The crack widened with a slow grinding sound. Cold sweetness spilled out like pale mist. Bitter wind rushed upward. Warm sparks flickered along the edges of the break. The fourth tone pulsed from deep below with heavy rhythm. My senses aligned with it instinctively.

Lira stared into the growing gap with tense eyes. She asked if I truly believed the path continued downward. I nodded. The fourth tone never lied. It guided flavor. It guided mana. It guided the world’s foundation. And now it guided us.

We tied ropes around a thick hanging root and prepared to descend. The scouts hesitated but followed. The air inside the crack felt cold at first then strangely warm then hollow. All three tones moved in layers around us. The fourth tone pulsed beneath them like a drum calling us deeper.

I lowered myself carefully into darkness. The walls glowed faint grey. Strange lines carved by mana pressure marked them. They pulsed slightly as if alive. Lira followed after me. Behind her came the scouts.

As we descended the scent changed. Cold sweetness faded. Bitter echoes strengthened. Warm tones grew louder beneath the stone like distant fire. The fourth tone surged in slow waves. The cavern above became distant. The air below felt ancient.

We reached a wide ledge lit by faint golden cracks in the walls. The ground below us stretched into a vast chamber filled with enormous roots thicker than tree trunks. They twisted downward into darkness. Bitter tone ran through them like slow flowing ink. Warm tone flickered along their edges. Cold tone formed in the air like light frost. The fourth tone vibrated beneath everything steady and deep.

Lira looked around uneasy. She asked if this place was natural. I inhaled slowly. The scents told me the truth. This was not natural. This was intentional. Formed by the world’s foundation. Shaped by ancient pressure. A place where mana was born.

We moved deeper into the chamber. The air tasted heavy. My breath grew slow. The scouts stayed close whispering nervously. The fourth tone grew louder. The walls shifted with each vibration. The ground pulsed in faint rhythm.

Then we saw it.

At the far end of the chamber stood a pillar formed entirely of roots woven into a single massive shape. It glowed with faint golden and black tones. Cold sweetness drifted from cracks in the pillar. Bitter mana flowed like slow smoke. Warm mana pulsed from inside like a trapped heart. The fourth tone surrounded the pillar like a silent storm.

I stepped closer slowly. My senses expanded. Every tone touched my tongue at once. Cold. Warm. Bitter. And the deep foundation tone. I resisted the urge to collapse. Lira grabbed my shoulder to steady me.

As I approached the pillar the scent pattern changed. The cold sweetness sharpened. The bitter echo deepened. The warm tone flared bright for a moment then dimmed. The fourth tone jumped suddenly like a warning.

The pillar cracked.

A piece of root fell and shattered like stone. Bitter smoke poured out. Cold sweetness burst upward. Warm sparks flared. The fourth tone roared in a deep heavy pulse.

Something inside the pillar moved.

Lira drew her bow. The scouts raised their blades. I stepped forward compelled by the fourth tone. My senses screamed and steadied at the same time. The pillar cracked wider. More smoke burst out. More sparks flickered. Then a hollow voice rose.

Not a sound. A tone.

The fourth tone.

It vibrated through my bones. Through my chest. Through the roots. Through the chamber. The entire world seemed to breathe at once. The pillar split open revealing a hollow core filled with swirling mana in four colors.

Warm red
Cold silver
Bitter black
And deep gold

The fourth tone rose into the air forming a low humming pattern. The mana swirled faster. Cold sweetness shot across the room. Bitter wind screamed. Warm light pulsed dangerously. The fourth tone tried to hold them together.

Then something formed inside the hollow.

Not a creature
Not a plant
Not a person

A shape
A presence
An awareness

It spoke with flavor not words.

I tasted it in the air.

You followed the cold sweetness
You tasted the bitter echoes
You heard the warm sparks
You reached the foundation

You are the tongue that reads truth

My breath shook. The chamber trembled. Lira stepped closer but could not pull me back. The awareness inside the hollow pulsed with all four tones.

It whispered one more message.

The forest is only the beginning
The imbalance spreads beyond trees
Beyond soil
Beyond mana

What rises now will change the world
You must taste it before it devours everything

The hollow surged with light.

Warm
Cold
Bitter
Deep

All four tones roared together.

And the true awakening began.