A deep vibration thrummed under the floor of my quarters — not outward like an impact, but inward, focused directly beneath Gobbo as if the ground itself had acknowledged him.
It wasn't loud, but it was heavy, a dense pressure that made the air feel slightly thicker for a moment.
Gobbo dropped to his knees instantly, not from pain but from sheer weight, like gravity had doubled around his body.
His palms hit the floor, jaw clenched, breath leaving him in a gust as the [Geomantle Core] rooted itself inside him.
His skin darkened by a few shades, not dramatically, but enough that it looked denser, tougher — like the surface of packed earth.
A sharp, crackling sound followed, faint but constant, as if thin layers of something hard were forming just beneath his skin.
The weight of his body increased so suddenly that his feet sank half an inch into the soil, the ground giving way under him even though his posture remained solid and unmoving.
