✦ Chapter 39 — The Sea of Ink
The light at the end of the tunnel wasn't quite what they expected.
Their footsteps echoed less and less as the brightness faded around them, replaced by something... quieter. The ground beneath them shimmered, losing texture. And then—
Nothing.
No ground.
They were standing atop Puff, who seemed entirely unbothered as he walked forward lazily, massive paws creating ripples in the strange surface beneath.
A dark sea stretched endlessly around them. Black. Thick. Viscous. It looked like ink—but ink that pulsed, that breathed like a thing alive.
"What the hell…" Havella whispered.
Vexi crouched slightly, clutching the fur at her side. "We're… on him?"
"Of course," Laei said from the front. She was standing on Puff's head like it was solid stone, balancing effortlessly. "He doesn't sink."
Jio glanced down at the black mass beneath. "This isn't water."
"It's called the Life River," Laei explained, still calm, expression neutral. "It's a sub-phase of the Life Path. You passed through it once already—just didn't see it."
Havella furrowed her brows. "This was under the Life Path?"
Laei nodded. "Every realm has a veil. To move forward, you have to cross it. That's why people use Mythical Beasts like Puff. No other being can walk this."
"Wait, not even a god?" Vexi asked.
"Nope," Laei said, her voice simple. "Not even the high ones. Not even your strongest sorcerers. Nothing touches this and survives—except them."
She pointed downward.
They all fell silent, listening to the thick, slow movements of the ink sea. It was quiet—but not peaceful. Alive, but cold. You couldn't feel malice or calm from it. It just… was.
"People don't know what it really is," Laei continued. "Fairies call it one of their grand mysteries. They say it's older than the first light. Some even say it is light… but reversed."
Havella shook her head slightly, stunned.
"Seriously?" she muttered. "And we just walk over it like it's normal?"
"No," Laei said. "We walk over it because Puff's normal. Or as normal as a mythical beast can be."
Jio had been quiet through the whole exchange, his eyes scanning the dark sea below, fingers tapping absently against the side of his leg. Then, he glanced over at Havella and gave a silent thumbs-up.
She blinked, surprised.
Then she remembered—back in the fight with Laei, when everything had gone chaotic, and Laei's illusions were warping the terrain like breathing glass—Jio had followed her hand signs perfectly. She'd made calls like a war tactician, leading movements, predicting attacks he never even saw coming. He'd trusted her orders without a word, responding like a soldier beneath a general.
And it had worked.
Her cheeks flushed a little. She didn't say anything—but gave a small nod back, lips tugging into a subtle, proud smile.
Vexi noticed but chose not to comment.
Instead, she muttered, "So this is the price for progress. You ride a big, sleepy carpet beast over a deadly ink ocean that no one understands."
Laei looked back at her. "Yep."
Puff snorted, his large ears twitching lazily as if in approval.
And so they continued—across the Sea of Ink, toward the next veil, riding a mystery only the ancients knew, on the back of a beast who couldn't care less.
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End of Chapter 39
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