The world screamed around me and honestly, all I could think was: That bitch.
I should have thrown her harder into that boulder, or even killed her. But something foolish inside of me decided not to. A reason I refused to admit deep down. After all, I was compelled to walk right up to the damn portal in the first place. Damn it all, even if it was my fault— I swear if I ever make it out of the portal, I’m paying that knight a visit!
The electrocution searing my body suddenly stripped away, and my face met the ground through a blur of indigos and emeralds. I pushed myself off the ground, spitting out a mouthful of dirt that tasted like raw lettuce. Gross! Something else landed on my back with a light slap, crashing next to me after a bounce. I scrambled to my feet, ready to bolt when I saw what the offending object was. It was her bag of potions. Well, they’re mine now. I tucked the potions into my Item Box. The sounds of screaming, explosions, and metal clashing against each other boomed and shook the earth beneath me, nearly making me stumble.
A tide of wind blasted over me and knocked me on my butt anyways, followed by a roar so loud my ears popped. I sat up, steadying myself, and saw that the grass between my hands and legs was full of bright and vibrant greens, interspersed with tiny violet crystalline structures that crumpled into soft tissue when I stepped on them. A great shadow flew overhead, bathing the world around me in darkness.
As my eyes adjusted to the world around me, I realized that this world was full of crystals of all colors twinkling everywhere. A lurid sensation assaulted my eyes. It was too sparkly here, ugh. I was on the crest of a low hill overlooking the Rift’s arena, which was a canvas of light pastel greens, yellows and light purples stretched taut. As the darkness moved away from me, a coppery tang and the musky scent of trampled grass filled my nose. An odd, impossible war unfolded below. I could make out the glint of figures in armour and siege weapons that had roofs that looked like gothic cathedrals. Their surfaces reflected the sky like solar panels. On the other side hulking behemoths and tiny packs of creatures crashed into them from the other side.
A massive shadow covered half the field, followed by a deafening bellow. It was a massive beast that looked like a pterodactyl, only that it was the size of an aircraft carrier. Its wings, scarred and leathery, looked like someone spray painted graffiti all over them. The enormous bird, whom my Plus Menu called a Communicant of the Devourer, was getting chased by a smaller squadron of what appeared to be floating warships firing cannons at it. Truly, a majestic sight to behold.
The war on the surface was even more chaotic. It was a lot brighter than the Labyrinth and was even more devastated than that first Rift, despite looking completely alien. At first, I thought the armoured men below were humans, until I saw some with multiple arms flanking centaur-like beings with tough metal spikes for weapons. The front line of their armies slammed against a huge tyrannosaurus-like beast, where many tinier raptors darted out from between its legs and mauled opposing metal monsters.
Everywhere I looked was pure chaos and an impressive array of armored titans versus armored figures with weapons. I imagined this massive bioluminescent crystal plains used to be beautiful. Now, the emerald green and indigo shaded grass was covered in dun-colored ichor and the sky was full of smoke and ash above. Massive structures resembling the small soft polyhedral rocks that grew in the grass floated above the chaos, shattered into segmented jagged spires of amethyst and dark earthy tones.
The sky was mostly blue and streaked with ribbons of translucent auroras of all colours. Even the fires of war could not hide the exotic and prismatic dust that seemed to glitter in the atmosphere. How pretty! This übatopit world was marvelous, but I really, really hoped that Communicant pterodactyl was not the Rift’s Boss. My eyes caught the sight of three familiar looking crystal apparatuses made from pure white energy hovering above altars. They were conspicuously surrounded by fortifications, guarded by frilled headed, spider legged theropods.
I knew what those white crystals were, but not the monsters guarding them. They were Shrines. I couldn’t tell who was in charge here, but it was clear that the soldier-like creatures clad in armor and wielding clubs attacking the dinosaurs all around the Shrines were the invaders of this realm. I guessed the Devourer was some kind of dinosaur monster, and that he didn’t get along with the Armoured One.
Slaughtered corpses and ruined crystal structures scattered across the plains, but the battle was raging on as if I didn’t exist. So this is what the warning about the Armoured One contesting this place truly meant. In the center of the plains, or closest to the middle of it, was a large circular stony disc that didn’t fit in this Rift like the Shrines. A scan of it with the Plus Menu confirmed my suspicions— it was the Boss “room.” More and more groups of dinosaurs tore into a crowd of the armoured monsters around its radius, creating little hills of bodies as well.
Good, I could work with the chaos happening around this pretty place.
Far above the war-torn plains, the Communicant let out three magical purple beams from its sides which cleaved through most of the flying ships chasing it. The ships evaporated into black mist the second the lasers swept over them, but more swarmed it from another angle unleashing another volley of arrows and cannon fire at it. It let out an eardrum-breaking roar and fired more magic at its interlopers. It continued its flight path through a translucent barrier on the far edge of the plains with the ships chasing after it, where even more strange terrain curled and twisted into the sky.
I didn’t even know where to begin. Those Shrines kept the Boss room energized somehow or something; there had to be good news if they got deactivated. But how was I supposed to get to them? Smoke plumed upward in front of me from below.
It was a war band of armoured humanoid monsters riding giant bird steeds racing away from a bus-sized beast with green and red fur that was a cross between a mammoth and a triceratops at the bottom of the hill. I got a good look at them through the fire. They were covered in grey fur, had arms, legs, and elongated necks leading to faces that looked more like apes than human. I looked at the notifications, which identified them as level 6 Howlers.
Level 6? I could work with those levels. The war-band was running from the mammoth, but they weren’t completely helpless. The lead Howler raised his shining enchanted armoured arm and drew his bow. Along with the others in his twenty man squad, they all let crude arrows fly in perfect unison at the mammoth. Most of the tips bounced off of its tough hide and shield-like frills framing its maw, but several of them scored purchase on its side and face, bringing it down for the count. It unleashed an earth-shaking roar, swinging its massive tusks and spiky trunk into several unlucky Howlers before toppling over, the arrow wounds on it shooting fans of blood as it fell with its trunk contorting in apparent agony. I squinted at it.
The Plus Menu labeled it as a dying level 10 Charger. Interesting, I mused. How did a couple of those crude arrows manage to knock this guy out? An idea formed in my mind. If I heal this big beast, or an even bigger fellow if I come across one, couldn’t I take advantage of its speed and mass? That is to say, if he doesn’t notice me first.
Seeing that the war-band had rejoined the main fray deeper in the plains and the coast was clear, I decided to move. I couldn’t remain rooted in this Rift forever, so I slid down the hillside on my heels. The wind pushed my hair back and slapped the dirt off my face as I descended. The fallen Charger’s back was to me, getting closer and closer. The clanging of steel against beast flesh and crunching of heavy jaws chewing through metal filled my ears, but a distinct breathing traced a thin line of air towards me.
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I stopped a few feet behind the dying Charger. As I slowly approached it, my foot bumped into something hard. I yelped, but realized it was one of the Howler daggers that fell out from a wound on the beast’s back. I picked it up. It was heavy, having some weight behind the swing. A guttural grunt of agony came from the Charger. I tapped into my inner magic channels and opened my eyes to check for glowing wounds I could heal on it. Sure enough, each arrow wound became highlighted in a red aura.
“Alright, you’ll do,” I muttered. I dropped my staff out of the Item Box and channeled the magic directly onto the beast’s wounds. The flow of magic tore through my arm, but I held the staff steady as I pointed it at the large guy.
The beast whimpered as the magic healed him, shook off the arrows inside of him, but soon he let out a full blown roar as it began to struggle back onto its hooves. He didn’t even wait for the rest of his wounds. Shit, wait! I jumped right as he did, grappling onto his tail. The matted fur was wiry, making it good enough to hold onto but he shook me off anyway.
The world spun me around as I got sent flying back into the dirt. In retrospect, I don’t know why I thought that would work. Perhaps, my confidence was heightened because I was higher leveled compared to most of the entities here. Though, I doubted I would survive a single bite from any of the bigger dinosaurs. But the Charger was doing what his name suggested, cleaving a path through a horde of armoured Centaur men and Howlers with reckless abandon, tossing them aside like kicked beer cans. My pulse pounded behind my ears, but I got ready to run after him.
The Charger wasn’t fleeing blindly. He knew exactly where he was going. His target was the Shrine. Or rather, the armoured monsters laying siege to its walls. Or defending it. I couldn’t tell. Through the smoke and over trampled bodies, he lowered his head and swung his trunk again and again like a flail. Monsters and smaller dinosaur beasts flung like bowling pins. HE veered sharply to the right, charging through a multi-coloured glass roofed catapult. The pieces sounded like a car crash, twisting metal frame and shattered wood rather than the sound of glass cracking apart. He didn’t stop until he collided into the wall of basalt and bone.
I chased after him, sliding under a broken pile of what seemed to be a wooden framework. Too late. The Charger looked like he was down and dead, his shielded frills now smashed against the wall in a mess of blood. I sighed, but regretted inhaling all of the smoke and coughed. He was too quick, running out of my magic’s limited range long before I could keep him healthy enough. The sharp outline of the Rift Shrine’s crystal, like a pale sun.
As I hid, waiting for a squadron of smaller raptors to collide with Howlers to finally clear out, I checked my Status. Points were flowing in from the carnage and more specifically, the healing I was doing on the Charger. 150 status points. I glanced at the battle raging between me and the Shrine. I didn’t have enough to bump my Movement Speed up to rank E, short by around 20 points. But I knew more opportunities to heal a big guy or a bunch of them later.
Specifically, I could probably change the tide of this skirmish in front of me by healing a few of the smaller raptors. After all, the Armoured One sent a minotaur after me a while ago, so I was less inclined to help his army out. A large Centaur rode in, his hooves sounding like thunder. He was wielding a brutal axe, swatting aside dozens of the tiny raptors with each swing.
In a haze of kicked up dust, I saw that the dead Charger had left a gift for me. The fort’s wall ahead had a wide enough crack in it for me to squeeze through. His trail of destruction let the others advance, and an opening for me to slip behind them all. I invested all the points I had into Movement Speed and took off.
It didn’t take long for me to hear the commotion coming towards me again. From the other side, the Centaur was coming back. Shit, did he spot me? I dared not look and kept running, despite the roaring stampede fast approaching. A few more steps past the Charger, and I dove through. Looking at his messy state, I felt queasy. The sight of blood still got to me, even now? Now’s not the time to worry about that!
I checked the inside of this walled fort. Nothing inside here, yet. Before I could catch my breath, the head of the Centaur’s heavy axe collided with the wall, right where I stood moments before, creating cracks to spread up its surface like cobwebs. The monster was level 9. Yet, he was capable of causing that much damage. Damn. It also occurred to me that he was after me, not the Shrine. I checked the Charger next to him. Breathing, and red hot wounds all over his face. He was still alive— and unconscious?
Well, damn. He’s a tough cookie. I leapt out of the axe’s range after it stabbed through. I checked the Centaur’s level 9 status, and found that he was actually the Shrine Guardian. It made sense now. I raised my staff, and pointed it at the fallen dinosaur. Tiny shadows were descending upon the place like dying crows. Arrows. Shit! I dove out of sight and pressed myself against the wall, watching the grass before me become littered with those heavy Howler bolts and heard the wall groan as more slammed into it. My Movement Speed was indeed putting in work, because I could dodge the axe’s swing as the Guardian tried to cleave me with a ferocious roar. Well, it’s time for you to do what you do best, Mr. Charger.
“[Basic Healing], [Stabilization],” I urged. The magic flowed out of my arm and surged through the staff like a torrential downpour. “Serve me!”
After an injection of magical “encouragement,” the Charger’s tail came back to life and thwacked the back of the Centaur’s horse body, who was focused on getting through the widened hole in the wall to get me. The snapping of a spine brought the Shrine Guardian down. Now, I hoped that the big guy would turn the opposite way and bother someone else. His face was coated in a thick layer of his own blood and powdered rock, but it was fully healed and fearsome. A puff of smoke spilled out his maw as he bristled, before he turned away, ignoring the Centaur who was reduced to a pulp on the ground. He began to rush straight into the group of Howlers who were loading their strange bow weapons.
Despite the agony and broken state of his horse body, he still reached for the axe as I approached.
“Give it a rest,” I growled, dropping the heavy Howler dagger out of my Item Box and catching it.
He snatched the axe and swung, but I was quicker. The dagger made quick work of his humanoid torso’s exposed neck, and his strike stopped midway. With his death, the light from the Shrine Crystal dimmed. Peering at the sky again, I noticed that the other Crystals were also losing their light. A bubbling sound gurgled behind me, startling me.
It was a pile of blood, pooling and hardening right before my eyes at the Crystal’s base. Soon, an amorphous mass gathered on the stone in all of its stinky glory. At the same time, the bodies scattered around the Shrine were dissolving into black mist. I scanned it. Dewy Coagulated Blood, with a Tier 1 tag next to it. I approached it as if it was a live snake, but sure enough, it had the same requirements as the first one I grabbed. A nice reward, but I hesitated. I didn’t forget the feeling absorbing the nasty blood gave me, but what choice did I have? When life hands you a bloody glob of experience points, you absorb them.
I placed my hand over the panel and confirmed that I wanted to go through with it, and instantly regretted it. Pain ripped through me as the coagulated blood lashed out at me with white hot tendrils. I screamed, I gasped, I fell to my knees. As the pain eased, I saw the notification blur my eyes.
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Notifications
> Host has successfully healed a Charger, level 10 from the brink!
> Host has gained 20 status points! [Total: 20 status points]
> Host has slain an elite Centaur Warrior, level 9!
> Host has defeated a Shrine Guardian!
> Host has gained 150 status points! [Total: 170 status points]
> Host has successfully absorbed Dewy Coagulated Monster Blood [1]. Host has gained 350 status points. [Total: 520 status points]
> Host has leveled up! [Level 17]
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Silver lining, Kathleen, I breathed in greedily. 520 points and a level up. If that’s how I feel after absorbing a Tier 1 glob of Coagulated Blood, then I couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding over the possibility of encountering a Tier 2 one or even higher ones.
Shadows flew across the sky and I heard a roar coming from the heavens, echoing across the starry plains. The Communicant had turned around and a dozen more of the flying wooden ships chased after him. There was no time to dwell on his presence, since a new notification from the Plus Menu flashed on its own in front of my eyes.
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RIFT P|E|O|D|N0429FB’S BOSS ROOM HAS OPENED!
— A Powerful One Accepts Your Challenge —
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