The moment the missiles hit the train, Vivena instinctively reacted. Her doubled Level 2 attributes allowed her to reorient her body in a split second as the freight wagon went spinning. She grabbed the red-haired guy judging his level too low to survive this.

Then she tried to catch her brother Antall but everything was already in motion and he was thrown away from her. He was close to Level 2 but given his Poison Resistance Talent, he hadn’t been prioritised in levelling up by their family. The Saels had too few rifts to give everyone a chance at gaining a level.

To everyone but her, it was all blur, but even with her doubled Perception and Dexterity, she could only watch Antall disappearing in the mayhem of bodies and black soil.

She screamed his name, but the moment of distraction cost her. Something slammed into her side and she let go of the red-haired man—

The world blurred, filling everything with pain and pressure. And then everything stopped. In the stillness, she heard raging fires and a few quiet groans that stopped as she climbed to her feet. Blinking the soil out of her eyes, she began looking for Antall. The inside of the wagon was mostly devasted by the centrifugal forces. Whatever had struck them, must have hit the other wagon.

The only source of light were two gaping holes at opposite ends of the freight wagon. It would not be easy to find Antall in this mess but she didn’t have a choice. There had to be a metre of soil spread over the bottom of the wagon now. With superhuman speed, Vivena dug until she noticed the dark blond hair of her brother. He was a half-metre under the soil, his limbs…

She swallowed and if not for her doubled Mind attribute, she’d break down right there. She checked his vitals, finding none.

She felt grief and anger but there would be time for them. Others from her squad were likewise dead, they were Level 2s. She grieved them too. Most of them were only faces to her but she’d never thought of them any less than humans. She survived only because of her Talent and her father’s serum.

Vivena checked her pocket, it was empty. She'd lost her last serum. She was on a timer then.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered then checked on her combat coat. It wasn’t damaged in the accident, which was going to make her recovery quicker. She sustained some mild damage as well.

Reflection of the Green Ocean (Rare)

“I am one with the ocean.”

-

+10% Health Recovery

-

+6 Mind Attribute

-

+10% Poison Resistance

-

{Enchants: Self-repair}

[Coat]

Level 1

This item cost her Gloves of Boar’s Swiftness and Lizard’s Skin alongside many other items and all Scrolls of Identification she had. Her uncle hadn’t wanted any money and her father had said that the new economy was upon them.

Reflection of the Green Ocean was worth it. She’d happily traded her other items for this one for one more reason. Magical items possessed a spiritual weight. The more stats an item had, the heavier spiritually it was and Vivena wouldn’t be able to wear her combat coat with anything else for now. Her boosted attributes were useless when it came to Spirit.

She steadied herself, listening to the surroundings but apart from the fire outside, the wagon was silent. Maybe if she had a healing skill or healing potions, some of her people would have lived. But it was wishful thinking.

She considered looking for the two escapees from the Cluster city when a voice from outside called.

“Vivena?!”

She froze, rapidly thinking. It sounded like Reglant’s voice. What was he doing here? At first, she thought that he, like her, had been watching the Cluster city but then how would he know she was inside the freight wagon?

No. He wasn’t here to help. Reglant wasn’t that kind of a man. If he was behind the attack, he might have decided to check if she survived the crash.

Vivena didn’t bother herself with trying to understand his motivation. Time for questions would come later. She checked her body for any broken or fractured bones but it looked good. Her doubled Vitality and +10% health recovery healed her at an incredible rate although far from instant.

She waited for Reglant to enter the wreckage, which he didn’t do. It only reinforced her conviction about his true intentions.

“Vivena, say something! I know you’re there. We saw the attackers come from the city. I am here to help you.”

Then why don’t you enter the wreckage?

And even more bizarrely, why would the city attack their own train and destroy their only railroad tracks?

Did he think she was an idiot? Fury almost overtook her. She and Antall weren’t very close but still many times closer than her and her other siblings.

Over the next few seconds, she calmed down, waiting for Reglant to grow bold or bored and either enter the wagon or leave. Eventually, he approached the wreckage, she sensed his probing aura. Her attributes might be elevated almost to Level 10 but her Spirit was still on Level 2. She couldn’t hide from his spiritual inspection and so she decided to take initiative.

She exploded toward the bastard but in the four steps she took, Reglant vanished.

“I am trying to save you!” he called from somewhere. “And the first thing you do is you attack me?”

“You shouldn’t have blown up the train,” she said aloud, with his Level 6 Perception, he wouldn’t have issues hearing her.

“It wasn’t me.”

The voice came from a different spot this time, he was moving but she couldn’t see him. Did he have a skill? Her family’s informants hadn’t reported anything.

“Fine, then show up,” she called out, hoping he’d take the bait.

“I’ll wait until your serum wears off. Unless,” he said. “You tell me where Keynes Kid is.”

So he was somehow listening to my conversation with the two escapees.

“If you hadn't destroyed the train, I’d have learned it.”

He tsked.

“My bad but I knew you’d survive.” He no longer denied that he stood behind the attack.

But Antall didn’t. She forced the grief deeper into her.

“Shall we get down to the business?” he asked when she didn’t say anything.

“Then show up.”

“No.”

“An invisibility skill must be worth a fortune,” she once again tried to bait him but he wasn’t buying her attempts. One thing Reglant said was true though. She was running out of time. “How did you get it?”

Silence.

***

Kaito Ren felt someone’s fingers dig into his body then felt being pulled. He tried to open his eyes but he was powerless. His health pool had to be dangerously low, like very, very low.

Some time later, the motion stopped and he managed to crack one of his eyes open then he froze. Christopher had pulled him out of the wreckage and was sitting down next to him. Kaito Ren’s first thought was that he was going to die any second now. But the other man didn’t do anything other than wait in silence.

Then they heard a conversation. It had to come from the other side of the wreckage. Kaito Ren’s Level 3 Perception was substantially greater than non-ascender human’s but not enough to distinguish words.

The conversation ended and only the sound of the fire remained.

“I know you’re awake,” Christopher said. “My Spirit can sense it.”

This was something Ventura had mentioned in passing but he’d never explained it.

“Are you going to kill me now?”

Christopher took his time to answer.

“No. I didn’t lie when I said I’d accepted my family’s death. When you revealed the truth… it was like going through this again but I am fine now. I have a skill that provides mental healing. I can still get hurt but I overcome it easily.”

“They gave you a skill?”

Christopher shook his head.

“I was the first man to clear these rifts. Well, except the desert one. I found [Evade] in one of them. The World Government and the army were silent about what to do with the loot so I traded the skill for [Mental Healing].”

That skill would do wonders for Keynes—

“Shit, we were meant to travel to London to secure his family. What happened?”

Christopher looked toward the wreckage then glanced back at Kaito Ren.

“It appears that the Sael’s allies attacked us and the attacker came to ensure he killed the blonde, her name is Vivena Sael. As for the trip to London.” He made a pause. “I don’t think we can make it in time. Rest for now. I am going to check up on her.”

***

Vivena’s time was almost up. The serums worked shorter with each use. It wasn’t a steep decline but even a gradual one would eventually reach the point where her Talent was going to be useless.

Her father had assured her that subsequent versions of the serums were going to be better.

Meanwhile, she had to find Reglant before her attributes returned to their original level. At Level 2 she couldn’t compete with a Level 6. Reglant knew this and wanted to wait her out.

But he hadn’t arrived here on foot. The missiles had come from somewhere. She started looking for a helicopter. There was no way he’d used a plane.

She walked away from the wreckage, searching for the good spot for landing and two minutes later she was rewarded with the thing she was looking for. The area was mostly flat with occasional hills. An easy place for a helicopter to land.

Reglant chose that moment to attack her. Obviously, he wouldn’t let her get to the helicopter.

He reappeared less than a metre from her, his foot was travelling toward her face with high speed. Vivena evaded the attack by the skin of her teeth. This cost her though and Reglant tried to capitalize on her awkward footing by pressing his advantage. His next attack came in a form of a red dagger. She blocked his attack and kicked his leg, hearing a crack.

Reglant hissed in pain, sending his dagger back into his dimensional space. Vivena didn’t need to kill him but she neither could leave him in full health.

Reglant dropped on his bottom and she decided to break his legs.

“You’re making a mistake,” he grunted.

She raised her foot—

Reglant pulled a small object and crushed it.

—her foot dropped on his shin but to no effect.

A Poison Cleansing Ball was used.

All poisons from your body have been cleansed.

What?! Her attributes dropped to their original state and she felt the weight of her grief. Her Mind, even boosted by the coat, was not enough to shield her from it.

Vivena stepped back as Reglant climbed to his feet. Her first kick hadn’t been enough to break his leg.

Her eyes swelled with tears…

“You stupid wench, father was right, you’re a one-trick pony. All it took was a poison cleansing ball.”

She didn’t listen to him, her mind was elsewhere.

“What?” he asked. “You haven’t foreseen this?”

He was shaking his head in disbelief while a sly smile crept on his face. When she didn’t answer him, he grabbed her hair and brutally pulled her closer to him.

“If you tell me where is Keynes Kid—”

Bang.

Reglant opened his mouth, his face twisted in rage, then another shot rang. He let go of Vivena and tried to turn around but one more shot jolted him.

Two shots later, he dropped to his knees, breathing quickly.

“Wh—what’s happening?” Reglant’s eyes went wide and then the ginger-bearded man walked from behind him with a gun. Reglant squinted at him, taking in the state of the man’s clothes and face. “Who are you? How have you survived?”

“I thought this gun had live ammunition.” He threw it away. “Anyway, I don’t need it.”

Vivena slowly recovered from the blow of grief she’d experienced. It wasn’t the end of it but she was stronger than others gave her credit for.

“Whoever you are, you have no idea who you’re messing with,” Reglant said with calm intensity.

“Reglant Ravencroft, wanted by the World Government. There’s a hefty bounty on your head. I know who you are. Both of you.”

“The government will soon collapse,” Reglant Ravencroft said. “When—”

Vivena punched him in the face but it only gently jerked. Her Level 2 Strength wasn’t enough to deal any damage.

“You’re a dead man, Reglant. You killed my brother.”

“A mistake of one of my pilots. He misunderstood the orders. You can punish him for this,” he replied seemingly unbothered that it contradicted everything he’d said earlier.

She punched him again with the same effect. In fact, she seemed to take more damage than him.

“Listen, both of you, if anything happens to me, the House of Ravencroft will descend on you like—”

Part of his head exploded.

***

“Primary target eliminated, sir. What about the other two?” the sniper asked.

“Follow them but don’t engage. Report if any new developments unfold,” Columbus Curt replied then cut the connection off. Columbus expected foul play from the Ravencrofts after Jamaica. His people had stopped seven assassination attempts on his life since then. Columbus had learned that Keynes Kid had been taken to the Cluster City in Scotland and had the place watched inside and outside.

Two files lay on his desk.

Christopher Wolf, ex-commander, Level 5 Kaito Ren, ex-specialist, Level 3, member of the Oriental League

They’d escaped through Kaito Ren’s portal, entered a train and were intercepted by the Sael squad and then the Ravencroft decided to make his move. Regardless of Reglant’s motivation, Columbus couldn’t allow things like that to go unpunished. Since he’d freed the personnel from the Jamaican base, twenty-five of them had been murdered already. The Ravencrofts and perhaps, the Nishimuras weren’t going to reveal the truth to the world.

Columbus pinched the bridge of his nose. Politics, he hated it. But he needed to use it right now. He’d have to convince Raedan that Freeman’s forces had killed his heir. It wasn’t something Columbus was proud of because it went against his moral values but the other option wasn’t acceptable.

***

Vivena needed a few seconds to register what happened. The other guy was already lying flat, hiding behind a cover of raised ground.

She mimicked him.

“We must leave,” he said.

“We?”

“Yes.”

She mused and came to a dire conclusion.

“Are you going to hand me to your superiors?”

He didn’t answer for a long moment. She considered escaping. In her current state, she couldn’t fight him. Maybe if she’d levelled up to Level 3, she’d have a slim chance against him, if he wasn’t higher than Level 5. The rift essence made ascenders stronger than the human essence. But she wasn’t Level 3 and so her only way out was to run away, not to mention the sniper out there who had killed Reglant.

“I don’t know what I am going to do. After what you and Kaito Ren have told me, I don’t know what to think.”

“I’m guessing that Kaito Ren is the red-haired, he—”

“Survived. Yes.”

Vivena didn’t expect it and if this Kaito Ren recovered, it’d only worsen her odds of escaping. The entire thing turned on its head way too fast.

“I want answers,” he said. “If the government really stands behind the outbreak and there is another one coming, we must do something about it.”

She agreed, suspicious a little how easily the man had changed his mind. In the wagon, he’d tried to kill his companion. Nonetheless, she didn’t press the issue.

“My name’s Chris by the way.”

He recovered a pouch from Reglant’s dead body, which had to be his dimensional container, then they left their cover and returned to the wreckage. Chris led her out to the other side where Kaito Ren lay on the ground. He wasn’t in the best shape but he was already trying to get up.

“We must leave immediately, Ren,” Chris said.

“I’ve heard shots. What happened?”

He recounted the events to him but the red-haired guy only sighed. They were sitting ducks to someone out there. It could be anyone, the government, the Nishimuras or Columbus’s people.

After a heavy silence, Chris told her that no one else had survived, he’d checked when he’d been looking for his friend.

“Why hasn’t anyone come from the city to investigate?” she asked as they moved away from the wreckage.

Chris glanced at Kaito Ren then shrugged. Obviously, they had their suspicions but didn’t trust her. She was fine with that.

The crash site involved four wagons. Surprisingly, the rest of the train hadn’t stopped and had carried on.

Soon, it got darker and they relaxed a bit, believing that under the cover of darkness, their chances of getting out of this mess alive were higher.

Then they heard a helicopter and they ducked to the ground. It was flying away from the crash site. It had to be Reglant’s machine.

A few moments later came an explosion. Someone destroyed the helicopter.

“We better hurry up,” Chris said.

“I can’t move any faster than this.”

“I will carry you.”

“Where are we going?” Vivena asked, wondering about her best shot at escaping.

“To find Keynes Kid’s family,” Kaito Ren replied a bit too quickly.

“And where are they?” Vivena perked up.

“That’s a secret,” Chris said before his friend could open his mouth again. “If everything you said was true, then finding them may save the world.”