Chapter 103 - Nine Horns Beneath the Hills
The difference between night and day for a shadow wolf was immense. So stark that it was almost like comparing two entirely different creatures. Night was where Fang thrived. His natural domain. Under the cloak of darkness, surrounded by deep shadows and moonless silence, the shadow wolf could perform at his absolute peak.
Veiled by the blackness of night, Fang moved with uncanny precision. Fast. Silent. Invisible. Not even a whisper marked his passage as he slipped between the trees. That was the level of potency he had already reached, even while still in Tier 3.
Just imagine what he would become when he finally ascended to Tier 4. The thought alone was staggering.
Back at the temporary camp, Tave remained seated in a focused meditative state. His breathing was slow, his posture perfectly grounded, and his presence barely there, like part of the forest itself. He was drawing in elemental particles, absorbing as much as he could with sharp efficiency.
The dark element was rich in this place, nearly intoxicating in its saturation. Fire, on the other hand, was sparse, perhaps one-fifth the density. But Tave balanced the intake with practiced control. He wasn’t just absorbing power blindly. He was stabilizing his Gaia Force, tempering it after the battle they had survived earlier.
Yes, he had only slain one monster today.
But that one monster had been Tier 5.
And more than that. Tave had killed it with Soul Fire.
He could feel the shift within him. Every time he used Soul Fire to hunt, to kill, to overcome. It grew stronger. More attuned to him. More alive. And he couldn’t help but feel a thrill of anticipation at the thought of what it would become once he could fully control it.
He wanted that control. He wanted that fire. And he wanted to burn brighter than ever before.
Tave was deeply focused now, eyes closed in trance but mind fully alert. Connected with Fang as his companion moved silently through the vast darkness. What he truly wanted to uncover tonight was the condition of the base terrain far beneath the mountain ridges they currently occupied.