The Author's Viewpoint-Chapter 110 - The Silent Watcher

In the depths of the dark forest, eight shadowed figures clad in dark armor moved swiftly through the night. Each step heavy with urgency, their movements sharp and slightly rushed.

Tave watched them silently, through the eyes of Fang, who had continued to monitor the demons’ movements tirelessly.

And even after only a single day of loosening that surveillance, the change was striking.

There were only eight left now.

Apparently, something had gotten to them. Judging from their condition, they had either encountered a powerful monster or faced some kind of serious obstacle. One of them was dead, and several others bore visible injuries.

But more importantly... they weren’t heading in Tave’s direction.

Their path veered away from his group, creating just enough distance for a thin breath of relief.

For now, they were safe. There would be no confrontation, yet.

Tave exhaled slowly, the tension in his chest loosening just a bit as he and Panpan stepped back into their camp, where the rest of the group was gathered, resting, talking quietly, unaware of how close danger had just passed them by.

"So the demon group you mentioned is heading in a different direction from us?" one of them asked as Tave finished explaining the latest from Fang’s surveillance.

"Well, that sounds like good news," another chimed in, visibly relieved.

"So... that means we can go back to hunting monsters again, right?" Finn cut in.

Velion responded immediately. "Not quite, not yet. We need to identify targets we can handle easily first. We can’t afford to waste our strength on battles that might put us at risk."

Finn didn’t seem impressed by that. "And how long is that going to last? We’ve been wandering this forest with no clear goal and no kills. We need to start hunting monsters again, before this Rift tears us apart!"

It was true, there had been a growing tension among the team. Back at the peak, they had fought daily, grown stronger with each battle. But ever since descending into the forest, the strategy had shifted. They had focused on caution, stealth, and navigation, avoiding unnecessary confrontations at every turn.

And not everyone was built for patience.

"Tave!" Finn barked, turning toward him with open frustration. "Are you sure you’re even doing your job right? What’s the point of all that scouting if we’re not killing anything?"

Damn it.

This guy again.

And clearly, Finn’s comments weren’t well received by the others either. Some shifted uncomfortably, while others looked away, trying to contain their own stress from bubbling up.

"We need to grow stronger," Finn pressed. "We need to hunt monsters if we’re going to survive. We can’t just keep hiding."

Velion replied calmly but firmly, "We’re trying to stay alive. That means choosing our battles, not rushing into them."

But Finn wasn’t done.

"Well maybe Tave’s forgotten that we’re Gaia Masters, and he’s the only one here still stuck as a Gaia Guardian. Maybe he’s holding us back."

Tave clenched his fist, resisting the very real urge to throw something.

If he didn’t still need this guy to stay alive and functional, he would’ve let him march right into those charging lizards by himself and watch how long that arrogance lasted.

"So what’s the plan, then?" Finn asked, his voice edged with challenge.

This time, Tave didn’t even bother softening his reply. "Nothing. For now," he said flatly.

The response landed hard, intentionally so, and it showed. Finn’s jaw tightened, his hand curled into a fist, but he didn’t push it further. He stood in frustrated silence for a moment, then turned and walked off into the dark without another word.

Good, Tave thought. He was close to the end of his patience too. The guy acted like he wasn’t under the same suffocating pressure as the rest of them. Tave didn’t have time to coddle egos, not when the entire forest could kill them if they took one wrong step.

Soon after, the group began settling in for the night. Shifts were assigned, and Tave, naturally, took the first watch. He still needed to guide Fang back to their position after his long-range scouting loop.

Lina joined him.

The two of them sat quietly, backs against a smooth stretch of stone while the rest of the team buried themselves in sleeping bags. Tucked behind rocks or half-hidden among thick bushes, trying to blend into the wild as much as possible.

The night was quiet.

At least for now.

"How’s your arm, Tave? Has it healed completely? Let me take a look," Lina said gently, breaking the silence between them and softening the lingering tension in Tave’s chest.

"It’s mostly healed," he replied, rolling up the sleeve of his shirt to reveal the deep claw mark still faintly visible beneath the skin. Just below where his sigil was marked.

He did his best to keep the sigil out of view, shifting subtly to obscure it.

"I won’t tell anyone," Lina said softly, her tone calm but sure, clearly aware he was trying to keep the sigil hidden.

"It’s not that important," Tave said in a low voice.

If anything, it wasn’t the sigil he wanted to keep secret. It was his Soul Fire. But in a Rift Expedition like this, where everyone relied so heavily on each other’s strengths, hiding things could do more harm than good.

Still, some powers... needed to be handled with care.

Lina leaned in, examining the wound more closely, and after a moment of quiet focus, she cast another small healing spell over it.

"There," she said. "You’re good now. But try not to get clawed again, alright?"

Tave chuckled lightly, the corner of his mouth twitching in amusement.

"No promises."

They sat in silence for a while, neither speaking, both simply keeping watch as the forest whispered around them.

Then, without a word, Lina slowly reached up and unfastened something from around her neck. She held it out toward Tave.

He raised an eyebrow as he saw the item. A delicate silver necklace, glinting faintly under the moonlight.

"What is it, Lina?" he asked quietly.

"Would you keep this for me?" she said softly, voice low.

Tave blinked, confused. "Why?"

Lina didn’t answer right away. Her lips trembled slightly before she finally spoke again.

"My sister... She lives in Deadbay City."

Tave’s expression shifted. "What about your sister?"

Again, she hesitated. Then, her voice barely above a whisper:

"Would you... give this to her, if anything happens to me?"

Tave froze. He understood instantly what she meant. What she was preparing for.

Lina didn’t think she would survive this Rift Expedition. And now... she was asking him to make sure something of her reached her sister, just in case.

She believed he would survive. When she wasn’t sure she would.

"Lina?" he asked quietly, trying to find words through the sudden heaviness pressing on his chest.

"Will you do it, Tave?" she asked again, her eyes locked on his.

Tave didn’t know how to respond.

He wasn’t the kind of person who gave people comfort. Encouragement wasn’t something that came naturally to him. That was Velion’s strength, not his.

He knew exactly what he should say. Something like. "No... Lina, you’ll survive. Keep it. We’ll make it out of this. Trust me."

But Tave... wasn’t built to offer hope he couldn’t guarantee.

Because truthfully? Would he survive this Rift?

Hell, he didn’t fucking know.

But would he give up? Absolutely not.

And he didn’t blame Lina, not at all, for preparing for the worst.

How could he? Most of them were walking blind through this Rift. Unlike Tave, who had bits and pieces of knowledge, angles to exploit, they had nothing but faith in his and Velion’s decisions. They didn’t know how vast this Rift was, how deadly the monsters could get, or how close they might be to an enemy they couldn’t defeat.

Forget potential threats. Even the monsters they had already faced, monsters considered "normal", took layered strategy and coordination, often hinging entirely on the information Tave could piece together for them.

So he didn’t speak out of certainty.

Instead, something instinctive moved in him.

He reached out and gently closed his fingers over Lina’s hand, the one holding the necklace. He didn’t try to smile. Didn’t force anything false. He just looked at her, quiet and steady.

"Keep it," he said softly. "You’ll give it to your sister yourself."

Lina didn’t respond, but after a moment, she withdrew her hand and quietly returned the necklace to her neck.

They didn’t talk about it again.

Not that night. Not after that.

Well... His focus now was clear. How to kill those eight demons.

Because until they were gone, none of them were truly safe.