CHAPTER 85: WORLD TEAR: ENTRY

The whole thing was extremely efficient. Within minutes, the chaotic throng of arriving Ossuarists had been sorted into coherent teams, each assigned a Caretaker leader and given preliminary briefings.

Finn, Althea, and Tron waited as names were called, teams formed, and deployments finalized.

They waited.

And waited.

And slowly, it became apparent that their names weren’t going to be called.

"Excuse me," Tron finally said, approaching one of the organizing Caretakers — a stern woman with gray streaks in her black hair. "We haven’t been assigned yet. Is there some mistake?"

The woman glanced at a general list she had in hand, looking straight towards a particular special section, then at Tron, then at all three of them before asking for their names. After which she shook her head and said curtly:

"No mistake. You’re one of the autonomous teams without a Caretaker assigned to you."

"Autonomous?" Althea frowned.

"We’re short on Caretakers compared to the number of deployed Initiates," the woman explained, already turning back to what she was doing earlier.

"Highly capable teams have been cleared to operate independently. You’ll still receive assignments, but you won’t have direct supervision."

She pulled out three rolled scrolls, handing one to each of them.

"Your assigned task are detailed here," her tone switched to be more direct, as if she wasn’t talking to a group of Initiates, but rather, very capable Ossuarists.

"Initial deployment is focused on mapping and reconnaissance only. We need comprehensive surveys of the terrain before we can risk deeper moves into the Tear. Your team has been assigned support duties. Survey your designated sectors and update the master map using the provided tools."

She gestured to a nearby supply station.

"Pick up your kits there. You’ll find maps that show the currently known terrain,along with documentation tools, and emergency beacons in case you encounter something above your capability level. Standard protocol still applies – You must stay a minimum of one full day inside before the barrier will permit exit. Any questions?"

"What about—" Finn started.

"Questions can be directed to your briefing packet," the woman cut him off, already moving to the next group of arrivals.

Why even bother asking then? Finn pursed his lips at the abrupt dismissal.

It wasn’t only him. Even Tron’s jaws tightened at the woman’s words, but he said nothing. The three of them made their way to the supply station, collecting their assigned equipment in relative silence.

The kit was comprehensive: rolled map sections showing partially surveyed areas, a specialized pen that could somehow etch lines onto the enchanted parchment by itself, emergency flares, basic medical supplies and rations, and a communication crystal soul tool.

"Mapping duty," Tron muttered, shaking his head in visible disdain. "We’re being assigned grunt work."

"It’s necessary work," Althea said diplomatically. "They need comprehensive information before they can—"

"I know what they need," Tron interrupted. "I’m just saying that someone of my capabilities could be put to better use than drawing pictures of forests."

Finn bit back a retort. Now wasn’t the time to antagonize Tron, no matter how insufferable his attitude was.

Besides, Finn had other thoughts occupying his mind.

We’ve been given mapping duties. Basically a support role. It’s a low-risk assignment until we ’prove ourselves.’

Which meant they’d have freedom to explore, relative autonomy, and most importantly, he’d have opportunities to find private spaces away from anyone’s view.

Exactly what he needed to finally deal with his soul debts.

"Let’s just do the job," Finn said quietly. "Map the terrain, stay alive, and see what opportunities present themselves afterwards."

Tron’s eyes twitched, and he looked like he wanted to argue, but after a moment, he just nodded curtly.

"Fine. But if we encounter anything actually dangerous or valuable, I’m not holding back just because we’re supposed to be ’support.’"

They finished gathering their supplies and joined the growing stream of Ossuarists moving toward the World Tear’s perimeter.

As they walked, Finn’s enhanced vision continued cataloging the scene around them. So many people. So much power. So many different factions, all converged in this one place.

It didn’t take too long before they reached the barrier’s edge.

Up close, it was even more wrong than from a distance.

Finn had been before a chaos breach before. He had felt the sense of wrongness that only Ossuarists could fully perceive, like a wound in reality that shouldn’t exist.

This was that feeling magnified a thousand-fold.

It was like staring at a space where the fundamental rules that made the world comprehensible had been carefully corroded, leaving behind something that the human mind simply wasn’t equipped to process.

"Everyone ready?" Althea asked with a serious voice.

She stood at the front of their loose triangle formation, rechecking the rope connecting all three of them at the wrists.

Finn was in the middle with his wings folded tight to avoid anything unnecessary during their passage.

Tron was behind, looking straight ahead with a firm gaze.

After confirming everything was in check, Althea took a deep breath, then stepped forward.

The barrier’s surface rippled like disturbed water as she made contact. For a brief moment, Finn saw her outline distort, as if she were being viewed through warped glass.

Then she pushed through, and the rope at Finn’s wrist went taut.

Finn followed.

And immediately, he felt his body spasm.

It felt like being torn apart and reassembled in the same instant. Like every particle of his body was being examined, catalogued, diffracted into separate pieces before being grudgingly allowed to pass through.

The prism effect Priest had described wasn’t metaphorical.

Finn could feel it trying to separate them, to split their entry points across vast distances. Only the physical connection of the rope kept them anchored to each other, forcing the spatial magic to treat them as a single unit rather than three separate entities.

The wrongness intensified strongly, making Finn clench his jaws hard as he fought through the sensation.

And then, abruptly, they were through.

Finn’s foot, which had been on solid ground a moment before, found nothing.

We’re falling!

His wings exploded outward on instinct, flapping quickly in the air that felt denser than it should be. As if it was humid. But without any moisture in the air.

The powerful downbeat arrested his fall immediately, and for a brief, disorienting moment, he held both Althea and Tron suspended with him through the rope connection.

Then their own soul masses erupted from their shadows.

Althea’s Giant Owl materialized beneath her with a screech, sweeping her up immediately.

A Griffin burst into being from Tron’s shadow, roaring as it reared its eagle head and swooped Tron up with its lion body rippling with muscles.

The three of them hovered in open air, with the rope connecting them suddenly feeling like a hindrance now that they had individual flight.

Tron quickly acted, pulling out a knife from his belt and sawing through the tether.

"Everyone stable?"

"Stable," Althea confirmed, circling in the air as she assessed their surroundings.

"Yeah," Finn also replied, flapping his wings steadily. "I’m good..."

Finn’s voice trailed off, and even Tron who had asked the question was no longer paying any attention.

Instead, all of their gazes were locked on the sight that lay before them, wide eyed.

"What in the hells is that?!"