The Lantern Festival continued to illuminate Vailor as the night went on. The streets were filled with soft music, colorful lights, and sweet scents coming from the food stalls. Takumi walked through the center of the square with a skewer in hand, trying to relax after so many consecutive missions. Vespera walked beside him, watching lanterns float like small suns tied to invisible strings.
Liriel followed a few steps behind, eating cotton candy as if it were a celestial gift. Elara, in turn, seemed less irritated than usual, perhaps because she had finally managed to recover a bit of the mana that had been depleted for days. The atmosphere was calmer than the group had experienced in a long time.
Vespera took a deep breath and smiled.
"See? I told you this festival would be nice. No monsters, no debts, nothing exploding."
Takumi laughed.
"You're practically challenging fate when you say that."
"I'm not! I'm just… optimistic," she said, even knowing that her words always carried a certain bad luck.
Liriel came closer, eyes shining at the lanterns rising into the sky.
"I heard that if you make a wish and release a lantern with enough force, it reaches the level of the gods."
Takumi raised an eyebrow.
"Is… that how it works?"
"Of course it works! Probably! Maybe… a little…" Liriel murmured, realizing she had just invented half of the sentence.
Elara sighed, but smiled faintly.
"At least she's having fun."
Takumi was about to respond when the ground trembled slightly. Nothing strong, just enough to make one of the lanterns sway in the air. He frowned.
"Did you feel that?"
"Probably some drunk ogre bumped into a tent," Vespera said, uninterested.
But the tremor happened again. And this time, several lanterns shook at once.
The music stopped.
People looked around, confused.
Takumi felt his inner flame shudder, as if recognizing something familiar.
"This… doesn't feel normal."
Before anyone could react, the ground in the center of the square burst open with a muffled crash. A jet of hot air escaped from underground, lifting dust and leaves. Children screamed, and some lanterns fell from the sky.
From the hole, a small but fierce creature emerged. It had a muscular body, reddish skin, and eyes that looked like burning embers. It resembled a mix between a giant salamander and an angry lizard. The monster roared, releasing sparks of fire from its mouth.
Elara put a hand to her forehead.
"Oh, great. It didn't even last a full day without a problem."
Vespera immediately drew her bow… and almost dropped the arrow.
"Takumi, this thing looks kind of… way too hot. Literally!"
"It's a type of cave salamander. I've seen something similar," Takumi said, analyzing the monster. "It's not that dangerous, but it can cause a fire if we let it."
The creature roared again, making children cry and merchants run to protect their stalls. Liriel raised her hands, trying to cast her most basic spell.
"I can try… um… to blind it with light!"
"Can you hold the magic?" Elara asked, a bit doubtful.
"Of course I can! I'm a goddess, remember?"
Liriel gathered energy, but the magic escaped like an uncontrolled flash that illuminated the creature for half a second before vanishing.
Takumi blinked, his eyes stinging.
"I think you just made it angrier."
The salamander puffed out its chest, about to spit fire.
Takumi acted without thinking. He lunged forward, his inner flame awakening instinctively. Heat ran through his arm, and he struck the air, releasing a small bluish burst of fire that collided with the creature's jet.
The flames met in the middle of the square, producing a flash that made the lanterns shake violently.
Vespera widened her eyes.
"Okay. I take back everything I said about a peaceful night."
Takumi felt the flame respond sharply, as if excited by the monster's presence. He took a deep breath, maintaining control.
"Elara, can you lower the temperature around it?"
"With the little mana I have? Just a bit."
"A bit already helps."
Elara extended her hand and released a weak stream of ice, reducing the creature's mobility by freezing the ground around it. The salamander slipped and stumbled, crashing into an empty stall.
Vespera smiled.
"Now we're talking!"
She fired an arrow… which flew over the monster and hit a distant barrel.
"The target moved! I was aiming right!" she shouted.
"Of course you were," Elara replied, not hiding the sarcasm.
Takumi moved forward before the monster could get back up. The flame ran along his arm again, swirling like a vortex of blue light. He struck the ground in front of the salamander, creating a controlled explosion that hurled the monster backward.
The creature fell onto its back, stunned. When it tried to get up, Takumi was already standing in front of it.
"Calm down. This won't hurt as much as it looks."
He focused the flame into a single point in his hand and touched the salamander's forehead. He didn't burn the creature, but instead neutralized the flow of erratic energy it was emitting.
The salamander dimmed like an old ember, fainting with a warm sigh.
The silence lasted a few seconds.
Then, applause. Lots of applause.
People rushed toward Takumi, praising him, thanking him, asking what that was, offering food, drinks, or even a reward. Liriel approached with shining eyes.
"You were amazing! You looked just like a legendary hero!"
Vespera laughed.
"He became a festival attraction. I bet they'll want to put his face on the food stalls."
Elara watched in silence, but there was a gentle smile on her face.
"You handled that better than I expected."
Takumi scratched the back of his neck, a little embarrassed.
"I just… did what needed to be done."
The guild team arrived after a few minutes, retrieving the salamander and making sure no one else was hurt. The festival slowly resumed its rhythm, although many still commented on the incident.
Liriel looked up at the sky, where lanterns were rising again.
"I think that, even with all that chaos, the night became more beautiful."
Takumi smiled.
"Maybe the Lantern Festival always needs a little bit of fire."
Vespera tapped his shoulder.
"Yeah. And you're always ready to provide it."
The group laughed together, and the night continued illuminated by the lanterns, now accompanied by exaggerated stories about the young blue-flamed adventurer who had saved the festival from disaster.
They didn't know that that small creature was only the beginning of something deeper happening beneath Vailor… but for now, the night was still theirs.