Keynes collapsed into a heap, his body refused to do his bidding. Even speaking was agony. But he needed this. For more reasons than he’d suspected.

Kaito Ren didn’t hold back and though he was Level 3 his Strength attribute was maxed out twice and his Dexterity trained to a solid level. Keynes stood no chance but he didn’t mean to. His primary aim of duelling the head trainer was to max out his Vitality, which he did. He received a system message during the fight and a momentary distraction cost him several painful hits.

“I am ready to level up.”

Kaito Ren twitched.

“You did it,” he stated, giving Keynes an unreadable gaze.

“Yes.”

“If Ventura didn’t reveal to us his true Talent, I’d have thought his Talent allowed him to see the true potential in you. Maxing out all attributes. This is something I’ve never heard of. And you’ve changed since we met in Jamaica. It was only two months ago but it feels like a lifetime.”

“I was a … different person then. As you said to me, the real world is not high school. It seems I finally understand what the real world is about though I don’t like it. I need Level 2 now. With Butchereyev, Lazark and Oxford out of the way, you can let me, Fen, Tulli and Samuel do the rifts for no essence penalty.”

“Alone?”

“I can do these rifts by myself now. I don’t need a nanny.”

Kaito Ren mulled Keynes’s words then asked.

“How low is your essence absorption?”

“Thirty percent.”

“That … is very low. And how much essence do you have right now?”

“Twenty percent.”

“From the cluster, you should get an eighty-seven percent in a single cycle without any penalty. But thirty percent will give you—”

“Twenty-six percent,” Director Wolf said. He must have entered the gym during their conversation. “With uncommon rift’s boss day every eighteen days, you’ll roughly need three cycles to level up.”

“It’s less than a month.”

Director Wolf paused then looked around. The gym was empty. Everyone had their maxed out attributes already: Tulli had Mind, Samuel King had Strength and Dexterity and Fen had these three. While the rest of the trainees had none which allowed them to level up ahead of everyone.

Director Wolf’s eyes glazed a little then he refocused his gaze on Keynes and Kaito Ren.

“I will most likely be transferred away from the academy.”

His words stirred something in Keynes, although, outwardly, he showed nothing. With his affliction under control at the moment, there should be no empathy for the director from him and yet, a flicker of loyalty appeared. Seeing the disturbed face of Kaito Ren, Keynes drew the only plausible conclusion – the director’s Talent had to be at play here. Perhaps, something akin to his mother’s soothing Talent.

The director placed his hand on Keynes’s shoulder and looked into his eyes.

“High Lord Earl wants quick results but I believe in nurturing our brightest youngsters. Still, I am a loyal subject to the World Government and they are not thrilled by my decisions here in the academy. I wish you good luck, Keynes. Ren, keep an eye on him.”

Director Wolf walked out of the gym.

“What was this about?”

“He stuck his neck out for you,” Kaito Ren said with near reverence. “He’s a good man.”

“If they didn’t approve of my training, why haven’t they stopped me?”

“Honestly? I think the shit hit the fan and they found themselves a neck-deep in it.”

***

The next month was chaotic.

The world was at war for real this time. After the deaths served by the Stonewoods, the Old Blood families unleashed their fury upon each other. The city saw an influx of refugees, many were families of the troopers and employees living currently in the city.

Civil unrest with mass protests happened in all the major cities around the world. Many of the important companies lost half of their output without the key executives.

Food was getting scarce as both fighting sides decided that destroying supplies would be a great idea. Because the city relied on such supplies, rumours headed toward a dark territory.

Some troopers got drunk and anxious and started voicing their fears. They were never heard of again.

Director Wolf’s transfer was postponed. It was what saved the city from a full rebellion. He gathered a collective of farmers and gardeners and made them cultivate food using Level 1 soil, minerals and water.

The park was turned into a farm. Because of the weather, they had to erect greenhouses. The effects exceeded expectations. The Level 1 materials sped up growth, made the food more nutritious and increased yield.

It was all going good for them then Tulli hit Level 2.

“Congratulations,” Fen said. “How do you feel?”

Tulli looked over in her direction. They'd killed off all the grassnecks and took a break in the rift. The grassland had a mild climate with a cloudless sky with a breath of fresh air. It was their favourite rift.

“Stronger.”

“No kidding,” Samuel King smirked. “Isn’t that the aim of levelling up?”

“I am not so sure,” Keynes said.

They turned to him, looking at him strangely. They expected an explanation. It wasn’t like he had one. It was just a hunch. With his attributes maxed out, came the pain of levelling up at a snail’s pace. It didn’t end there! He heeded the advice given by the System, he compacted the essence instead of guiding it, at least in the beginning. Then he noticed that most of that essence didn’t go into the progression. If he wasn’t on the clock, he’d explore it but he knew that his time was quickly approaching. He received a month because the World Government had no choice but Keynes wasn’t stupid. When he’d insisted to see his family, Officer McJames hinted that it’d only happen when he hit Level 2 and if he failed… She didn’t go into details, she didn’t need to. But in Keynes’s eyes, she was what he’d thought Director Wolf had been. It turned out he was wrong.

Most of the communication with the higher-ups went through her as Director Wolf became a pariah.

“What do you mean?” Samuel King asked while Fen stayed silent. In recent days, she was more thoughtful. Maybe she was just upset by humankind’s madness and stupidity.

“It’s nothing,” Keynes replied, not wanting to go into details. He increased the grip on the affliction, sensing more clarity entering his mind.

“Let’s head back and report—”

“I don’t want to go,” Tulli interrupted Samuel King.

“What?” he asked confused. “This academy is just a starting point. If you wish to level up further you need a larger rift cluster. That’s where the guys went.”

Keynes exchanged a glance with Fen and gently shook his head. They couldn’t trust Samuel King. He’d never shown the slightest contempt for the World Government. Quite a few times, he appraised the government’s strong stance on the rebellious Old Blood and wished to be the one to go after the massive bounties of the rebel leaders.

Daiyu Fen placed a hand on Tulli’s shoulder and smiled softly.

“Let’s keep it a secret for now, shall we?”

“But why?” Samuel King asked more confused.

“We’re a good team but we progress at different paces because of how many attributes we have maxed out. Let’s not spoil the fun,” Keynes said.

“Oh, when you put it this way, it makes sense,” Samuel King admitted.

They exited the rift, handed over the items from the reward chest. Keynes had been unlucky with the hidden compartments. He only found one and it’d given him a Scroll of Random Teaching. He didn’t know what to make of this so he left it inside his dimensional pouch. Most rewards, in general, were either scrolls or low-quality items. Only the uncommon rift produced anything of worth but nothing Keynes wished to hide from the authorities. He didn’t want to raise suspicions now.

Kaito Ren and healer Jake waited for them as usual. Then Officer McJames stepped out of the shadow with a friendly smile Keynes didn’t trust and for good reason.

“By our calculations, Tulliana Tabot should hit Level 2 by this rift. Am I correct?”

Samuel King gave Kaito Ren the items then turned to the officer but before he could speak, Tulli answered.

“Please do not call me that. I am part of the Monolith faith, I have given up my birth names.”

Officer McJames nodded as if that wasn’t a problem, then her usually friendly face hardened.

“High Lord Earl is not happy with your slow progress. Don’t make me punish you. You’re just trainees. You sit at the bottom of our hierarchy and you must earn our respect and trust. So far, soon-to-be removed Director Wolf has given you too much leeway, which is not acceptable in our new World Government. We live by the government’s rules and they are very clear; you do not argue with your betters.”

Keynes’s anger stirred up and he had to forcibly push it away lest he lash at her.

“Can they refresh before the next rift?” Kaito Ren asked, trying to defuse the situation but his attempt failed. McJames was drunk with the newly acquired power and she lost herself in it.

“Rules also apply to the support staff. In our records, your position as the head trainer only places you as the support staff of the third rank. It is a long way to where I am.” She huffed unhappily. “Wolf’s negligence is showing. I see that proper discipline must be restored. You will report to my office later, head trainer. And you, Tabot, you will go with me now.”

While Keynes could void his emotions, Fen couldn’t. She liked Tulli.

“Where do you take her?”

McJames turned around, a not-so-surprised expression on her face.

“It is none of your business, trainee. And you will also come to my office to receive punishment.”

Fen shivered in rage but Keynes and Kaito Ren stopped her from doing something she would have regretted. McJames didn’t come alone to the rift. Three squads of masked troopers accompanied her, their guns at ready.

“Jake, they will be fine.”

Jake nodded and fled relieved. He didn’t want to be associated with their group at the moment.

“We need to save her,” Fen hissed through gritted teeth.

“What do you mean?” Samuel King asked.

“You need a Level 1 calming tea,” Kaito Ren told her, not commenting on her words.

They got back to the waiting room, where they refreshed themselves and ate. Fen drank two cups of calming tea, which helped immensely. Samuel King sat a little irritated. He didn’t understand what was going on. He didn’t see the whole situation through the same lens as Keynes or Fen. He hadn’t come here against his will like most of them.

“Officer McJames is not someone you should argue with going forward,” Kaito Ren told them in the end. “Refrain from doing so in the future. No matter what your feelings are.”

“Tulli is my friend. She didn’t want to go.”

“It’s just the next step in her training,” Kaito Ren said. “And she is a part of the training program. If everyone started doing as they wished, the whole structure would fall apart. The officer is harsh but she wants the right thing.”

Fen scowled but said nothing. Keynes once again wondered where Kaito Ren’s true allegiance lay.

***

Samuel King was next to level up and he was startled by how much strength he gained. Their Spirit was too low to see attributes and they didn’t have a way to measure his growth. But Kaito Ren asked him to spar and to everyone’s shock, only Kaito Ren’s superior fighting technique kept Samuel King from defeating him.

The head trainer quickly came to regret his decision to make the spar in the presence of troopers. At least, most didn’t pick up on what really occurred, instead, thinking that Kaito Ren was simply weak.

Like Tulli, Samuel King was gone, transported out of the city. They requested information on where they’d be taken, even risking more harsh punishments handed out by McJames. They received nothing.

“I need to slow down my progression,” Fen said when she hit ninety-nine percent “Or I’ll have to run away alone.”

They weren’t alone in the rift, but the two ‘guardians’ were far enough to not hear her words. Keynes agreed with her. But he still needed a few more days while she would level up by the end of this day.

“What about the tracker?”

“Someone in the city carries a cleansing ritual.”

“A cleansing ritual?”

“Yeah, apparently, sometimes a scroll or tome with information can be found in a rift. People started learning and since the war began getting serious, a lot of folks aren’t happy with how the government treats them. Some have already escaped the city.”

It made Keynes think about the scroll hidden in his pouch. What could random teaching grant him? He eventually nodded to Fen but warned her to be careful if she decided to go ahead with her plan. The ritual could be a scam or worse, a trap. She understood that but she was getting relentless and desperate, locked in this city. It was a large place but it was a prison. And worse was the unknown that awaited her.

“Did you try to manipulate the essence the way the message advised?”

“Not really.”

“Try it.”

She nodded but later that day she hit Level 2 anyway. Fortunately, because of the amount of training and a few lies about the trained state of her other attributes, she managed to postpone McJames for a day. It allowed her to learn more about the cleansing ritual but not enough to track down the person who carried it out.

Her escape out of the city was not announced and Keynes had no way of learning of her whereabouts. McJames visited him twice peppering him with questions. He told her many lies which he hoped would give Fen a few precious days.

McJames was so furious, so mindless in her pursuit of the escapee that she missed the moment Keynes levelled up.

Congratulations!

You reached Level 2.

All attributes Advancements achieved.

Perfect State unlocked!

-

Orb of Perfection awarded.

-

Body Purification awarded.

-

Gain another Perfect State to unlock further rewards.

-

Your Spirit does not decrease because of Perfect State.

Spirit is too low to unlock a Spirit Companion or a full view of your profile.

Increase your Spirit to gain additional spiritual perks.

-

Spiritual Aura unlocked.

-

Body Purification commencing…

The very second Keynes levelled up and read through the system messages, he felt the exhilaration building up inside him. Unimaginable strength filled his body until the pain hit him. It was worse than his first time with rift essence.

Ten times worse but he didn’t give in to the agony.

It lasted for an hour and brought inside healers, Kaito Ren and some of McJames’s minions. He was glad she wasn’t here.

When the pain dissipated, questions started.

“It’s nothing,” Keynes replied. “I need a word with you, Kaito Ren.”

A strong tone gave everyone pause.

“You need to get yourself in order.”

Keynes glanced down and saw his ruined uniform. Whatever the purification was, it… wait a second. He focused on the affliction and found nothing there. His affliction was gone, which wasn’t ideal. He came to rely on it when things went south. But he knew the purification didn’t end there.

He instinctively reached out into his system and found something new.

Status

It allowed him to check his buffs and debuffs.

Buffs: Enhanced Learning (permanent), Purified Body (permanent), Photographic Memory (strong). Debuffs: Chaos (permanent, dormant, ???).

If he deducted it correctly, the tracker was removed alongside the emotional affliction and whatever else that had affected him. But it also meant that the headquarters would know the second he left the rift.

He ignored everyone as he stared at the buffs: Enhanced Learning, what was that? Was this why he’d maxed out the attributes faster than anyone else? It was a plausible answer. Photographic Memory was self-explanatory although it didn’t have permanent status. Why? And more importantly, what did it mean? If an enemy purified him, would it mean he could lose his photographic memory? Hopefully not…

Purified body. He received it now but it didn’t exactly explain what it did to him.

Then he glanced at the debuffs and scowled. Chaos. What the hell it was? It resisted purification and it showed ‘???’ for some reason. He had a vague idea that the feeling of wrongness upon forcing the rift to open was associated with this. Or was it why he received this Talent?

With many unanswerable questions swirling his mind, which to its credit, didn’t falter, Keynes decided to take action. He needed to find his family, Fen and Tulli and run from the World Government.

He eventually focused on his surroundings, two dozen people stared at him, confused, expectantly and angrily. He paid them no mind.

“Kaito, come.”

***

Junior Researcher Coby had watched the President’s speech more than ten times. Coby’s Talent was very simple, it enhanced his hunch and now his hunch guided his hand into dangerous territory. But he knew deep inside that his and his co-workers lives were in danger. Since the rift outbreak, they hadn’t been allowed to communicate with anyone outside the Jamaican base. Coby had rather an analytical mind and he did the math. Everyone in the base knew the truth about the outbreak and who was behind it.

With billions dead, this knowledge was a death sentence. Coby’s research fellows acted as if this wasn’t a possibility but Coby’s hunch had never failed him. They were going to die if he didn’t do something.

And so he was inside Lord Earl’s office, ploughing through passwords. Luckily, the security measures didn’t include new materials, runes or formations, which were being found in the rifts. Coby and others still could receive information from the world but couldn’t send anything out.

With exception of Lord Earl.

Coby cracked the security with ease and then navigated through the military Web, which still worked here. Then he found what he was looking for.

And he sent a message to Columbus Curt.

“Here’s the location of the first opened rift. We know the truth behind the outbreak. Save us and we will tell you everything!”