Chương 18: Forced Volunteers

The riftmade cyanide grenade exploded before the howling dogs. Compared to the ghoul, they had a lesser resistance against cyanide gas. Just by breathing it from the air they lost half of their lives. Not missing the chance, Kayzen took out a bone shard and threw it against the closest dog.

'One down, two to go.' He retreated just to be safe and threw two more bones after resting for half a minute. The time was just enough for him to recover and shape the hex. After finishing the final stroke, he was too exhausted to stand. Kayzen plopped down and drank a mouthful of water. Unsurprisingly, Vasser had already blown a fist-sized hole in the ghoul's skull. What surprised Kayzen was that the creature was still fighting, albeit with halved reflexes.

The flesh burned by golden energy was wriggling and healing at a visible rate. How it didn't die despite such wounds was a miracle indeed.

'Perhaps it wasn't alive to begin with.' He recalled the information he had read about the undead species. They were one of the neutral factions outside the human territory of Erde. Unlike the abominations here, they were famed for their beauty which was just as deadly as their existence.

'It's over.' Kayzen concluded after seeing the flow of battle. And indeed, his prediction was on the mark. Vasser dodged the ghoul's claws and counterattacked with her glowing fists. The other arm of the ghoul was also splashing around iridescent poison, yet not a drop of it landed on the target. Kayzen learned a lot from observing their fight. Both of them had five abilities.

Apart from poison and regeneration, the remaining three abilities of the ghoul were similar to Vasser; covering speed, strength, and defense. The advantage of physical ability was clear since they could fight without overdrawing their Ether capacity. Their agility and reaction speed were on a whole other level. He watched them fight yet didn't interfere even when he was able to. Vasser also needed to get stronger. Finally, the golden gauntlet crushed the ghoul's heart alongside one-third of its torso.

Only then did the fiend turn to ash.

"This was a close one." Vasser wiped her forehead and sat beside him, yanking the bottle from his hand. Both of them had spent most of their energy. This fight had shown them their limits. Except for some last resort methods they had used everything in their arsenal.

"The others are probably wiped out." muttered Kayzen.

"May Argia welcome them." Vasser offered a silent prayer and walked towards the pile of ashes. The hourglass had already appeared, but before that, it was time to earn their loot. And this time, there was more than just a shard. Kayzen knelt down and caressed the bracer that had appeared amidst the pile of gray. It was dark green in color with a texture similar to a seashell. Lodged on its surface were three brown needles, each six inches long.

"It's a rift artifact. It's a hit or miss from what I've heard, but you won't be losing out since you don't have anything on." Vasser took the shards for herself and told Kayzen how to activate the artifact. Her gauntlets and cloak were 'borrowed' artifacts as well, so she was well accustomed with the process. Kayzen followed her lead and shaped Ether around the bracer. There wasn't much difference at the start but as he poured more and more Ether into it, a barrier seemed to have been broken.

The artifact floated on its own and attached itself on his left arm. At the same time, a faint blue plaque appeared before his hand. Unlike the shard it was visible to all, so he and Vasser read it at the same time. Ghoul's Resentment An artifact formed after the demise of a ghoul. It contains a fragment of its records as well as its lingering resentment. Effect: Marks the targets who have harmed the wielder. After infusing Ether, the needles will be launched at the targets with a guaranteed hit.

A ghoul never forgets its foe.

"Nice, now we have a better chance against the rift lord." Vasser grinned and walked towards the blue portal. What awaited them there should be another reward. This was how the rifts were; a place where fortune and disaster walked hand in hand. Before entering the rift the two had less than 10% chance of defeating someone above the fiend class. Now, it would be different. Kayzen walked beside her and stepped into the portal. A cascade of multicolored light flowed past them and converged into a lifelike scene.

The two once again found themselves inside an 'event.'

'This brings back bad memories.' Kayzen rolled his eyes and observed the objects around them. Both he and Vasser were strapped against what looked like a metal stake. The room was lit up by more than necessary fluorescent lamps, illuminating syringes, medicine jars, and suspicious looking vials. A lot of them. The lack of organized objects screamed that this place was some illegal laboratory. Finally, Kayzen's red eyes rested on a whiteboard-like screen that was hovering above his head.

Forced Volunteers In order to pay off your educational debt, you have chosen to volunteer for medical research. You were told that this was an imperial facility, but that doesn't seem to be the case now, does it? Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Oh well, who cares All that matters is that you get to fill your bag and pay off the debt. Take a normal medicine and leave Rewards: Shard fragment x 5 Penalty: None You are a responsible citizen This is unacceptable.

You must report this to the authorities. Rewards: Event continuation Penalty: None It's not like you have something to lose The strange vials look tempting. Perhaps you might gain something from it. Rewards: Event continuation Penalty: Fatigue Kayzen was torn between the second and third choice. He and Vasser were given separate options this time around, with no way of communication.

'According to her, the next zone should be a safe zone.' He was of course more interested in the third option. Fatigue would be lethal especially when he was about to face a ravager class. However, Vasser had told him that all sorts of illnesses and negative effects would be recovered in the safe zone. Even if you were ill or injured before entering the rift, the safe zone would cure it to a degree. He mulled over until half of the hourglass was filled up.

In the end, he chose to take the risk for the chance of getting a better reward. The whiteboard flickered as he made his decision, and new words appeared on the glossy surface. What was more surprising was that a mask wearing nurse had appeared beside him. All of her facial features were grayed out, making the scene all the more eerie. Revolutionary Your actions have pleased the revolutionary army. Unlike the rigid imperials they have chosen to walk on uncharted territory.

Now, you are invited to join their pursuit. I hate pain Take the shot to improve your pain resistance. Rewards: Improved quality of record Penalty: None I love pain Only weaklings fear pain. Suffering is the pathway for success. Rewards: Remove record for pain resistance Penalty: None Kayzen didn't hesitate to make the choice this time. He was no masochist. What followed was similar to the first event: His vision shifted as if he had become a recording device.

Instead of him and Vasser, what lay on the stakes were two tattered teenagers. The nurse lifted the injection and without any procedure, stabbed them right into their biceps.

"I'm glad we didn't have to feel that." Vasser's whisper reached Kayzen's ears. No one would expect someone like her to fear the needles. As a matter of fact, their mutual hatred for such medical practices was one of the things that brought them closer as kids. The scene began to distort as a chaotic flow of Ether surged from the centre of the room. Kayzen lost all his senses one by one. Rather than being flustered, he calmed his mind and focused on the pain resistance shard.

Under the refinement of Ether and some unknown power it was spinning at a breakneck speed. After what seemed like a minute the environment changed to a hillside fountain. It was a stark contrast against where they were before; yet neither Kayzen nor Vasser cared about that. All of their attention was focused on their shards which had grown bigger and more polished. Rank: Low (Breakthrough) Pain resistance: Suppresses pain receptors throughout the body by channeling ether.

Moderate increase in tenacity and natural recovery. Minor increase in spiritual capacity. Kayzen's lips curved up as he noted the newfound changes. The increase in tenacity and natural recovery was upgraded from minor to moderate. More importantly, there was another effect that improved his spiritual capacity. Now, he would be able to use Ether without worrying about his head aching after a few minutes. He looked at Vasser who was tying up her tangled hair.

The sight of her standing before a fountain was so mesmerizing that he almost forgot what he was going to ask. The lack of focus also reminded him of another thing; his whole body was aching. The fatigue had taken effect while he was focused on reading the shard. Kayzen sat on the stone step beside the fountain and scooped up some green water. He was reluctant to drink it especially after the last fight, but there was no other way.

"How does it taste?" Vasser inched closer yet didn't touch the water.

"What am I? A Guinea pig?"

"Crude. It's called Sommelier." Kayzen snorted and instead of replying, he scooped up some more water and splashed at her face.

"Smells good?"

"Tastes good as well. Also, what does breakthrough mean?" he asked after drinking another mouthful.

"It means that the record is ready to be upgraded to the next quality. You'll have to become a warden first." Vasser replied and took a sip from the fountain. Immediately, the bruises on her honey-colored skin vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Great. Saves the hassle of improving pain resistance."

"Indeed. In my case it was agility. That's two on the breakthrough now." Kayzen wasn't the least bit surprised. Unlike him who had spent the two years on research, Vasser was acting as a crusader. The sole reason she hadn't become a Xin despite her talent was due to the fact that she was focused on the divine laws. Vasser leaned back and spoke after a bit of a thought, "You remember what I told you about the shard needed for each rank right?"

"Yeah. Five for Shaper to become a warden, Eight more from warden to Dominus. The quality also goes up from low to medium."

"How do you think they are calculated? If there is even such a thing." Vasser continued in an uncertain tone. No one on castle Qmarz had figured it out before she left. Kayzen had been thinking about this earlier as well, so he shared what he thought.

"I think it's related to our experiences and actions. The first shards everyone got proves that. The bigger question is its quality." The duo chatted while recovering but found no answer. The simplest conclusion would be that in order to get higher quality records they had to do 'more' or 'scale up.' For example, if punching ten thousand times gave one a fist mastery shard, then wouldn't repeating that for a million times upgrade it?

Another theory would be that higher quality shards might be earned after one used Ether and performed actions on a bigger scale. From punching through bricks to boulders. No matter what, only after testing it out would they know the answer. Kayzen took out the Diary from the reward and read it alongside Vasser. He half expected there to be a totally different language, but fortunately the duo were able to understand the contents. Most of it were just scribblings of research and daily logs.

In the end, the only thing they found of use were some unknown diagrams; as well as detailed instructions on how to make a chimera.

"It sucks that the Synapse is down." Kayzen let out a deep breath and put away the diary. Without communication the efficiency of research was abysmal. He would have to settle down and do some proper testing to extract the diary's value. On the bright side, there was the thrill of becoming a pioneer. Vasser stood up and and stretched her arms a bit. This half an hour of rest was much needed after their previous fights. Now, it was time to face the rift lord.

The fountain, garden, and everything else vanished as the sand fell down in the hourglass. All that remained in front of them was a black portal adorned by violet lightning.