Ashar still stood before Ruan as the first change in his body began to take place. There was no pause after yesterday's Death Sense training; the world seemed unwilling to grant Ruan a moment's rest, as if the valley itself wanted to ensure his transformation proceeded without interruption. The air around them trembled gently—not with force or threat, but with a meaningful hush, like the world watching something rare unfold.
Ruan felt fine vibrations run through his bones from toes to crown—subtle, not painful, yet strong enough to make him hold his breath for an instant. He touched his chest and felt the beat shift from the rhythm he knew into something longer, deeper, as if his heart were trying to adapt to a cadence that was not entirely its own.
"I feel something flowing inside me," Ruan said, staring at his hands, which looked paler than the day before. "Like a new space is forming—space that didn't exist before."
Ashar observed the change with a gentle but cautious gaze. "That is your body learning to recognize the presence of your expanding soul. When a human begins to see the spirit world, the body must change as well, so it does not shatter under the difference of two realms."
Ruan lowered his hand and watched the thin vibration flowing through his bones like a stream. "I don't feel pain—just… strange."
Ashar moved a little closer; his misty, glowing form became clearer. "That strangeness is a sign your body is shedding its old limits. You are no longer fully human, Ruan. But you are not wholly spirit either. You are the path that connects both."
Ruan swallowed—not from fear, but because he could sense something within him moving beyond his understanding. "Will this process be dangerous?"
Ashar shook his head slowly. "Only to those who refuse the change. You accept the world as it is. You do not resist. That is why your transition will be easier than those who try to cling wholly to their flesh."
Ruan took a deep breath and felt the air enter him not as ordinary air does into a human body. It felt as though it filled two spaces at once—one for his flesh, another for his soul that was beginning to unfold.
"My breath… feels lighter," he said. "As if my body is not as heavy as yesterday."
"Because part of you has begun to dwell in another world," Ashar replied. "A spirit body has no weight. A human body has limits. You stand between them."
Ruan flexed his fingers slowly. He saw a faint shadow move in response to the motion, like a reflection of light that did not come from the sun. "Is that… my spirit part?"
Ashar nodded. "That is its early form. The shadow of what will become a permanent part of you."
Ruan glanced down at his arms and hands. His skin seemed more translucent, though not completely. He could see a thin veil of mist shifting beneath his skin, moving as if examining the shape of this new body.
"I… look like someone fading," he murmured.
"You are not fading," Ashar said. "You are making way for your other self."
Ruan lifted his face. "If I become half-spirit, does that mean I will not die?"
Ashar offered a faint smile. "No, Ruan. Death is not something one can avoid. But you will understand death differently. You will not see it as an end, but as a change of form."
Ruan closed his eyes and let his body adjust to the new vibrations filling him. He felt the surrounding world shift slightly. Sounds that were once faint grew clearer, like a door opening into a room that reveals voices previously hidden.
"I hear… footsteps," he said softly. "Footsteps that are not from human bodies."
"Because your ears are beginning to recognize the sounds of the spirit world," Ashar answered.
"The steps… neither approach nor recede," Ruan said, listening more intently. "They just… exist."
"That is the sound of presence," Ashar explained. "Spirits do not step like humans. They move with intent. And that intent is what your new body wishes to recognize."
Ruan opened his eyes slowly. The world before him looked wider, calmer. Every stone, every crevice of earth, every breeze seemed to breathe its own breath.
"Am I seeing the world as a spirit sees it?" he asked.
"Not yet fully," Ashar replied. "But you are on the right path. Once your body finishes changing, you will begin to see the past."
Ruan swallowed a breath that felt impossibly light. "The past… whose past?"
"The past of those who died in this valley," Ashar said. "Of the souls whose threads you touched. And of the spirits waiting for someone to listen."
Ruan gazed at the soul-threads drifting in the air. They now appeared clearer—not only lines of light but gentle paths that held fragments of feeling: regret, hope, fear, unfinished love, all mixed without sound.
"I can feel them closer," Ruan said. "Emotions that can't be put into words."
"That is Death Sense in its first form," Ashar said. "Not a power, but a door. You are beginning to enter their world not with sight, but with soul."
Ruan looked at his hands again. The tips of his fingers began to emit a faint, trembling glow. "My body is changing faster than I expected."
"Because this valley supports you," Ashar replied. "This place is both grave and school. And you are a pupil accepted by both."
Ruan inhaled, feeling the coolness not only touch his skin but enter his soul. "What is the final step of this transformation?"
"There is one thing you must do," Ashar said.
Ruan turned. "What is it?"
"You must see your body from the outside one last time."
Ruan's eyes widened. "Leave my body again…?"
"Yes," Ashar said. "But this time your body will not collapse. You will not be torn apart. You will view yourself from the perspective of a spirit fully conscious."
Ruan swallowed. "How do I do that?"
"Listen to the softest beat," Ashar answered. "That beat is not from your flesh but from your soul. Follow it, and your body will allow you to step out without losing control."
Ruan closed his eyes. Two heartbeats threaded together in different rhythms, but only one felt like a calling. The beat was not of flesh or blood but from an empty space within him that now grew wider. He followed that beat, and gradually felt his body give way—not vanish, but make room.
He opened his eyes as a soul and saw his human body standing before him like a shell still radiating the warmth of life.
Ruan stepped closer and touched his own shoulder. "I'm still connected…"
"Because your body and your soul now walk side by side," Ashar said. "This is the half-spirit form."
Ruan looked at his physical self, still upright, then at the world which appeared brighter and gentler in his soul form.
"I feel… whole," he whispered.
Ashar nodded slowly. "Starting tomorrow, you will see the past of these deaths through the eyes of those who can no longer see life."
Ruan smiled softly. "I'm ready."
"You are," Ashar replied in a gentle voice, "for tonight your body finally became a bridge between two worlds."
And in that silent valley, Ruan's body and soul stood side by side—two aspects of a single existence now accepting its fate.