The Author's Viewpoint-Chapter 124 - Lanterns of the Dead

The bond between the team had grown stronger with every passing day inside the Rift. The friction and distrust that once lingered in their early days had all but vanished. There were no more accusations, no blame tossed around during tense moments. Through battles and near-death encounters, they’d learned to trust one another.

They now understood the behavior of the mountain monsters intimately. Each new encounter wasn’t chaos. It was an execution. Smooth, calculated, efficient.

Their formation remained steady on this leg of the journey: Tave at the very front, Panpan guarding the rear, and Fang always ahead, scouting the terrain and sniffing out danger before it could catch them off guard.

Even when ambushed, they didn’t flinch. Monsters came, and were swiftly eliminated. Tave moved with assurance, Fang vanished and reappeared like a living shadow, and the others filled in with precise synergy.

But that night...

Something changed.

They found a resting place nestled within a protective formation of jagged rocks and sparse trees. After dinner, water, and quick checks on their condition, the group began to settle.

And then, under the peak of the moon’s arc, Panpan stood up slowly, eyes narrowing.

"Do you... see that?" she whispered.

Elowen was next to rise, standing beside her. "What is that? Monsters?"

The others followed, rising quietly as they all turned their eyes upward.

Faint lights shimmered in the air, soft and ethereal. At first, they looked like floating motes of dust. But they moved with grace, swimming through the sky like fish in an unseen sea.

And then they realized. These weren’t all flying creatures.

Some still bore the shapes of lizards, wolves, and serpents... just without flesh.

Tave stepped forward, his voice calm, quiet. "They’re the spirits. The lingering remnants of the creatures that have died in this Rift."

"Spirits?" Finn asked, frowning slightly.

"I didn’t even know that was possible in a Rift," Darian muttered.

Tave gave a small smile. "It’s rare, but it happens. Because this is an isolated zone, closed, cut off from natural flow. The souls of the fallen get trapped. They remain, waiting... until the Rift is completed."

Finn stared upward, mouth slightly open. "This is... like a lantern festival."

"Yeah," Lina whispered beside him. "It’s... beautiful."

"Peaceful too," Elowen added softly. "As if they’re just... drifting."

"Almost like they’re watching over us."

They fell into silence, every one of them gazing up at the strange, mesmerizing sky. The night air was still, and yet it felt charged, heavy with something unspoken.

"Does this happen often in high-tier Rifts?" someone asked quietly.

But Tave didn’t answer. He could’ve explained. But he chose to stay quiet, eyes fixed on the lights above.

"I’ve never seen anything like this," Velion eventually said. "Feels like a rare phenomenon."

"Ck," Finn scoffed lightly. "Too many rare phenomena lately, if you ask me."

They all chuckled softly... and then the quiet returned.

Tave kept watching, following their gentle arcs as they floated across the night sky.

And then. He froze.

His breath caught.

Among the hundreds of glowing spirits swimming in the air like silver fish... he saw something.

Eron.

His shape was faint, blurred around the edges, but unmistakable. Aimless.

Tave’s chest tightened as he stared.

If he had been the one to fall, he’d be there too, lost among the others. Just another soul waiting for the Rift to end.

He stayed silent, letting the moment burn into his mind.

Then something pulled at his awareness. A flicker to his left. He turned just slightly... and saw Lina.

Her head was bowed, her face turned just enough to hide her eyes. But the tension in her jaw, the quiver of her lips. She was holding something in.

Did she see Eron too?

"Alright," Finn’s voice suddenly broke through the silence, louder than it needed to be. "Time to rest. Discipline, everyone. We need to recover."

He turned sharply and walked away.

And as if some unspoken understanding had passed between them, the others followed. Quietly. Without question.

One by one, they returned to their resting spots.

Until only Tave remained standing.

And Panpan.

She paused halfway back, hesitated, then turned just enough to look over her shoulder.

"Let’s go, Tave?"

Tave smiled faintly, turning away from the glowing sky.

Such a shame.

What they’d seen tonight was something beyond rare. Beyond strange.

It was beautiful, more than fireworks, more than any lantern festival. It was haunting and pure, a glimpse of something sacred within the chaos of survival.

And yet... It only made the weight of this world feel heavier.

Some of the team had already settled into rest, while others took their turn keeping watch. The faint glow of the spirit-lights still shimmered softly above, partially filtered through the canopy of trees above their camp.

But Tave had sent Fang out again. This time to explore further, mapping deeper into the lower reaches of the mountain.

Tave sat cross-legged, entering his usual state of focus, letting his breathing slow and his awareness sharpen.

Then, suddenly, his vision was flooded with notifications.

[ Bond Progression Detected ]

Wait. Fang?

He blinked and stilled, eyes narrowing as more messages appeared.

[ Current Bond Level: 3 – Phase: Deep Synergy Initiated ]

[ Ability Upgraded: Sharing Vision ➤ Symbiotic Perception ]

[ Your bond with the tamed beast has evolved into a deeper sensory link, expanding beyond sight to include directional hearing and instinctual danger awareness. ]

Finally!

An evolved version of Sharing Vision. Not just visuals now. But hearing and instincts too. This would completely shift the way he scouted.

He could now hear through Fang’s ears, perfect for tracking movement, picking up whispers, even understanding speech if an enemy talked nearby.

[ While the ability is active, both you and the tamed beast experience enhanced reflex synchronization. Small preemptive reactions may trigger in the Tamer based on the beast’s instincts. ]

Reactive combat based on Fang’s instincts? It wasn’t just useful. It was survival gold.

Then came the last part:

[ Passive Effect Gained: Gaia Synchrony ]

[ When the bond skill is active during battle, experience and elemental resonance are shared in real-time. This accelerates Gaia progression for both the Tamer and the Beast. ]

[ Extended use of the link increases mental strain and emotional bleed, making calmness and clarity harder to maintain. ]

Tave exhaled slowly.

Gaia Synchrony...

It meant every battle Fang fought, every gain he made, would echo into Tave’s progression as well. Even if Fang did most of the killing, Tave would still receive the benefit.

It wasn’t massive, but it mattered. Especially because Fang had a habit of growing fast.

Of course, the cost was clear. Mental strain. Emotional overlap. If Fang felt rage or fear... Tave might feel it too.

Still...

Every piece of power mattered now. Every edge counted.

Fueled by excitement from the newly evolved bond, Tave immediately pushed Fang further. Sending him deeper into the lowlands beneath the mountain range. With their upgraded link, he could now perceive more than ever: the shifting of the wind, the creak of underbrush, even distant whispers of movement.

He needed information. Fast.

In a Rift like this, knowledge wasn’t just power. It was survival.

If they could find the demons before the demons found them, it could tilt everything in their favor.

Fang moved quickly and silently, weaving through thinning trees and descending terrain until the forest began to give way to an open area. Broad, rocky, and exposed. The canopy overhead broke, allowing pale moonlight to fall on patches of dry grass and scattered roaming monsters.

Tave watched through the shared perception. His senses were woven into Fang’s.

Nothing unusual at first.

Then, something strange caught his eye.

Far at the edge of Fang’s vision... Stone.

Not wild, jagged rock, but reinforced stone. Cut clean, arranged, solid. Walls.

"What the hell..." Tave muttered under his breath.

It was a structure. Intact. Standing. Hidden in the Rift’s lower region.

And too organized to be anything but built by intelligence.

The demons are here.

Or if not here now. Then this was where they had been.

Tave waited for a moment, his eyes fixed on the distance. Then he urged Fang to press onward, slowly this time, as they moved across the open field. Scattered monsters lurked in the area, making every step a cautious one. Eventually, on one side of the stone fortress, a massive wooden gate came into view.

He held back, watching from afar, tense with anticipation. And then, just as he had feared, the great gate began to creak open, inch by inch. Tave found himself holding his breath.

Just... how many demons were waiting in this rift?