A wave of screams echoed over the world as red tears ripped open scars in space.

"They're not supposed to be that color…" Dexter said, afraid of the darkness beyond the blood-red rifts.

"My sister," Alina said, her face asking if they would be able to reach her in time.

Tossing her a stamina bar, Dexter crouched down for her to climb on his back. "Don't eat it yet."

After consuming the ration bars he had obtained from George, he knew the quality of ration bars he was given inside the bronze chest outstripped those of the Unranked variety. For the time being he would be able to carry her down the mountain, but there would come a time when they would all slow him down, and he needed them to at least have the stamina to keep up.

Dexter practically flew into the tunnel, leaping like a pebble skipping over a lake. Alina, built with the frame of a supermodel, had slowed him down, but to his surprise she attempted aura resonance, lightening the burden she placed on him. Her control was sporadic, but with each attempt, he soared an extra two meters.

"Get your dagger ready," Dexter Said.

"My claws are sharper," Alina replied.

"Maybe, but you don't have a Mastery skill for them."

"I don't have one for my dagger either," Alina said.

"Very well," Dexter said, keeping Munchkin and his spear at the ready. The skill was anchored a meter and a half in front of him, ready to shred whatever approached him. The name Aberration had haunted his mind alongside the red rifts ever since they appeared, and whatever they were, he didn't want them to catch him off guard. Somehow something had gone wrong, and it was more frightening than what he had expected.

"Were the rifts in your introduction red?" Dexter asked.

"No, and they felt different as well," Alina said with worry in her voice.

Dexter agreed silently. If the visions he received of the Arashic Rifts felt like an apex predator stalking prey, then the red rifts were akin to a serial killer with full rein to slaughter as they pleased. He knew the Arashic Rifts enhanced the wildlife surrounding it, and through the air tunnels he could hear the corrupted rifts doing the exact same.

Roars vibrated the inside of the tunnel, leading Dexter to believe that one of the rifts was on top of them. He had only counted five, but they were apart by vast distances, only viewable due to his height on the mountain. There was a clear path to the Safe Zone, and luckily the rifts hadn't affected his compass. He just had to make sure they escaped before a horde of awakened beasts swarmed them.

"Awakened…" Dexter said, remembering the creature that was once a nurse. He finally understood what the term Aberration stood for. Who else could absorb all energies, irrespective of their affinity? In his mind, the waxy gray skin of the Aberrations turned to a blood red, mirroring the rifts above.

"Alina," Dexter warned, telling her his theory. He felt her shudder run through him as she whispered.

"Please, faster…"

Dexter dashed at record time, kicking off walls to correct his flight. Yet, it still took him over an hour to exit the mountain, and as he did so Munchkin soared to life, bisecting a mountain stalker.

[ Points received! - 53 Renown! ]

[ You have slain a lvl 11. Mountain Stalker - demon variant. Fend off the invasion! ]

[ New Quest Available! ]

There was a river of beasts flowing up the courtyard, marred by fire and blood. The peaceful serenity had been broken.

"Anna!" Alina roared, rushing to Kwame's aid.

The man had placed the little girl in a rosha tree and was defending her like a bulwark. Energy flowed from the earth, reinforcing his strikes as they caved in skulls. It was unfortunate that the skill was tied to his body. Dexter guessed he could use some hammers or clubs, but as it turned, out he didn't need either.

Rushing forward, Dexter slammed into the charging mountain stalkers with spear and scythe. Twirling with the wind song blaring in his veins, he danced a duet where his newly tempered blade ushered the beasts into the duat. He was a storm of finesse, moving between each beast as they released their final breath. With the corrupted rifts, he had gained a quest and unlike before, Renown was offered for slaying the variants.

[ Points received! - 58 Renown! ]

[ Points received! - 62 Renown! ]

As the beasts he once considered weregoats increased in level, Dexter noticed they took on a more demonic appearance. The demonic energy turned them into gruesome savages with dark casts over their features. They were now true monsters fit for a haunted house, and could no longer be considered as simple wild beasts. Yet, whether transformed or not, they met their end to a barrage of blades.

Dexter had finally culled the hoard around Kwame's stand and pushed his way towards George and Nyo. The Bali native used a fire blast technique, coordinating Energy Bolt with the fireballs released from her companion. George, surprisingly swift with his sword, swept up the injured beasts, gutting them with precision strikes from his sword. If Dexter didn't know better, he would have sworn the man followed in his footsteps and assigned his points to Dexterity.

Grinning, Dexter made quick work of the beasts approaching the arsonist, when he heard an audible gasp as Nyo looked on from behind him. His Wind Scythe was a force unto itself, and it made for an interesting sight as the beasts behind him were cleaved in two while his spear blurred in the opposite direction, glowing with a faint blue that was a near image of his robes.

"Dexter!" Alina shouted over the carnage. "You're going the wrong way! That's a dead end!"

Her voice had finally got to him, and when he stopped, he realized that he had pushed into an area of the courtyard that he had never seen. There were more rosha trees, but the picturesque landscape of the garden was littered with the bodies of demonic beasts.

Rushing towards the trees, Dexter stashed the berries in his bag and cut open a few for their seeds. He was no gardener, but whatever he could cultivate was far better than the blood-red aura that would alter the fruit's properties. Satisfied with the amount, Dexter ran back to the group.

"Glad to see you return," Kwame said. "We weren't sure if you'd make it."

"She'd have killed me otherwise," Dexter said, pointing at Alina.

"Can we make it out of here?" Nyo said with a desperate voice. The question wasn't asked to anyone in particular, but they all looked to Dexter as if he had the answers. But before he could form an answer, George spoke up.

"Well, we for sure as hell can't stay here. If you had listened to me earlier, we wouldn't have ended up in this mess."

"George is right," Dexter said, watching Alina's eye's look up towards the Heaven's Storm trial. "It's not as safe up there as you think. We're more likely to get trapped as more demons find their way in."

"Demons?!" Anna started to cry.

Dexter watched Alina pull her in for a hug when he brought up his quest panel.

[ Quest: Demonic Banquet (Greed) ]

Close the corrupted rifts before the arrival of the Demon Lord's army. Rifts closed: 0. Current stage: 1/3 Reward: Ranked item. Quality based on contribution and rift stage.

Greed, Dexter frowned. Is that a new rarity? He told the others to check their quest and asked the same question.

"It could be," Kwame said. "Or the type of demons invading."

"When will they arrive?" Nyo asked.

"At the end of stage 3 is my guess," Dexter said. "But let's not wait around." He pulled out his compass and beckoned them to follow.

Hours after they escaped the gardens, Dexter looked to his side and finally laid eyes on the rift that he had worried about. It floated in the middle of a mountain range, and pulsed like a beating heart. Inside its depths were flashes of red lightning overtaking the backdrop of the void.

"It's like a wound," Nyo said, holding Asha as she ran.

Dexter found himself nodding as they continued to race down the mountain. Each pack of demons were left for him to annihilate, granting Alina and the rest an unobstructed path. Dexter had split his remaining stamina bars between the group, which they synchronized to get the most out of their speed.

Three days passed as Dexter racked up over a thousand kills, netting him over 50,000 Renown points. The addition of points were like bonus weekends on the old MMOs he often played, and Dexter made sure each member of the group had their turn. They weren't as efficient as him, but on the next day they all surpassed the hundreds as they left the mountain range.

Dexter had kept an eye on Alina in particular, watching her blend aura resonance with her movement skill Quick Step. He had become envious as she showed skillful mastery of the skill, darting around a demonic hound with her awakened skill Razor Claw. The skill had only manifested on her right hand, but it was the exact copy of the claws Dexter had seen from the aberration. Aberration skill stones didn't simply contain a variant of the skill, but the abilities held by the original owner and its growth potential.

A hint of the dominant aura leaked out of Alina's palm as she struck the hound from behind, clawing through its spine with the help of Lesser Giant Strength. She was about to rush another of the hyena looking greyhounds, when Dexter dropped from the air, stealing her kill.

"You're bleeding," he said, activating Healing Pulse.

"It's just a scratch," Alina said.

"By a demon," Dexter finished. "Who knows what will happen if you let it fester."

"He has a point," Kwame said, carrying little Anna.

At the sight of her sister, Alina relaxed.

"Dexter, which way does your compass point?" George asked.

"That way," Anna said.

The little girl had an uncanny awareness that had made itself known as they left the mountain. Without seeing the needles on his compass, she had guessed the correct direction too many times for it to be a fluke. Dexter wondered if it was an innate ability of hers, or an ability given to the vulnerable, revealing the fastest path to the Safe Zone. But as he checked the compass, he remembered Alina saying that it was Anna who discovered the Garden of Tranquility.

"Right again," Dexter said. "Does she have an attunement?" he asked Alina.

"Attribute scaling. It boosts her Perception," she answered. "I'm healed now, let's go."

Compared to the mountain, the forest held a different atmosphere. God rays broke through the canopy of the trees and endless cries harassed them. Distant battles where wild beasts and demonic variants fought for dominance. The further they moved away from the mountain, the less they encountered beasts altered by demonic aura. But with time, the rift would open to another dimension, spreading its plague like a rising sun.

After jogging for over a dozen miles, the interior of the forest bunched into a haphazard maze. Fallen trees and advanced root systems blocked multiple pathways, causing significant detours. Dexter wondered how long it would take them to clear the forest, culling the dense foliage of twining roots, when he sensed a change in their aura. It occurred as twilight shined upon them, waking the nocturnal creatures. He had to ignore their distant howling to focus, and as a result, he discovered an energy network that flowed throughout the forest.

Minute pulses made their way down from the canopy of the trees to their root systems. From there, various channels spread out. Intersecting paths that augmented the energy flow, enhancing the different species of plants surrounding the trees. The mushrooms at the base of the trunk grew wider and vibrant, drawing away attention from the trees. The thorns on a set of poisonous vines had its own enhancement, growing just a bit sharper and perhaps more poisonous.

Dexter realized the connection was a form of symbiosis where the trees fed the flora unable to receive energy from the sun, and in return gained protection from the surrounding wildlife. It was an interesting discovery, and soon Dexter began to fiddle with his energy control. His distracted nature had pissed George off multiple times, who yelled for him to 'hand over the compass if you're just going to hold us up.' Dexter explained that he wasn't distracted, and that they had to ration the stamina bars he had left, but it was as if the man was looking for any reason to argue.

Two days later, Dexter had replaced George as the annoying one, and bugged Nyo to teach him her secret to energy control. The woman had been a teacher before the eclipse and alongside her stats, the new ability was now turning her into a mage. Out of the group, she had been the only one to form pathways, although she had trouble making them permanent. Through her, Dexter's theory had been tested.

"Please!" he begged. "One more trial and I'll be able to glimpse the secret."

"No." Nyo said. "You're going to get me killed."

"You're not going to get harmed," Dexter assured her. "And with the pathways' energy boost, you practically become a Super Saiyan. Who doesn't want to be a Super Saiyan?"

"Yeah, who doesn't want to be a Super Saiyan!?" Anna joined in.

"Keep it down," Nyo hushed, knowing full well it was Dexter's intention to lure the surrounding beasts in the area to their location.

A few minutes later a pack of forest hounds surrounded them, and by bribing Alina and Kwame, Dexter had them sit out, allowing Nyo to demonstrate her new ability.

Rolling her eyes, Nyo called to her companion Asha, and together their auras flared, conjuring a grand Fireball. Compared to its previous version without energy channels, the skill looked as if it were an entire tier higher. Energy pathways granted a bonus to energy efficiency, which in turn allowed skills to hold more power.

"Again," Dexter said, reaching out with his senses to feel over her body. His face contorted in complete concentration as he focused inward. A forest hound had gotten past Nyo, and he didn't even register the kill when Munchkin leapt out of his robe and slayed the beast.

When he finally opened his eyes, Alina was staring at him. "Did you succeed?"

"No," Dexter sighed. "What about you?"

Her beaming smile was all he needed to know. Before she spoke, he pushed her cheesy grin out of the way, and spoke to Kwame. But the man seemed to be preoccupied. Following his gaze, Dexter saw Nyo bend down to pick up Asha. "I guess you're more interested in private lessons, huh?"

Kwame laughed and rose to his feet. "Let's get out of here before George explodes."