grove… it breathes again.”

  For a moment, they stood in silence, the Cathedral alive with soft hums.

  “We make a good team,” Lyra said. She offered a hand. “Join me at the Codewright workshop. There’s much more to uncover.”

  Ethan shook her hand, determination sparking. “Let’s rebuild this world, one shard at a time.”

  Which rune should ethan investigate next?

  


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