Boundless Evolution: The Summoning Beast
Chapter 54: Strange Lantern

Chapter 54: Strange Lantern

The embers rose like scattered stars, caught in unseen currents as the lanterns ascended with them.

From where he stood, Ash watched them all. Hundreds, thousands of them. Some lifted faster than others, caught by stronger winds. Others lagged behind wobbling and flickering before the air carried them higher.

But then, among the beautiful visage- one lantern stood apart.

Not in its glow. Not in its design.

But in its movement.

It did not wobble like the others.

It did not sway like something at the mercy of the wind.

It moved steadily, with a quiet, deliberate path apart from the others as it floated away from the lake and the funeral site.

Ash’s ear flicked and his gaze was fixed on it.

It wasn’t wrong.

But something about it felt...abnormal, different...

Unknowingly, a strong pull of curiosity sparked towards the lantern that moved unlike the others.

It didn’t look different, it looked like it was moving intentionally but then as he looked at it, He could find nothing plausible or evidence to back it up.

But nevertheless, as he continued staring at the lantern, it felt as if it was calling out to him. His sharp gaze followed its path, waiting to see if a gust of wind would knock it from its unnatural steadiness.

But it didn’t.

Instead, the lantern continued drifting, pulling towards the shadows of the rooftops beyond the pyre’s glow.

A whisper of intrigue settled in his chest, a quiet yearning to understand.

The more he watched, the stronger the feeling grew, like an invisible thread tethering him to its path, beckoning him forward. And before he could rationalise it, his feet had begun to move, like a moth to a flame.

Soon, the lake’s edge began to blur past him, the flickering light of the pyre casted long, wavering shadows that stretched along the ground. The murmuring voices of the mourners faded behind him, swallowed by the hush of the city’s quieter streets where darkness lay thick and undisturbed.

’Why am I following this lantern?’ he thought to himself, ears twitching in mild exasperation.

It wasn’t like it was doing something that particular as there were others who would have noticed if it was. It wasn’t glowing with some eerie light or crackling with magic. And yet, here he was, padding after it like some mindless pup chasing a drifting leaf.

Maybe it was boredom. Maybe it was curiosity. Maybe it was the simple fact that, despite his rational mind telling him it was nothing, his instincts refused to let it go.

But he still followed as something about it just didn’t feel right...

His claws tapped lightly against the stone as he weaved between buildings, tail flicking idly as he padded along the dim streets. His eyes remained on the soft, steady glow of the lantern as it floated onward. Maybe it had caught a current in the air, riding it just right, like a leaf skipping across a stream. Maybe there was nothing unnatural about it at all.

But then, he could not sense any form of wind at all...

Yet, he kept moving.

Just then, his ears twitched as a faint gust brushed past him, but the lantern did not waver.

’Weird...’ he thought as he paused for a moment.

Ahead, the lantern drifted, its glow like a lone ember in a sea of darkness. It should have been aimless, subject to the whims of the wind, no different from the others still flickering in the sky. And yet, it wasn’t.

It glided rather than floated, its course unwavering, precise.

As if it knew where it was going... As if it wanted to be followed...

His fascination deepened. It was no longer just curiosity, no longer just intrigue—it was something more. A compulsion. A quiet but insistent call threading its way into his thoughts, wrapping around them, refusing to be ignored.

He could feel it in his chest, in his very bones.

Then—

It began to descend.

At first, the shift was barely noticeable—a slight falter, the kind that could be dismissed as a trick of the wind. But the way it moved... It was not a slow drift or an idle sway. It was measured, deliberate, as though something unseen had reached out and guided it downward.

The lantern’s glow pulsed faintly, an almost rhythmic fluctuation in its light, like a heartbeat in the dark. It moved lower and lower, cutting through the cool night air, closing the distance between them.

His tail stilled. His body tensed as he took a step forward, then another. There was no longer a question of whether he would follow—his legs had already decided.

And as it continued to lower, he watched and followed it diligently, his breath steady but shallow.

And then he felt it.

Faint, barely perceptible, like the lingering trace of a whisper in the wind—Aether. Not strong, not overwhelming, but present.

It seeped from the lantern in fragile wisps, dispersing into the night like fading embers, almost unnoticeable.

His hackles bristled slightly... So he was right... There was something weird with this lantern...

However, this confirmation brought more confusion as his mind raced as to why there was aether on a lantern.

It had to be sent drifting into the sky by someone and it shouldn’t have been unintentional. Was this a signal? A test? A trap? A warning?

Westreach was a city of secrets, and aether was not something that simply bled into the air by accident.

Had he been lured into something beyond his understanding?

A smirk flickered across his face, brief but certain. He had followed the lantern this far, and now he couldn’t just turn away. Not now.

His tail swayed behind him as his muscles tensed with renewed determination.

’Now I can’t not find out where this lantern goes,’ he thought as he continued moving, this time with a faster and more vigilant approach.

Ash trailed the lantern deeper into Westreach, weaving his way through the labyrinth of streets and alleys as it steadily guided him toward the middle zones of the city—a transitional space between the outer districts of merchants and laborers and the inner sanctum of nobles and ruling elites.

And as soon as he entered the middle zone, something began to shift around him. At first, it was subtle—the distant hum of the city fading ever so slightly, the usual rustling of the wind against old wooden shutters growing still. Then, the silence thickened, turning heavy, suffocating. The air itself felt different, stagnant, as if it were waiting for something. His fur bristled as his muscles coiled, instincts now fully alert.

He slowed his steps, his ears twitching, listening—searching. Nothing. Not a single insect chirping or the wind blowing. This part of the city that, even without humans, should have been buzzing with the sounds of chirping and buzzing insects and gentle breezes had gone eerily quiet.

Something wasn’t right.

A creeping sensation settled into his chest as he continued after it, his body lowering slightly as he slipped between the shadows of the tall buildings lining the street. The air here felt heavier, expectant, as if the city itself was holding its breath.

Ash slipped into the shadows of a nearby alley, his body low to the ground as he moved between crates and worn barrels, careful not to make a sound. His golden eyes flickered back to the lantern, which had now slowed, drifting toward the ground like a feather caught in an invisible current.

As it hovered just five meters above the ground, the city around him grew eerily silent.

The usual distant murmur of voices and the creak of wooden beams settling in the night had vanished. Even the faint rustling of fabric from laundry strung between buildings had stilled.

The air was thick, charged with an expectant hush that made his fur bristle. His breath slowed, his body pressing further into the shadows.

Then, without warning, the lantern veered slightly, adjusting its path, and moved toward a building—a grand structure of dark stone and iron-wrought balconies, its windows latticed with intricate golden patterns.

Ash recognized it instantly. A noble estate.

The estate stood taller than most buildings around it, its heavy wooden gates adorned with carvings of celestial figures and old kingdom insignias.

Vines crept up its walls, half concealing intricate engravings of lineage and power. The air here always felt heavier, like the weight of history itself clung to the stones.

The lantern came to a stop, just outside a large arched window on the second floor, its glow reflecting faintly against the glass.

Ash remained still, watching intently...

A breath of movement flickered beyond the curtain inside, and then the window pushed open with a soft creak.

A figure.

A person stood there, partially cloaked in the shadows, their face obscured by the dim interior.

They did not seem startled by the lantern’s arrival; instead, they reached out with calm precision, plucking something from within its glow.

Ash’s ears pricked forward.

The moment their fingers closed around the object, the lantern stilled. The shimmering pulse of Aether that had surrounded it only moments ago vanished, like a candle being snuffed out. Its glow became dull, its weight was now suddenly subject to the wind.

And then, as if nothing had ever been strange about it, the lantern lifted away, floating into the night like the others that still drifted aimlessly above the city.

Ash narrowed his eyes, his breath controlled but deliberate.

’Strange...’

Everyone was supposed to be at the funeral.

And yet, here was someone, standing alone in the dim glow of the noble estate, calmly retrieving something from a lantern infused with Aether.

They weren’t hurried, nor did they look around as if fearing they might be seen. Whoever they were, they belonged here—or at least, they acted like they did.

Ash’s gaze lingered on the intricate carvings framing the estate’s arched windows. The noble crest embedded in the stone caught his attention—a coiled serpent wrapped around a downward-pointing sword, its fangs bared as if ready to strike.

His tail flicked thoughtfully as he committed the image to memory. He didn’t recognize the crest, which wasn’t surprising—he had only arrived in Westreach two days ago.

He decided that when he returned to the Valen estate, he would ask Bennet about it. If anyone knew the noble houses of the city, it would be him.

His ears twitched as he took one last look at the noble estate. The air around it still felt thick, as if it was holding onto something unsaid, something hidden beneath layers of old power and quiet influence.

But standing here any longer wouldn’t get him more answers.

With a final glance toward the now-empty window, he turned and slipped back into the alleys, his movements smooth and silent.

His breath steadied as the familiar sounds of the city returned upon getting out of that area, breaking the eerie stillness he had walked through only moments before.

For now, it was time to head back to the Valen estate. He had seen enough tonight. But even as he moved through the darkened streets, his mind lingered on the noble crest and the figure in the window.

’What was happening here?’