《Spearbound [LitRPG Apocalypse]》 Chapter 1 - Skyfall ¡°Really?¡± Kade glared at the snarling pit bull in his path. This was the day¡¯s last stop, and he looked forward to getting home. He had plans to go out with some friends for the first time in ages. They wanted to cheer Kade up because they thought he was ¡®depressed.¡¯ He was newly single, but that relationship had been dead for a while, so it was a long time coming. He really cared little about being girlfriend-less, but who was he to argue when his boys wanted to take him out to a bar? The dog stopped baring its teeth when Kade got closer before wagging its tail. Kade scanned the package and hid it in an empty pot before returning to the dog. It was still excitedly wagging its tail. He chuckled before giving it a several-second scratch. ¡°One of these days, I¡¯m going to ignore you after you snarl at me.¡± He stared at the dopey smile on its face. ¡°All right, maybe I won¡¯t.¡± Kade chuckled as he returned to his truck and drove to the warehouse. The dog was one of the least dangerous things he had encountered in one of his deliveries. He received a significantly higher payment than what national carriers pay their drivers for a reason. It worked for him. The possibility of excitement during his routes kept him happy with the job. Kade had mentioned this to others before, and they viewed him as if he were insane. He thought they were nuts for wanting to sit on their ass in a tiny cubicle all day. But to each their own. He parked his truck next to the other delivery vehicles before heading inside to grab the keys for his pickup. Matt, his boss, was waiting for him. ¡°I don¡¯t like the look on your face,¡± Kade remarked. Matt was about to ask for something. He was usually happy to accommodate, since it meant extra money. This time, he was not. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to do it, but we¡¯ll be short of a driver tomorrow. I might need you to come in.¡± ¡°Nope,¡± Kade denied firmly. ¡°I don¡¯t plan to wake up before two in the afternoon tomorrow.¡± ¡°That works,¡± Matt grinned as if he caught him. ¡°We¡¯re like a family in this company, Kade. Sometimes we need to¡ª¡± ¡°Oh, shut up,¡± Kade laughed. ¡°Call me after two, and I¡¯ll see.¡± That was another reason he liked his job. Matt got promoted after they fired the old supervisor, who liked the phrase ¡°work family¡± a little too much. It always meant covering the old man¡¯s ass while he went off and played golf. He left the office and got in his pickup. Several minutes later, he was driving out of Chicago, still in a good mood. Kade hummed to himself before turning on the radio and pumping the volume up. He heard loud static. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡­ What the hell? Kade briefly looked away from the road and glanced at the screen. It was at his usual station. He switched to the next one. Then the next. And the next. He went through all the stations. All he heard was static. Kade frowned before turning off the radio. He checked his cell phone and saw that he barely had a signal. He would be lucky if he could make a call. That¡¯s odd. It¡¯s always strong here. Kade settled in for the dull drive. This was fine only for several minutes. The traffic had been smooth sailing. Until it suddenly wasn¡¯t. Kade cursed loudly when he felt himself being shunted forward after slamming the brakes. The tires squealed as the truck came to a rapid stop from near-freeway speeds. ¡°Fucking idiot! How the hell did you get your license?!¡± He cursed the driver of the car ahead of him as he rubbed his chest with annoyance. The seatbelt dug into his skin, but he was just glad that he didn¡¯t get into a crash. He took a second to gather himself before he saw the full situation in front of him. People started to exit their cars, prompting others to do the same. Kade frowned when he realized that this wasn¡¯t a typical traffic jam. He forgot his anger as he decided to see for himself what everyone was leaving their cars for. This was something he hadn¡¯t encountered before. He glanced behind to see cars slowly coming to a stop, causing a traffic jam of massive, unseen proportions. ¡°What are you doing? Stay close!¡± He blinked at the panicked shout and saw a woman pulling her friend back. This friend was busy recording the traffic jam. Kade rolled his eyes. It wasn¡¯t an uncommon sight. Many people were on their phones, some speaking frantically, while others struggled to make calls. However, most were recording the traffic jam, just like that woman¡¯s friend. Just what we need. Hundreds of videos of the same thing posted online. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± A man standing beside Kade whispered in shock. However, the whisper wasn¡¯t directed towards Kade. He followed the man¡¯s line of sight and looked up at the sky. What the hell is that!? A colossal crack tore through the otherwise blue sky, making it look like reality itself was splintering. It separated the moment Kade looked at it, as if it was expecting him. He saw things that were difficult for his mind to comprehend. Billions¡ªtrillions¡ªof sentient species fought for survival against an endlessly encroaching darkness. Galaxies winked out of existence, and otherworldly beings stared back at him. He could feel it driving him towards madness. The crack in the sky blinked. When it reopened, Kade wished for the vision of the endless battle to return. An all-consuming eye stared down at Earth. Judging it. Weighing its worth. Deciding its future. Kade¡¯s sanity teetered as the eye vanished, and the crack grew¡­ infinitely. The sky was gone. It was all an eerily dark void that covered the Earth. Kade shivered as an unfamiliar chill sank into his bones. Panic erupted around him, but he found his attention drawn elsewhere. He stood in awe, gazing at the inexplicable void above. Something grew within it. A cascade of colors rippled across the previously dark void before it descended to Earth like an ethereal waterfall. Kade¡¯s vision went black. It lasted only for a moment before lines of text rapidly flashed in his vision. System initializing. Planet #7182983 has fallen. Planet #7182984 had been found to be an adequate comparable. Native name of Planet #7182984 detected. Planet #7182984 has been designated ¡®Earth.¡¯ Population requirements have been met. Intelligence requirements have been met. Civilization requirements have been met. Combat requirements have not been met. Training required. Calculating probable failure. 51.28% chance of Earth meeting requirements after uplifting combat capabilities. Automatic approval due to an estimated probability exceeding 50%. Initiating prospect protocol. Arcana injection is completed. 19,837,282 Rift Zones linked. 800 Safe Zones created. Scanning¡­ Scanning¡­ Scanning¡­ Prospect protocol complete. Welcome to the greater universe, inhabitants of Planet Earth. Chapter 2 - Rift Zone Kade opened his eyes with a harsh gasp and stared at the blue sky in confusion. He quickly sat up and looked around. Where the hell am I? The last thing he remembered was reading that wall of text on the freeway. Now, he was somehow in the middle of a clearing that was surrounded by a forest with nobody else around. Greetings, Kade Beckett. You have entered the Class F Rift Zone #8,274,177. Class F is the lowest designation that can be assigned to a Rift Zone. The higher the designation, the more dangerous the Rift Zone becomes. Planet Earth contains the Rift Zone designations listed below, from lowest to highest. Class F Class E Class D Class C Class B Class A Once you enter a Rift Zone, you must complete the objectives given to be allowed to leave. Objectives: Kill 1 Corrupted Lifeform (0/1) Kill 10 Monsters (0/10) Kade chuckled before it turned into outright laughter. He looked at the floating text as his amusement died. ¡°This has to be a stupid joke.¡± This is not a joke, Kade Beckett. We are unsure why so many humans think this is a joke. Do try not to get yourself killed thinking you are in a dream. It is a regrettable waste of resources. We assure you that this is very real. ¡°What the¡ª¡± Kade stopped himself from cursing whatever this thing was. ¡°Who are you?¡± You may refer to us as the system. We have temporarily allocated more focus to Earth to help integrate the humans and are able to field queries to those who have a Class. Please receive your Class before you attempt to converse with us. Additional queries will not receive a response until then. Kade¡¯s lips twitched in irritation. Well, fuck you too. He apparently had to just accept that he now had a status screen. It reminded him of the days he played video games¡ªparticularly RPGs. The issue was that he hadn¡¯t played in nearly a decade. There wasn¡¯t much time for fun since he had to support himself ever since he was in high school. It was either playing video games or doing some shady job and getting paid under the table to have money to eat. Still, Kade remembered some of the stuff he used to do. ¡°Show my inventory.¡± You do not have an inventory. Kade blinked at the reply. ¡°You said you would ignore me.¡± This time, the System ignored him. ¡­ What the hell!? He took a deep breath and continued. ¡°Show my status.¡± Kade Beckett Arcana Level 1 Class: N/A | Skills: N/A Race: Baseline Human Titles: N/A Stats: Constitution: 3 Endurance: 2.5 Strength: 2 Dexterity: 1 The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Speed: 1.5 Free Points: 0 Kade had questions about some parts of the status screen¡ªTitle and Arcana Level in particular¡ªbut the stats were¡­ comforting? He wasn¡¯t sure what the right word was, but his stats made sense since they fit his natural traits. ¡°Right, I need to kill a bunch of monsters... and a lifeform,¡± Kade said to himself as he left the clearing. It didn¡¯t have to be mentioned that he had killed nothing other than bugs before. Monsters he didn¡¯t mind as much if they were as he imagined. What the hell is a lifeform, anyway? Something that looks like a human? Kade sure as hell hoped that wasn¡¯t the case. The system mentioned that he had to complete the objectives to leave, and he knew himself far too well. If it came down to it, he would put down whatever this lifeform was to get the hell out of this place. He was never the sort that was too self-sacrificing, and he didn¡¯t intend to start now. Kade wandered around with no proper direction. The only thing he kept a lookout for was some sort of rock or stick to use as a weapon. He was reasonably good with his hands, and while he had never done so before, he would bet that he could make some kind of bludgeoning tool as long as he found the proper material. Unfortunately, Kade found himself in the cleanest forest to ever exist. There isn¡¯t even a single fallen leaf on the forest floor. He was about to give up and try to climb one of these massive trees and break off a branch just so he could have something to work with. Then, his ears perked up. Kade heard a faint whistling noise and twisted in the sound''s direction. That saved him. He hissed in pain as he snapped his head to the side. Someone threw a sharpened stick with such great accuracy that it would¡¯ve hit the middle of his temple if he hadn¡¯t turned after hearing the noise. Kade¡¯s eyes frantically searched the forest before him as he tried to find what attacked him. He backed away and touched his cheek, feeling the blood that was drawn where the stick had sliced through his skin. He didn¡¯t take his eyes off the search as he moved his foot around as he backed away. Found it. Kade¡¯s foot bumped into the stick that was thrown at him. He pulled it from the ground and awkwardly pointed it in front of him. Calling it a stick did it a disservice. A more fitting term would be a crude spear. It was hefty enough that he couldn¡¯t comfortably use it in one hand. Kade was most worried about someone throwing a weapon like this at him. He couldn¡¯t imagine what else his attacker would have available if this spear had been disposable. Kade narrowed his eyes as he stepped behind the tree to give himself some protection. It came with less visibility, but that was a disadvantage he would take to avoid getting skewered. He had dodged the initial attack by pure dumb luck. His ears perked up again; this time, he heard a chitter. It¡¯s coming from my right. Kade felt his muscles burn as he strained his legs to place himself closer to the sound behind another tree. His heart skipped a beat when another spear sank into the ground right beside him. Kade¡¯s quick reaction saved one of his legs from being taken out by a mere microsecond. That didn¡¯t stop Kade from tracking the origin of the spear. He saw a small, misshapen humanoid with large, sickly yellow eyes staring right at him. It looked like it wanted to eat the flesh off his bones, and the large, knife-like teeth had nothing to do with his assumption. The ugly thing was looking at them with such a severe hunger that it drooled copiously. Kade thought he would be more fearful after seeing this odd creature. It was the opposite. He instead felt a cold determination. I can kill this thing without guilt. The hideous creature reached back to pull one of its many spears from an odd sling it wore. It was using them as makeshift arrows. With its accuracy so far, he even understood why it did so. There likely weren¡¯t many chances of its prey escaping after the initial ambush. Kade¡¯s eyes narrowed as the creature¡¯s muddy green skin almost blended in with the surroundings when it moved to another spot. He found he had shockingly good eyesight¡ªfar better than he ever remembered having. He didn¡¯t know if the boosted focus was because of his life being in danger or if the system was the cause, but he was glad for it. Kade never lost sight of the hideous excuse of a lifeform as it tried to be stealthy and move closer to him while using as much cover and camouflage as possible. If he wasn¡¯t sure he would be utterly terrible at throwing a spear, he would¡¯ve used one of the two he had available to give the creature a taste of its own attack. But it wasn¡¯t time for that. Yet. Kade had a plan of action. He pretended to have no idea where the revolting creature was. The closer it came to him, the more awful it was. It had a dreadful, rattling way of breathing while it continually released a gulping sound from its mouth. It couldn¡¯t be stealthy as long as anything nearby had ears. No wonder it tried to attack me from a range. He saw it reach for another spear, and he decided to act after it made a throwing motion. Kade¡¯s hand tightened around the spear¡¯s shaft and waited. Less than a second later, he moved. The repulsive creature launched another attack at him, and he made a risky decision to jump swiftly to the side, just enough to dodge the spear thrown at him. Kade didn¡¯t allow the creature to have time to think about its next move. With a grunt, he hurled the spear in his hands as hard as he could towards the creature. Kade¡¯s throw, although not intended as a finishing move in the first place, missed terribly. It still worked as a distraction. He grabbed the spear thrown at him and charged. The ugly thing let out a hacking cough¡ªit¡¯s a way of showing shock¡ªand scrambled back to get away from Kade¡¯s abrupt rush toward it. Unfortunately for the creature, he had closely observed how fast it could move. Kade had especially observed how quickly it threw its spears and made a quick comparison to his own throw. He found he was much quicker than the creature, though stupidly less accurate¡ªnot that it mattered. Before the creature could run too far, Kade was well within the spear¡¯s attacking range. Its eyes widened in fear and rage when it saw the pointed end heading directly to its face. Kade expected a lot of things when the spear met its target. A disgusting, flesh-tearing sound. A splatter of blood that would cover his clothes. Even a disaster where the creature escaped. But none of that happened. He heard a dull impact when he pierced the creature¡¯s head. Before he could pull back the spear, the creature disintegrated into a white powder that collapsed into a small pile on the ground. ¡°¡­ This thing wasn¡¯t real?¡± Kade nudged the pile with his foot. You have destroyed a Spear Goblin (Arcana Level 1)! Kill 10 Monsters (0/10)¡ª>(1/10) The Rift Zones harbor lifeforms that pose a threat to the universe. You destroyed a Goblin that was classified as a Monster. A Monster is the initial stage of a lifeform that desires to accelerate the decay of the universe. Despite any form they might take, monsters are not to be given mercy. We recommend immediate destruction of any that comes to your attention. As a reward for destroying these abominations, you will be allowed to absorb the energy they contain. Level up! Chapter 3 - Class Selection Arcana Level 1¡ª>Arcana Level 2 Free Points: 0¡ª>1 You have reached Arcana Level 2 and are eligible to choose a Class. Once selected, you will have access to the Wisdom attribute. Make your choice carefully. Once you select a Class, it is permanent. You have five options to choose from. These are the base classes that all sentient species in the universe select. The evolutions of each class are available on an individual and planetary basis. Warrior: A melee-focused class that excels in close combat with high defense and physical strength. This is the most common combat class in the universe. Below are the listed evolutions that will be the most common for this planet. Example Evolutions ¨C Knight, Berserker, Blademaster, and Paladin. Level-up bonus ¨C +1 Constitution, +0.5 Endurance, +1 Strength Mage: A spellcaster requiring significant mana to cast spells. A class that prefers range over close combat. The second most common combat class in the universe. Below are the listed evolutions that will be the most common for this planet. Example Evolutions ¨C Elementalist, Summoner, Necromancer, and Arcanist. Level-up bonus ¨C +0.5 Dexterity, +0.5 Speed, +1.5 Wisdom Healer: A class that focuses on support with specialization abilities on healing and boosting others in combat. Below are the listed evolutions that will be the most common for this planet. Example Evolutions ¨C Cleric, Druid, Alchemist, and Shaman. Level-up bonus ¨C +0.5 Endurance, +0.5 Dexterity, +0.5 Speed, +1 Wisdom Rogue: A stealthy class that excels in evasion, ambush, and traps. Below are the listed evolutions that will be the most common for this planet. Example Evolutions ¨C Assassin, Shadowblade, Trapmaster, and Nightstalker. Level-up bonus ¨C +0.5 Endurance, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed Scholar: A versatile class that does not focus on combat. Instead, it is knowledge-based, focusing on research, runes, and artifacts. Below are the listed evolutions that will be the most common for this planet. Example Evolutions ¨C Runemaster, Enchanter, Archivist, and Tactician. Level-up bonus ¨C +1 Constitution, +1 Endurance, +0.5 Wisdom really loved it. hocus pocus. him. You have chosen [Warrior]. [Wisdom] attribute set at 0.5. MP capacity set at 1. MP Recovery set at 1% per minute. Level-up bonus applied. Constitution: 3¡ª>4 Endurance: 2.5¡ª>3 Strength: 2¡ª>3 You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. That single [Strength] point was this effective? Free Points: 1¡ª>0 Strength: 3¡ª>4 Well, my aim still sucks. Skill learned! Spear Throw (Level 1) - A versatile ability that transforms the spear from a close-combat weapon into a deadly ranged projectile. Another goblin. Fuck! There¡¯s more than one. Skill learned! Footwork (Level 1) - Improves your movement techniques, allowing for better balance, speed, and tactical positioning during combat. Skill learned! Spear Thrust (Level 1) - A swift and forceful forward attack with the spear with the aim to pierce the enemy with precision. You have destroyed a Spear Goblin (Arcana Level 2)! Kill 10 Monsters (1/10)¡ª>(2/10) Level-up! Arcana Level 2¡ª>Arcana Level 3 Free Points: 0¡ª>1 Level-up bonus applied. Constitution: 4¡ª>5 Endurance: 3¡ª>3.5 Strength: 4¡ª>5 Preferences updated. Interface elements will remain hidden inside of combat. Vital information will continue to be displayed as necessary. It¡¯s faster than me. Free points: 1¡ª>0 Speed: 1.5¡ª>2.5 You have destroyed an Archer Goblin (Arcana Level 5)! Kill 10 Monsters (2/10)¡ª>(3/10) Level-up! (x2) Arcana Level 3¡ª>Arcana Level 5 Free Points: 0¡ª>2 Level-up bonuses applied. Constitution: 5¡ª>7 Endurance: 3.5¡ª>4.5 Strength: 5¡ª>7 You now have a Class. I will answer your queries within reason. Your level-up healed you. It is a byproduct of absorbing the energy of a destroyed life form. The answer to that is complex. All you need to know is that each Rift Zone can be regarded as a separate world. It is necessary to destroy all Rift Zones. No. You are the only human here. We have selected examples of your species across the planet that we feel would do well in showcasing how Rift Zones operate. We have sent the others to different Class F Rift Zones. If you can help other humans better understand Rift Zones, yes, we will record you. That is a possibility if they have reached that level of civilization. Time to put on a good show. Chapter 4 - Soulrend Kade was far too optimistic. He expected to find more goblins throwing themselves at him, but it had been a bunch of nothing since he told himself to put on a show. It wouldn¡¯t have been so bad if it hadn¡¯t been for the damned forest. No matter where he went, it was so uniform and neat that it had to be unnatural. It was a creation of someone, but who, he had no idea. The only saving grace was the occasional clearing he came across. They were a sorely needed change to the monotone forest, and all were similar to the one he appeared in at the start. ¡°Are you sure there aren¡¯t any other monsters for me to kill?¡± The system didn¡¯t joke when it said it would only reply to ¡®queries within reason.¡¯ It didn¡¯t acknowledge his question. Kade traveled in a straight line. Since everything looked the same to him, he might go in circles otherwise. He wondered why he only met three goblins in what was apparently the middle of nowhere. There were two spear goblins and one archer goblin. They might have been some type of scouting team, but that was hard to believe when there was nothing to scout. Kade saw a sudden cluster of trees up ahead, with bright sunlight nearly blinding the view of what was past it. He didn¡¯t get excited. It was just another clearing, like the many others he had seen before. He thought little as he stepped past the cluster of trees, but after he did, he really didn¡¯t have any thoughts at all. He stood frozen as he stared at the vast lake before him. It was a shade of blue that he only imagined existed in the most popular tourist spots. Not that Kade had seen it in person. He had been too poor and then too busy to even think about leaving Chicago¡¯s vicinity. He scanned the new area and saw that it was just as abandoned as the woods he had left behind. The only difference was that an immense, flat grass plain replaced the forest beyond the lake. Kade half expected¡ªhoped¡ªgoblins to pop out of nowhere and attack him. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t happen. He warily walked closer to the lake, well aware that this could be extremely dangerous. It wasn¡¯t uncommon for large bodies of water in RPGs to contain a nasty surprise. Kade was ten feet away when the interface appeared. The Arcana Well These waters anchor this Rift Zone. If disturbed, it will draw the attention of the world¡¯s protectors to fend off the attempt to unbalance this world. Kade quickly backed away. He wanted another fight, but not with things that supposedly protected the world. He was the definition of a novice at the moment and needed to build his way up to this fight. Kade was about to give a wide berth to the lake when he realized what its name implied. ¡°Hey, system. If I take a dip in the water, will I become stronger?¡± When the interface didn¡¯t immediately reply, he was about to assume that the system didn¡¯t think it was worth an answer. Yes. He felt tempted. He could destroy a goblin that was three levels above him, so he had some hope that he could beat the protectors if the lake increased his [Arcana Level] to a high enough level. Kade¡¯s common sense won out in the end. There was no time limit to complete his objectives. He would be risking his life for no reason. He followed his original plan. He gave a wide berth to the lake and walked into the grass plains. There must be some sort of gathering of goblins he would run into. *** Kade observed the giant rats in the distance. The ten-foot-tall blades of grass gave him enough cover to stay hidden as he planned his attack. The flat grass plains had slowly become more and more untamed until they turned into a freakishly tall grass forest. He felt like an insect with his small size compared to the grass. Kade didn¡¯t care. He finally saw more monsters, even if they weren¡¯t goblins. Five of them were sleeping in a close huddle. The rats had chewed the surrounding grass to the base, leaving a small clearing that was almost too perfect for an ambush. If his aim wasn¡¯t so atrocious, he would¡¯ve loved to take out a few of these rats before jumping into the fray himself. Unfortunately, he had no hand-eye coordination at this¡­ Wait. That¡¯s what [Dexterity] is for. Kade had to stop himself from audibly face-palming. He had ignored the attribute altogether in favor of [Speed], thinking that [Dexterity] only affected things like flexibility, which he found unimportant. He had to make sure. Kade mentally nudged the system with the question, and the interface gave him an answer. [Dexterity] helps your physical agility, reflexes, and hand-eye coordination. You are correct in assuming it will improve your accuracy. Kade didn¡¯t dawdle. He used one and a half points on [Dexterity] and the rest on [Speed]. Free Points: 2¡ª>0 Dexterity: 1¡ª>2.5 This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Speed: 2.5¡ª>3 He sensed the rats were at a level similar to the archer goblin he destroyed. With five of them to deal with, he figured he needed just a bit more speed to keep himself untouched, or at least mostly unharmed. Kade felt that the rest of his attributes were more than enough as it was. He carefully put down the bundled spears and unwrapped them while monitoring the rats. He estimated he could launch two of the spears before the chance to ambush them disappeared. So that was what he would do. Kade shifted slightly to get a better view and a clearer shot. He eyed the rats that were furthest from him in the huddle, not only to make the ambush easier when he joined the fray, but also to give himself a bit of leeway if his accuracy was still complete shit. He launched the first spear, and the second followed immediately after. Before the spears could land, he was already shooting toward the huddled rats. His thrown spears met their targets, though it wasn¡¯t as accurate as he had hoped. Instead of striking the rats¡¯ heads, they lodged themselves in the middle of the rats¡¯ bodies. Kade ignored the pained screams the two wounded rats let out. A sense of unease settled in with the other three now on full alert. He reached the huddle and plunged his spear into the rat closest to him. It didn¡¯t have the chance to make a sound before it turned into white dust. The interface made a dull sound, but as he requested, it stayed hidden until he was done with the fight. He was already onto the next rat, but this one was ready for him. Kade bent his body awkwardly to avoid the sharp teeth about to bite off his arm. If he hadn¡¯t increased his [Dexterity], there was no doubt he would¡¯ve lost that limb. He jumped back to put some space between him and the rat before barely bringing up the spear in time to block it from leaping on him. It skewered itself on the outstretched spear and turned into white powder. Kade didn¡¯t even have the chance to think about the accomplishment when he felt a sharp, tearing pain in his legs. The interface flashed despite his command to avoid disturbing him. Warning: You are experiencing heavy bleeding! He growled in anger as his vision turned red. He pushed down the nearly debilitating pain and blindly slammed the back of the spear down to dislodge the rat that had just taken a bite out of his leg. He then twisted the spear and thrust it down on the rat¡¯s head. Kade stumbled back as it turned into white powder. The two rats with spears sticking out of their body wobbled towards him. He would¡¯ve been in a terrible spot if they had been in peak condition. He could feel chills taking over his body, and his leg was about to give in. He had glanced at it when he killed the rat that took a bite out of him, and he was missing nearly all of his calf. He had no idea how he was still moving the leg at all, but he wasn¡¯t complaining. Kade was still running on pure anger, but he was well aware that he had to kill the remaining rats as quickly as possible. He hoped that the energy he absorbed from them would be enough to heal his mess of a leg. ¡°Well?¡± Kade directed at the rats with bared teeth. ¡°What¡¯re you waiting for?¡± He was sure the meaning of his words didn¡¯t provoke the rats. It was likely just the sounds itself that was enough. Both of the rats screeched before launching themselves at him. Kade immediately knew that he had made a mistake. He wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge both. He gripped the spear tightly and decided to sacrifice the right side of his body. His right leg was mangled, and adding a similar disability to his left side would be his end. Kade let out a battle cry of his own and launched himself at the rat on the left. He shifted his spear to his left arm and skewered the rat through its open mouth while the other bit through his right arm. Warning: Your health has fallen below 25%! He snarled as the rat tried to tear his arm off. He quickly followed the motion of the rat¡¯s head to prevent it from succeeding before trying to pierce the spear through its underbody. Kade felt the spear break, finally giving from the extreme stress it had experienced. He didn¡¯t miss a beat. He let go of the broken spear and grabbed onto the rat¡¯s head before putting his entire weight and strength into twisting it. He heard a loud crack before the rat finally turned into white powder. Kade collapsed to the ground and lay on his back as he felt his injuries finally taking their toll. Thankfully, it also felt like his wounds were on fire. It caused the pain to skyrocket, but it paradoxically gave him relief. He was recovering. He chuckled in relief as his wounds started to heal, his muscles regrew, and the skin re-stitched. The interface made a faint sound again, and this time, it showed itself since the fight was over. He read the messages that he had missed. You have destroyed 2 Gnawers (Arcana Level 7)! Spear Throw (Level 1)¡ª>(Level 2) You have destroyed a Gnawer (Arcana Level 8)! Skill Learned! Spear Impale (Level 1) - A powerful attack that can immobilize or severely damage an enemy by piercing them through. You have destroyed 2 Gnawers (Arcana Level 10)! Footwork (Level 1)¡ª>(Level 2) Kill 10 Monsters (3/10)¡ª>(8/10) Level-up! (x5) Arcana Level 5¡ª>Arcana Level 10 Free Points: 0¡ª>5 Level-up bonuses applied. Constitution: 7¡ª>12 Endurance: 4.5¡ª>7 Strength: 7¡ª>12 Kade had wondered how his strength never really faltered, even after his injuries. This was why. He just had more of it, so even with injuries, it felt like nothing had changed. He winced at the increased burning as the wounds healed themselves faster and read on. You are the first human to reach Level 10 as a [Warrior]! You have been rewarded a Soulrend. Choose the form (weapon) it should take. He had never heard of that word before. ¡°What¡¯s a Soulrend?¡± A Soulrend is a weapon you choose to accept as part of yourself. In your planet¡¯s lexicon, they are in the form of cold weapons. Fragments of your soul will form the weapon, and activation requires you to sacrifice a minimum of half of your vitality. Despite being fully healed, Kade felt more alarmed than ever. ¡°What do you mean by sacrificing my vitality? That would be temporary, right?¡± It is the same as losing your health. You can naturally recover or seek healing. He relaxed, finding that explanation much more clear. But he still had some questions. ¡°What happens if the Soulrend breaks? That¡¯s an issue if it¡¯s made out of my soul, no?¡± The fragments of your soul return to you. You may activate your Soulrend again to reform the weapon. Kade liked the idea of this¡ªhe loved it. Having a weapon that was basically indestructible would be amazing. The question now was what weapon should he choose. He knew the sword had to be the top choice to most, but in the short time he used the spear, he had found that he was more attached to it than he should be. And he had been using crude wooden spears made by goblins. The Soulrend sounded impressive, so if he made his weapon a spear, he expected something impressive. Plus, he already accumulated [Skills] that were spear-focused. He had to have it. ¡°Spear!¡± Kade said with a little too much excitement. Spear chosen. Soulrend added. That¡¯s it? Kade called on his interface to show his full status. Kade Beckett Arcana Level 10 Class: Warrior | Skills: 4 Soulrend (Dormant Spear) Race: Baseline Human Titles: N/A MP: 1/1 | MP Recovery: 1% per minute Stats: Constitution: 12 Endurance: 7 Strength: 12 Dexterity: 2.5 Speed: 3 Wisdom: 0.5 Free Points: 5 He thought he got scammed. ¡°Why does it say ¡®Dormant Spear¡¯ next to Soulrend?!¡± Chapter 5 - Settling In ¡®Dormant¡¯ is the rank of your [Soulrend]. If you wish for that to change, use it often. To activate it, you must verbally attempt to say [Soulrend]. My new healing factor is insane. All the more reason for me to activate it. ¡®Dormant¡¯ is a fitting name for its rank. Free Points: 5¡ª>0 Dexterity: 2.5¡ª>5 Speed: 3¡ª>5.5 A spear. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Warning: Your health has fallen below 10%! You have destroyed a Mage Goblin (Arcana Level 15)! Spear Thrust (Level 1)¡ª>(Level 2) Kill 10 Monsters (8/10)¡ª>(9/10) Level-up! (x2) Arcana Level 10¡ª>Arcana Level 12 Free Points: 0¡ª>2 Level-up bonuses applied. Constitution: 12¡ª>14 Endurance: 7¡ª>8 Strength: 12¡ª>14 You have destroyed 4 Spear Goblins (Arcana Level 5)! You have destroyed 7 Spear Goblins (Arcana Level 8)! You have destroyed 15 Archer Goblins (Arcana Level 8)! Footwork (Level 2)¡ª>(Level 5) Spear Thrust (Level 2)¡ª>(Level 4) Title gained! Goblin Slayer - The bearer of this title is feared by goblins across all worlds. Upon entering combat, you instill an overwhelming sense of dread in all goblins within your line of sight, causing them to freeze in place for a second. Kill 10 Monsters (9/10)¡ª>(35/10) 1 objective complete! Level-up! (x3) Arcana Level 12¡ª>Arcana Level 15 Free Points: 2¡ª>5 Level-up bonuses applied. Constitution: 14¡ª>17 Endurance: 8¡ª>9.5 Strength: 14¡ª>17 There is no set level since there can be unforeseen variables in a Rift Zone. However, it is most commonly at level 15. Free Points: 5¡ª>0 Dexterity: 5¡ª>7.5 Speed: 5.5¡ª>8 Kill 10 Monsters (782/10) Chapter 6 - Awakened You have entered The Arcane Well. Every minute you stay in The Arcane Well, you will receive a reward of +1 [Free Points]. Once you leave, it is impossible to regain this effect. Free Points: 0¡ª>1 Free Points: 1¡ª>2 The boss monster probably didn¡¯t put me in its eyes. I was too weak. Free Points: 2¡ª>3 Free Points: 3¡ª>4 I¡¯m going to take out as many as I can before I run. Your Soulrend has been shattered. Free Points: 4¡ª>5 Soulrend (Dormant Spear)¡ª>(Awakened Spear) If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Choose 1 ability for your Soulrend. Vital Reap (1 MP): Each successful strike drains a small portion of the target¡¯s vitality, transferring it to you. This will allow you to restore health with every hit. Vital Surge (10 MP): When your health drops below the 10% threshold, your Soulrend will grant you drastically increased combat capabilities. This ¡®last stand¡¯ ability activates automatically. Frozen Lance (10 MP): Your Soulrend becomes coated in an icy aura. Each strike inflicts cold damage. As frost creeps across the target¡¯s wounds, it reduces their movement speed and reaction times. I¡¯ll keep this in the back of my mind. Inferno Burst (10 MP): Your Soulrend releases an explosion of fire upon contact with the target, engulfing the surrounding area in flames. The flame will persist for several seconds at a minimum. All affected targets will suffer burn damage until healed. This is the one. I want this. Your Soulrend now has the ability [Inferno Burst]. Insufficient [MP]. You must have a minimum of 10 [MP]. Free Points: 5¡ª>6 Spear Throw (Level 2)¡ª>(Level 4) Level-up! Arcana Level 15¡ª>Arcana Level 16 Free Points: 6¡ª>7 Level-up bonus applied. Constitution: 17¡ª>18 Endurance: 9.5¡ª>10 Strength: 17¡ª>18 knew there was something wrong with him. He didn¡¯t feel scared. Maybe he was a little worried about leaving the lake, but he was not scared. First, I need to make sure I can stand a chance. Free Points: 7¡ª>2.5 Wisdom: 0.5¡ª>5 MP: 1/1¡ª>10/10 MP Recovery: 1% per minute¡ª>2.8% per minute 35 minutes and 42.857 seconds. Free Points: 2.5¡ª>3.5 Free Points: 3.5¡ª>4.5 The Arcane Well has been degraded beyond repair. Congratulations on initiating the destruction of Rift Zone #8,274,177! We estimate that around 30 minutes will pass before this Rift Zone shatters. After the destruction, you will receive credit for indirectly killing the Corrupted Lifeform. Wait patiently for the process to finish. Yes, it is the Lesser Troll on fire. The difference in reward will be negligible, but yes. Chapter 7 - Reckless Finish Kade narrowly dodged the swipe of the troll¡¯s hand and jumped on its finger. He had a crazy idea, and since he chose to fight this monster, he might as well lean into the crazy. He rammed his [Soulrend] into its wrist to stabilize himself¡ªignoring the hideously smelling roar¡ªbefore swiftly running up the arm toward its head. The troll was quick for its size, but it was nothing to write home about compared to Kade¡¯s quickness. However, what it lacked in quick reactions, it more than made up in strength. He was certain that even a glancing blow from the troll would put him in a critical state. The plan was so straightforward that even a child could understand it. He just won¡¯t let that happen. Kade was able to ignore the fire that was covering the troll¡¯s body. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was because of the fire originating from his [Soulrend]¡¯s ability, but he wouldn¡¯t question it. He swiftly leaped into the air. Just in time. The troll¡¯s other hand slammed into its arm where he had been. The shockwave of the impact nearly caused him to lose control in the middle of his jump. Kade gritted his teeth and thrust his [Soulrend] down blindly, sinking its blade deep into the skin of its forearm. He regained control over his body from the new tether. He held onto his [Soulrend] tightly when the troll tried to shake him off with a roar of frustration. There was little to no chance that his [Soulrend] caused enough harm to overpower the pain the flames were giving the troll. That became obvious when it tightened the muscles in its forearm to lock the [Soulrend] where it was. Kade cursed as he tried to yank his [Soulrend] out of its new fleshy prison with all his strength. He didn¡¯t think that the troll would do something so audacious. It had just experienced his [Soulrend] release flames that still burned its body, and it was willing to do this even after that. He wished he could use [Inferno Burst] again. Unfortunately, he wouldn¡¯t be able to for another thirty minutes when his [MP] would recover. Kade had been watching for the troll to try to smack him away with his other hand, so when the miasma emitted from its blackened skin erupted in a fury, he was completely unprepared. Warning: Your health has fallen below 50%! He yelled in shock as the force launched him off the troll¡¯s body, causing him to break straight through the first tree he hit before toppling another. He could feel the blinding pain trying to take over his senses, but he somehow willed himself to ignore it. Kade groaned as he forced himself to stand on the downed tree. His [Soulrend] was still stuck in the troll¡¯s forearm. It didn¡¯t look like it would let go anytime soon. He watched the troll warily, wanting to see its next move. He never thought it was possible to lose control of his [Soulrend]. Now, he found himself almost lost on what to do. The troll let out a roar before bringing down both fists on him. Kade quickly jumped to the right to avoid the close-fisted slam. The tree that he toppled splintered into thousands of little pieces from the strike. He sucked in a deep breath before dodging a sudden swipe. He had to get his [Soulrend] away from the troll. Somehow. There was no chance he would risk using his fist on the troll¡¯s blackened skin. He couldn¡¯t afford to take more damage from the miasma that lay within. He had already tried to summon the [Soulrend] back to him, but the troll was smart enough to never loosen the muscles in its forearm. He embraced the art of waiting. Kade wanted to make the troll think he had given up on the [Soulrend], so he focused on simply dodging its attacks¡ªa straightforward task. The troll¡¯s feeble attempts to land a hit on him were laughable as long as he maintained his distance. The troll only succeeded in damaging him by using its abundant miasma when Kade was close, so that wasn¡¯t currently a concern. The troll snarled when he easily avoided all its attempts. Kade saw it glance between him and the fallen trees. It was like a light bulb slowly emitting a dim light in its mind, but he was ready. With both hands, the troll picked up a fallen tree before trying to pancake him under it with a furious smash. The only issue was that it was even slower than when it used its fists. He looked unimpressed as he avoided the obliterated tree after it impacted the ground. The troll¡¯s fury rose to another level. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Kade¡¯s intention had been to infuriate it into making poor choices, and it looked like he had succeeded. Instead of fighting him directly with its fists¡ªwhere it was quickest¡ªit dug its hand into the soil and threaten him with clumps of dirt. He raised an eyebrow, still looking unimpressed, but put a greater distance between them. The troll growled before hurling a compacted ball of dirt with its right hand. It ripped through the trunks of the trees in front of Kade as it rocketed towards him. He didn¡¯t take any risks. He shifted well over forty feet to the side to avoid damage from splinters or debris. The thrown dirt ball did nothing to him. The troll thought that something would happen on its second try. It threw the dirt ball that was in its left hand. Kade shifted to the side again as he realized he had no answer to his helplessness. The troll couldn¡¯t harm him, nor could he do anything to it without his [Soulrend]. I might need to just wait for this Rift Zone to be destroyed. He hadn¡¯t been paying much attention to the second dirt ball thrown. Not after he thought he was out of its area of damage. That was a mistake. Kade didn¡¯t even have the chance to react. His body violently collided with a tree, causing it and two more to shatter before his momentum came to a sudden halt by the fourth tree. He felt himself losing consciousness. He saw with blurry eyes a hint of dark miasma where the second dirt ball had landed. He realized the troll had somehow turned that dirt ball into a bomb. Warning: Your health has fallen below 5%! Warning: You are experiencing severe bleeding! Kade sucked in a shuddering breath. It hurt to breathe. Everything hurt. He was close to death unless he could get away from the forest. He saw the troll was about to gather more dirt. It was going to make another bomb to finish him. Kade stumbled out of the tree¡¯s trunk and fell to his knees. It felt like every bone in his body was broken, but pure willpower kept him moving. He knew he should get his ass out of here. It was just common sense. But leaving meant giving in. It meant losing. He hadn¡¯t lost since he entered this Rift Zone. He had already become addicted to being on top. Kade glared at his [Soulrend], still stuck in the troll¡¯s forearm, before his eyes widened. He had an idea. MP: 1/10 | MP Recovery: 2.8% per minute This might work. Free Points: 4.5¡ª>0 Wisdom: 5¡ª>9.5 MP: 1/10¡ª>10/19 MP Recovery: 2.8% per minute¡ª>4.6% per minute He sold out and dumped his [Free Points] into an attribute that wasn¡¯t ideal for [Warrior]. As long as he won, there would be no regrets. If he didn¡¯t, well, he would probably die anyway. Kade stumbled towards the troll as it lifted its arm with the [Soulrend] stuck in it to throw a dirt ball. He waited for his [Soulrend] to be level with its head. Kade forced himself to run towards the troll as he activated [Inferno Burst]. The arm blew off and cauterized at the location where [Soulrend] had been stuck. The flames from within the arm spread quickly to the troll¡¯s head. It roared in pain and stumbled to its knees. That was enough for Kade. He gritted his teeth and jumped high to catch the freed [Soulrend] before landing on its shoulder. He used all his strength to thrust his [Soulrend] into the troll¡¯s ear. Kade quickly withdrew it before jumping onto his head. He gritted his teeth and plunged the [Soulrend] through the top of its skull. The troll suddenly stopped making noise and slowly started falling on its front. He jumped off and put some distance between him and its body before leaning on an undamaged tree for support. He was about to finish it off when he saw its lone hand still twitching, but less than a second later, it became still. You have destroyed a Corrupted Lesser Troll (Arcana Level 20)! A Corrupted Lifeform is the second stage of a lifeform that desires to accelerate the decay of the universe. While they are known to be stronger than Monsters of a similar species, they are severely reduced in intelligence by the rot. We recommend immediate destruction of any that comes to your attention. Footwork (Level 5)¡ª>(Level 6) Spear Thrust (Level 4)¡ª>(Level 5) Spear Impale (Level 1)¡ª>(Level 2) Title Gained! Indomitable Will - The bearer of this title has significant resistance to anything that detracts from their focus. Nothing can stop them from trying to reach their goal as long as the will exists. Kill 1 Corrupted Lifeform (0/1)¡ª>(1/1) All objectives are complete! Level-up! (x3) Arcana Level 16¡ª>Arcana Level 19 MP Recovery: 4.6% per minute¡ª>5.5% per minute Free Points: 0¡ª>3 Constitution: 18¡ª>21 Endurance: 10¡ª>11.5 Strength: 18¡ª>21 Kade slowly lowered himself to sit on the ground. He might have gained [Indomitable Will], but that didn¡¯t stop all the pain from hitting him at once since the fight was over. He closed his eyes when he felt the burning sensation of his body healing from absorbing the energy of the lesser troll. He could feel his bones repairing themselves. His body finally felt like it wasn¡¯t a wrong move away from death. Kade allowed himself to think about what would happen after he left this Rift Zone. He wasn¡¯t sure what he would be returning to. It wouldn¡¯t be the same Earth, but it had only been a day at most in the Rift Zone. Earth couldn¡¯t have changed too much. Kade frowned when he heard a soft rumble and looked up. Cracks filled the sky, resembling broken glass. It was spreading rapidly and splintering off to reveal a void behind it. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Kade didn¡¯t feel fear. He guessed it was because he could do nothing to keep the sky intact. The Rift Zone has accelerated its destruction after you killed the protector. He smiled with accomplishment. However, that brought up a question in his mind. ¡°You said the max Arcana Level was usually fifteen in Class F Rift Zones. How many of the others that you picked went to Rift Zones with protectors that were higher leveled like mine?¡± You are the only one. Kade¡¯s smile grew wider. Unless something unusual happened with others, he should be the human with the highest [Arcana Level]. He decided not to ask the system to keep it a surprise¡­ and to avoid bombarding it with nonessential questions. The rumbling grew louder before everything in the Rift Zone flashed a bright white. Unlike when the system first appeared on Earth, Kade didn¡¯t lose consciousness. He saw the good news on the interface. You are exiting the Class F Rift Zone #8,274,177. Chapter 8 - Earth Kade materialized back on the freeway, right where he had last remembered being. The first thing he saw were hundreds of abandoned cars. ¡°What the hell happened here?¡± Kade asked himself when he saw some cars with open doors, as if the owners had to run. He noticed something strange on the side of the freeway. The top of a tree. Kade stared at it in shock. He had gotten stuck on an overpass. There was no way a tree could reach this height. It would even be taller than the ones he saw in the Rift Zone. He went to the edge of the freeway and looked over the barrier to the ground. Apparently, the Amazon rainforest took over the outskirts of Chicago. Kade swiftly turned around to look at the city. His jaw dropped when he saw that an actual jungle had overtaken the concrete jungle. ¡°What happened to my planet?!¡± Kade assumed the worst. He couldn¡¯t see anyone willingly abandoning their cars like this. He was starting to fear that there were no humans left. The system didn¡¯t reply, so he quickly tried to pull up the interface to see if it was still active. Kade Beckett Arcana Level 19 Kade dismissed it, not interested in seeing the rest of the status. The interface still existed, but the system didn¡¯t reply. Maybe it only replied for the duration of the first Rift Zone. He would be furious if that was the case since he would¡¯ve bombarded it with questions. Not that there was anything he could do about it now. Kade tightened his hand around his [Soulrend] and opened the door to his pickup. He underestimated his own strength. The door ripped off its hinges, and the truck looked like it was about to tip over from the force until he pushed it back. He stared at his totaled pickup in shock. ¡°Well, fuck.¡± Kade dropped the torn-off door with a wince. At least the key was still where he left it. He leaned his [Soulrend] on the pickup before he was about to enter it. It would be nice if the [Soulrend] could be ¡®unsummoned¡¯ without penalty. His heartbeat jumped when the [Soulrend] faded away until he saw the interface appear. You have stored your Soulrend. You may summon it again without incurring any penalties. Kade did precisely that to test it. He sighed in relief when he didn¡¯t sense his health reducing drastically. He stored the [Soulrend] again and got in the pickup. He soon realized the reason behind all the abandoned cars. The pickup didn¡¯t start. He checked his phone and saw that it was dead, even though its battery was full before being whisked away to the Rift Zone. Kade pocketed the phone and left the pickup. He hadn¡¯t developed too much attachment to the vehicle, but it was his first large purchase. Thankfully, the ripped-off door helped him feel better about leaving it. ¡°Now what?¡± He asked out loud. He wanted to go to his house, where most of his friends were, but it was too far away. The other option was to go back to the city and check on Matt. Kade didn¡¯t have any family to worry about, one of the few times he was happy about that, but having to choose between friends didn¡¯t feel great. He ended up choosing the more practical option and returned to the city. He hoped everyone was fine, though the changes to the world didn¡¯t give him confidence. Kade heard a loud alert. This is a planet-wide alert! Humanity¡¯s vanguard have completed their assignments! The first [Warrior], [Mage], [Healer], [Rogue], and [Scholar] have each destroyed a Rift Zone within 12 hours! We have made recordings viewable to the public to familiarize you with future tasks. We will not take such recordings again in the future. Earth will now have low-level monsters roaming outside the Rift Zones. We recommend using them for practice as you wait for Rift Zones to become available. We will alert you when Rift Zones are open to the public! He had thought the ¡®system¡¯ had disappeared leaving only the interface for standard messages, but apparently, it just refused to reply to him. The injection of Arcana has terraformed planet Earth. Kade felt surprised until he remembered it was the answer to a question he asked. ¡°What¡¯s with the delay?¡± We have limited focus allocated to this planet. There will be times when we must prioritize other matters. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. He accepted it and watched the recordings, his expression turning ugly with what he saw. ¡°Why does this make me look like a lunatic?!¡± The system didn¡¯t reply. Every recorded example showed Kade about to jump into a battle with a manic expression. The worst was the last one, where he was fighting the lesser troll. No human could look more miserable, but he still had an ecstatic grin as he battled the lesser troll. Kade shook his head and dismissed the interface. He was almost in the city. *** ¡°Where did you come from?¡± He didn¡¯t expect to be held at arrow point before he stepped into the city. He had to resist the impulse to summon his [Soulrend] and run it through the wild-eyed boy. He couldn¡¯t do that. This wasn¡¯t a monster. Kade had to remind himself that the world as they knew it ended, and it wouldn¡¯t be uncommon for people to be panicked. ¡°From a Rift Zone,¡± Kade said calmly. ¡°I¡¯m the Warrior that you can see in the recording. Put the bow down and¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯re one of those!¡± The twang of the bowstring¡¯s release was sharp to the ear. Kade hadn¡¯t been ready for the sudden attack. It didn¡¯t matter. He caught the arrow and stared at it in surprise as he heard the boy ranting. ¡°You beasts have gotten trickier!¡± He was out of patience. ¡°I¡¯m not a beast,¡± he said in a calm tone as he approached the boy. ¡°If you reach for another arrow, I¡¯ll¡ª¡± He paused when he heard rapidly approaching footsteps. The boy before him got tackled by someone who looked to be an older version of the boy. ¡°What the hell are you doing?! I told you to stay put in the building!¡± The man wrested the bow away from the boy. ¡°Let¡¯s see how you try to escape when I handcuff you!¡± Kade looked away from what was probably a family matter and saw a good amount of people staring at him warily. More surprisingly, they were all armed with odd choices. Most had baseball bats, but some had compound bows like the boy. ¡°Since when did so many people in the city know how to use bows?¡± Kade asked loudly, noting how nearly all of them twitched like they had to stop themselves from attacking. ¡°Since guns disappeared.¡± ¡°What?¡± Kade blinked and turned back to the man/boy duo ¡°The guns,¡± the man repeated. ¡°They¡¯re all gone. Ever since the world went to hell. Not just guns, but anything that might be explosive or of any help. All of them gone.¡± Kade could feel the anger in his voice. ¡°System, is that true?¡± Yes. They were removed during the prospect protocol. Hot weapons are crutches that can only help against the weakest of monsters. The most potent weapon humanity possessed would have hurt a lifeform at Arcana Level 50, but no higher. ¡­ I¡¯ll be more powerful than a nuke after level fifty? ¡°Are you talking to that thing that turned our world into this?¡± Kade blinked and stared at the¡­ man. He was tired of not knowing the guy¡¯s name. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°¡­ Finn.¡± ¡°Right, Finn. I get that you¡¯re confused right now, but the faster we accept this is our new life, the better chance we have to live.¡± Finn looked like he still had trouble believing it. ¡°You¡¯re that guy on the recordings!¡± Kade turned to see a middle-aged man pointing at him with wide eyes. ¡°I am. And let me tell you that everything I did on the recording is what you can expect. You will become powerful as long as you survive.¡± ¡°How do we know it isn¡¯t all edited?¡± A girl barely out of high school questioned him. He rolled his eyes. This was already wasting more time than he wished, so he was about to do something simple. Seeing a human demolish a road with a punch would be enough to convince them. Kade paused. He heard thousands of tiny legs skittering towards him from behind. ¡°Dammit! There¡¯s more of them than before! Archers, fire at will!¡± Finn ordered the group. He turned to see a horrifying sight. It was worse than anything he encountered in the Rift Zone. If there was one thing he hated most, it was bugs. Oh, hell no. Kade summoned his [Soulrend] instantly. Hundreds of human-sized bugs left the densely wooded area around the city. Several of them already had battle scars, with some even having arrows stuck in their exoskeleton. He didn¡¯t care. He just wanted them dead. Kade¡¯s [Soulrend] rocketed to the center of the invading group. The moment the Soulrend made contact, a massive eruption of flames burned every bug to ashes. It didn¡¯t stop there. The flames were so hot that instead of spreading into the forest, they burned the surrounding trees so thoroughly that there was no chance of a wildfire. He summoned the [Soulrend] back with a satisfied smile. Anytime he got rid of bugs was a good time. It was a pity that they were so feeble that the interface didn¡¯t bother to display the number of kills. ¡°¡­ Holy shit.¡± Kade forgot he had an audience. They were staring at him with a combination of fear and awe. He shrugged and stored his [Soulrend]. ¡°That should prove the recordings are real.¡± ¡°Join us,¡± Finn stared at him intensely. ¡°Please. You can protect so many people. What do we need to do to convince you?¡± He genuinely thought about it for a moment. He thought he wanted this when he was in the Rift Zone. The adoration of others. Now that Kade had it¡­ it sounded like the worst thing ever. He didn¡¯t want to babysit others. Not when it meant that he would need to forgo challenging Rift Zones in favor of keeping others safe. Besides, it would just mean they would never grow to their full potential. ¡°That won¡¯t happen. Practice on those bugs, then go to the Rift Zones like the system told you. You likely won¡¯t survive for long if you have to depend on someone like me to protect you.¡± Kade ignored their protests and left them behind to enter the city proper. It was out of the way from his workplace, but he had to see how the inner city was affected. You have entered Chicago, Safe Zone #197. The top 800 population centers are designated as Safe Zones, providing protection from monsters within their boundaries. Periodically, monster waves will attempt to breach the city limits. These waves seek to break the Safe Zone. Failure to repel all invading monsters will result in the loss of Safe Zone status, leaving the city vulnerable to monster horde threats and allowing the nesting of monster eggs within the city. Contribute to the defense of your Safe Zone! He read the interface with a raised eyebrow. The system was doing everything possible to push humanity along. This explains why the group guarded that spot. Kade continued on until he reached his destination. It was strangely beautiful to see vines and other unknown plants creeping up the sides of the skyscrapers. Trees sprouted from the cracks in the pavement without looking as wild as the overgrowth outside the city¡¯s borders, as was common throughout the Safe Zone. There was a far larger concentration of people in the area. He hadn¡¯t see any signs of looting as he expected, but neither had he seen any organization other than the small group fighting the bugs at the edge of the Safe Zone. Surprisingly, it was different here. There were organized patrols comprising small groups with makeshift melee weapons were near the entrances of every building. He could see plenty of disheveled people with lost expressions in the glass lobbies of the guarded buildings. Unlike the group defending a small part of Chicago¡¯s border, everyone within the city only gave him narrowed looks without approaching him. He could see recognition in most of their looks. They had seen the recording. It¡¯s only been twelve hours. Most will soon start adapting. They¡¯ll have to. Kade ignored them all and turned down a street that took him back to edge of the Safe Zone. That¡¯s where his workplace was located. He wasn¡¯t sure what he would do if he found Matt, but that was something to deal with when it happened. Chapter 9 - New Normal There¡¯s the looting I expected. Kade¡¯s workplace was in Bridgeport, an area with plenty of warehouses, so it almost makes sense for it to be looted. He saw several groups that seemed to have the time of their lives, but that wasn¡¯t surprising. This was what he expected when he saw what happened to Earth. It was honestly more shocking that such a large group came together and established some sort of order in the city proper. Kade eyed a group that was getting ideas about him. He was far less willing to give them leeway than he did the boy. Still, he preferred not to fight humans, if at all possible. Luckily for them, they seemed to recognize who he was and quickly sprinted the opposite way. He shook his head and arrived at his company¡¯s warehouse. It was just as ransacked as every other warehouse in the area. Kade saw that his work truck was mostly untouched, which also meant it had little value to the looters. He entered through the back door as he usually would and frowned at the mess. Unfortunately for the looters, there weren¡¯t many things that could be found of any importance, since weapons and food were some of the few things the company didn¡¯t deal with. Kade searched the offices for several minutes when he heard a soft click in the distance. Somebody opened a door. He entered the hallway where he heard the sound. It sounded like someone was approaching him around the corner at a quick pace. Kade blinked when he faced a loud scream and a metal baseball bat swinging down onto his head. He caught the bat and smirked. ¡°You can open your eyes, Matt.¡± Matt was red in the face. He had his eyes closed while trying to beat his head in. Kade was sure that more effort went into the loud screaming than swinging the baseball bat. The screaming abruptly stopped as Matt opened one eye before a wide smile grew on his lips. ¡°Kade! I thought you were a goner. But I saw you on that video!¡± ¡°I thought the same about you. I¡¯m happy that you¡¯re¡­ mostly fine.¡± Kade noticed Matt had gone through some scrapes since yesterday. ¡°What the hell do we do?¡± Matt dropped his worries on him immediately. ¡°The government seems to be gone. Nobody has a proper plan on how to do anything. We apparently have to fight for our lives, but what can we do about food? Everything has broken down. Forget getting food delivered. I can¡¯t even call someone on the other side of the city, let alone in some other state.¡± Kade let him vent. He needed to hear that, too. All he had thought about so far was the next Rift Zone he would tackle. He held a hand up and said, ¡°Let me ask. System, what do we do about food? I can¡¯t imagine farms can still produce with what happened to Earth.¡± All active Safe Zones will receive a minimal amount of supplies. It will not be enough to sustain all humans. To prevent a dependence on agri-worlds to deliver food, increase your Arcana Level. The higher it is, the less you need physical matter to sustain yourself. He stared at the answer for a moment before relaying it to Matt. ¡°So many will die¡­¡± Matt looked lost. ¡°It told me the nearest safe zone was Chicago when everything changed yesterday. I just hope there are plenty more in the country. Not that we have a country anymore.¡± Kade hadn¡¯t thought about that either. ¡°How many Safe Zones are there in the United States?¡± There are 18 Safe Zones. Matt didn¡¯t like what he saw in Kade¡¯s expression. ¡°What? It can¡¯t be that bad, right?¡± ¡°There¡¯s eighteen,¡± Kade had thought it would be much more than that. ¡°I have to help people get to Chicago,¡± Matt said immediately. Kade almost felt ashamed since he still didn¡¯t want to waste his time like that. And he truly had a good reason for thinking it was a waste of time. It would be better for someone like him to put all his energy into clearing Rift Zones. He had gotten a [Soulrend] for being the first [Warrior] to reach [Arcana Level 10]. That must mean something. Still, that didn¡¯t mean Kade had to ignore the plight of his fellow humans completely. He would just help at arm¡¯s length. ¡°I know a group that you can join. They seem to agree with you in the limited time I spoke to them.¡± Kade knew little about Finn¡¯s group, but if he put his name behind Matt, it would help to integrate his friend and provide some safety. Matt didn¡¯t ask the obvious question. He knew Kade would have offered to join if that was the desire. ¡°I appreciate it¡­ So, you can talk to the man behind the text.¡± Kade had been wondering when this would come up. ¡°It¡¯s nothing special. You can talk to the system if you get your Class.¡± There was silence as Matt processed everything. ¡°This is real, isn¡¯t it? Like, it¡¯s not a dream. Fighting for our lives is now the norm.¡± Kade felt some pity and patted him lightly on the shoulder. ¡°We have to adapt. Don¡¯t look back.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Matt hummed as he nodded. ¡°You changed, Kade. It¡¯s jarring since I just saw you yesterday, but I saw what you went through in the recording. I¡¯m happy you got out alive.¡± He didn¡¯t feel like he changed much, but he supposed he wouldn¡¯t normally have been so cavalier about how things were going. Jumping into multiple death-seeking fights would do that to you. ¡°Follow me. Before I head for my house, I¡¯ll introduce you to the group that I found.¡± *** ¡°You¡¯re back,¡± Finn sounded stunned. ¡°I¡¯m back,¡± Kade said with a smirk. ¡°And with a friend. Do you think he could join your group? I think he might be a good fit.¡± Matt waved harmlessly when Finn glanced at him. ¡°The more, the better. What about you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s still a no, but with my friend here, I¡¯ll help whenever I¡¯m free.¡± Kade didn¡¯t commit to anything, but in his view, it was a gracious gesture. Finn didn¡¯t look surprised and nodded before talking to his group about the new addition. ¡°Matt, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be fine, but keep yourself safe,¡± Kade said in a heavy tone. He offered a smile after Matt chuckled as he nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll see you soon.¡± Kade waved a farewell and left the city behind. His house was around thirty miles away. It would have been unthinkable to travel such a distance on foot yesterday, but like most things, it was a new world with different limits. He estimated it would take him only an hour if he pushed it. Kade was back on the freeway and got into a steady jog. It soon turned into an all-out sprint. His increased perception allowed him to see the passing surroundings clearly, but without his increased [Dexterity], everything would¡¯ve been a blur. He was traveling at the speed of a slow-moving car. Unfortunately, that speed didn¡¯t last long enough for him to reach his destination. He estimated he had traveled seventy-five percent of the way there before he had to stop. Kade took deep breaths with his hands on his knees. It felt like he would keel over and die from exhaustion. In hindsight, draining his [Endurance] to this level was idiotic. Good thing the only monsters that can ambush me are bugs to me. Literally and figuratively. He noticed that the further he ventured from Chicago, the more wild the overgrowth became. At this point, the road barely existed since an unnatural nature claimed it. The only reason he could know where he was heading were the abandoned cars marking the road. It wouldn¡¯t be long before even that was taken away. Kade had been used to knowing exactly how to get around with navigation apps. Now, he had a feeling they would be returning to blind exploration unless someone came up with a new solution. Kade knew it was out of his control. He knew his limits, and it definitely wasn¡¯t in any sciency shit. He took a seat on the hood of a nearby car to rest while he recovered his [Endurance]. This brought up a problem that he hadn¡¯t thought of, something that needed an answer from the system. ¡°When the Rift Zones are open, how do I enter one? Surely I don¡¯t have to waste time traveling.¡± We will provide you with the location of the closest Rift Zone of your desired rank and give you active navigation. It indirectly told Kade that he would need to waste time traveling. He could do nothing but accept it. Kade hoped he could access the Rift Zones by the time he finished checking on his place. He wanted to get back that dopamine rush of being in combat. He hopped off the car¡¯s hood. It didn¡¯t take more than a few minutes to recover most of his [Endurance]. He intended to jog the rest of the way to avoid the same mishap. Kade¡¯s ears perked up when he heard the faint sound of wheels crunching vegetation underneath them. He didn¡¯t hear any engine noise, so there could only be a few things. He didn¡¯t move from his spot out of pure curiosity. His eyebrows rose when he heard a bell ring several times. It was a bold move for the rider to announce their arrival. Kade wasn¡¯t sure who he expected, but it wasn¡¯t the person who rode into view. The girl looked like she belonged in a retro photoshoot rather than in the middle of this overgrown nature. Even the bike she rode belonged in the fifties. She didn¡¯t have a hair out of place, even as the wind blew her shoulder-length brown hair back as she leisurely pedaled over the uneven terrain. Her face lit up with a sweet smile when she saw Kade waiting for her. He returned the smile, but his thoughts didn¡¯t match his expression. This girl is almost as dangerous as the lesser troll. ¡°Hello, there,¡± she said as she came to a stop. The girl¡¯s voice matched her appearance. It was unassuming and gentle. Kade would have been completely fooled if it wasn¡¯t for his vague unease. ¡°Hi,¡± Kade was ready to summon his [Soulrend] at any moment. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to meet anyone here.¡± ¡°I should be the one saying that. The closest Safe Zone is Chicago. You¡¯re going the opposite way. You should come with me.¡± Kade raised an eyebrow. The city would be in safe hands if she intended to help. ¡°I have other plans.¡± ¡°Well, don¡¯t stay away too long. People like us have a responsibility.¡± He narrowed his eyes in displeasure. If he couldn¡¯t tell that she genuinely meant nothing by it, he might have taken more offense. ¡°I agree. But we must have different ideas of our responsibilities.¡± ¡°That must be the case,¡± the girl agreed graciously. ¡°I hope we meet again, Kade. I was looking forward to observing you.¡± Kade was weirded out. He was a simple man when it came to women, so the girl was lucky she was good-looking; otherwise, he would have really taken offense. ¡°You know me, but I can¡¯t say the same to you. What¡¯s your name?¡± This was the first time he asked that question in the past few years with zero intention of making a play. ¡°Eliza. Like I said, I hope to see you again,¡± she gave him a little wave before peddling away. It should have looked hilarious, but it didn¡¯t. Her dress fluttered lightly as she looked back to give him a smile before the forest blocked her from view. ¡°What the fuck was that?¡± Kade muttered to himself. ¡°System, what Class does she have?¡± Despite not expecting an answer, he still felt disappointed when he didn¡¯t receive one. Kade tried to forget Eliza but found it hard. Even when he reached the exit on the overgrown freeway that led to his house, he was still thinking about her. He found it difficult to accept that someone like that wasn¡¯t part of the recorded group. It implied the existence of powerful, yet mostly unknown, individuals. Kade suddenly felt unsatisfied about being recorded. He didn¡¯t want to be known when others could hide their strength. The feeling was forgotten once the interface appeared. This is a planet-wide alert! All humans sent to Class F Rift Zones have finished their attempts. Out of 1,018,277 humans, 837,192 have successfully destroyed a Rift Zone! 19,000,090 Rift Zones remaining! To foster healthy competition, we have created rankings for each Safe Zone! We have also created rankings for each region on Earth for those who wish to compete with the best! Place in the top 10 to win a suitable prize! You are only eligible for 1 leaderboard at a time. Leaderboard points are calculated by the monsters you kill. The ranks of the monsters killed will play a large factor. All leaderboards reset at a random time so be productive! All leaderboards are available for immediate viewing. Rift Zones are now open to the public! You can challenge one yourself or with a party. We look forward to your success, humans. Chapter 10 - Rankings He was stuck on the third line. Around two hundred thousand failed. ¡°The ones who failed to destroy a Rift Zone¡­ what happened to them?¡± They are dead. Kade knew the answer, but it still hit him hard. It was more the realization that the eighty percent success rate was the absolute best-case result. The system sent what it felt were the humans with the best chance of succeeding into the Rift Zones. The future numbers would be much more tragic. He crushed the sinking feeling into nothingness. He could do nothing, so there was no reason to think of it. He had to keep his focus. ¡°Show me the ranking for my Safe Zone.¡± You are considered a part of Chicago due to your vicinity. Chicago Rankings (Safe Zone #197):
  1. Michael O¡¯Connor (Warrior) ¨C 1,291 points
  2. Carlos Martinez (Mage) ¨C 263 points
  3. David Kim (Warrior) ¨C 254 points
  4. Maria Gonzalez (Rogue) ¨C 187 points
  5. Jamal Johnson (Mage) ¨C 183 points
  6. Anthony Rossi (Warrior) ¨C 143 points
  7. Aleksander Kowalski (Warrior) ¨C 139 points
  8. Liam Murphy (Warrior) ¨C 123 points
  9. Rajesh Patel (Mage) ¨C 122 points
  10. Aisha Thompson (Mage) ¨C 112 points
Kade¡¯s name was missing, and it nearly caused him to demand an explanation until he realized he must be on the other ranking since he was missing here. That was the preferred one, anyway. The thought of not being on either never crossed his mind. ¡°Show me the regional ranking.¡± North American Rankings:
  1. Anita Shah (Scholar) ¨C 12,290 points
  2. Kade Beckett (Warrior) ¨C 4,829 points
  3. Alejandro Torres (Rogue) ¨C 2,633 points
  4. Am¨¦lie Tremblay (Mage) ¨C 2,619 points
  5. Caleb Price (Warrior) ¨C 2,583 points
  6. Julian Wright (Warrior) ¨C 2,532 points
  7. Isaiah King (Warrior) ¨C 2,411 points
  8. Noah Mitchell (Warrior) ¨C 2,409 points
  9. Daniel Kim (Warrior) ¨C 2,388 points
  10. Eliza Brooks (Mage) ¨C 2,387 points
¡°What the actual fuck is that gap?!¡± Kade stopped walking and stared at Anita¡¯s points in shock. It was even more unbelievable since she had [Scholar] next to her name. He didn¡¯t get an answer, but it was a rhetorical question. He had checked the recording of the [Scholar] but had stopped watching early on when Anita did nothing but sneak around and lay traps. Kade had concluded that she scored a narrow win by subterfuge and dismissed the interface long before anything interesting happened. Obviously, he couldn¡¯t have been any more wrong. He pulled up the recording and watched it all the way through this time. Several minutes later, he stared at the still image of Anita¡¯s proud smile as she overlooked a corpse-filled battlefield. It was the end of the recording. She had somehow inflamed tensions so high in her Rift Zone, she caused a massive civil war that killed nearly all the monsters that lived there, including the protector, who had been mobbed by the very monsters it protected. Kade had a look of awe as he dismissed the interface. She might be the most terrifying person on the continent. She has earned the top spot. He remembered he had to check on his house and resumed his steady jog. He still had some questions. ¡°How many kills is a point worth?¡± Anita definitely killed far more monsters than what she was rewarded in points. A kill in a Class F Rift Zone counts as 1 point. A 75% penalty applies to Anita Shah¡¯s tally due to all the kills being indirect. Nearly fifty thousand monsters were killed without raising a weapon. My hero. Kade wanted to meet her¡­ and stay as far away as he could at the same time. He skimmed the rest of the list and stopped at the last name. Eliza Brooks. Eliza was the name of the attractive girl Kade had come across on the freeway. She wasn¡¯t on the list for Chicago, and with his unease around her, she could very well be the tenth name in the region. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Still, her last name was a mystery, so it was possible that Eliza Brooks was someone else. It wasn¡¯t likely, but the slightest possibility was there. Kade felt an itch to go back to Chicago and find her. He bet she could put up a good fight, far better than the stupid, but overly-strong, lesser troll. He decided to challenge her the next time they met. For now, he needed to find out if there were any stragglers around. Kade stared at his apartment building. There was no point in even trying to enter because the massive trees that grew right through the building completely ripped it apart. The entire area was in the same shape. It seemed like everything outside the Safe Zone would fall to the same fate. All he could hope for was that this hadn¡¯t happened immediately. Thankfully, there were signs that pointed to that being the case. He didn¡¯t miss the fact that there were no dead bodies to be found. Unless this unnatural nature somehow reclaimed them, it meant there was plenty of time for everyone to evacuate. Of course, plenty of time in this context meant several hours. Kade weaved through the forest to check on his friend¡¯s neighborhood, the only one not living in the same apartment complex as he did. He expected nothing different, but had to make sure. He was wrong. There was absolutely no chance that any humans were alive here. There was an infestation in the neighborhood. Kade shuddered in disgust as he stared at the oversized bugs crawling over each other. They were everywhere, but the bugs packed together more closely as it got closer to the center of the neighborhood. He briefly thought about just leaving it, purely because of his reluctance to have his precious [Soulrend] touch any of them. However, he couldn¡¯t do that. He had an obligation to destroy any monster that he saw. Even if they were disgusting, nasty, vomit-inducing bugs. Kade summoned his [Soulrend] and targeted the center where the bugs were most present. Before his [Soulrend] made contact, he activated [Inferno Burst]. He subconsciously formed a smile as he stared at the burst of flames burning all the bugs it touched into nothingness. He summoned back his [Soulrend] and mentally patted himself on the back. He destroyed all of them without ever sentencing his precious [Soulrend] to touch them. Kade would try his luck in finding his friends in Chicago. He purposefully ignored the large possibility of never seeing them again. His friends were not what anyone would call ¡®physical specimens.¡¯ It would be generous not to call them couch potatoes. Still, they were street-smart. He grew up with them and knew what they were capable of. He still had¡­ something moved. That bug is still alive. Kade frowned as his curiosity forced his disgust aside. He approached the burning bug and observed it with sharp eyes. It didn¡¯t seem affected by the fire as it skittered away out of fear. The flaming bug was nowhere near fast enough to escape, but he didn¡¯t make a move to finish it off. It seemed to have some sort of resistance, almost immunity, to fire. He felt tempted to leave it be. Even though it was a disgusting bug, it would be interesting if something like this grew stronger. Kade would have to rely on physical attacks to get rid of it. Assuming the exoskeleton would get much stronger along with the bug, it might give him a challenge. Even if he never saw it again, it would still be useful. With how weak the monsters that roamed Earth currently were, it would be beneficial if there were some stronger ones around to challenge humans. Kade stared at its twitching feelers and shuddered at the sight. He would do it, give it a chance to grow stronger. Kade turned and walked away from the neighborhood as he stored the [Soulrend]. ¡°Where is the closest Class E Rift Zone?¡± The interface showed an arrow pointing to the right. The distance he needed to travel was below it. ¡°Five miles. Better than the hundred I was expecting,¡± Kade muttered with relief. He paced himself. He didn¡¯t want to go into the Rift Zone with any handicap whatsoever. His key priority was to fully recover his [MP]. The closer he got to the destination, the more that anticipation built up. Kade was tired of ripping through monsters with barely any effort. He expected this Class E Rift Zone to solve the issue thoroughly. Kade winced when he reached the destination. A glowing circle was in the middle of the blackened ground, and the surroundings had been burned to make way for it. The interface disappeared only after he stood directly in the circle¡¯s center. This is the gate to the Class E Rift Zone #2,827,182. Would you like to enter this Rift Zone? He noticed a sharp drop in the number assigned to this Rift Zone. The number for the Class F Rift Zone was several million higher. Instead of confirming or denying the interface¡¯s question, Kade asked his own to the system. ¡°How many of each Class of Rift Zone exists?¡± Rift Zones remaining: Class F Rift Zones: 15,694,231 Class E Rift Zones: 2,755,237 Class D Rift Zones: 459,206 Class C Rift Zones: 76,534 Class B Rift Zones: 12,756 Class A Rift Zones: 2,126 Kade didn¡¯t realize he was smiling till he unintentionally let out a laugh. The sharp reduction in the number of Rift Zones with every higher Class meant he knew to hurry. It would be first come, first served, and he very much intended to be the first to visit every new Class of Rift Zones. ¡°Send me in!¡± Kade saw the gate light up in a brilliant purple before it flashed a bright white. When his vision cleared, he saw himself standing on top of a mountain. The chill immediately sank into his skin as the wind and snow quickly shrouded his body. Kade was stunned for a moment until he forced himself to ignore it. With the howling wind around him and a blizzard nearly making him blind to anything other than the snow, he still saw deep red eyes open tens of feet away. A snarl that could strike fear in almost anyone rumbled the mountain. He had summoned his [Soulrend] immediately. Kade kept his attention fixed on those red eyes, even when the snarl sounded like it had caused an avalanche below. The hand holding the [Soulrend] trembled. Not from the cold or fear. He could sense the strength of this beast. It matched his own. Kade was ecstatic that he would have a fight that would test his skills. Chapter 11 - Frozen Rift Zone He shifted his feet. Whatever the beast was before him, it was biding its time. Waiting for him to make a mistake. It¡¯s too bad Kade had no intention of doing so. It would be embarrassing if he died from stumbling because of the packed snow around him. He had his [Soulrend]¡¯s tip pointed between the red eyes. It was his best guess at where the beast¡¯s body was. It wasn¡¯t for a lack of trying harder. Kade had concluded that its body was white to where it perfectly blended in with the snow. If he was on Earth, he would guess it was some type of wolf. He watched for the slightest hint of a movement. He could only track the eyes for obvious reasons. Currently, it was a contest of who would move first. The issue was that he didn¡¯t know how fast this wolf would be. He had three [Free Points] available, but he wasn¡¯t sure if it was worth using them before he knew for sure. Kade saw a shift. That was enough for him. He pushed off the compacted snow and lunged, his [Soulrend] leading the way. The red eyes narrowed before a savage snarl erupted as it leaped towards him. Kade could finally see a vague outline. It looked like a wolf. He still targeted the area between the eyes to ensure that if he made contact, it would be a grievous wound. Kade¡¯s eyes were locked on. He was prepared for any minute change. And that was a good thing. Somehow, the wolf shifted. It moved to his right side, where he was completely unprotected. If it could get its teeth on him, it would leave him near dead. Kade swung his [Soulrend] to the right with all the force he could put behind it. He tried to slam the shaft on the wolf¡¯s head. He didn¡¯t care about success. It needed to do enough to get him space to reset. The wolf pulled back just in time, his [Soulrend]¡¯s shaft missing by mere inches. It circled him, testing for any openings to bite on. He was concerned. Not only could the wolf move in the air, but he suspected it was testing him for his limits. Kade felt like he was the prey here. He needed more speed. And he needed a second shot of [Inferno Burst]. Free Points: 3¡ª>0 Speed: 8¡ª>10.5 Wisdom: 9.5¡ª>10 MP: 19/19¡ª>20/20 MP Recovery: 5.5% per minute¡ª>5.7% per minute Kade didn¡¯t pay any attention to the interface. His laser-like concentration blocked out all distractions as he willed the wolf to come closer. The interface wouldn¡¯t tell him the wolf¡¯s [Arcana Level]. Still, he could sense it vaguely to where he was comfortable assuming it was around his own. Activating [Inferno Burst] too far from its body would render it ineffective. As soon as the tip of his [Soulrend] was near a vulnerable part of its body, he intended to let loose. Kade narrowed his eyes when he noticed a strange behavior. The wolf seemed to back away. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was trying to escape or change its plan of attack. Either wasn¡¯t acceptable to him. Stolen story; please report. Kade loosened up. He let his [Soulrend] go slack. If the wolf wanted an opening, there were now plenty. It was a dangerous gambit. One he would risk his body on. Besides, at worst, he would just lose a limb, possibly two, before he healed himself with the wolf¡¯s energy after he killed it. The wolf hesitated. Kade found it curious that it was smart enough to consider the chances that it was a trap. He put it above the level of the lesser troll in intelligence. But still stupid. The wolf lunged at him with a ground-shaking snarl. Kade had to give it an advantage. It could move positions in midair, so he had to get to a spot where it was too late for even the midair shift to save it. It felt like the world was going in slow motion. The wolf was only a few feet away. He could see its sharp teeth for the first time, and it was heading directly to his neck. The wolf was trying to finish him in one try. Now! Kade stored his [Soulrend]. Despite being visibly surprised, the wolf had already committed to its plan of attack. That was enough for him. It wasn¡¯t even a fraction of a second. It was less than that, and he had summoned his [Soulrend] in position. The tip was inches, no, millimeters away from the wolf¡¯s open mouth. Kade activated [Inferno Burst]. He didn¡¯t allow the wolf to even cry out in pain. He didn¡¯t stop and admire the way the flames obliterated all the snow around him and opened a little pocket without a blizzard for a few moments. Kade pursued the wolf¡¯s heavily damaged body and thrust the tip of his [Soulrend] into whatever was the closest part of its body to him. It was the underbelly. He activated [Inferno Burst] again. You have destroyed an Icehowler (Arcana Level 19)! Footwork (Level 6)¡ª>(Level 7) Spear Thrust (Level 5)¡ª>(Level 6) Kill 100 Monsters (0/100)¡ª>(1/100) Kade felt the rush of dopamine at having outsmarted the icehowler without taking any damage. He barely had the time to smile at his success when the interface spat out the introduction to the Rift Zone. You have entered the Class E Rift Zone #2,827,182. Objectives: Kill 1 Corrupted Lifeform (0/1) Kill 100 Monsters (1/100) Optional: Recover ID Tags (0/1) He frowned at the optional objective, unsure why there was such a tag in the Rift Zone in the first place. Kade dismissed the interface and felt the chill return. The flames from [Inferno Burst] were still active around him, but the blizzard would quickly overpower it in a few seconds. He took a deep breath before he carefully walked down. His [Soulrend] acted as a makeshift measuring stick to ensure he didn¡¯t tumble down the mountain and become a rolling snowball. That might only be in cartoons. He didn¡¯t think it was such an ordeal at the start, but when it took him nearly two hours to get to the base, he realized how dangerous it could have been. The blizzard had reduced in severity halfway down, but there was still a light snowfall at the bottom. Kade thanked the icehowler for contributing to his safety. The avalanche it caused made his trek down the slope significantly less treacherous. He glanced at the shocking level of whiteness around him. There should¡¯ve been some sort of destruction from the avalanche. A tree, rocks, something to show its level of destruction. There was nothing of the sort. It was like all the avalanche had caught in its path was more snow. Kade started to think that the Rift Zone was just a large frozen world. He looked around warily, wondering where the surprise would come from. If he met goblins in a fairly deserted forest in a lower-ranked Rift Zone, surely that would happen here, too. Oh... that wolf could be seen as the equivalent. Kade looked up at the mountain he just descended. It was impossible to see past the halfway mark. Usually, a cloud was the cause. Not this time. This was just a raging blizzard that formed a nearly opaque wall of falling snow. He narrowed his eyes when he saw faint white dots at the very edge. He would have thought it was just his eyes seeing things that weren¡¯t there¡ªthe icehowlers quickly changed that as they appeared one by one. But this time, Kade knew there was something wrong with him. It was undeniable after he nearly killed himself when he unnecessarily fought the lesser troll for basically no reward other than the fight itself. He felt an urge to climb the mountain and try to take down more of these icehowlers. Kade immediately turned and walked away from the base of the mountain. He didn¡¯t run. Or speedwalk. He wanted to give the icehowlers a chance to catch up if they really wanted to chase him, but at least he could tell himself that he didn¡¯t start the fight. A fight that he knew he had no business wanting since it would likely cause his death. There were far too many icehowlers. Kade would have trouble dealing with just one at the moment. His [MP] was depleted. He glanced back after several minutes and was disappointed to find that the icehowlers did nothing but watch, with some even returning to the embrace of the blizzard. Kade sighed and put them out of his mind. For now. There had to be something else interesting in the Rift Zone. Even if there was snow as far as the eyes could see. He couldn¡¯t think the worst about the Rift Zone because of its largest, most prominent trait. The start was perfect, and he had his hopes up. It had better be worth freezing my ass off. Chapter 12 - Wasteland ¡°This sucks,¡± Kade hissed as he shivered. He had been trudging along in the snow for what felt like hours. Even with his increased capabilities, the cold was seeping into his bones. It felt like he would freeze to death if something didn¡¯t change soon. He had already used [Inferno Burst] multiple times to warm himself. However, that was only a brief relief, quickly snuffed out by the constant snowfall. It was becoming necessary to activate the ability more frequently. While it was workable at the moment, it would soon become impossible. Kade refused to deplete all of his [MP], wanting to keep at least one activation of [Inferno Burst] in reserve. He limited himself to using the ability approximately once every eight minutes. That was too long when the cold overwhelmed him merely a minute in. It hadn¡¯t been nearly that bad at the start, but the longer he stayed in this Rift Zone, the less resistant he seemed to the cold. If there had been a hint of a change in the terrain to give Kade a mood uplift, he might have been able to deal with it. No matter how long he walked or where he looked, all he saw was snow. There were no footprints, no plant life, and no hope. It pissed Kade off to an unbelievable level. If anger could keep him warm, he would be the coziest person in the universe. ¡°Are all Rift Zones like this? Fucking wastelands with the occasional monster here and there?¡± Every word out of Kade¡¯s mouth created a puff of condensation. It pissed him off even more. The system not bothering to answer him didn¡¯t help. Kade flipped his [Soulrend] to point it at the ground. He needed warmth. [Inferno Burst] made another appearance. He closed his eyes in relief as the fire chased away the cold. The flames immediately melted the surrounding snow, revealing the same dead soil he had seen multiple times before. Massive walls of snow surrounded him as the fire melted several feet of snow. This Rift Zone had been a frozen hell for a long time. Less than a minute later, the flames disappeared. It was time for him to move again, and he hoped something would change this time. I¡¯m pretty sure there¡¯s a saying about doing the same thing and insanity. I feel pretty fucking insane right now. He might be sick of the constant snow, but he never reduced his alertness. Annoyance was no reason to get ripped in half by some random snow bear. Kade wouldn¡¯t have thought paying too much attention to any movement could have been his downfall. ¡°Fuck!¡± Kade scrambled back when his [Soulrend] dipped well below where the ground should be. He barely stopped himself in time from falling down a steep cliff. The perpetual whiteness of everything somehow made the steep drop blend in with the land below. Besides getting a slight shock at his near misstep, he was ecstatic. There was a change, even if it was just a cliff leading down to more land with snow. Kade carefully returned to the edge of the cliff. He looked over it to see if there was anything that might require an effort to climb down. There was not. All he saw was exactly the same as what had angered him for the past several hours. Kade eyed the pale blue cliff wall, completely made of ice. He could see a several-foot-deep area at the top of the cliff that had soil. It was dead soil, but still soil. He had little idea how soil could be on top of what looked to be literally hundreds of feet of ice, but he had long stopped questioning anything about this Rift Zone. Kade sighed and looked back. He could choose to go in another direction, but he didn¡¯t know if it would lead him somewhere more worthwhile. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. I should go back and pick off some icehowlers. At least I¡¯ll have fun¡ª His eyes grew wide when he felt something pull him back. He slammed his [Soulrend] into the snow to halt his movement, but whatever got a hold of him was far too strong. Kade had a choice. He could either try to save himself and probably fail, or he could try to take down the little shit that was trying to kill him before he fell to his death. He obviously chose the latter. Kade grunted as he twisted his body and thrust his [Soulrend] down. It pierced the white flesh of a wormlike creature. He was about to use [Inferno Burst], but a last-second observation reversed his decision. He had pierced the tail end of its body. And he hadn¡¯t caused enough pain for it to let go of his foot. Kade was pulled off the cliff and plummeted. He no longer cared. He felt the worm pull him down faster. His [Soulrend] was ready. The worm¡¯s body was long¡ªat least fifty feet. Kade waited for a fraction of a second until he was halfway towards its open mouth. He plunged his [Soulrend] deep into the worm¡¯s body. He used the worm¡¯s own act of trying to eat him to destroy itself. The worm let out a strange screech that shook the ice cliff dangerously. He was vaguely aware of the cracks that were forming, but he was more focused on making sure his [Soulrend] split its body open. Kade felt the worm trying to rip him away from its body and fling him far from the cliff, but he wouldn¡¯t allow any chance for it to live while he died. He tried his best to shift the tip of his [Soulrend] so it pointed down, aiming for maximum damage. Kade activated [Inferno Burst]. The screech the worm let out completed the cracking of the cliff. The flames burnt up its body as it raced up its body. Before it could finish the worm off, the frosty crystals visible inside its body extinguished the fire. That the worm was still alive after taking so much damage surprised him. It only meant that it would suffer prolonged death throes. The worm had lost its grip on his foot. It couldn¡¯t hang onto the cliff wall, let alone focus on anything else. Kade stored his [Soulrend]. He allowed himself to fall faster than the worm before summoning it again when he reached the area near its mouth. That was becoming a useful trick. He couldn¡¯t say it had a face a normal animal would have. It was just an enormous mouth with thousands of sharp teeth. Whatever it was, Kade would burn it to a crisp. He thrust his [Soulrend] into the skin right below its mouth before activating [Inferno Burst]. The explosion of flames finished it off, disintegrating the worm into white powder. The blast blew him away from the cliff wall. He heard the interface beep softly, but had no time to pay attention to it. Kade was falling to his death. He had some time before he would splatter on the ground, but he had no obvious options to save himself. Using [Inferno Burst] might have killed the worm, but also assured his own death. He felt the cold air biting his body as he plummeted. He spread his arms and legs wide to slow himself¡ªanything to give himself a bit more time. Kade heard a rumble. He looked up and regained hope. Large chunks of ice had split off the cliff and were falling to the ground. More importantly, they were falling faster than he was. He maneuvered himself into a place that would allow him to use one of these chunks. He waited until there was one right beside him before kicking off it to get himself back to the cliff. Kade used his [Soulrend] to slow himself by plunging it into the ice. The tip scraped on the ice wall with little effect at the start until several tens of feet later when it could finally gain some depth. Unfortunately, it worked a little too well. Kae came to a screeching halt and hung onto the shaft of his [Soulrend] well over fifty feet above the ground. Kade could feel his [Soulrend] creak at the pressure he was putting on it. It was a miracle it hadn¡¯t broken yet from the stress he put on it. He looked around to see if he could use any small protrusions in the cliff wall to get down safely. There was nothing to be found. The cliff wall was as smooth as it was at the top. Thankfully, the distance to the ground wasn¡¯t nearly as dangerous at this level. Especially since a thick blanket of snow covered it to soften his landing. Kade knew there wasn¡¯t enough height to use the [Soulrend] to stop himself again. Falling, it is. He yanked his [Soulrend] out of the cliff and let himself plummet to the ground. He winced at the sharp pain that shot up from his legs after he landed. The interface didn¡¯t warn him about his health, but it appeared for other reasons. It was the messages suppressed during his fall. You have destroyed a Snow Wyrm (Arcana Level 25)! Spear Impale (Level 2)¡ª>(Level 4) Kill 100 Monsters (1/100)¡ª>(2/100) Level-up! (x2) Arcana Level 19¡ª>Arcana Level 21 MP Recovery: 5.7% per minute¡ª>6.3% per minute Free Points: 0¡ª>2 Constitution: 21¡ª>23 Endurance: 11.5¡ª>12.5 Strength: 21¡ª>23 Kade dismissed the interface. He leaned on his [Soulrend] and looked around, expecting more of the same. He was wrong. Instead of just snow, Kade saw buildings. Admittedly, he could only see the very top of them since the snow buried the rest, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that there were buildings in this Rift Zone. He didn¡¯t move. Even though he had to fight tooth and nail to avoid the temptation to search the discovered settlement. Kade needed to recover his [MP]. He also lost some of his health since the fall damage occurred after he had killed the Snow Wyrm. The level-up hadn¡¯t restored his body. There was no sense in going anywhere until he had [Inferno Burst] available. Fifteen minutes to recover my [MP]. He kept his senses on high alert. This was the best chance for a monster to ambush him. Chapter 13 - Exploring To Kade¡¯s disappointment, there was no ambush. He stood near the cliff wall on full alert for no reason. There weren¡¯t even any chunks of ice that he had to watch out for. His impatience flared up. He figured waiting eight minutes was more than enough. He could use [Inferno Burst] once. If he had to use it twice¡­ well, he wouldn¡¯t need to. Probably. Kade walked among the buildings with a curious look. He found the answer for them still being visible despite the constant snowfall. Something was off about the roofs. They were too¡­ pristine¡ªnot in the classical sense, but in that they didn¡¯t look weathered as they should be. He frowned as he bent down to confirm he wasn¡¯t seeing things. He wasn¡¯t. The snow that landed on them disappeared. Falling snow no longer existed below the roofs. The effect must be sporadic since the buildings still had snow burying them, which couldn¡¯t have been possible otherwise. Kade wanted to use [Inferno Burst] and find out what was hiding underneath. My [MP] will recover fully in a few minutes. He continued to wander around and noticed that there didn¡¯t seem to be a stop with the buildings. The further he walked, the more of them he discovered in the distance. Not that his vision was great in this place. The snowfall might be light, but it was enough to obscure everything at the edges of his eyesight. There was a reason he couldn¡¯t see the buried buildings from the top of the cliff. Kade¡¯s frown grew more severe as the minutes passed. He realized two things that made him uneasy. This was no small settlement. It was a city. A proper, sprawling city that had been buried in snow. And second, he hadn¡¯t felt the need to activate [Inferno Burst] to warm himself since he fell down the cliff. It was still cold, undoubtedly so, but it was the tolerable sort. It no longer seeped into his bones and made it feel like he would freeze to death. Kade was concerned about that. He was worried that he might be dealing with some sort of magic that would erupt against him. There must be a reason for such a change in the norm in the Rift Zone. I hope this just means monsters are on the way. I don¡¯t want to deal with magic nonsense. He shelved his plan of using [Inferno Burst] to ¡®excavate¡¯ this place. For now. Kade froze when he felt the ground rumble. A thunderous sound boomed¡ªa deep, resonating bass that Kade felt more than he heard. The vibration rippled in the air, shook the packed snow under his feet, and rattled his bones. It sounded like a beast had woken from a long slumber. Kade immediately saw that the snow had started to land on the roofs. They no longer disappeared. A fraction of a second later, he felt the snow give way under his feet. He didn¡¯t panic. Falling through the snow was nothing compared to falling down the cliff. The rate of his descent was far slower now. It also helped that he noticed the snow was melting rapidly around him. Whatever was happening, he wouldn¡¯t die immediately, and that was enough. Kade grunted as his injured leg slightly worsened when he landed on hard ground. The snow melted not long after, revealing a city that should¡¯ve been stunning but was instead ominous in its current state. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Like everything in this Rift Zone, the buildings¡¯ roofs were made of white stone that was just off in color, standing out slightly among the snow. However, the walls of the buildings had black, pulsing veins that throbbed every few seconds. Kade had been aware that the buildings were enormous. The size of the roofs made it impossible to be anything else. However, seeing the entire structure still shocked him. He peeked into a surprisingly pristine window of one of the smaller buildings. The interior looked like it belonged in an eccentrically decorated house. Some misplaced objects on the floor suggested that someone had lived in the house, even though it was now empty. ¡°System, are monsters capable of creating this city?¡± Kade asked as he continued to look around. Yes. He hadn¡¯t expected an answer, but he had assumed it would be a denial even if he did. This implied that these Rift Zones could contain sentient beings with their own society. It was a far cry from only having to massacre hapless goblins. Kade couldn¡¯t find much of interest as he explored the city. The only thing left was to enter a building to see if there would be any excitement. The issue was that the black veins that pulsed on the buildings¡¯ walls almost seemed to be daring him to do so. Every time he looked at a building, the veins started pulsing quickly. It was like they were excited that he might enter. Kade had tried to be responsible and avoid obvious trouble, but circumstances backed him into a corner. It wasn¡¯t like he could leave the city because that would revert him to needing [Inferno Burst] to warm himself and avoid freezing to death. He would much rather go out in a blaze of glory. Kade poked the door with his [Soulrend]. It gave way almost immediately after the contact, leaving a small hole in the door. He backed away, eyeing the building warily. If it crumbled so easily, entering the place wouldn¡¯t be the best idea. Kade stared at the black veins on the walls. He hesitated before thrusting his [Soulrend] into it, prepared for a violent backlash. It sounded like two metals hitting each other. The tip of his [Soulrend] didn¡¯t make a scratch on the black vein. The only thing it caused was it to pulse faster. He pulled back with a frown. The pulsing reverted to its previous pace without the contact. Kade stared at it again. He had a stupid thought. What if I touch it with my hand? He did precisely that. The pulsing of the black veins increased to a level that seemed to vibrate. He could see the entire building deteriorating underneath them. It was like the more the veins pulsed, the faster they consumed the building they covered. Kade stepped back when he noticed the building was no longer stable. It held itself up for several seconds before he heard a loud crack. The walls split open as it all crumbled down. He didn¡¯t care about the destroyed building. It was the black veins that interested him. Kade had felt it under his palm. It was hard and smooth to touch, almost like a polished rock. Now, it moved like a liquid. He tightened his grip around his [Soulrend] and watched the black liquid slowly mass together. It compacted into something much smaller but still stayed formless as a blob of liquid. Kade felt this was enough. It bored him. He gave it enough of a chance to do something interesting. He strode up to it, thrust his [Soulrend] right into the center of the black blob, and activated [Inferno Burst]. Insufficient [MP]. You must have a minimum of 10 [MP]. Kade paused momentarily in surprise before pulling up his [MP]. MP: 0/20 | MP Recovery: 6.3% per minute It should be full. He backed away quickly and whipped his [Soulrend] to the side, throwing off the black liquid on the tip. The only thing he did was touch the black veins. It had to have depleted his [MP]. Kade reversed course. He stored the [Soulrend] and sprinted back to the cliff. He needed to buy time to recover his [MP] and be in a place with a path of retreat. After throwing himself at the lesser troll, he thought nothing could make him turn from a possible fight. Finding out that physical attacks were useless was more than enough to convince him. Kade felt the ground rumble again. He didn¡¯t stop his sprint to the cliff, but he looked back. The orderly planning of the city allowed him to see what had happened. Another building had collapsed. He could see more black liquid that joined what he had freed. Kade reached his destination. He didn¡¯t slow his pace and ran toward where he had landed after falling off the cliff. His [Soulrend] appeared on his hand as he jumped at the cliff wall. He slammed the [Soulrend] with full strength into the ice and felt it sink deep enough to support his weight. To maintain his position, he dug his left hand into the large crack that formed, pulled his [Soulrend] out, and plunged it back at a higher spot on the cliff wall. Kade knew this would be slower than he wished, but hearing the constant rumbles of buildings collapsing behind him gave him plenty of motivation to climb as fast as possible. He wanted to be nowhere close to whatever would form once the entire city crumbled. Chapter 14 - Icehowlers No. If he couldn¡¯t stick his [Soulrend] in it, it¡¯s bad news. hated that. The Nexus (Dormant) A malevolent entity forged from concentrated organic matter¡ªthe heart anchoring this Rift Zone. When disturbed, it will unleash monsters taken into its embrace. All beings that have died in this Rift Zone are available to the Nexus. That is a possibility if the disturbance is large enough. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Your Soulrend has been shattered. You have destroyed an Icehowler (Arcana Level 19)! Kill 100 Monsters (2/100)¡ª>(3/100) Skill learned! Spear Sweep (Level 1) - Perform a wide, sweeping motion with the spear, hitting multiple enemies in an arc. I need to use [Inferno Burst] now! Warning: Your health has fallen below 50%! Warning: You are experiencing extreme cold! Warning: Your health has fallen below 25%! They have much faster reflexes than me. Good. I need to up my [Dexterity]. You have destroyed an Icehowler (Arcana Level 20)! You have destroyed an Icehowler (Arcana Level 21)! Footwork (Level 7)¡ª>(Level 8) Kill 100 Monsters (3/100)¡ª>(5/100) Level-up! Arcana Level 21¡ª>Arcana Level 22 MP Recovery: 6.3% per minute¡ª>6.6% per minute Free Points: 2¡ª>3 Constitution: 23¡ª>24 Endurance: 12.5¡ª>13 Strength: 23¡ª>24 Free Points: 3¡ª>1.5 Dexterity: 7.5¡ª>9 Chapter 15 - Locked In It didn¡¯t take long for him to reach the place where the icehowlers retreated. And that was a great thing, since a fresh layer of snow quickly covered their tracks. The discovery of an opening to a cave surprised Kade. He heard a faint growl from its depths, but didn¡¯t move from his spot. It sounded like there was only one icehowler blocking him from entering. He wouldn¡¯t have cared if there were more. His issue was that something blocked his vision. A snowy veil blocked the top of the mountain from being seen from below. Now, a black veil blocked him from seeing into the cave. Unlike the wall of falling snow, this black veil had no explanation. Kade felt the encroaching chill. He still didn¡¯t move. The most important thing was to fully recover his [MP] before entering the cave. If he needed to take a minor hit to his health to do so, then so be it. He tightened his grip around his [Soulrend]¡¯s shaft as the growls he heard at the mouth of the cave multiplied. More icehowlers had joined the single one that had been guarding the entrance. Warning: You are experiencing extreme cold! Kade immediately felt his health being sapped away. However, it would take a few minutes for him to be in mortal danger. He didn¡¯t need much longer to fill his [MP]. He kept listening to the threatening growls, ready for an unexpected attack. It would be something he would¡¯ve done in the icehowlers¡¯ place. Kade waited for a few more seconds before he moved. His [MP] was full. The cave¡¯s opening was surprisingly wide¡ªseveral tens of feet at the minimum¡ªand growls rumbled out from the center. He targeted the right side. Kade was only a foot away from passing the black veil when he suddenly changed directions. The speed at which he could redirect his momentum surprised even himself. The growls he heard had conveniently stopped right before he was about to enter. He gambled on the icehowlers moving their positions to surprise him and meet him head-on. He would turn it on them. Kade had his [Soulrend] at the ready. He was prepared to contort his body, however necessary, to bring a swift end to the first icehowler he saw. He burst into the cave, forcibly ignored the surprising brightness within, and cursed loudly. ¡°Fuck!¡± The icehowlers didn¡¯t need to shift their position to give themselves an advantage. They quite literally filled the cave. The icehowlers filled the cave to where there was nowhere he could look that didn¡¯t have an icehowler glaring at him. Kade instinctively swept his [Soulrend] to the right with full power. It snapped the neck of an icehowler that was a little too close to him and shoved three others away, giving him a little space to move. He already knew this was far beyond his ability to manage. He had to retreat. Kade planted his feet and jumped back as hard as he could as icehowlers lunged at him. The result was a disaster. Kade gasped as he collided with an impenetrable wall, knocking the air out of him. He had no chance to see what the hell he could¡¯ve hit when there should¡¯ve been nothing there. He was too busy trying to stay alive. Warning: Your health has fallen below 50%! Kade growled as he kicked away the icehowlers that had sunk their teeth into him. His [Soulrend] finished the job, but it wasn¡¯t anywhere close to being enough. He extended his [Soulrend] and swept it back and forth rapidly. It didn¡¯t catch any icehowlers with its tip, but it was enough to make them back up. He gave him a precious second to think about what to do. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. There¡¯s no escape. My health is low. I need to kill as many as I can to stay alive. Kade lunged straight into the icehowler before him. He wouldn¡¯t only defend the bare minimum to stay alive. It was more important to kill as many as he could, despite any damage he took. Having this many monsters available was not ideal for staying alive, but it perfectly suited his advantage of being able to recover health after leveling up. His [Soulrend] pierced his targeted icehowler and immediately jumped as high as he could toward the middle of the cave. Warning: Your health has fallen below 25%! Kade felt a sharp pain and yelled when an icehowler, who seemed stronger than the rest, yanked down his right foot and nearly ripped it apart. He decided he was close enough to the middle to proceed. He allowed himself to fall toward the pack of icehowlers that were waiting to rip him apart before thrusting his [Soulrend] down and activating [Inferno Burst]. The explosion of flames was a sweet sight to Kade¡¯s reddened eyes. The sound of the icehowlers yelping in pain was equally sweet. But he didn¡¯t allow himself to put his guard down. Kade immediately jumped as he ignored the tremendous pain of his body being healed. He had increased his level. He perfectly timed the jump. Half-burned, near-dead, raging icehowlers snapped their jaws where his body used to be before glaring at him with furious eyes. There were too many. He might¡¯ve killed ten at most, and there were still several times that left alive. He would¡¯ve died long ago if it wasn¡¯t for the overcrowding. Killing them actually gave the icehowlers more space to attack him, but he had no other choice since leaving them alive would ensure his death. Kade impaled the injured icehowlers with quick thrusts, killing three in quick succession before he landed back on the ground. He swept his [Soulrend] in wide arcs to keep the surrounding icehowlers at bay and quickly realized that it was unlikely for him to survive this. His blood pumped faster. He would not admit it was from excitement, but it wasn¡¯t far off. He truly had nothing to lose at this point. Kade was like a storm as he stabbed, impaled, and dodged his way through the crowd of icehowlers. He didn¡¯t go unscathed, not at all. Warning: Your health has fallen below 10%! Warning: You are experiencing excessive bleeding! Chunks of his flesh were just as often ripped off as his [Soulrend] found a home in an icehowler¡¯s skull. He felt himself leveling up twice more, but it was nowhere near enough to offset the near continuous damage he was taking. Kade was on his last legs. He had discovered a dangerous fact. The level-up restored his body to full health, but it did not return his stamina. He was nearly wheezing for air as he stared at icehowlers slowly prowling towards him. He could barely lift his [Soulrend], let alone fight over thirty of these things. His [Endurance] had to be increased. But not immediately. He couldn¡¯t allow the icehowlers to know he had recovered. Kade realized they had calibrated themselves to his level of reflexes, even after the increases the level-ups had given him. A sudden return to the peak would break that, but he had to do it at the right moment. He mustered up the last dregs of energy left his body and lunged. He became so proficient in using his [Soulrend] that he could keep multiple at bay while impaling his intended target. He somehow still had some stamina remaining. Kade fell to his knees and pretended like he was out of juice. He ¡®prevented¡¯ a collapse by hanging onto his [Soulrend]. The icehowlers took the bait. Several snarled in glee and jumped in for the kill, the rest eagerly following behind. He sneered while he glared into the eyes of the icehowler inches away from his face and activated [Inferno Burst]. Kade felt his health recovering with impressive speed, but he didn¡¯t stop there. He had fought for so long that he had recovered all of his [MP]. There was another shot left in him, so he activated [Inferno Burst] again. The howls of pain filled the cave as Kade¡¯s plan went off exactly as he intended. He felt some energy injected into his body by the level-ups, but it still wasn¡¯t enough to do more than let them fight for several seconds. The cave rumbled loudly when he was about to dump his [Free Points] into [Endurance]. It drowned out the pained howls of the icehowlers. Kade looked around frantically at the ceiling and noticed rocks falling down. The multiple uses of [Inferno Burst] had made the cave unstable. He ignored the surviving icehowlers. He had shattered too much of their pack for them to be a significant threat. Plus, he noticed that the icehowlers also saw the cave¡¯s instability. Kade saw an icehowler dart deeper into the cave before a falling rock crushed it long before it could reach its target. That¡¯s the only escape route. He suddenly realized why the icehowlers hadn¡¯t tried to attack him outside the cave. They couldn¡¯t leave. If they could, the crushed icehowler would have escaped in that direction instead of choosing to take a longer distance and try to get the tiny opening on that end. Kade stored his [Soulrend] and abandoned the fight. He sprinted to the opening. His stamina was depleting quickly, but he directed all his physical and mental faculties towards avoiding being crushed to death by the collapsing cave. Kade felt the ground rumble as the roof gave way behind them. He didn¡¯t look back. He was almost there. Only a few feet away. He felt the shockwaves of the mountain filling in the cave and lunged towards the opening. His upper body successfully passed through, and just when he thought he was safe, he felt a blinding pain that overcame his considerable tolerance and admirable willpower. Kade¡¯s vision went black. Chapter 16 - Limbs He regained his senses to the sound of pebbles falling. Some landed on his face. He frowned and tried to wipe them away. He immediately felt the intense pain from the hand he tried to use. Kade snapped his eyes open and saw a dead icehowler next to him with part of his arm still in its bloody mouth. Warning: Your health has fallen below 50%! Warning: You are experiencing excessive bleeding! He was missing everything from the elbow down on his left arm. He could feel his health slowly being sapped away by the excessive bleeding. Worse, one of his legs was stuck under the collapsed cave. He groaned as he sat up with the struggle and used every bit of strength he possessed to move enough of the rocks to release his leg. Surprisingly, it remained usable despite being in terrible shape. The interface made itself known at this point. You have destroyed 11 Icehowlers (Arcana Level 18)! You have destroyed 6 Icehowlers (Arcana Level 19)! You have destroyed an Icehowler (Arcana Level 20)! You have destroyed 14 Icehowlers (Arcana Level 21)! You have destroyed 9 Icehowlers (Arcana Level 23)! You have destroyed 2 Icehowlers (Arcana Level 25)! You have indirectly destroyed 11 Icehowlers! Kill 100 Monsters (3/100)¡ª>(57/100) It brought Kade a sick sense of satisfaction that he had eliminated so many icehowlers. It was the least he could do to return the favor for the number of times they took chunks of flesh from him. He continued to go over the summary. Footwork (Level 7)¡ª>(Level 10) Spear Thrust (Level 6)¡ª>(Level 9) Spear Impale (Level 4)¡ª>(Level 7) Spear Sweep (Level 1)¡ª>(Level 6) Level-up! (x5) Arcana Level 22¡ª>Arcana Level 27 MP Recovery: 6.6% per minute¡ª>8.1% per minute Free Points: 1.5¡ª>6.5 Constitution: 24¡ª>29 Endurance: 13¡ª>15.5 Strength: 24¡ª>29 Your skill [Footwork] has reached Level 10! You have unlocked an ability. You have 3 options to choose from. Kade forgot about the missing part of his arm when he saw the reward¡­ but only for a fraction of a second. The pain was back at the forefront. Blink Step (2 MP): Instantly move a short distance in any direction. Wind Dash (2 MP): Increase your movement speed by 100% for 5 seconds. Ethereal Glide (5 MP): Become intangible for 2 seconds. The descriptions were short and sweet, but they told Kade all he needed to know. He was tempted to select [Blink Step], but [Ethereal Glide] was too good of an ability to pass. Kade knew that choosing another ability that required so much [MP] was not ideal since he was a [Warrior]. It would require him to invest more [Free Points] into [Wisdom]. Still, he was salivating at how much help [Ethereal Glide] could have given him in the fight against the icehowlers. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. You now have the ability [Ethereal Glide]. He left behind the ruined cave and the icehowler with his forearm in its mouth. He was still bleeding profusely, but he had a small time extension available if he didn¡¯t find enough monsters to level up. Kade disliked the thought of using his [Free Points] on [Constitution], but bleeding out to death purely because of bullheadedness was not his idea of a good death. The cave had gotten significantly darker compared to the previous chamber, but there was enough light for everything to be visible. There was only one path forward, and he followed it with a limp. Kade continued on for several minutes, becoming hyperaware of his blood dripping on the ground in the silence. A chill slowly spread across Kade¡¯s body from the blood loss, making it exponentially worse. He paused. It¡¯s not cold in the cave. Kade narrowed his eyes, wondering what the trade-off was. The cave had been strange from the start. It allowed nothing to leave, and he didn¡¯t miss that none of the icehowlers were willing to go deeper into the cave until there was no choice. That likely meant there were far stronger monsters¡­ or worse. He hoped it was the former. He needed plenty of them to get his body back to its peak condition. Kade passed the time as he limped down the path by thinking of the quickest ways to dispatch a group of monsters so his missing forearm and crippled foot wouldn¡¯t play a part in a fight. He saw a change up ahead. The path opened to a chamber significantly larger than where he brawled with the icehowlers. Kade stopped when he reached the expansion spot and looked around in awe. The world outside was a frozen hell, but somehow, an alien forest thrived inside a mountain covered in a blizzard. He felt a warm, humid breeze carrying the exact scent of unknown flora and damp earth. The cavern contained a hidden world with an impossibly high ceiling embedded with small illuminating crystals that lit up the forest in a cool blue glow. There were towering trees with bark resembling toasted obsidian, looking more like rocks than wood. Their branches stretched out like skeletal hands adorned with leaves that shimmered in hues of deep purple. However, most of the flora lived between these towering trees. A thick layer of moss covered the forest floor, and small shrubs grew stunning flowers. It looked like something straight out of an artist¡¯s dream. Kade couldn¡¯t forget that the icehowlers refused to come near this place. The forest might look beautiful, but something treacherous was hiding among the stunning flora and pretty glowing lights. He summoned his [Soulrend] and limped into the cavern. He purposely made himself look weaker than he actually was and used his [Soulrend] as a cane for support. There was no reason to be subtle when he could feel his injuries sapping his health. Kade needed to be attacked. He needed to take out as many monsters as possible to increase his level, or he would die anyway. The one issue for his goal of causing as much noise as possible was the moss floor. It muffled the sound into a barely audible step, less than the quietest of whispers. Luckily, the forest was eerily silent, so even the quietest of steps was obvious when it broke the silence. He felt an attraction towards the nearest shrub, with pale berries bunched together on its surface. Starberry: Recover some stamina and a temporary increase of 1 [Speed] for 10 minutes. Active Limit: 1. Kade skimmed the interface before raising an eyebrow. ¡°System, why does the interface show information for resources but not monsters?¡± We have a near-complete database for all resources that might appear in the universe. However, monsters and corrupted lifeforms vary greatly. They are predictable in their weakest forms, but unknown variants are common at higher levels with well-hidden Arcana Levels. That made sense to him. If the system was willing to remove all hot weapons from Earth, it would view giving information on monsters the same way¡ªas a crutch that would be detrimental in stronger Rift Zones. Kade plucked several of the starberries and put them in his pants pocket. He didn¡¯t take too many since the effect was mediocre, mainly since it couldn¡¯t stack. Still, recovering stamina would come in handy. He became much more observant. If a fruit could recover his stamina, it wouldn¡¯t be out of the question for one to recover his health. It was unfortunate that he only had a pair of tattered pants that was barely holding together. He hadn¡¯t bothered to replace his shirt when he ripped it apart in the first Rift Zone to make an impromptu spear holder. If he had, it would¡¯ve been ideal to make an impromptu pouch. Echo Reeds: A hollow plant that enhances auditory senses when eaten. Kade snapped the bamboo-like plant and chewed on it. The interface didn¡¯t show any effect, but he could hear it. The eerily quiet forest somehow became more silent. His chewing and soft steps on the moss floor were the only sounds enhanced. It might have driven him mad if he didn¡¯t have the willpower to ignore it. He didn¡¯t stop chewing. It would alert him to anything that was out of place. Kade approached flowers that looked hazy to his sight. Dreamweave Flowers: Induce a restful night¡¯s sleep. He stared at it for a moment before moving past the flower. He didn¡¯t want to unintentionally take enough of this scent to fall asleep somehow. That would be a disaster. Kade kept chewing on the echo reeds as he approached one of the many trees with purple leaves. He could see small, orange-sized fruits hanging off some branches. Glowfruit Trees: Grows luminescent fruits that restore health and grant temporary vision enhancement when eaten. This is it! He narrowed his eyes as he noticed an issue. None of the fruits that he could see were luminescent. Kade looked at the other glowfruit trees nearby and saw the same issue. He wasn¡¯t keen on consuming something that looked off to his instincts and moved past the trees without luminescent fruits. He was desperate, but not that desperate. Kade continued searching for a glowfruit tree that matched the interface¡¯s description. Several minutes later, he found one. This tree didn¡¯t have glowing purple leaves. Instead, the leaves were dull, almost looking weathered. However, the fruits were glowing purple. His eyes widened in excitement as he rushed towards the glowfruit tree before quickly jumping back with a pained grunt. Chewing the echo reed paid off. Kade felt his leg screaming in pain as he glared at the spindly leg that pierced the moss floor. He followed it to a bulbous body with far too many eyes. It was a fucking spider. Chapter 17 - Spider Free Points: 6.5¡ª>4.5 Dexterity: 9¡ª>11 something. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. You have destroyed a Shadow Arachnid (Arcana Level 25)! Kill 100 Monsters (57/100)¡ª>(58/100) My injuries have weakened me much more than I thought. The effects are permanent¡­ it¡¯s too bad I extracted all I could from it. I need to take some back to Earth to share. The glowfruit only heals you. It does not regenerate lost flesh. Yes. This is convenient. Chapter 18 - Delicious Glowfruits You have destroyed a Shadow Arachnid (Arcana Level 24)! Kill 100 Monsters (80/100)¡ª>(81/100) Spear Thrust (Level 9)¡ª>(Level 10) Level-up! Arcana Level 27¡ª>Arcana Level 28 MP Recovery: 8.1% per minute¡ª>8.4% per minute Free Points: 4.5¡ª>5.5 Constitution: 29¡ª>30 Endurance: 15.5¡ª>16 Strength: 29¡ª>30 Your skill [Spear Thrust] has reached Level 10! You have unlocked an ability. You have 3 options to choose from. Extended Reach (2 MP): Increase the range of your Spear Thrust by 200% for 1 strike, enabling you to strike from a safer distance. Armor Break (3 MP): For 1 strike, ignore the enemy¡¯s protection if they are no more than 5 [Arcana Levels] higher than you. This is better. Weak Point Targeting (10 MP): Guarantee a hit to a weak point and deal increased damage. You now have the ability [Armor Break]. I¡¯m not always right, but neither am I always wrong. I have to be careful. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Maybe it¡¯s just the humidity in the forest that those icehowlers despise. This is a perfect time to test the new ability, anyway. ¡­ Did I bite off more than I could chew? Warning: Your health has fallen below 10%! Warning: You are experiencing excessive bleeding! Chapter 19 - Warm Breeze Kade bit into another glowfruit. This was his third in the last minute, and it worked as intended. Although his body still had his own blood caked on it, he no longer had razor-thin cuts all over. He considered that a massive win. He looked around and took in the devastation with a calmer mind. The forest was dead. Everything looked unchanged, but he could see the subtle hints of crystal shards buried into every tree, plant, and shrub. Just like all the dead monsters, who looked unharmed except for the blood seeping out of their skin, the plants lost their lives when the crystal shards turned them into pincushions. Kade felt a little guilty that he caused this strangely beautiful forest to meet its end. He picked up a spare glowfruit and considered his next actions. The logical choice was to return to the collapsed cave and try to dig himself out. Although the barrier that blocked the cave¡¯s mouth had not disappeared, it was the reasonable thing to do. He wanted to be sensible for once and move away from the thing that just blew millions of tiny holes in his body. Still, he was interested in seeing if the explosion had uncovered anything. Kade walked towards the center of the forest. He admired the way the explosion had spread out the crystals. It appeared as if the explosion had embedded millions of gems into everything. The platform¡¯s sidewall was mostly intact, except for a few cracks separating it into several parts. He hopped onto the sidewall and stared at the massive hole in the center. It took up nearly the entire platform area, giving him a direct view of what was below. Kade frowned as he glanced at the bubbling magma that took up most of his vision as he looked down. That wasn¡¯t what caught his attention. Monsters prowled the banks of the magma lake with strange flora that somehow thrived in the heat. A little world that existed in complete contrast to most of the Rift Zone. This explains why I¡¯m not freezing my ass off in here. He looked at the edges of the massive hole and saw enough jagged edges that he could use as steps to climb down. The issue was a hundred-foot drop from the lowest ¡®step¡¯ to the floor below. Kade knew the drop would not be kind to his legs. Even with his increased [Strength], he knew the drop would break several bones at minimum. He found that to be a good trade-off. A few broken bones for exploring a new area with possibly stronger monsters. Kade stored his [Soulrend] to have use of both hands and casually hopped onto the jagged edge. He nimbly made his way down before finding himself at the lowest step. He crouched and gripped the crystal below him as he eyed a location that would be a suitable landing spot. A straight drop would put him directly into the magma. While he might have some resistance to fire due to [Inferno Burst], he wasn¡¯t willing to dive into a magma pool as the first proper test of that resistance. Kade gripped the crystal so tightly that his fingers sank into it as he hung off the edge. He should have felt intense heat from the magma directly below, but it felt like a warm breeze. He still wouldn¡¯t test it by diving into the bubbly magma lake. He planted his feet on the underside of the broken, jagged edge of the crystal platform and kicked off. He contorted his body so he would land feet first, instead of breaking his neck on the ground below by landing on his head. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Kade landed on target and grimaced when the bones in his legs cracked loudly from the force of impact. His health dropped, but not to where the interface had to warn him it fell below fifty percent. It went better than he expected. Especially since the monsters he could see waddling around showed no interest in doing much more than giving him an annoyed look. Kade pulled the glowfruit from his pocket and chewed it down. He monitored his surroundings to ensure he would get ambushed as he waited for the fruit¡¯s effect to finish healing his body. He subconsciously tested his legs as he approached the magma lake. While it was the dominating feature in this underground layer, many other things were worth observing. Looking past the shimmering air caused by the magma pool¡¯s ¡®supposed¡¯ heat, there was a rugged landscape of floors and floating islands made from obsidian. Natural stone bridges that looked like they had formed from cold lava flows supported them. Steam vents hissed sporadically, releasing bursts of gas that boiled the air near them into a shimmer. Kade thought that was all very interesting, but his biggest draw was that it looked extremely hot in here. However, he still only felt a warm breeze. He didn¡¯t hesitate before dipping his left pointing finger into the magma lake. He kept it there with a blank face for several seconds before finally removing it. His finger was unaffected. Kade should have considered this resistance¡¯s usefulness but couldn¡¯t help but remember the frost option available for [Soulrend]¡¯s ability. He could have explored this frozen Rift Zone without using [Inferno Burst] as a heater every few minutes. Well, at least now I know that elemental abilities also include resistance. He looked away from the magma lake and eyed the surroundings. He wasn¡¯t interested in fighting the monsters near the magma lake, since they felt no stronger than the spiders. All that would accomplish is increasing the tally for his objectives. That was useful, yes, but also boring. He wanted to face monsters that would help him raise his [Arcana Level]. Kade targeted the obsidian islands first. The island¡¯s surface was a small garden. Even if no stronger monsters guarded it, he wanted to see if anything was useful there. He gave a wide berth to the wandering monsters. They did the same to him. Most were small firefly-like creatures that flitted around, completely uninterested in him. The ones that he monitored resembled chameleons. There were lizard-like creatures that stayed in one place for far too long before moving on the spot and doing the same. They did nothing else except eye him warily as he passed by. Kade walked on a thin stone bridge that connected to an obsidian island and froze when he heard cracking beneath him. Pieces of the bridge audibly fell into the magma pulled below, but it still held up. I¡¯m becoming too at ease. He shook his head before quickly making his way to the island. He could have easily jumped the bridge¡¯s length instead of risking it by strolling onto the thin structure. Kade approached the shrubs growing on the island. They looked like art sculptures made of hardened, multicolored glass. The only reason he classified them as plants was the flowers that grew from them. Blazebulbs: Useful for starting fires or as a natural explosive. It was a spherical flower with tightly closed red petals that pulsed lightly. And Kade thought it might be the most useless thing in this place. He couldn¡¯t see a purpose in starting a fire where magma was readily available. Thankfully, blazebulbs were nowhere close to being the only thing in the garden. Ash Blooms: An edible flower that can provide temporary resistance to extreme temperatures when consumed. Kade¡¯s fingers twitched. It didn¡¯t specify how long the resistance would last, but he didn¡¯t care. This could solve the cold issue when exploring the Rift Zone. He resisted plucking the flowers immediately. He could stuff them in his pocket, but he didn¡¯t know if that would damage its effectiveness. It was something to take right before he exited this magma chamber. Magma Lilies: These flowers have medicinal properties and are especially effective against burn injuries. Another flower with an effect that was useless to him. Kade felt that most of the resources here related to heat, and rightfully so. This disappointed him, but it would be a lifesaver for someone without his natural resistance. He blinked as a thought took root in his mind. ¡°System, is it possible to take resources out of the Rift Zone?¡± Yes. Kade looked at the flowers with fresh eyes. They weren¡¯t entirely useless after all¡­ except he only had pockets to store what he wanted to take. I should¡¯ve brought a backpack. A magma-resistant backpack. His eyes widened in shock as he twisted his body around and summoned his [Soulrend] at the same time. He felt the drastic change in pressure and expected to see a massive monster leaping toward him. Kade saw something completely different. A wave of magma tens of feet taller than him, even on the island well above the magma pool, crashed towards him. He had no chance to take cover or try to shield himself. The magma wave engulfed him within a fraction of a second. Chapter 20 - Buff Goblin Your Soulrend has been shattered. It¡¯s playing with me. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. run. Class E Rift Zones commonly contain lifeforms at [Arcana Level 40]. Higher-level lifeforms are possible but uncommon. Your current opponent is not an anomaly. Free Points: 5.5¡ª>0 Speed: 10.5¡ª>16 Warning: Your health has fallen below 50%! Chapter 21 - Hell No I can work with that. waved at him, nearly making him miss its following strike from surprise. anything without its go-ahead. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Insufficient [MP]. You must have a minimum of 3 [MP]. You have destroyed a Molten Orcling (Arcana Level 37)! Kill 100 Monsters (81/100)¡ª>(82/100) Footwork (Level 10)¡ª>(Level 12) Spear Thrust (Level 10)¡ª>(Level 11) Spear Impale (Level 7)¡ª>(Level 9) Level-up! (x4) Arcana Level 28¡ª>Arcana Level 32 MP Recovery: 8.4% per minute¡ª>9.6% per minute Free Points: 0¡ª>4 Constitution: 30¡ª>34 Endurance: 16¡ª>18 Strength: 30¡ª>34 Warning: You are experiencing excessive heat! Anomaly detected. The Rift Zone must be reclassified. Class E¡ª>Class S shattered. Chapter 22 - Patriarch Kade came to and promptly sucked in a mouthful of water. He sputtered and coughed the water out before immediately wheezing in pain at making a sound. His vision was so blurry that he could barely see anything more than a few feet away and his ears didn¡¯t seem to work since the world was silent. He glimpsed his body. Kade had no idea how he was still alive. There was no place he looked where his body was unbroken. If he had to search for a positive, it would be that he still had all his limbs intact. The most concerning part was that he could feel no pain. It was like all his nerves had been damaged, along with his bones. Not a bad thing when his body was in ruin. Pain would not be useful. Plus, the same thing that killed his nerves also cauterized all of his open wounds, preventing him from bleeding to death. Kade supposed this could be considered a miracle. He remembered what he last saw, and being alive after what should¡¯ve been assured death should be celebrated. He moved his fingers and limbs as a test. It was doable but at a minimal speed. Even if he couldn¡¯t see how broken his body was, it would have been obvious there was something wrong with it. Kade finally noticed the interface flashing softly. Warning: Your health has fallen below 1%! He froze, afraid the wrong movement could send him into the afterlife. It concerned him that the warning wasn¡¯t the worst of what the interface showed him. The Infernal Orc Patriarch has broken the Rift Zone¡¯s barrier. A Class S Rift Zone is beyond Planet Earth¡¯s capabilities. This Rift Zone is now set to be unlinked from Planet Earth. We have summoned a custodian. Standby. He reread the interface before blinking rapidly, attempting to bring the world back into focus. After several seconds of trying, it worked. Kade almost wished that he had stayed ignorant. The patriarch¡¯s size was beyond comprehension. A ferocious face loomed above the sky. A pair of eyes blazed brighter than the sun as it burned the world with the rage it contained. The features were a grotesque amalgamation of orcish brutality and elemental fury. Horns of obsidian jutted from his brow, and his molten beard flowed like rivers of lava. If even a drop fell into the Rift Zone, Kade did not doubt it would burn the entire world. The sight of a colossal hand forged of molten rock and swirling flames reached down from the sky. Each finger was as large as a mountain, and the spaces between them could swallow entire cities. The interface might have told him it was called the Infernal Orc Patriarch, but to Kade, it might as well be a god of death. His shock at seeing this otherworldly being somehow repaired his ears. Again, he wished it stayed broken. The sound that slammed into him nearly deafened him again. It sounded like the world was ending, and with what he saw above, it really was. It took Kade several seconds to grasp what the patriarch was doing. Just two of its fingers were within the Rift Zone, while the rest of his body loomed above like an omnipotent god. A stream of black liquid was being drawn high into the sky before it dropped back to the ground, filling the inside of the mountain with a missing peak. ¡­ the patriarch was transferring the nexus into the broken mountain. Kade felt tempted to question the system, but was terrified that any noise would draw the patriarch¡¯s attention. He was confident that the patriarch was aware of his existence, but since the orcish god made no move to end his life, he wanted to take zero chances of changing that decision. He stayed as still as possible, but found it hard to stare at the patriarch. As terrified as he currently was, he was still getting incredibly idiotic, stupid, brain-dead ideas of trying to fight it.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Kade didn¡¯t think he was suicidal, but with how frequently he had to stamp out these types of thoughts, he might as well be. He forced his eyes away to find a distraction. Surprisingly, it wasn¡¯t hard. The frozen Rift Zone had been unfrozen. There was no snow to be seen anywhere, a thin layer of water above the ground. The culprit stared into the Rift Zone from above. Kade had experienced a significant disaster from the patriarch¡¯s appearance, but he was thankful for it in this case. He would¡¯ve probably died from the cold if it hadn¡¯t melted the Rift Zone. An embarrassing death that he wanted no part of. He was proud of himself for thinking of the positive. It was the little things that counted¡­ or so people constantly told him in the past. Kade¡¯s gaze unknowingly returned to the patriarch. He started thinking of fighting again. The interface saved him. The custodian has arrived. Standby. He held his breath for an unknown reason. He was finding it near intolerable that he just had to play dead while his life was going to be saved. Kade was glad for it, but if the patriarch hadn¡¯t increased the class of this Rift Zone to a level that went beyond Earth, he would be shit out of luck. For the second time in a row, the Rift Zone he entered turned out to be anomalies of different sorts. The first Rift Zone might have been considered an extreme outlier, but this one was simply a stroke of bad luck. Maybe finding the molten orcling was never meant for him, but what he was ¡®meant¡¯ to do didn¡¯t matter since he had stumbled into the orcling¡¯s chamber out of pure dumb luck. A strange thought passed through Kade¡¯s mind. Is he trying to revive the orcling by using the nexus? What if that was his son¡­ no. There is no way something as weak as the orcling could come out of the patriarch¡¯s balls. He felt a gust of super-heated air. He tensed, thinking that the patriarch somehow found out what he was thinking. The orcling was very strong! He was a testament to your strength, patriarch! Kade expected to be burned to ash at the rate the heat increased around him. Unexpectedly, the nexus fell to the ground, and the patriarch looked away with annoyance. Shockwaves fell from the heavens above. He grunted at the increased pressure and was thankful it wasn¡¯t enough to cause harm. The multiple shockwaves were from the unseen custodian speaking an unknown language. Kade obviously couldn¡¯t understand it, but the patriarch certainly could. The patriarch replied with a mocking sneer before his looming presence disappeared from the Rift Zone. The Infernal Orc Patriarch has added this Rift Zone to its domain. The custodian has occupied the Infernal Orc Patriarch. An emergency extraction is now possible. You are exiting the Class S Rift Zone #N/A. The extraction didn¡¯t have a delay. One moment, he was staring up at the black void that made up the sky of the Rift Zone; the next, he was under a familiar blue sky. Kade hadn¡¯t realized how comforting Earth¡¯s sky was until now. However, there was a significant issue. His body remained broken, and he remained a whisper away from death. Thankfully, the interface appeared to lift his mood. Rift Zone Summary: Lifeforms Killed: N/A Monsters Killed: 82 Direct Kills ¨C 71 (355 points) Indirect Kills ¨C 11 (14 points) Bonus: Kill the seed of an Overlord (5,000 points) Total Points from Rift Zone: 5,369 points Total Ranking Points: 10,198 points Currently Ranked #2 in North America. Kade felt happier with every line he read until the last, which let him know he still hadn¡¯t overtaken Anita Shah. The girl already had more points than this. He struggled to his feet before stumbling out of the blackened area where the entrance of the Rift Zone used to be. He slid down the nearest tree trunk to sit on the ground before demanding answers from the system. ¡°How could something like the patriarch get into a Rift Zone that was supposed to be at my level?!¡± Such anomalies are to be expected. We choose to connect Rift Zones to Earth on a randomized basis. Some Overlords seed lower-class Rift Zones with their puppets in hopes of finding a newly inducted planet. Now I know why it didn¡¯t bother to kill me. I was unimportant to its goals. ¡°So you¡¯re telling me this was just my bad luck? It could happen to anyone, but somehow I walked into it.¡± Kade knew he sounded hysterical, but it was better to do so with nobody around. He could stabilize himself when he walked into society¡­ with broken bones and all. Yes. Kade stared at the interface before choosing to let it go for his own sanity. Who knew if increased blood pressure would be enough to kill him. And speaking of health¡­ ¡°Is there any way I can heal myself outside of the Rift Zone? The monsters that roam Earth are nowhere near strong enough for me to level up after killing them.¡± Find a [Healer], or buy a potion that restores your health. Kade frowned. ¡°With what money and where?¡± The points you earned while clearing the Rift Zones. The universal shop is currently ineligible to be opened on Earth. Still, there will soon be [Alchemists] selling such potions. He was happy to know the points weren¡¯t just vanity for the rankings, but they were still useless to him at the moment. He doubted any [Alchemists] existed since that was not a base [Class]. No one could evolve their [Class] so soon after this whole thing started. Kade had to find a [Healer]. He pushed himself up and summoned his [Soulrend]. He used it as a walking stick and slowly limped to Chicago. Speed was not a concern; the key was to avoid damage. Kade couldn¡¯t help but think of the patriarch in the lull. There were beings like that in the universe, and there were beings that could fight it. I will be a match for the patriarch in the future. Chapter 23 - Return to the City safe. Regardless of the method of your death, everything returns to us. I¡¯m already here. I might as well just enter. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. not to know his name at this point, but he still wasn¡¯t used to it. It feels good, though. Speaking of Rift Zones. We estimate it should be of equal strength to the Molten Orcling. Chapter 24 - Healer As if I would delay this. ¡­ Or my old acquaintance would purposely answer my call to satisfy her curiosity. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. This might take a few days at this rate. Perfect timing. ¡°Hm?¡± That would destroy my powerful image. I can¡¯t let anyone see me bawling. Chapter 25 - Slapfight After exiting the hotel, Kade immediately saw why he had noticed nothing from the window. His focus had been on the safe zone¡¯s border. He should have been looking the other way. Finn¡¯s group was staring down around twenty people who were newcomers. The argument he could hear was from something he hadn¡¯t expected. ¡°¡ªcan¡¯t just say it¡¯s all yours! Do you think words are enough to make everyone bow down to people like you? This is America! We don¡¯t tolerate warlord wannabes here!¡± Kade had never heard something so stupid. Sure, America technically still existed, but for all intents and purposes, every man and woman on their own. There was no city government, state government, or especially no nation to tell anyone what to do. If it somehow existed, he would love to see how anything functioned. Technologically, they were back to the stone age. Matt said it best when he said getting food delivered to the city would be impossible, since there was no way to contact any farmers. This would be especially true for something nonessential, such as following orders from someone thousands of miles away. Kade didn¡¯t doubt a [Scholar] would evolve their class into something that could help replace all the technology they lost, but it would take months at a minimum. He walked up to a kid who looked just out of high school. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± ¡°These losers really think we¡¯re going to give up our territory because they¡¯re asking. Can you believe that?¡± Kade ignored the argument of nonsense and turned to face the kid fully. Those were confident words. ¡°And which territory is this?¡± ¡°Were you hiding under a rock last night? Finn ordered us to take over this part of the safe zone. Better us than letting some lunatics take over. Have you heard about the group that wants to eat people? Crazy stuff. Really crazy stuff.¡± Kade blinked in surprise. He couldn¡¯t make himself believe that cannibalism was suddenly in vogue. That was a last resort done from desperation, and plenty of food was still available for now. It was more likely that Finn, or someone in the group, used that as an excuse to justify their actions. ¡°Amazing,¡± Kade said dryly. ¡°Does this have anything to do with the Kade guy?¡± ¡°Guy?¡± The kid sounded personally offended and finally turned to look at him. ¡°Kade is not just¡ªKade!¡± He smirked at the high-pitched squeak at the end of his sentence. ¡°Hi there. So, your group is using my name.¡± The kid shook his head frantically before immediately passing on the blame. ¡°It¡¯s Finn¡¯s idea!¡± Kade patted him on the shoulder, making him flinch with each pat. ¡°I wasn¡¯t singling you out. Anyway, thanks for the info, kid.¡± He walked closer to the argument, leaving the kid sputtering behind. It looked like it was about to move past words and into a physical altercation. He already disliked the idea of humans fighting each other when there were far better things to spend energy on, and he especially disliked it when they used his name as a basis for the fight. ¡°You think this Kade is going to protect you? I don¡¯t see him anywhere. And even if he appears, we have our own as a counter!¡± Kade frowned at the girl¡¯s words and paid closer attention to who comprised the opposing group. Nearly all were regular humans who hadn¡¯t gone to a Rift Zone yet. And a few were of the early group that the system sent in as the vanguard.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. There was one that caught his attention. And she had a familiar appearance. What the hell is Eliza doing with them? Whoever represented Finn¡¯s group had enough of talk. He had his fists clenched and was telegraphing his next move. A punch that would shatter the girl¡¯s teeth. Kade flicked his [Soulrend] at the two. They both shrieked in surprise when the spear missed them by inches and buried itself in the ground between them. The shaft separated the two and stopped further confrontation. ¡°I suggest you both calm your tempers,¡± Kade said to the two belligerents, but kept his eyes on Eliza as he walked forward. She smiled at him. ¡°You, girl, Eliza¡¯s your counter?¡± He already knew the answer, but he asked simply to let the girl understand he knew her group¡¯s ¡®trump card.¡¯ ¡°It is not polite to terrify her, Kade.¡± Kade hid the unease that ran through his body. In all honesty, he had mostly forgotten Eliza. After what he had gone through in the Class E turned Class S Rift Zone, she didn¡¯t seem important enough to remember. He also assumed he had gone so far above her level that she was no longer a match. He had been wrong. Eliza still felt as dangerous as she did when he met her in the middle of nowhere. That meant she had gone to another Rift Zone and gotten stronger. Plus, her odd, lecture-y tone still gave him the shivers. In what way, he didn¡¯t know. ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Kade brushed away Eliza¡¯s gentle chiding. ¡°If you want me to stop, how about we talk over this privately?¡± It seemed to ruffle the feathers of the group Eliza was with. Still, she accepted readily. Kade motioned for her to follow. He didn¡¯t go far from the crowd. They wanted to gape at them, so he allowed them to. He stopped just out of earshot before turning to Eliza with a raised brow. ¡°Are you really with those¡­ people?¡± ¡°Truthfully?¡± Eliza glanced at the group she arrived with. ¡°No. They wanted to challenge your group, and I figured it was as good of the time as any to meet you again, so I tagged along.¡± Kade stared with doubt. ¡°Why did you want to meet me?¡± ¡°You¡¯re starting a faction. And other than Anita, you are the highest-ranked on the continent. It would be irresponsible of me not to meet you.¡± He was about to start his spiel about how it was not starting a faction or group, but he gave it a little more thought than usual. This would be inevitable unless he shunned safe zones and lived like a hermit in the wild between jumping into Rift Zones. Kade liked the idea but didn¡¯t know how successful it would be in practice. If there was a choice, having support would be better than being alone. His initial impression of Finn had all but disappeared. The man might be morally upright, but his recent actions showed grand ambition for power. Kade thought nothing was wrong with that, but that also meant he trusted Finn less. He classified the man as someone similar to a politician, and politicians were never to be trusted. The problem was, did he really want to ask someone like Eliza to join and monitor this newly formed faction? Kade still thought about the shivers she gave him. It was almost like he was nervous around her. If he had met Eliza at a bar, he would have known exactly why he felt that way and would have acted on it to get lucky that night. However, now? He did not know. ¡°Are you interested in joining?¡± Kade asked, wanting to know if this was something he should even think about. ¡°I don¡¯t see why I shouldn¡¯t. I think we would get along well, Kade. And I did say I wanted to observe you more closely.¡± He took a small step back at the flash of something in her eyes. That¡¯s why she creeps me the hell out. Kade gave her a once-over to calm himself. Again, her appearance helped immensely in giving her multiple chances, even though everything in his mind told him to run away. Eye candy was a virtue... or something. If she turns out to be some serial killer, I deserve whatever will happen to me. Kade knew that Eliza joining would almost assuredly make her the de facto leader since he had no intention of playing boss. She could have joined without asking him and he wouldn¡¯t have cared, but since she wanted his permission, he needed to find out if she was worthy. That only meant one thing, with a clear path to find out. ¡°I need to know more about you. And the best way is to clear a Rift Zone together. What¡¯s your Arcana Level?¡± ¡°Twenty-nine.¡± Kade hid his surprise. ¡°Perfect, I¡¯m not that much higher at thirty-two. As soon as I¡¯m healed, let¡¯s head out.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan,¡± Eliza smiled softly. ¡°I¡¯ll tell the little ducklings the good news. I look forward to seeing what you can do, Kade.¡± Kade mouthed ¡®ducklings¡¯ to himself. He had no idea someone would unironically say that out loud. Once again, he questioned if this interaction with her was worth continuing. He watched Eliza speak to her group before shaking his head. He could see Celine heading towards the hotel with several people. Those must be the [Healers] he told her to get. Kade saw the situation was under control and returned to the hotel. The faster he healed, the faster he could go to another Rift Zone. Chapter 26 - Points Am I a masochist? ¡­ No, there¡¯s no chance. Confirm that you wish to transfer 400 points to Celine Harper. Celine Harper has accepted the transfer. Total Ranking Points: 9,798 2. Celine Harper (Healer) ¨C 413 points (+400) Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. North American Rankings: 1. Anita Shah (Scholar) ¨C 12,290 points 2. Kade Beckett (Warrior) ¨C 9,798 points (-400) 3. Eliza Brooks (Mage) ¨C 6,391 points (+4,004) I must be missing something. Your high [Arcana Level] prevents you from entering a Class F Rift Zone. Maximum Arcana Level permitted for Rift Zone entry: Class F: Arcana Level 10 Class E: Arcana Level 30 Class D: Arcana Level 50 Class C: Arcana Level 70 Class B: Arcana Level 90 Class A: Arcana Level 150 Class A Rift Zones encompass a wide range of options. However, the [Arcana Level] limit on them goes beyond such a reason. This is where we consider you to be prepared to travel off-world to deal with greater threats. You will never be forced. The rewards offered will encourage you. Chapter 27 - Retro Is Cool The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. So¡­ this is why I was getting so many strange looks. I thought it was because of who I am. This is the gate to the Class D Rift Zone #222,222. Party detected. All interfaces will be connected within the Rift Zone. Would you like to enter this Rift Zone? Chapter 28 - Party It was pitch black. There must be an absolute absence of light to see nothing with his improved vision. Kade summoned his [Soulrend], not just for protection, but also to act as a feeling stick. He poked around and found that there was quite a bit of space around him. The most concerning thing was the lack of Eliza¡¯s presence. The interface interrupted his explorations. You have entered the Class D Rift Zone #222,222. Objectives: Destroy the Pillars of Stability (0/2) Survive for 7 days That¡¯s different. The objectives no longer specified the number of monsters he had to kill. Any killings would be a side effect of having to complete the objectives. The interface unexpectedly appeared again. Interface linked to the party member. You may now send messages by speaking and track each other¡¯s location. Kade pulled up Eliza¡¯s location after skimming the interface. An arrow pointed to his right¡ªsimilar to when he navigated to Rift Zones on Earth¡ªand the number below stunned him. Eliza Brooks is 3,219 miles away. She might as well be a world away. It spoke to how vast this Rift Zone was. Kade was about to send her a message when he heard a slight scratching sound behind him. He twisted before narrowing his eyes. Not that it helped him to see anything. The scratching didn¡¯t get closer, but it was continuous. He pointed his [Soulrend] at the sound. There was a simple solution that could fix whatever was making the sound and the surrounding darkness. Message from party member incoming. The interface will display the identity of the sender before showing the message. Eliza: So much for entering this Rift Zone as a party. A distance similar to the width of our country has separated us. What are your objectives? Mine are to survive for seven days and destroy something called the Pillars of Stability. After reading the message, Kade dismissed the interface. He would reply after he dealt with whatever was making the noise. He thrust his [Soulrend] forward and activated [Inferno Burst]. Flames roared to life, surging and twisting as Kade guided them with his [Soulrend], honing in on the scratching sound. The violent flames didn¡¯t bother him¡ªuntil a thunderous explosion shattered his expectations. Sunlight crashed through the chaos, catching Kade off guard and making him flinch. He glimpsed a burning body falling, turning into white powder just before it was out of his sight. The interface didn¡¯t show what he killed. It must have had too low of an [Arcana Level] to matter. Kade looked out of the hole in shock and ignored the raging fire around him. He stepped closer to the exit and looked down. Then he looked up. How did I end up in a tree? He felt bad that he had set an innocent tree on fire, which was a case of hyper-bad luck for the poor tree. Kade jumped down and landed on the ground with a soft grunt. He was tiring of forests. The first Rift Zone was mainly that, and Earth had turned into one giant continuous rainforest. Now, he could see this Rift Zone as another forest nobody asked for.Stolen novel; please report. At least it¡¯s not a frozen hell. ¡°I have the same objectives as you. I¡¯m guessing we should just go about our own business, then?¡± Message sent. Kade could see that confirmation become very annoying. ¡°System, do you send everything I say as a message to Eliza?¡± No. Only those that are meant to be a message are sent as such. If you have multiple members in the party, specify to whom you want to send a message. With a single member such as now, it is trivial. Then, the confirmation was utterly unnecessary. ¡°Don¡¯t show me the confirmation in the future. Unless the recipient somehow didn¡¯t receive it.¡± He added the last part as an afterthought, but it might be useful in the future. Customization accepted. Eliza still hadn¡¯t sent a reply, but he wasn¡¯t concerned. She could be in the middle of a tense situation like he had just been. Kade looked around and narrowed his eyes at what was behind him. He walked closer, and his eyebrows nearly disappeared into his forehead. This was different. Although the forest might have disappointed him, this gave him hope the Rift Zone had the potential to be interesting. He stood atop a cliff that dropped straight down into the water below. He wasn¡¯t sure if he was looking at an ocean or a sea, but it extended as far as his eyes could see, so he assumed it was the former. It didn¡¯t take Kade long before he realized something strange. The water was still. There was no movement whatsoever on its surface. Not even the smallest of ripples. It made the ocean look highly unnatural. As if it was¡­ dead. Eliza: We have no other choice. Let¡¯s split the pillars of stability between us. One for each. And watch out for these trees. They are hollowed out and the vines pull you in. The bats inside were adorable, though. Too bad I had to get rid of them. Kade blinked as he read the message before turning back to the trees. He couldn¡¯t see anything that resembled vines on them. Plus, he found himself inside a tree, but didn¡¯t see any bats. ¡­ Maybe I killed them by accident with [Inferno Burst]. He wasn¡¯t sure if he trusted Eliza¡¯s tastes in what was cute. Whatever it was, it looked like it was only on her side of the Rift Zone. ¡°Understood. I found myself on a cliff that drops to an ocean surrounding this land. I¡¯ll move further inland and let you know if something changes.¡± Kade did precisely that and moved back into the forest, intending to see if anything was interesting further into this Rift Zone. He had passed the still-burning tree when he got a reply. Eliza: I¡¯m jealous. He expected something more to follow, but it seemed like that was all she intended to tell him. Kade chuckled as he put his full attention on the forest surrounding him. This forest wasn¡¯t as sterile and uniform as the Class F Rift Zone. In fact, it was as natural as it could be. It brought up a question he had somehow never thought of till now. ¡°System, how are these Rift Zones formed?¡± Creating some Rift Zones of the lowest class as a training ground for new planets like yours is common. Most, however, are natural worlds that have fallen into decay. It is too late to save them, so they are quarantined and set aside as Rift Zones. Kade had a frown as he thought over the implications. ¡°The city that I found in the last Rift Zone¡­ you told me that monsters could build them. Are natives of a world in decay classified as monsters?¡± Yes. Those still living in the world after we quarantine it are lost. They will have already taken in the rot. He froze the first word. Kade had imagined it happening to Earth. Humans innocently living their lives before some random maniac appears in the middle of a city and starts a massacre. However, he felt much better after reading the rest of the message. It brought up one more question. ¡°What¡¯s this rot? Is there a chance for me to get infected since I¡¯m close to these monsters?¡± Kade couldn¡¯t deny that he felt nervous about the answer. He wasn¡¯t keen on having to face more experienced¡­ ¡°Wait, what do you call people like me? The ones who hunt these monsters and corrupted lifeforms.¡± The rot is a cosmic force that corrupts worlds within the universe. You are immune to the infection. It starts with a planet, not an individual. With planet Earth brought into our protection, it is immune from the rot. As for what you are called, the closest word is Cleaner. Kade felt a little better knowing about the immunity. As for ¡®Cleaner,¡¯ he would pretend like he never heard that. He thought it was a stupid term for what he did. However, his mood sank when he recalled what he had witnessed on the day Earth was welcomed into the larger universe. Entire galaxies fell to this cosmic force. Earth might be safe from the rot, but that didn¡¯t mean it was safe from destruction. He had been merrily killing his way through the Rift Zones until now. He still didn¡¯t think that was the wrong move, but now, he had a real motivation driving him. Kade would pull humanity out of this initial testing alive and well, single-handedly, if he had to. Still, he preferred to be the muscle and leave the thinking to people like Anita Shah. He shuddered slightly as he recalled her tactics. Yeah¡­ maybe I should leave the planning to ruthless monsters like Anita. Kade narrowed his eyes when he saw the end of the forest. His face dropped as he slowly approached and saw what lay ahead. ¡°Fucking. Grassland,¡± Kade said through gritted teeth. His hopes for the Rift Zone fell immediately to all-time lows. So far, this was just an upgraded version of the Class F Rift Zone. Chapter 29 - Cooked and Roasted more than the Class F Rift Zone, but the grasslands here were incredibly dull. Eliza: That¡¯s unlucky. I¡¯ve been going through waves of monsters since I arrived. I¡¯m no longer jealous. Eliza: Keep your guard up. I¡¯ve been noticing signs that this place isn¡¯t so simple. There was something that resembled a road underneath the forest floor here. Eliza: Congratulations. You put a mark on your back by saying that out loud. That is unknown. A Soulrend is unique to the user, and it is your responsibility to find out how to best make use of it. The safest way is to increase your Arcana Level. Some resources will help you with this goal, but they all have side effects of various severities. Finally!This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Warning: You are experiencing severe exhaustion. Warning: You are experiencing severe dizziness. was in a Rift Zone. Well, at least this makes my decision easy. You have destroyed a Karnathi (Arcana Level 34)! Chapter 30 - Disappointment Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. These must be their kills. Eliza: Tall, bald things? I recommend you don¡¯t bother trying to speak with them. It looked like they wanted to eat me, so I unfortunately had to get rid of them. It¡¯s not too deep. Warning: You are experiencing mana suppression. Your [MP] is now at 20% of its standard capacity. MP: 4/4 (80% penalty) Maybe it strengthens them, too. Too bad they couldn¡¯t use it during our fight. Free Points: 4¡ª>1.5 Wisdom: 10¡ª>12.5 MP: 20/20¡ª>25/25 MP Recovery: 9.6% per minute¡ª>10% per minute Alert: You have reached the maximum [MP Recovery] that a [Warrior] can possess! Warrior will have the first upgrade at [Arcana Level 35]. Further upgrades will be individualized. That is unknown at this time. MP: 5/5 (80% penalty) Chapter 31 - Tunnel Kade once again considered thinking things through before literally jumping into the unknown. He flailed as he tried to stay afloat before using his [Soulrend] to anchor himself to the ledge. He thanked his exponentially increased [Strength] for enabling the use of the tip of the [Soulrend] as a support point to prevent him from drowning. Kade kicked his legs and brought himself closer to the tunnel before grabbing the ledge and pulling himself out of the water. He wiped his face before congratulating himself for jumping into the hole close to the tunnel. He might have been in danger of actually drowning if he had been further away. Kade stood and glanced at the water before it clicked in his mind. This wasn¡¯t just a random hole. This was a well the ritual building had covered up. ¡­ I should have thought of that when I heard the rock fall into water. He winced when he took a step and felt, and heard, how soaked his clothes were. He considered throwing them away, but he didn¡¯t want to appear almost naked when he met Eliza¡­ again. Doing that once was enough. Kade squeezed out the excess water absorbed in his clothes before heading down the tunnel. He kept an eye on his [MP]. The purple miasma was far thicker here than at the surface, and he had thought about this possibility. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t penalize his [MP] further. The tunnel expanded the more Kade walked. He was only several steps in when it started, and the exit to the well was still easily seen when the narrow tunnel had become a wide hallway. There was ten feet of clearance on all sides, and he could see that it would get even more prominent the deeper he went. The purple miasma no longer filled the entire space. It hovered near the ceiling, becoming strangely more solid the further he walked. Kade slowed his pace after several minutes. His hand tightened around the shaft of his [Soulrend]. There was now well over thirty feet of clearance on all sides. The purple miasma had disappeared and turned into solid, glowing purple veins built into the hallway¡¯s ceiling. He had assumed this brief detour would take him through narrow passageways and small hidden rooms with some monsters, but he had stumbled onto something far, far more significant. Before him were two stone guardian statues on either side of the massive hallway. They stood about 10 feet tall, with bulky, muscular forms that resembled the karnathis, carved out of rough, dark stone, and had a weathered look. They seemed ancient to his eyes. The statues had a similar set of armor carved onto them that fascinated him when he saw them on the karnathis. The armor on the statues was complete, but it was still just a carving. At least, it gave him an idea of what the armor should look like in pristine condition. He might piece together the set by the time he left the Rift Zone. Kade was most interested in the glowing purple veins on the ceiling branching down to each statue. He had a gut feeling that if he moved any further, the statues would come to life. That didn¡¯t deter Kade. It made him more eager to move forward. Before that, there was one thing he was curious about. ¡°Can inanimate objects help me level up my Arcana Level?¡± It will contribute to your growth if it has an [Arcana Level]. That was enough for him.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Kade kept himself on high alert and walked forward to put himself directly between the two statues. His gut feeling was right. The purple veins on the ceiling pulsed, and the eyes of the statues lit up in a dull purple. If his ex-girlfriend were here, she would call it lilac or periwinkle. She always had an annoying habit of labeling even the slightest shade of a color. Kade frowned as he pulled himself out of the tangent his mind went into. The statue stared down at him but didn¡¯t make a move. He realized that the vague sense of uneasiness he usually had when there was a threat nearby was missing. For some reason, he felt the statues wouldn¡¯t be able to challenge him even if they moved. It was bold for Kade to accept that as fact with no evidence, but he trusted his gut feeling after it had been proven right so many times. The dull purple eyes soon dimmed before returning to stone. Kade stared at the statues dumbly before cursing, ¡°This is some bullshit.¡± His only choice now was to go forward. He did so, but frequently glanced back at the statues until they were out of sight. The hallway didn¡¯t get any larger, but the purple veins that previously only existed on the ceiling now had a presence on the walls. This was all fascinating, but Kade was tired of the long walk. It had been well over thirty minutes since he entered the tunnel, and he had nothing to show for it other than sightseeing the alien architecture. Kade narrowed his eyes when he saw something familiar at the edge of his vision. He got closer and confirmed that it was two more statues, nearly identical to the ones before. ¡­ Did I somehow go backward? He frowned when he thought about the possibility of being stuck in an illusion. Of all the things he could face as a challenge, illusions must be near the top of his ¡®most hated¡¯ list. Nothing could be more annoying than having to think his way out of a problem. Mostly because he despised puzzles and all things that were related to them. Kade just wasn¡¯t any good at it. There was a reason he didn¡¯t go to college. Leaving aside the lack of money and, more importantly, motivation to go to one, he never had book smarts. He didn¡¯t consider himself stupid. But he also didn¡¯t fool himself into thinking he was some kind of genius. Besides, who cared when he could punch anyone that called him stupid? Kade pushed aside the fond memories of some poor guy trying to bully him in school and the suspension he had received soon after. He didn¡¯t dawdle and immediately put himself between the two statues. The same process started, and he let out a sigh of relief. It wasn¡¯t an illusion. The statues¡¯ eyes were a darker purple than before. More importantly, he could feel a sense of danger emanating from them. Kade was ready for either of them to attack him. He tensed when he heard a deep rumbling sound as the statues moved one arm forward. The rumbling stopped soon after, their arms extended, and most of their fingers curled with a thumb pointing in opposite directions. Kade looked warily between them, wondering why one was giving him a thumbs up and the other a thumbs down. ¡°???? ???? ??????????.¡± His eyes darted around the hallway, trying to see who spoke that garbled sentence. It sounded like it came from everywhere, and there was nothing else near him other than the statues. It resembled the karnathi growl. He eyed the statues warily and decided he was being far too cautious. For someone who jumped into a hole without realizing it was a well, this waiting around did not fit his original intentions. Kade launched himself towards a statue and drove his [Soulrend] at its chest. He monitored its extended arm the entire way, but soon had his attention forced to focus on one thing. A sharp metallic sound rang out when his [Soulrend]¡¯s blade impacted the statue. His arms almost buckled at the backlash from the [Soulrend] failing to even make the slightest of dents. He lost his grip on his [Soulrend] for the first time, and it fell to the ground. The karnathi¡¯s blunt weapons flashed in his mind. Kade instinctively used his only other option and slammed his fist into the statue¡¯s stomach. He somehow made a small crack. ¡°???? ????.¡± Kade¡¯s eyes widened as he landed on the floor, picked up his [Soulrend], and immediately kicked away. He successfully put well over ten feet between him and the statues and noticed a change. The statue he hadn¡¯t attacked slowly lost the purple glow in its eyes. As for the statue he somehow cracked with his fist, it rumbled for a moment before slowly sliding up the wall. It revealed a stairway that led down. Kade glanced at the thumbs down on the statue¡¯s hand. He guessed that if he attacked the other statue, it would reveal a stairway leading up. He shook his fist lightly to get the slight sting to go away. Punching rock did not feel great, but at least he had broken no bones. Kade didn¡¯t miss that only his punch worked on the statue, even when his [Soulrend] was far more powerful. I can only guess this has to do with the karnathis. Maybe it is a training site. The statues he had first seen must be for weaker beings. It must be why they hadn¡¯t worked for him. Kade shifted his [Soulrend] to his non-dominant hand and walked down the stairs. If weapons had no effect, using his right arm would be far more ideal for maximum damage. Chapter 32 - Restricted He heard the statue slide down behind him and close off the exit. ¡°?????? ??? ???? ?? ?? ??????? ?? ????.¡± Kade¡¯s eyes darted about the room to see if there was any hint of what the voice wanted him to do. Unfortunately, there couldn¡¯t be a barer room in existence. ¡°System, what did the voice say?¡± Kade finally felt it was necessary to understand, since the room gave him no clue of what he needed to do. The language is unknown. He honestly did not expect that. He was about to resort to poking at the wall with the [Soulrend] when the room shook slightly. Kade¡¯s ears twitched when he heard something to his right. A hidden door slid up to reveal a large silhouette that was waiting impatiently to be let in. It was on all fours, and once it took a step forward, he saw its features. Kade wasn¡¯t sure where the karnathis found a boar, but they apparently didn¡¯t find it satisfactory for being completely organic. Instead of normal skin, this boar had a thick, stone-plated hide and sharp, metallic tusks. Combining that with its massive size meant this beast of a monster could easily snap him in two if he was careless. He could feel that the boar was more than a match for him. With his health already depleted from having to re-create the [Soulrend], he had to be extremely diligent in avoiding all contact with it. Still, Kade could feel the smile on his lips. He was beaming at finally finding a worthy challenge that would conveniently take him to the next [Arcana Level] if he succeeded. The very first thing he would test was the effectiveness of his [Soulrend]. He would plan how to deal with the boar depending on what happened during the test. Kade saw the hidden door close as the boar backed away slightly. It wasn¡¯t retreating. The fierce look in its eyes suggested it was doing the opposite. He gripped his [Soulrend] when the boar¡¯s snorts echoed across the chamber, its breath somehow visible in the warm air as it pawed at the ground. Its muscular frame rippled under its thick skin when it lowered its front. With the bellowing roar, the boar lunged forward, its feet pounding the stone floor as he charged at him like a one-beast stampede. Kade¡¯s eyes sharpened as he waited for the perfect moment to act. It was less than five feet away when he moved. He lunged forward to meet the boar in the middle and drove his [Soulrend] with all the force he could muster. There was a flash of purple that blocked the blade of his [Soulrend] from making contact, but he was ready for that. Kade shifted slightly to give himself more room while avoiding the boar¡¯s momentum and brought down the shaft of his [Soulrend] right on top of its neck. He frowned when there was another flash of purple before quickly jumping back several steps to put as much distance as possible between him and the boar. That was the same color as the miasma and the veins that were in the hallway. It seemed like all use of weapons, whether sharp or blunt, was blocked. He could test it again by using [Armor Break], but it wasn¡¯t worth the risk of depleting his limited [MP].Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Kade stored his [Soulrend] and clenched his fists. He had nothing against getting his hands dirty. He rolled his shoulders and gave a mocking smile to the boar. The boar grunted, its already fierce eyes intensifying until he noticed a familiar purple sheen. It barreled forward again, and this time Kade was caught by surprise. It accelerated to a speed that he did not expect. He could barely avoid the metal tusks, but he was still rammed into with a force that sent him flying across the chamber and slamming into the wall. Kade crashed to the floor and gasped as the wind was knocked out of his lungs. Still, he forced himself to stand back up before he became target practice for the boar. He was glad his first contact with the boar didn¡¯t take away much of his health. The only thing that was severely wounded was his pride. From the start, Kade had assigned an imaginary set of attributes to the boar. The highest were [Constitution] and [Strength]. [Speed] was lower than his own. That was wrong. The boar had hidden its actual speed. It was about the same as his, maybe even a little higher. A hog outsmarted me. Kade narrowed his eyes in anger. ¡°Try that again.¡± There was no chance the boar could¡¯ve understood him, but just like before, when he taunted a monster for his own self-satisfaction, it worked. The boar snorted angrily and charged again. This time, Kade met it head-on. He darted to the side at the last possible moment, twisting his body and slamming his elbow into the side of the beast¡¯s head. The heavy impact clearly disoriented the boar; even its thick skull couldn¡¯t prevent that. The boar let out a pained grunt for the first time. Kade was just happy that the purple light didn¡¯t reappear. He finally had a confirmed way to damage it. He didn¡¯t stop. Kade followed the elbow with a quick knee to its exposed jaw and felt its bone give slightly under the pressure. The boar reeled back, trying to slice him with its metal tusks as it attempted a retreat. He didn¡¯t allow it. Free Points: 1.5¡ª>0 Speed: 16¡ª>17.5 Kade pounced, using the additional quickness he now possessed. The slight addition might seem like nothing, but it was enough for him to catch the boar completely by surprise. He slammed his fist in the exact spot where his elbow had damaged the side of his head. This time with [Armor Break]. The boar squealed in pain, feeling the blow reverberating through his body and severely damaging its skull. Kade took advantage of its sluggishness and sidestepped, dodging a slow tusk swipe, and leaped onto his back before it could run. The stone plates that acted as its skin was perfect for getting a fantastic grip. He held on to its spine as it bucked violently in an effort to try to shake him off. He didn¡¯t allow it to distract him from his focus. Kade targeted the spot on his head that had already received multiple blows. He drove his fists into that exact area with precision, feeling the bone completely give after just the second punch. He had gotten in well over ten punches by the time he finally lost his grip after the boar made a particularly violent move by trying to body-slam him while he was on his back. Kade kicked away and grinned when the boar did more damage to itself by landing on his back and slamming its already broken face onto the stone floor. Purple blood seeped from its broken skull as it struggled back onto its feet. Its breathing was labored, and he doubted if it could still see out of the side he had targeted repeatedly. Still, after all that, the boar looked ready to continue fighting. Kade respected that. ¡°You¡¯re a tough one. I don¡¯t know if this is in your nature or if it¡¯s forced, but you put up a great fight.¡± He felt a little stupid saying words that the boar couldn¡¯t understand, but he felt like he had to give it some sign of acknowledgment before it died. The boar let out another roar, more out of rage than strength. It would be its last. The boar knew it, and Kade knew it. It charged once more, but this time, it was slower. Weaker. The damage Kade did to the boar¡¯s head had severely handicapped it. He still took it seriously. Kade ducked under its tusks, darting to the side of the boar he had been targeting all this time, and launched himself. The boar¡¯s head injury was utterly exposed, and it had no chance to retreat or reposition itself. Kade drove his knee into the side of the boar¡¯s head and heard a sharp crack. He felt something break. The boar collapsed, its legs buckling immediately. It took its last breath on the floor and turned into a white powder. Kade looked at his bruised hands and smiled. Getting into fights all the time as a teenager worked out. The interface appeared to break his moment of satisfaction, and surprisingly, the hidden door opened again. Chapter 33 - Rewards ¡°???? ???? ?????? ??? ????.¡± Kade ignored the voice and stared suspiciously at the belt beyond the hidden door. He reluctantly put aside the belt for the moment and reviewed his interface. He could feel his health recovering fully, so he must have leveled up. You have destroyed a Gravetusk Boar (Arcana Level 33)! Skills Learned! Rapid Strike (Level 1) - A flurry of quick punches in rapid succession. Elbow Smash (Level 1) - A straightforward, powerful elbow strike aimed to break defenses. Rising Knee (Level 1) - An upward knee strike aimed at the opponent¡¯s torso or chin. Kade felt surprised, but he shouldn¡¯t have been. He had been under the assumption that only spear skills would be available to him. Obviously, that was wrong. Rapid Strike (Level 1)¡ª>(Level 3) Rising Knee (Level 1)¡ª>(Level 2) Level-up! Arcana Level 32¡ª>Arcana Level 33 Free Points: 0¡ª>1 Level-up bonuses applied. Constitution: 34¡ª>35 Endurance: 18¡ª>18.5 Strength: 34¡ª>35 He dismissed the interface and approached the hidden door. Unless this chamber had more surprises for him, he suspected he needed to pick up the belt before he could leave. Kade looked around the hidden room and found it as bare as the chamber. He didn¡¯t know how the boar appeared here, but it looked fresh. Like it was recently caught. This place is fascinating. He picked up the belt, and the interface appeared again. Boarhide Belt - A rugged belt made from the tough hide of the Gravetusk Boar, adorned. It exudes a primal energy, enhancing the wearer¡¯s physical capabilities. Attributes: +5 [Strength] Adrenaline Rush ¨C Increases [Speed] and [Dexterity] by 20% when the wearer¡¯s health drops below 10%. ¡­ This is crazy. Kade reread the description to make sure he wasn¡¯t imagining things before tightening his hands around the belt. It resembled stone, like the boar¡¯s skin, but it felt leathery. He put it around his waist. You have equipped [Boarhide Belt]. Effects Applied. Strength: 35¡ª>35 + (5) Passive Ability Unlocked: [Adrenaline Rush]. He didn¡¯t feel any different from before, but he knew it would come in handy the next time he got into a fight. ¡°????? ??? ???????.¡± Kade¡¯s eyes darted around to see if any other hidden door would open, but it was the exit that became available to him.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. He didn¡¯t dawdle and left the chamber. The statue slid down to close off the entrance after he was in the hallway. Kade glanced at the statue, which had given him a thumbs up, but it didn¡¯t react. It seemed like these two statues would no longer respond to him. He didn¡¯t choose to return to the well. He continued deeper into the hallway, hoping to find another set of statues. He would not only face monsters stronger than him, but also receive a reward for defeating them. Kade thought this place might have been destined for him. He touched his new belt as he quickly traveled through the hallway. It was fantastic¡ªnot necessarily the looks but the effects¡ªbut his clothes had a habit of getting ruined. ¡°System, how durable is this boarhide belt?¡± It is not a typical article of clothing. If it can be added to your person as an [Item], it is considered an artifact. Artifacts will last as long as you are alive. Kade looked at his belt with a new appreciation. ¡°So, it can never get damaged?¡± Its physical form can be damaged and even destroyed when you are hurt. However, it will reform after you recover. That was a little less impressive, but still amazing. ¡°What happens to the effects the Item gives me when it¡¯s destroyed?¡± If an artifact is destroyed, the effects will no longer apply. That didn¡¯t sadden Kade. These are all minor negatives for what was an overall fantastic find. ¡°How rare are¡ª¡° He cut himself off when the hallway rumbled dangerously. He stabilized himself and glanced around for a cave-in. Kade had already experienced that once and had no desire to do so again soon. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously when the rumbling suddenly stopped. He heard familiar guttural growls where the hallway led to the well. The karnathis must have found the exterminated outpost. From the sound of it, he estimated it wasn¡¯t a small number that decided to investigate this hallway. Kade would usually choose to rush into danger. But this time, it was different. He didn¡¯t know if these karnathis could shut off access to those statues. And in all honesty, he didn¡¯t want to gamble on it. Ninety-nine percent of the time, Kade would choose to gamble, but not when it could lose him a potential reward similar to the boarhide belt. He ran. Away from the guttural growls. And Kade felt filthy about it. He felt like he was giving up free ranking points and potential [Arcana Level] growth, but sometimes it was worth feeling filthy. The next reward better be worth it. He saw two statues ahead and didn¡¯t hesitate to speed up before sliding to a halt between them. Kade noted the purple eyes of the statues when they activated. They were darker than the previous two, and he assumed that whatever was inside the chambers they were blocking would be stronger than the boar. Perfect. He waited impatiently for the statues to finish their motions with their thumbs. He could hear the karnathis getting closer by the second. ¡°???? ???? ??????????.¡± Kade launched with a powerful jump when the statues extended their thumbs. He slammed his fist into the statue¡¯s torso with the thumbs up, creating a tiny crack before falling back to the ground. ¡°???? ????.¡± He narrowed his eyes when the statue took its sweet time moving out of the way. When he finally did several seconds later, it revealed a stairway that led up. Kade could see a crowd of karnathis at the edges of his vision before climbing the stairs. He ignored the statue sealing the exit behind him and gaped at the size of the chamber he entered. It was just as bare as the previous chamber, but had to be exponentially bigger. An entire football field could fit inside, and there would still be plenty of leftover space. Kade waited for the voice to say something in the alien language. He couldn¡¯t even be bothered to figure out where the monsters would come from. This place was just too large to make an accurate guess. The best choice was to stay near the exit, the one place that was certain not to have a hidden door. ¡°?????? ??? ?????? ?? ?? ??????? ?? ????.¡± Kade was tempted to bring out his [Soulrend], but knew it would be a waste of energy at best. It might get shattered at worst, and he didn¡¯t want to deal with that again. He scanned the cavernous chamber for any signs of a hidden door appearing. He half suspected that he would soon fight a massive giant with the size of this place. If that were indeed the case, Kade wouldn¡¯t be unhappy. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time he fought a giant. He enjoyed fighting the lesser troll, even though it put him precariously near death. Kade heard a faint noise. His ears twitched as he tried to find the source, but failed to see what he could be. The noise multiplied. It sounded like¡­ wings. Flapping wings. His eyes widened as he looked up just in time to see sharp talons heading straight towards his face. Kade barely had the time to make a move to dodge it. He wasn¡¯t entirely successful. He hissed as the talons ripped open the side of his face. The only positive was that he didn¡¯t lose an eye. He ineffectually tried to punch the bird away to give him some space, but that was unnecessary. The bird screeched in victory as it returned to the others circling above. With his face bleeding heavily, Kade took in the appearance of the birds for the first time. They weren¡¯t too large, nor were the two small. Their feathers glowed like embers, and in their eyes, molten lava appeared even from this distance. They looked like falcons. Kade immediately accepted that these falcons must be far faster than he could ever be. It put him at a severe disadvantage, which he was eager to overcome. He saw several falcons break out of the group. They were all eyeing him. Kade prepared himself. Still, he couldn¡¯t stop the stray thought that entered his mind. The statues¡¯ thumbs up and thumbs down must lead to monsters capable of flight and monsters that were not. He would¡¯ve picked the one with the thumbs down again if he had known. Chapter 34 The massive chamber rumbled before he could make a move. The falcons screeched, just as alarmed as he was at the changes. Large pillars with ridged sections grew out of the walls, spaced only ten feet apart at most. Kade quickly realized what this was for. If the karnathis didn¡¯t use ranged weapons, they would have no chance of fighting any monster that could fly. These ridged pillars gave a way for him to get into the air, though there was nothing easy about it. Kade knew it would require tremendous strength, speed, and dexterity for him to do so. This wasn¡¯t about the level of attributes he possessed¡ªthough that still mattered¡ªbut more about his natural control over his body. The rumbling soon stopped, and Kade shifted into action, heading directly to the closest pillar. The falcons weren¡¯t idle either. A piercing screech echoed through the cavernous chamber, slicing through the brief silence that it had after the rumbling. He looked up to see them eyeing him as they settled back into their circling. Is circling what birds do before they attack? Kade didn¡¯t give two shits about birds back on Earth. Now, he wished he did, so he knew what the hell these things were doing. He monitored them as he planned how to get up there without the birds scattering away from his reach. Multiple distractions would be necessary to make this possible. Kade counted ten falcons above him. He thought that was an excessive number, but he wouldn¡¯t complain too much about something that would feed his [Arcana Level]. Without warning, a falcon dove at him, a streak of flame hurling through the air. He had plenty of time to avoid this telegraphed attack, but he had to practically dive to the side as its flaming talons slashed through the space where he had stood moments before. The heat was surprisingly immense¡ªrelatively. Kade could feel the cozy warmth even though it was at a distance. It was due to the impressive size the falcon possessed. He hadn¡¯t realized it was big enough for him to ride. It was unfortunate for the falcons that fire was their natural element. That would do next to nothing against him¡­ unless they could match the heat the patriarch could casually throw out. It was basically a nonissue. When the first one sliced his cheek open, Kade was aware these falcons were fast, but they were faster than he had anticipated¡ªmuch faster than he could be¡ªbut he sensed they were individually weaker. These falcons might have a higher [Arcana Level] but were fragile. He just needed to get his fist in contact, but that was easier said than done. A light bulb lit up in his mind. He kept an eye on the falcon that just dive-bombed and moved closer to the pillar. He kept enough space to get a good run toward it and waited for the next attack. Kade didn¡¯t know why these things took turns instead of going at him all at once, but he would make them regret it. The falcon that attacked him slotted back into the circle, and the next in line dove at him. He gambled. Kade timed his move perfectly. He ran straight at the pillar and used the ridges to climb its height rapidly. He cracked the pillar from the force of his kick to launch him towards the falcon.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. The falcon clearly didn¡¯t expect to meet him in the middle of the air. He hesitated just long enough for Kade to grab onto his leg. The falcon¡¯s defense was to light itself on fire and try to shake him off as it struggled to gain height with the added weight. Kade already acknowledged the birds¡¯ natural element being fire. It truly was unfortunate that setting itself on fire did nothing to him. He found the perfect moment to use the falcon¡¯s momentum and swung himself upward, flipping onto its back. The bird thrashed wildly, but he held firm and used his weight to steer it to the circle. Kade fully expected the birds to scatter in different directions. Thankfully, they chose a perfect moment to be bird-brained. The birds slowed as they looked at each other, confused about what to do with what they saw. He couldn¡¯t blame them. If he saw some random monkey using a friend of his as a steer, he would be shocked and frozen, too. Still, Kade intended to blow them into smithereens. The moment his ride unwillingly brought them closer, he kicked off with a devastating blow to the falcon below him. He leaped toward the circle and delivered a punishing fist to a second falcon. Both birds didn¡¯t have a chance to make a sound. They exploded into a shower of embers before turning to that familiar white powder as he fell back to the ground. Kade kept his ears out for any screeching as he tried to position himself the best he could to absorb the blow from such a high fall. He landed in a crouch, his muscles absorbing most of the impact, but his bones still cracked loudly, breaking from the sheer height it had to deal with. The pain was an old friend. He could deal with anything and fight on as long as he didn¡¯t have a limb or two cut off. Eight left. Free Points: 1¡ª>2 Kade grinned when he saw the notification. He had leveled up. This time, he didn¡¯t save his [Free Points]. Free Points: 2¡ª>0 Speed: 17.5¡ª>19.5 He could only perform the surprise maneuver once. There were still eight more falcons to destroy, and he needed to lessen the gap in quickness. Rage-induced streaks exploded above him. The bird-brained falcons finally noticed the absence of two of their brethren. They finally gave up their little game of attacking one by one. Still, they once again proved to be bird-brained. Two falcons dove at him simultaneously from opposite directions. An upgrade from just one, but still not enough. Especially when he noticed that their speed didn¡¯t seem quite as daunting. The falcons were still faster, but not fast enough for him to dodge frantically at the last moment. So he didn¡¯t. Kade waited until the last moment, and instead of dodging, he suddenly jumped high into the air. The falcons were stupid enough to crash into each other violently. He took advantage of their disorientation, stomped heavily on both the falcons¡¯ backs, and brought them down to the ground purely with his downward force. Kade reached down and grabbed both their necks with an unbreakable chokehold, squeezing with all his might as they frantically tried to get out of his grasp. He crushed them under his grip long before the falcons ever hit the ground. He grunted as he hit the ground with his damaged bones without cushion. The falcons¡¯ bodies had turned into white powder the moment he crushed their necks. Six left. Kade hadn¡¯t leveled up¡­ unfortunately. He eyed the remaining falcons and waited for them to act. It seemed like they finally understood the necessity of taking group action against him. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve that could deal with at least one more falcon. After that, it would be a real challenge. Even if he leveled up again, adding that [Free Point] to [Speed] would be negligible help. The temptation to draw his [Soulrend] made Kade¡¯s hands twitch. He was aware it was unlikely to be of any help, but a simple distraction or a feint using his [Soulrend] could prove extremely helpful. The issue with that plan was his [Soulrend]¡¯s habit of shattering after it left his hands. It made him wary of risking that. Kade hadn¡¯t forgotten what awaited him outside after he killed all these falcons. At least thirty karnathis wished to slaughter him. He had no desire to contribute to their wish by being without his [Soulrend]. He would need to reform it once again and sacrifice half his health to do so. Fighting them with only half his health would not be what he called ideal. The falcons shrieked out a war cry as they changed their circling positions. It seemed like they finally had a plan of attack, and he hoped it worked out better for them compared to the brainless birds that delivered themselves to him for slaughter. All six dove at him from different directions. More importantly, their trajectory would not cause them to smash into each other. They learned. Good. Chapter 35 Kade somehow weaved through the attacking falcons and survived their first combined dive with no harm. He quickly backed himself to the chamber wall. He blocked off their option of surrounding him and striking him at a blind point. The less area he had to pay attention to, the more he could focus on retaliating. The falcons were about to make another attempt. This time, he had a concrete plan. Kade¡¯s fingers twitched as he waited for the right time to take action. Two falcons would reach him first, with the others following shortly behind. Having the wall to his back screwed up their original plans quite a bit. It was all in his favor. Now. Kade summoned his [Soulrend] and slammed the shaft first on the ground. The falcon screeched in alarm when the [Soulrend] blocked it from reaching him. He noticed a purple glow protecting the falcon, but didn¡¯t care. He had already achieved his goal of summoning his [Soulrend]. He barely shifted in time to avoid the sharp talons of the second falcon. His shoulder still caught some damage since he wasn¡¯t as fast as he needed to be, but it was an acceptable trade-off. At the same time Kade had summoned his [Soulrend], he had thrown as hard as a punch as he could well to prepare for the second falcon. It might have caught his shoulder and left some deep gouges in it, but his fist landed directly on the underside of his body. Ferocious flames exploded out of the injured falcon as it gave it¡¯s all during its final death throes. The spiteful attack that attempted to take him with it into death would¡¯ve worked with most other things, but he was stupidly immune to fires. It gave a last indignant squawk before it disintegrated into white powder. Five left. The falcons that could¡¯ve taken a few chunks of his flesh retreated instead of pressing forward. They must have gotten frightened by the sudden way he had killed the falcon. Kade thought it was a shame. He had expected to come out of that encounter in a much worse shape. He had even planned it in order to allow himself to take out an extra falcon. Now he had to come up with a new plan. The falcons circled above him far longer than they ever had before. The bird-brained falcons were trying to come up with a plan of their own. Kade subconsciously played with the [Soulrend], twirling it with these as he considered his remaining options. Leaving aside his [Soulrend], two things might guarantee him an easy victory. However, one of those required his health to be below ten percent. The boarhide belt¡¯s attribute would increase his [Speed] and [Dexterity] by twenty percent when he was dangerously short of health. The problem was not getting into such a dire straight. It was doing so at the correct time, so a level-up would fully heal him before he faced the karnathis waiting for him outside. Kade resisted the urge to close his eyes and bang his head on the wall. He never thought he would need to plan the perfect time to get dangerously injured to win the fight. There was another option. Just be skilled enough to kill these overgrown chickens without hurting himself like a moron. He noticed a shift in the circling pattern. They decided on their attack strategy. Kade was prepared to perform impressive acrobatics to avoid being sliced open, but instead of seeing diving falcons, he saw them tighten the flying circle into something much smaller. Brilliant flames pulsed around each of their bodies, exploding to the circle¡¯s center before entering a single falcon. It looked empowered, as if it had become the incarnation of fire. That falcon broke from the circle, screeching in triumph as it rocketed towards him. Kade was ready. He put on a fierce expression and gripped his [Soulrend] with both hands as he aimed the blade directly at the falcon. This will hurt. The air around the falcon shimmered from the heat emitted from its body. The ground below its flight path lit up in flames in an impressive show of power. Kade couldn¡¯t help but think that the falcons were exceptionally unobservant. They would¡¯ve noticed how unaffected he was by far otherwise. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He put himself directly in the path of its talons. At the last second, he stored his [Soulrend] and allowed himself to be slashed open. Warning: Your health has fallen below 10%! Warning: You are experiencing heavy bleeding! Kade crashed into the chamber wall with a muffled grunt. His shirt was a mess. Gashes were crisscrossing his torso as he bled heavily from them. He could have planned it better, but it didn¡¯t matter anymore. It was too late, and it was done. [Adrenaline Rush] active: +20% on [Dexterity] and [Speed] He had noticed something very interesting when the falcon had gotten close to him. There was a thin tether that connected the falcon to the four that were flying the circle above. While that single falcon apparently had all the fire element power within their grasp, the other four were stuck in an almost sluggish, circling path. Kade needed to wait for that to happen again. He allowed the falcons to recharge undisturbed. Warning: Your health has fallen below 5%! The wait was almost too long. It took several minutes before the falcons pulsed. Fire rushed to the center. It all entered a single falcon again, which broke off from the group. Kade had been about to take drastic measures since he would¡¯ve bled out to death if he had needed to wait any longer, but once again, the bird-brained falcons proved to be seeking death. The falcon diving at him screeched in victory, as if it had already killed him. The previous attempts¡¯ success had given it far too much confidence¡ªconfidence that he intended to rip away. Kade eyed the falcons circling above and noticed they were once again sluggish. Whatever they had let a single falcon borrow sapped them of speed, which gave them the most advantage over him. He waited until the diving falcon was a second away from contact. He leaped towards the ridged pillar. A massive column of fire obliterated the spot where he had just stood and gave him plenty of cover to run up the pillar to a height that the falcons were circling. Kade grunted as he kicked off as hard as he could, chipping the pillar underneath him as he launched himself toward the oblivious falcons. The first went down without a clue of its life being in danger. The burst of embers from its death throes alerted the other three of an unwelcome intruder. Kade used the body of the falcon he collided with as a jumping point right before it turned into a white powder. He slammed into the falcon following from behind before hammering his fist into its skull, eliminating it in one shot. The falcons were fragile, and that played right to his advantage. Kade didn¡¯t have the chance to use the second falcon as a springboard and almost fell back to the ground, but the rage of the remaining two falcons in the circle caused them to speed up to avenge their fallen brethren. Kade backhanded the trailing falcon when it tried to snap his head off as he fell to the ground. He quickly clamped his hand around its leg before swinging himself around to get on top of its body. Instead of immediately killing it, he waited for the second falcon chasing him to catch up. He easily stayed on the back of the falcon he was riding despite its attempts to throw him off. It had already spent far too much energy and was of no match for his strength. The moment the second trailing falcon was close, he maneuvered the falcon below him by forcing its wings to tilt. The two falcons were side-by-side for a moment, and that¡¯s all he needed. Kade ruthlessly snapped the neck of the falcon he was riding before leaping onto its still-alive brethren on the side. He ignored the burst of flames from his old ride as it died before quickly locating the falcon that had unintentionally caused the deaths of its remaining brethren. The falcon he was riding finally realized that its end was near. Unlike the previous ones he had ridden, it didn¡¯t try to throw him off. It did something more intelligent. It went full speed directly into the chamber wall. Given its lack of options, Kade found its determination to kill him respectable. He patted the falcon¡¯s head, almost in congratulations, before he slammed his fist into its skull, ending its life. Kade would¡¯ve liked to allow it the death it desired, but he couldn¡¯t risk reducing the falcon¡¯s contribution to his [Arcana Level] growth if it died by crashing into a wall. He jumped off before it turned to white powder and stepped lightly on the ridge of a nearby pillar. He couldn¡¯t risk landing on the ground from this height with the amount of damage his body currently possessed. Kade felt a burning sensation before the interface alerted him of the increase in [Free Points]. Free Points: 0¡ª>1 He had leveled up. Kade searched for the last remaining falcon and found it sitting on a pillar¡¯s ridge on the far side of the chamber. It almost looked afraid to come near him. He was sure his rapidly recovering injuries had something to do with that. ¡°We both know how this ends!¡± Kade yelled across the chamber. ¡°I¡¯ll make it quick!¡± The falcon somehow didn¡¯t look convinced. It might have something to do with not understanding the language. Kade almost felt sorry for it. But he was required to get rid of all of them, and that was what he would do. He walked towards it leisurely. If it flew to a different spot, he could intercept it with a quick move up the pillars. Surprisingly, it didn¡¯t do that. The falcon puffed itself up before glaring at him furiously. It let out the louder shriek he had heard yet, his entire body turning into a molten form of itself. It looked like it was burning its life force and putting it¡¯s all into the last-ditch attempt. Kade would¡¯ve wondered why the other falcons didn¡¯t do the same, but it became obvious after it took nearly ten seconds to prepare itself. It took far too much time. The falcon jumped off the ridge and let out another piercing screech. It rocketed towards him like a fireball, setting fire to everything around it as it flew. It was impressive. He couldn¡¯t deny that. Kade could feel the heat pressing on his skin as the molten falcon got closer. It was nearly to a point where it could damage him, but unfortunately for the falcon, it wasn¡¯t enough. He shifted to the side to dodge its sharp talons, ignored the molten red heat, and grabbed its leg before grunting and throwing it down with tremendous force. The ground cracked under its weight before quickly liquefying from the intense heat. The falcon screeched in anger and tried to snap its beak at his arms, but Kade grabbed it by its neck and held it still. It still fought with all it had, but he could see that it knew its end was near. Kade roared and landed a punch so hard that it cracked the ground underneath the falcon even more. It instantly stopped struggling and became quiet. Within a second, it became white powder. Zero left. Chapter 36 He scratched his chest when he felt the phantom pain of the gashes that were there a few minutes ago. The interface was beeping softly to get his attention, but he was more interested in searching for a hidden door that must¡¯ve opened after he killed the last falcon. Not only did Kade want the reward behind it, but it would also confirm that he had cleared the challenges this chamber offered. He frowned when he saw no signs of a hidden door or heard it opening. Since the exit hadn¡¯t been unblocked, he assumed he would need to fight something else before this would be considered complete. Kade looked over the interface messages. You have destroyed 6 Ember Falcons (Arcana Level 32)! You have destroyed 4 Ember Falcons (Arcana Level 33)! Skill learned! Ground Pound (Level 1) - A powerful stomp, causing significant impact damage to enemies at the landing point. Footwork (Level 12)¡ª>(Level 13) Rapid Strike (Level 3)¡ª>(Level 8) Ground Pound (Level 1)¡ª>(Level 6) Level-up! (x2) Constitution: 35¡ª>37 Endurance: 18.5¡ª>19.5 Strength: 35¡ª>37 He dismissed the interface. Most of the information it showed was unimportant. However, he found the monsters he found so far in the Rift Zones curious. ¡°System, why does it seem like all the monsters I¡¯m fighting are just variations of what¡¯s on Earth?¡± The universe is vast. Our goal is to make humans comfortable at the start before introducing other elements in higher-class Rift Zones. ¡°You said this was supposed to be randomized.¡± Kade frowned. Randomized within a specific filter. That sounded like a long way of saying it¡¯s not randomized. Of course, he didn¡¯t mind so much. The System was right when it said he was more comfortable seeing familiar creatures. Kade kept searching the chamber, ready for any surprises that might jump out at him. However, several minutes passed with nothing happening. He wondered if a falcon still hid somewhere. ¡°???? ???? ?????? ??? ????.¡± He heard the same sound when the hidden door opened in the previous chamber. He looked around again and finally found it. Oh. It was at the top of the wall, bordering the ceiling, and beside a pillar. He should¡¯ve assumed it would be at that height since he hadn¡¯t seen the falcons enter the chamber at the start. Kade hopped onto the first ridge on the pillar closest to the hidden door and made quick work to get to the top. He jumped off and landed on the recessed edge before freezing in confusion. ¡°Oh, hell no.¡± He stared at three large eggs, each around a foot in height. Surprisingly, the eggs were all different colors. All three were mostly white, but each had a distinct tint: blue, red, and yellow. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that the thing that would come out of these eggs was probably a falcon. He wasn¡¯t sure what the colors meant, but that wasn¡¯t important. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Kade loved pets of all shapes and sizes, but he had never felt a desire to own one. His idea of a good pet was when it was someone else¡¯s problem, while he enjoyed the privilege of petting them in passing. That way, he wouldn¡¯t need to keep the pet alive and have it take over half his life. Kade already knew what he was going to do. Since he needed to pick up all these eggs to open the exit, that was precisely what he would do. Then, he would put them down and leave them exactly where they were. The interface aggressively interrupted his escape plans. Upgrade ready. Congratulations! You have reached Arcana Level 35. Your Class is eligible for an upgrade. Once selected, you will gain 1.5 Free Points per level up. Make your choice carefully. Once you select a Class, all changes are permanent. I completely forgot about the [Class] upgrade. Kade continued reading with a sharpened focus. Bloodbound Sentinel: A warrior who sacrifices their vitality to empower their strikes. Bloodbound Sentinels feed off their own bloodlust and injuries, becoming nearly unstoppable in prolonged battles. Below are the listed evolutions that might be available for you. Example Evolutions ¨C Crimson Guardian, Blood Reaver, Blood Mage Lancer, and Blood Titan. Level-up bonus ¨C +2.5 Constitution, +2 Endurance, +0.5 Strength ¡­ I think the System misunderstood why I was willing to take so much damage. Kade could see how [Bloodbound Sentinel] could help him, but he wasn¡¯t keen on purposefully going into a battle, knowing he had to be a masochist. He moved on to the next option. Arcane Lancer: A fusion of physical prowess and magical mastery. This class will help you power elemental magic through your spear. Below are the listed evolutions that might be available for you. Example Evolutions ¨C Elemental Spear Sage, Void Lancer, Arcane Dragoon, and Storm Sovereign. Level-up bonus ¨C +1 Constitution, +2 Endurance, +1.5 Strength, +0.5 Wisdom Kade couldn¡¯t help but gravitate towards [Arcane Lancer]. It had already been his way of fighting, and he liked it. The addition of [Wisdom] in the bonus adds to my attraction to this. Berserker Spearmaster: A relentless fighter who thrives on the chaos of battle. The Berserker Spearmaster channels their frenzy into precise, overwhelming spear techniques. Below are the listed evolutions that might be available for you. Example Evolutions ¨C Savage Spearlord, Revenant Spearmaster, Warpath Juggernaut, and Frenzied Dervish. Level-up bonus ¨C +1 Constitution, +2 Endurance, +2 Strength Kade reread the list and had to admit that all three options were attractive in their own ways. There was nothing he could call terrible and throw it out. However, [Bloodbound Sentinel] was the closest it would get. There was nothing about the Class that called to him. The bonus it gave him also implied how much he was expected to sacrifice his health to become stronger in a fight. Kade knew that logic was strange when he injured himself to become stronger during the fight with the falcons. However, that was a drastic, survival-type decision. It didn¡¯t mean he would be happy doing that in every fight. He knew what to expect with [Arcane Lancer]. The evolutions listed were attractive, but the bonus it gave him was the largest draw. He currently received zero [Wisdom] points, and he needed to use his [Free Points] to access his spells. However, this involved the hocus-pocus he turned his nose up at the start. [Berserker Spearmaster] best fit his ideals when he chose [Warrior] just a few days ago. It was a straightforward Class: all physical power, no complex thinking, and evolutions that followed the same path. A few days ago, Kade would have chosen this, and even now, the choice tempted him. His bullheadedness influenced his thoughts, but it technically wasn¡¯t wrong. Kade rolled his eyes. He knew what he was going to pick. There was zero chance he was going to reverse course after finding it so beneficial to use elements with the [Soulrend]. And his [Soulrend] was his primary weapon, and he suspected it always would be. Plus, some of those example evolutions caught his eye. Nothing promised they would be available, but the simple possibility was enough. You have chosen [Arcane Lancer]. Alert: [MP Recovery] limit raised due to [Arcane Lancer]. MP Recovery: 10% per minute¡ª>12.7% per minute. Kade¡¯s eyes widened when a surge of raw energy filled him. His heart pounded as power flooded his body, each beat sending pulses of light rippling across his skin. His [Soulrend] summoned itself into his hands as it became affected too. Arcs of magical energy crackled along its length as it vibrated intensely. Kade staggered slightly, not from weakness, but from the sheer change that accepting [Arcane Lancer] was causing in his body. He quickly placed a hand on the wall to hold himself up and waited. It felt like forever, but the surge of power died down only a few seconds later. ¡°Holy shi¡ª¡±Kade giggled in exhilaration, interrupting himself. He had never felt such a high before. He could immediately sense that his mediocre mana pathways had expanded. He had little idea what that meant, but that was something to figure out later. Plus, his [MP Recovery] was no longer limited to ten percent per minute. Kade gathered himself and stored his [Soulrend]. It was time to enact his escape plan. His legs were still a little wobbly from his recent experience with the power surge, but he made his way to the eggs. He picked up the red one first, since it was the closest to him. The intention was to pick up all three, but plans never really go as¡­ planned. The eggs, tinted blue and yellow, quickly hardened into stone before crumbling under Kade¡¯s eyes. He heard a crack. It came from the hand that held the red egg. Fuck. Chapter 37 Yes. ¡­ I can¡¯t do it. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. We do not provide such a service. If you feel this is necessary in the future, you may buy an artifact that will help you accomplish such a task. Well, there goes my plan of leaving it. A newborn Ember Falcon Chick has shown signs of bonding with you. Do you wish to accept this bond and make the Ember Falcon Chick your companion? Warning: You may only have one companion at any given time. The only way to break the bond is the death of one party. Additional information: A companion is considered a permanent party member, with all the benefits and disadvantages. Split rewards after completion of the objectives. You can also share the energy received from every kill with your party members. However, you can only share energy with party members after building a stronger bond with them. Both. A newborn Ember Falcon Chick is giving you the last chance to bond with it. Do you wish to accept this bond and make the Ember Falcon Chick your companion? You have formed a permanent bond with the Ember Falcon Chick. Companion: Ember Falcon Oh, well. I¡¯ll weaken these enough so the chick can land the last strike and claim the karnathis¡¯ energy. Chapter 38 Kade flipped his [Soulrend] so the blade was facing away from the karnathi. He was almost certain that a soft strike would immediately reap its life. That was usually his goal, but since he wanted to save these cannon fodder for the chick, he would need to keep them at the edge of life and death. The karnathi visible to him raised its club-like weapon as if it would ever have a chance to use it. Kade drove the blunt end of his spear directly at the karnathi¡¯s face. Purple blood sprayed out as the karnathi flew back, its face severely damaged. It knocked over several of his brethren standing behind it before slamming into the wall and sliding down. It was out for the count, but he managed to avoid killing it since it hadn¡¯t turned into a white powder. Kade quickly counted the number of karnathis that were waiting for him. ¡°I thought there were far more of you. This is going to be more disappointing than I thought.¡± The karnathis didn¡¯t have a chance to react to his words. Several seconds later, all five of them were lying motionless on the floor with heavy injuries, keeping them unconscious. Kade was sure this was only a small part of the group that had entered. The rest must have continued deeper into the tunnels. He wished all of them had waited to ambush him. The karnathis that proceeded ahead could have occupied the chambers available. The chick had been docile, other than small squawks every time the butt end of his [Soulrend] impacted a karnathi, but now it was shrieking as it tried to wiggle out of his grip. Kade glanced at it to see what the big deal was and saw it shrieking at the downed karnathis. It tried to resemble the adult ember falcons he dealt with in the chamber, but the sparks flying off its feathers were more adorable than threatening. ¡°You need to relax, baby chick,¡± Kade said as he lightly tapped the bottom of its beak, interrupting its squawking. ¡°I have a job for you. Kill these karnathis.¡± He knew the chick couldn¡¯t understand him, but their fragile bond was enough to convey what he wanted of it. The chick puffed up in his arms before trying to free itself. This time, Kade didn¡¯t stop it. It landed on the karnathi closest to them before sinking its talons into its head. The chick spread its wings as wide as possible¡ªwhich wasn¡¯t that wide¡ªand raised its head to the ceiling, squawking in triumph. Kade winced when the chick proceeded to jump up and down on the helpless karnathi, joyfully squawking every time its talons sank into the karnathi¡¯s head. The talons were far too small to kill the karnathi in one attempt. He was all for getting rid of the monsters, but the chick¡¯s prolonged attack was too much, even for him. At least it¡¯s eager. He was about to teach it how to kill the target quickly when the karnathi turned into a white powder. The chick froze in shock as they stared at the powder it stood on. It looked at him in confusion after a moment. ¡°Do the same to the rest,¡± Kade motioned at the rest of the karnathis. The chick was eager to follow his command and jumped on the next one. He quickly figured out that the chick was learning. It targeted the correct spots and killed the second karnathi within a few jumps. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Kade let it learn by trial and error. The chick was on the fourth karnathi when the interface unexpectedly appeared. Party member Eliza has destroyed a Pillar of Stability! Destroy the Pillars of Stability (0/2)¡ª> (1/2) Kade froze, feeling guilty that he had forgotten the objectives in the Rift Zone to play around in the tunnels. ¡°Nice job, Eliza. What did this pillar look like?¡± The reply was almost immediate. Eliza: Underwhelming. Imagine the Washington Monument, but skinnier. In fact, Kade could not imagine the Washington Monument. He had never seen it in real life or in pictures. He might be wrong about the pictures, but even if he had seen it, it would have been in school and long since disappeared from his memory. However, he knew it was reasonably tall¡­ at least, he thought it was. ¡°Were there any obstacles in the way before you could destroy it?¡± Eliza: An entire city. It was a shame that they were so uncooperative. Luckily, they had explosive fumes running through the sewers underneath the city. It was easy to ignite that and get past the defenses. Kade hadn¡¯t expected that. He supposed that if an outpost existed, larger settlements would be needed to support it. The chick interrupted him with a loud screech. He glanced at it to see that all five karnathis were gone, replaced with the white powder. The chick seemed stronger. It was still extremely small, but it no longer felt as fragile to him. This must be the bond giving him the info, since it changed little visually. Kade smirked when the chick squawked in victory as it jumped between the piles of white powder, literally stepping on the remains. ¡°You look like you¡¯re strong enough now. Keep up.¡± Kade traveled deeper into the tunnels. He didn¡¯t expect to get anymore chances to enter new chambers, but there was always a slim possibility. With the rewards the past two had given him, it will be worthwhile to make sure. He glanced back at the chick running after him, keeping up with the long strides with its short legs. Kade supposed the second reward was still up for debate. Still, he recalled the other two eggs that were an option. I wonder if the different colors meant they were of other elements. He looked at the chick following him again. It was puffing itself up and flapping its wings ineffectively as it tried to make threatening screeches at the empty tunnel before them. It alerted all enemies in the tunnel of their approach, but luckily for the chick, he didn¡¯t mind. I wonder if the other eggs had chicks that were less psychotic. Eliza: Why are you so close to me? We decided it was impractical to meet up in this Rift Zone. Kade immediately pulled up Eliza¡¯s location on the interface. He ignored the arrow and looked at the distance below. Eliza Brooks is 1,025 miles away. The last he saw the number, it was over three thousand miles. He knew for sure he hadn¡¯t traveled that far in the tunnels, so something unnatural was happening while he was in them. ¡°How long has it been since we entered the Rift Zone? I¡¯m exploring some tunnels right now, and I think it¡¯s causing me to travel much faster than I realize.¡± Eliza: I¡¯m not sure. If I had to guess, I would say around two days? Kade knew he hadn¡¯t been here for that long. There was something definitely off about the tunnels. ¡°I¡¯m stuck in some tunnels right now, and apparently, that¡¯s bringing me to where you are. At this pace, I should be close to you in around a day. I¡¯ll see you soon if I can find an exit there.¡± Eliza: Are you really stuck in a tunnel right now? ¡°Yes, really.¡± Kade knew that was stretching the truth, but he had no option but to explore the tunnel deeper... no other options at all. Eliza didn¡¯t respond, and that was just as well. The chick started screeching in excitement as it somehow lifted itself off the ground with frantic flaps of its immature wings. Kade quickly grabbed the chick before tucking it in the crook of his arm and keeping it there, much to its displeasure. He could see some karnathis that were staring at him in the distance. This time, he felt they would be a challenge. However, Kade cared little for them. He was more excited about the two statues they were guarding. ¡°Hey, baby chick,¡± he got its attention. ¡°I need you to stay back here and only approach me if you feel you are in danger. Got that?¡± The chick looked ready to squawk out a protest, but the glare Kade was giving it was enough for it to slump into a smaller ball than it already was. He didn¡¯t mind as long as it understood his orders were meant to be obeyed. ¡°Stay put, and maybe I¡¯ll leave one of them to you.¡± Kade placed the chick on the ground and made sure it didn¡¯t move before walking to the karnathis with a smile. It hadn¡¯t been that long, but it was long enough for him to miss using his [Soulrend] in a fight that meant something.