The topology of the rifts on Earth is a fascinating subject. The preliminary classification was proposed as soon as we received the location of all rifts. The first thing of note were rift clusters. For now, we classify the clusters as small, medium and large. There is a substantial disagreement as to how to name the overlapping clusters. Some of my colleagues propose to divide geographical regions by the rift clusters but that is a ludicrous idea.

Rifts classified as a cluster must be contained within a circle with a maximum radius of 10 km.

Small clusters contain between 4 and 7 rifts.

Medium clusters contain between 8 and 14 rifts.

Large clusters contain more than 15 rifts.

Currently, the largest cluster found on Earth exists in Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre National Park. It contains 37 rifts. It is currently the most dangerous place on Earth. Several attempts to enter the rifts and kill the bosses have failed.

This single rift cluster made Australia unhabitable.

Lawrence Lawe

World Government's Chief Scientist

***

They didn’t expect Willow Croft to be the one to join them. He was a researcher, not a soldier.

“I am excited,” Willow Croft said as they entered the rift.

“Show me your gun, Specialist Croft,” the captain said. Not questioning the request, Willow Croft showed the captain the gun and as Keynes predicted, lost it the next second.

“No shooting.”

“What? What do you mean? How are we supposed to kill the monsters?”

“You won’t do the killing.” The captain nodded toward Keynes and Kaito Ren. “They will do.”

This stressed Willow Croft so much that he failed to marvel at the surroundings. It was his first time in the rift. Why was he denied entry earlier, Keynes didn’t know but a more important question was, why enter now?

“You know what to do.”

The first four encounters went smooth. The researcher kept his cool better than they expected. Keynes managed to one-shot half of the wargs he faced, which made him proud. He couldn’t decide if the training was working or not as he was perpetually on the verge of collapsing but this was an improvement.

The issue came when an idea popped up in his head about the essence. He was getting better at guiding it, often painlessly. The captain’s training with the Level 2 claw seemed to benefit the process somehow. It made Keynes wonder if Spirit and essence were connected.

A relentless need to uncover the knowledge exploded inside his head and Keynes failed to kill a warg. It howled.

“Get a grip, Kid” the captain called out, then they noticed what happened. “Fight it! Use your Will. You can take a control of this.”

More howls followed in the distance.

“What’s the matter?” Willow Croft asked in a spooked voice.

Keynes tuned them out. His mind was connecting dots. Spirit. Things in the rift possessed spiritual energy. A strong spiritual aura was enough to stop his attacks. Spirit and essence were somehow linked. He closed his eyes, shutting the surroundings off.

At some point, the essence started pouring into him. A sign that wargs were dying. He didn’t guide the essence into the channels and instead started accumulating it, holding it inside himself.

He grunted, feeling his mental muscle strain. His Will had to kick in to help him maintain the essence in one place. And as more came in, something very strange started to happen. The ball of essence didn’t wish to remain in one place, it desire to flow, to spread. But the more he concentrated, the more he seemed to ‘see’ around the clump of the essence. Keynes knew he would be able to stop the attacks with this if he only knew where their source was.

Spirit attribute…

Of course. This was why his ailment was so susceptible to the spiritual energy. It originated in his spirit.

But where was it?

The essence became harder to hold and Keynes had to start guiding it around his body sticking to the channels as much as possible. Whatever these channels were, moving the essence through them left him satisfied…

Spirit attribute increased by 1 point.

What. The. Hell?

His eyes bulged. Staring at the system message he couldn’t comprehend what just happened. Did he just increase his Spirit attribute? Was this even possible?

He ignored others until the captain blasted him with his spiritual aura, which while extremely strong was a notch weaker than before. Was this Keynes’s increased Spirit at work? Had to be.

“What’s the matter?” Willow Croft asked. He looked agitated. Perhaps, he had to fight the wargs as well. Keynes didn’t care.

“Your eyes looked distant. A system message?” Kaito Ren asked. Bad timing to ask a question like this. Willow Croft immediately perked up.

“Did you receive a system message? What did it say?”

Wow. They didn’t even allow him to reply. Should he tell them? Would it make a difference?

It was a difficult question, one he couldn’t answer without thinking it over first.

“No message,” he replied. “Just checked my spiritual interface to see if my ailment caused any changes there.”

“That’s actually smart,” Willow Croft muttered. “Did you find anything?”

“No.”

“Well, we cannot have everything.”

Kaito Ren and Captain Ventura didn’t comment. The four of them moved forward, falling back into their training formation now that the overwhelming curiosity was gone.

***

“So this is the reward chest?” Willow Croft asked. “Can I open it?”

“Do what you want,” the captain said. “It belongs to the World Government anyway.”

A scroll and a white shirt came from the chest. A rather standard, underwhelming haul. Keynes didn’t pay it any mind. He couldn’t lay his hands on this stuff anyway so there was no point dwelling on it.

“Tell your team we will return like yesterday, just before the recharge time is complete.”

“Lord Earl asked me to stay with you until you leave the rift.”

Kaito Ren glanced at the captain who… shrugged. Shrugged.

“Suit yourself. You two slackers. Get back to your training.”

***

Lord Earl sat in his office, keeping his face straight. He couldn’t believe Croft’s words.

“He made Specialist Ren chop down trees with a sword? Why?”

“He described it as training.”

“And Keynes Kid was meditating with a large claw?”

“For the most part, yes. They also sparred and, well, how to say it, Captain Ventura threw pebbles at them and they had to dodge them.”

Lord Earl was close to sending orders to put the captain behind the bars but could he afford to do so? Soon, they would encounter another boss rift. Besides, they needed to level up Keynes as fast as possible.

“Sir, if I may.”

Lord Earl gave him permission to speak.

“While Captain Ventura’s methods seem bizarre, their underlying tenet is sound. I have never been one to focus on the main attributes but I have some exposure to the subject and there is strong evidence that specific workout increases attributes upon levelling up. It may be worth observing their progress. For scientific purpose.”

Of course, it was possible. There were many organisations pursuing attribute improvement. The World Government hadn’t shadowbanned it without a reason. They were allowed to train only one attribute without repercussion. Like the Oriental League, which Specialist Ren originated from. But if they went and did more than that, the World Government had no mercy on them.

“Fine. I will allow it for now but keep reporting anything unusual. I want to know where they are going with this.”

“Yes, sir.”

He’d need to do more inquires about Ventura it seemed.

***

The time of the second boss excursion came. The captain gave Keynes and Kaito Ren time to recover, which was a bad sign. It meant he was going to push them harder.

But what ensued was not even in the realm of possibilities in Keynes’s head.

Rift (Common)

Level

1

Status

Open (Ruptured)

Requirements

-

Modifiers

Lesser Orb of Luck

Details

This rift contains a boss. The number of rift monsters increased by 100%. Rift monsters HP and attack are increased by 5%.

Affinity

Nature, Luck

Special Status

-

That madman used the orb on the rift with a boss spawn! What was he thinking? The researchers present in the pre-rift room went ecstatic.

“You may better pass on this one, Croft,” the captain said and before the specialist recovered, they entered the rift.

This rift contains a boss.

The number of rift monsters increased by 100%.

Rift monsters in the vicinity of the boss are empowered.

Rewards from the boss encounter are more profitable.

Rift monsters are affected by the Lesser Orb of Luck (1% chance to drop a common item upon death).

Rift monsters have increased HP and damage by 5%.

Clearing the rift under 30 minutes will provide extra rewards.

Keynes barely finished reading the system message when Captain Ventura took away the sword from him and charged toward a pack of wargs.

“What the hell?” Keynes muttered.

Kaito Ren didn’t fare any better but a quick guess told them that it was about the last line of the message. They needed to clear the rift in 30 minutes to get extra rewards. Cool. But how did the captain expect the three of them to do this?

“We better get to this,” Kaito Ren said.

Without a sword, all Keynes could do was to avoid wargs and playing with the essence. Since his Spirit attribute increased, there was a slight improvement in the way he guided the essence. Also pain lessened, which made his conclusion about the connection between Spirit attribute and essence correct.

Even though there were twice as many wargs, Captain Ventura went through them with startling ease and speed. This man was no joke. Keynes doubted other Level 5s could match him. He was living proof that his training actually worked.

2 minutes left.

5 rift monsters left.

They could see it. One of the five monsters was a boss. It looked as angry as the first time. The captain didn’t waste time and leapt forward. He didn’t bother with the four weaker wargs and taught by the first encounter didn’t try to decapitate the boss.

He drove the blade straight into its eye. But this turned out to be a mistake. The four remaining wargs didn’t attack him as they should but started running away.

The rift’s boss has been killed.

You gain a single instance of the Bountiful buff.

The Bountiful buff increases the chance to find a higher rarity item or skill from the reward chest by 10%.

“Get them!” the captain roared.

Keynes went after one but he didn’t exactly understand what he was supposed to do without… Wait, some of the wargs had dropped items. They ignored them as they had to race after the idiot captain.

1 minute left.

3 rift monsters left.

Oh, bollocks.

He scanned the ground in the hope to find a dagger or a sword; Something that would give him a chance against the monster. Desperately, he spun around looking. He failed to notice that the warg turned around and rushed toward him.

Keynes’s reflexes fired up at the last second. He wasn’t sure what shocked him more, his deftness or the warg. Still, he didn’t fully evade the claws of the beast.

It didn’t matter. On instinct, his fist flew and punched the warg in the throat. It was the only vulnerable spot he could think of and he’d seen Kaito Ren do it a few times when he faced more than three wargs at the same time.

10 seconds left.

1 rift monster left.

The warg was on its way to the other side but it would take time! What to do?! His mind went blank as he stared at it.

“Catch!” came a call.

Keynes turned his head saw a freaking sabre FLYING in his direction. It landed inches from his feet.

5 seconds left.

1 rift monster left.

“KILL IT!”

Shit.

Keynes grabbed the sword.

4 seconds.

Raised it above the warg’s head.

3 seconds.

And slammed it down.

2 seconds.

It stilled. Dead. Shit. I did! Yes.

Congratulation!

Challenge Mode has been unlocked for this rift.

Keynes collapsed. All this effort drained him mentally. Even dealing with essence was draining, despite the huge progress he had achieved in that department.

“You gave me a fright,” the captain said, his face smiling.

“You should have killed the four wargs first,” Keynes replied forgetting who he was speaking to but the captain didn’t mind the breach of protocol.

“Yeah. I am surprised they fled. Must be something to do with the extra rewards. Challenge mode. Whatever it is, I like it already.”

Kaito Ren approached them. He once more looked like he just fell through a shredder. Despite that, he seemed happier than ever since Keynes had met him.

“Challenge mode, huh? I wonder what else is hidden from us,” Kaito Ren said. “What do you think about the other reward?”

“What other reward?”

They glanced around and only then did they notice two rings lying beside them. They looked plain, silvery, with thin engravings.

“Enchanted,” the captain said.

“Really?” Keynes snatched his ring before others decided to take it from him.

Contender’s Ring (Uncommon)

“Show them what you got.”

+1 to All Main Attributes

[Ring]

Level 1

This thing… holy shit. It was a real treasure. The only question was how did that stuff work. Did it pick one sub-attribute and add 1 point to it or did all sub-attributes receive a boost? The latter would be bonkers.

“We shouldn’t tell them about this,” Kaito Ren said. “I don’t know how it works but +1 to all main attributes… Just put it on, you will notice the difference.”

Keynes placed it on his finger and gasped in shock. It seemed that the latter option was the right one. All of his sub-attributes must have been boosted by 1.

“What makes you say that?” the captain asked. Keynes couldn’t be the only one to notice the shift in his tone. It wasn’t that he got less jovial but more solemn.

Captain Ventura was many things but serious wasn’t one of them. So, that sudden shift got Keynes’s attention.

Kaito Ren was slow in reply. Various emotions crossed his face. He struggled a little before answering the captain’s question.

“They will never share this with people.”

This made Keynes feel a bit bad about hiding information from these two but only a little.

“They will not. This is how the World Government operates. Everything is a secret.”

“The things we found here… this would change the world. Your training—while I am not a fan—is really working. Shouldn’t we do something about this?”

“We would have to go against the World Government.”

“I know. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s just the world’s so different even from the Oriental League. They share their secrets and try to improve people’s lives.”

“I wouldn’t go this far. They train their members but I wouldn’t say they share their secrets.”

What were they talking about here? Could it be… that they quietly considered running away from the base? But then what? How would they find other rifts? Even if they did find them, wouldn’t the World Government know as well? He wasn’t anywhere near the strength that guaranteed him freedom. Not with his Talent. This alone would make him a prisoner of any faction interested in the rifts.

“Maybe,” Kaito Ren said, his voice distant. “But all the alternatives are worse. They hoard knowledge, stopping the world from advancing.

The captain nodded.

“So what would you do about it?”

Kaito Ren glanced at Keynes then shook his head.

“I don’t know. I have to wrap my head around this. I think we have a reward chest to open and items to gather.”

They returned to the clearing where the captain proceeded to harvest the claws and canines.

“Is this necessary?”

“Isn’t your Spirit training working?”

“It does, albeit slowly.”

“Good…”

Keynes approached the reward chest. When he touched it, the spiritual energy felt thick in his mind. He had no idea what level it was but it was a stark contrast between the Level 2 claw and this. Even Captain Ventura didn’t know its level. That was telling.

Without asking for permission, Keynes activated his Talent and attempted to open the chest.

A hidden door was detected.

Attempting to open the hidden door…

The hidden door opened.

Okay. What now?

Keynes blinked and saw a small compartment within the chest that couldn’t physically exist because it would stick out of the chest. He opened it and found inside a small pouch.

Poor Man’s Pouch (Uncommon)

“I’ve got nothin’ to hide.”

Dimensional space (1m^3)

[Pouch]

Level 1

With trembling hands, he pulled the pouch from the hidden compartment. It was unexpected on many levels. He’d been so consumed with opening the rift that he failed to realize that he could open other things… like doors. Technically, if he wished, he could get out of this place.

How could he miss that? Oh, shit. I was so terrified that I missed what was in front of me. With my Talent, nothing can pin me down. My Talent makes me truly free. Yes, he lacked strength but for now, his dreadful training was pushing him in the right direction.

So what was the dimensional space?

He squinted at the two men and, of course, they were watching him. His internal debate was swift. He wouldn’t mention the pouch if they didn’t ask about it.

As they kept staring, Keynes understood what they wanted and put his hand back into the reward chest. He found there another plain ring, an earring and a belt. All unidentified. Why were Contender’s Ring and Poor Man’s Pouch identified? Never mind. It was a question for later.

He showed them the items from the reward chest, which Kaito Ren took, but kept the pouch to himself, not informing them about it.

“What did agitate you so much there?” the captain asked, watching him like a hawk. Keynes swiftly came up with an answer.

“The chest. It possesses potent spiritual energy. I was surprised when I touched it.”

Satisfied with the answer, the captain directed them to the carpet of the corpses they’d left on their way here. They went on to gather the items the wargs dropped due to the modifier applied by the orb. It was a fascinating concept – modification of a rift. What kind of modifiers existed out there?

To their disappointment, only five items were dropped. The drop rate was pisspoor. Which wasn’t exactly the bad news. While Kaito Ren wished to share secrets with others, Keynes wasn’t so sure about it. His Talent was the prime example. The more people knew about it, the more danger Keynes would find himself in. He’d need to open all the rifts in the world, which might take decades, and he didn’t know if there were rifts off-world. Pretty much, Mars and Venus should have their own version of rifts. Yeah, it’d never end. He either needed to become the most powerful being in the world, find a way to make his Talent into a physical object and give it to those in power or disappear.

“At least we have two shortswords for you, slackers. With them, I will be able to push you harder.”

Keynes shook his head. This didn’t even surprise him anymore. Captain Ventura was obsessed with squeezing the juice out of them.

“We don’t have scrolls to identify them,” Kaito Ren attempted at salvaging the situation. It made Keynes chuckle that Level 3 was trying to avoid today’s workout.

“Then you will use them unidentified.”