The name leaves Drix's lips, and the wall sigil answers at once. Its light beats sickly and rhythmic, like a heart trying to remember how to live.
The vault floor softens underfoot. Stone turns to a dark, viscous gloss and begins to crawl toward Drix in slow, deliberate rivulets.
The Hooded Figure
No. Not the seal. You.
Their hood jerks up, and for the first time their caution cracks. The figure's warding hand snaps toward the sigil, but the pulse has already shifted, dragging its attention off the room and onto Drix alone.
The Stranger
That is what you brought us to? A vessel?
The black sheen reaches Drix's boots and clings there, not like floodwater, but like recognition. The hidden presence below the tower presses upward, tasting him, marking him, choosing him.
✓ Quest Accepted
Sever the entity’s mark on Drix