The sky was tinged with a golden hue, the last trace of daylight slowly fading as the sun set over the horizon. The streets of Liora, the city where Ren had grown up, were beginning to fill with shadows, and the usual hubbub of hunters and merchants filling the square had faded into a distant whisper. The seemingly peaceful scene was about to be disturbed by something that would change the course of everyone''s lives.


    Ren, a D-class hunter, was back from a simple hunting mission. There was nothing grand about his task today—a simple pack of crawling creatures in the Bauros market, one of the city''s trading posts. They were small creatures, but tricky to catch, and posed no great threat, but still required attention and patience.


    The weariness of the mission had settled on his shoulders. With the dark coat he was wearing, now a little dirty from the dust of the market, Ren walked through the streets of Liora, his heavy backpack on his back and his dark brown eyes fixed on the ground, trying to dispel the feeling that there was something out of the ordinary that day. His wavy hair swayed gently in the rhythm of the wind, but he didn''t care about that. His mind was far away, distracted by the routine of his life as a D-class hunter, the lowest class among the city''s hunters.


    “Another day, another day,” he thought, trying to dispel the frustration that had become his daily companion.


    The city was in a strange phase – a calm before the storm. The vortices had become more frequent in the last few months, but nothing serious had happened so far. They were just interdimensional portals, as the hunters called them, that opened and closed, leading to alternate dimensions and bringing mysterious creatures and powerful artifacts. However, lower-class hunters like Ren were not sent to hunt within these portals, as they were considered “under-equipped” to deal with what came out of them.


    Ren was young, around twenty years old, and with a D-class, he was barely acknowledged by the other stronger hunters. He knew that his only value lay in performing the simple tasks and making sure he got enough to survive. His biggest dream? Maybe to rise in rank and be recognized as someone worthy of something more.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    But that day, something was different. Something was about to happen, and Ren couldn’t know yet that his life would never be the same again.


    The First Rift


    The wind began to blow more intensely, causing Ren to tighten the grips on his backpack. The weather was changing, and he didn’t know exactly why. Maybe it was fatigue getting the better of him. However, what happened next made his stomach clench.


    As he walked further away from the market, he noticed that people were starting to look up at the sky. Some of them stood still, their heads tilted upward, while others ran toward their shelters. Ren followed their gazes, and then he saw it. Something was happening.


    A dimensional rift was opening. It materialized in the sky in the distance, a crack in space-time that pulsed with colors Ren had never seen before. These weren’t the normal colors of portals—they were a swirl of shimmering lights that seemed to move with a life of their own. This was no ordinary rift.


    “This isn’t normal,” he muttered to himself, feeling a shiver run down his spine. He knew portals like this didn’t appear often. More than that, interdimensional portals were usually under the control of the city authorities, who were responsible for monitoring and containing them. But this portal felt different. It felt… ominous.


    The crowd around him was in a panic. Some people began to run for their homes, while others stared at the rift as if mesmerized. Ren, not knowing what to do, stepped a little closer, his heart beating fast inside his chest.


    Suddenly, he felt something. A strange and powerful presence emanating from the portal, as if an invisible force was watching him. His mind seemed to cloud over, and he felt a sudden cold invade his body. But then, just as fear was beginning to take over his thoughts, a voice interrupted his reverie.


    “Ren!” The voice of Harrow, the captain of one of the most powerful units in the city, cut through the silence. Ren looked quickly, and saw the tall, imposing man, with short, dark hair, advancing towards him. His black coat fluttered as he approached with firm and determined steps.


    “Captain Harrow?” Ren asked, a little surprised to see the leader of one of the elite hunters there, right in the middle of the city, where he would normally be on secret and dangerous missions.


    “Come on, Ren. We don’t have time,” Harrow said urgently, taking him by the hand and pulling him closer to the dimensional rift. “This is no ordinary portal. We have no idea