Chương 41: 208. Opportunity at the Rift

Alex lay back on the ground, his chest heaving. Mage's face popped into his vision, standing over him. His clone smiled down at him and said, "What's with that goofy grin?"

"Shut up." He kicked out his foot, hitting Mage's shin. The clone didn't react, only raising an eyebrow.

"You know why. This is huge. Fuck— huge is an understatement."

"I know," Mage let out a breath and sat down next to him.

"This is going to be a problem, too, though."

"I get it. Let's… let's just be happy that it even works. We can worry about the repercussions in a bit. No one knows it's possible now anyway." Alex glanced toward the camp of Koru and the refugees, a few dozen meters away through the woods. He could hear the murmur of conversation from those still awake. Warrior joined them a moment later, his laughter tapering off into chuckles.

"That. Is. Insane."

"Seriously," Mage agreed. Alex shifted his hat so that the brim wouldn't going to crease before putting his hands behind his head and looking at the stars. The small clearing created a small window to the clear sky, dark shades of grey tinted with the blue from the portal. He took a deep breath.

"It really changes everything. In just a few hours, we can upgrade a Rift's rank. Think of what that means. Not just for the exp we can get, but this is just a common Rift, here. That means the Rift quest should be relatively simple to complete. D Rank Personal and Rift Quest rewards aren't dependent on finding the right Rifts anymore." Mage nodded and pointed lazily to the Rift.

"It also gives a lot more value to Rifts with higher Rarity. If we find something Rare or Epic, it won't matter if it's an E Rank. We can just bump it up." Valtherion's mental presence suddenly asserted itself in his mind, picking up on his emotions.

"You are happy. I like that. Why is Alex happy?" Feelings of his bond's own happiness and curiosity came through their link. The unexpected contact started Alex. We are about to get a lot stronger, buddy. Alex laughed at his own jumpy behavior. I'm really glad that you're back to being awake. It was weird not being able to hear from you over the last month.

"Question is: How high can we rank it up?" Warrior asked, drawing his attention back to his surroundings.

"I'm not sure that's something I'm willing to push…" Alex said hesitantly.

"The System didn't punish us for this, but it made a Continental Event out of the Sun Elves, increasing the rank of their Rift to C Rank. We might be able to rank this one up again, but I don't think it'll be smart to take anything to C Rank right now. It'll probably lead to System intervention."

"Makes sense," Warrior agreed.

"There's clearly a range that causes it to step in. For now, at least, things between E and D Rank seem to be on the table, and in less than a year, C Rank could join it."

"Yeah," he said, his tone dropping in disappointment.

"Seems like this will be better used to catch up people's levels, rather than really helping to push my own further ahead."

"For now," Mage said with a shrug.

"Well," Alex said dramatically while sitting up.

"It's not real until we do it twice, right? We'll need a second successful ritual."

"Oh, come on. You know it wasn't a fluke." Alex laughed.

"Yeah, I know it wasn't. But we'll still need to test it all out a bit more. Even if we cancel it mid-cast, I just want to explore the magic more."

"Why cancel it?" Warrior asked. Alex, feeling a bit tired of the conversation with himself, held out a hand to Warrior. His clone helped him up, and realization dawned on his face.

"Oh, duh. Yeah, leaving higher Rank Rifts behind for others to deal with it's probably a smart idea."

"This one is fine, since it's a Common D Rank; the Rift quest is probably very easy to complete. Likely just a cull quest that I can solo at this point." Alex stretched his shoulders as he looked at the portal.

"Wait," Mage said. The same idea occurred to Alex at the same time, causing him to pause. Rather than stepping toward the Rift to clear it, he turned in the opposite direction and made his way the short distance to the camp. On his way there, he found Luis leaning against a tree, still watching over the area.

"Luis," he said.

"Thanks for keeping watch. I thought you went back to camp a bit ago." The quiet man shook his head and tapped two fingers to his eyes before making a scanning motion. His other hand didn't leave the hilt of his sword.

"I think you'll find things to be a good bit less hostile out here," Alex said with a smile. He put a hand on Luis's shoulder and turned them both to the camp.

"There are problems for sure, and being on guard doesn't hurt, so thanks for watching my back." They stepped into camp together, and it didn't take long for Alex to find Robert seated by a small fire and giving instructions to some of the Koru'qai. Picking up on the conversation as he approached, Alex was surprised to hear their conversation.

"-It's the juiciest cut of meat you'll ever try. I promise, when we get settled, I'll make sure to get my hands on some and let you…" Alex smiled as he slowed to a stop.

"What cut of meat?" Aisha laughed from beside Robert.

"He's been having dreams about a flank steak for years." Robert's face flushed, but it blended easily with the heat of the fire on his face.

"How did it go?"

"Successful," Alex answered.

"Grab your five strongest and meet me back here?" If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Robert didn't ask any other questions. He and Aisha stood at the same time and walked off together toward the small section of the camp where the humans were gravitating. Alex looked at the Koru seated around the fire, noting that Shael'quir was among them. After only a few moments of silence, two of the Koru began to hum in sync.

It was that noise in the silence that struck him with a realization. His previous idea for the Koru's housing might not work as intended.

"Shael'quir," he said.

"Do the Koru prefer to live underground? The village your people lived in was open to the air, but most of the houses were carved into the side of the canyon."

"Mmm, the fresh air is a nice reprieve, but all Koru long for the mines. The earth hears our song and responds with the magic of the world."

"Hmm," Alex hummed his own way through the problem.

"What troubles you?" she asked.

"I had hoped you would stay with some other guests we have. They also live in tunnels and caverns under the ground, but there are none of those naturally where I live. The plan was going to be to have you assist in creating a space for both of you to live together, but I'm worried that it won't work now."

"Why is that?"

"Well, the Koru are a very sound-oriented people." As if to prove the point, he stopped speaking, and the humming of several nearby Koru could also be heard.

"The problem is, the others dislike sounds. Even speaking like this might cause some of them to skitter away." Shael'quir blinked at him, clearly not understanding.

"They don't like noise? Do they not like the magic of the world?"

"Oh, no. They are really gifted with magic, but they don't make any noise, and the caves that they lived in were so silent you could hear a pin drop from a tunnel away." Brows coming together, the large, round head of the Koru shook in confusion.

"No. That seems wrong." Alex laughed a bit nervously.

"We'll work it out, I'm sure. If anything, maybe the two of you can help each other, but live in separate spaces. I'm not too worried." As he said the last statement, he realized it was true. There were some parts of management and coordination that he dreaded, but there was no doubt in his mind that he could make this work out. Maybe because they're smaller groups of people?

"Probably because they're not humans," Mage's thoughts came through their link from where he stood a few feet away. Just then, Robert returned with his team, geared for a fight. Alex waved for them to follow after excusing himself from the group seated at the fire.

"What's this about?" Robert asked, adjusting the armored gauntlet on his arm.

"I've got something I want your help with." As they entered the clearing, he watched them carefully. Two from the group stopped in their tracks when they saw the blue portal hovering in the center of the meadow. Robert looked from him to the portal and back.

"What is this?"

"An offer. None of you should feel pressured, but I want to give you an opportunity. I want those who follow me to get as strong as they want. I want to give people opportunities that they can choose to seize for themselves. You all went through something traumatic, but moving past that will be important. I'm not saying you need to do that now, but there is an opportunity for it here." Alex raised his hand, palm up, to gesture at the Rift.

"How familiar are you all with the Ranks and Rarities?" One of the team was still a bit shaken, looking only at the portal despite the direct question.

"Not a ton," Aisha answered, putting both hands behind her head and exhaling as he looked at him.

"Most of us had barely adjusted to the integration when we were taken. Information wasn't very easy to come by."

"I hadn't even seen the Safe Zone before." Robert pointed out. Alex nodded in understanding.

"Well, you were all in an E Rank Rift. Which means anything naturally part of the Rift, like the wildlife or the Koru'qai, can only be as high as level 30. Most of you are already past that, just as a product of fighting and surviving in the arena. We can talk more about Rarity later. This Rift, though, is D Rank. That means most things will be between level 30 and 60." That got a reaction. Several of the more hesitant warriors took half steps back. Robert flexed his fists and kept his eyes trained on Alex.

"That puts you all at the bottom of the bracket again. Which would make this much more dangerous under most normal circumstances. Did you all notice how much your levels slowed down around…probably level 25?" When he saw a few nods, he continued.

"See, that's because you were then fighting things lower level than you. The System normally grants experienced based on perceived effort and how you progress. Since around that time, you're at the top of E Rank, the things in the Rift were likely becoming less of a challenge."

"So, since we're at the bottom of this Rift?" Robert asked.

"Exactly," Alex answered, happy that they'd seen where his impromptu lesson was headed.

"This is a chance for you all to gain some levels. I'm going to clear this Rift regardless of what decisions you make. I don't want to leave it here and risk a Rift Break after we leave the area. Again, it's not required for you to come, and the fighting you do in there will be entirely dependent on the type of monsters within."

"I'm in," Aisha said.

"Same," Robert agreed at the same time that Luis grunted, and one of the other gladiators echoed Aisha. Only one of the group continued to look hesitant.

"What is it?" Alex asked.

"You don't need to come and fight. You're welcome to go back to the camp." Robert stepped up and said something to the younger man. The tone was quiet and concerned, just muffled enough that Alex had a hard time making out what they were saying. After a quick exchange, the armor-clad man spoke up.

"Are there going to be others like the Koru'qai in there?"

"Oh— I see. No, it's not likely. From what I understand, sapient races only appear in Epic rarity Rifts. I guess maybe in Rare, but I haven't seen it personally. The Rift you were all in was an Epic Rift, which is why the time dilation was so high. This is just a Common Rift, which means no time dilation and likely just some monsters within." Alex fielded a few more questions before the entire group was warmed up to the idea of following him into the Rift.

He stressed the need for safety, being that they were out of healing potions and without a healer, but none of them seemed worried. He was impressed by their courage, unsure if he'd enter the Rift in their shoes. He'd assumed that at least one or two of the team would decide to return to the camp.' It only took a few hours to clear the Rift quest.

Of the team that entered, Robert and Luis were the only two who completed the Personal Quest, their fighting styles allowing for decent matchups against the monsters within. Everyone received a Rift reward upon exiting the portal when Alex finished the quest. Their rewards varied based on participation. Alex got a shield, which he offered to the main trio; however, since none of them used shields, he passed it on to one of the others.

Soon, they made their way back to the slumbering camp. It was late into the night, and only two fires still burned with small groups around them. Alex checked his phone and his memories, seeing what the clones did while he was in the Rift. There were mostly conversations and stories to review. A lot of the human refugees gravitated toward them, knowing that they were a part of Alex's original team. They told stories to the humans and Koru'qai alike about his home and the people who were there.

The sense of normalcy and the idea of a home to return to seemed to be a beacon of light to all those who heard them talk about it. The fact that his main team, as well as the staff of the house, were all awakened and powerful, provided a sense of comfort and established independence that seemed to pull many of them from darker thoughts. He was winding down for the night, slipping into his sleeping bag, when his phone dinged. Well past midnight, he was curious enough to check the text.

A smile crept across his face as he did so. Olivia: I'm out and headed home. Alex: Hey, you. Glad to hear from you. How's Nox? Olivia: Really glad to be out of there. Nox is great. Fully healed and stronger than ever. Alex: That's great! Olivia: He has… changed a bit. Alex: But he's good? Olivia: Yeah, just different. You'll have to see it and talk to him to understand. Alex: Ominous. How are you? Olivia: Good. Just tired. HA really took my offered help as part of the deal to stay seriously.

I'm looking forward to taking a long shower and getting into that nice bed of yours. Alex laughed. Alex: Well, you'll beat me back. I won't get there for at least four days, maybe a bit closer to a week. The rest of the team should return over the next few days as well. This is great timing. Olivia: Looking forward to seeing everyone. I also brought some gifts from the HA for you. So hurry home, they'll be waiting for you with a few kisses. Alex: Looking forward to it. Get some rest. Olivia: Be safe.

Locking his phone, Alex reached out to Val through their bond before drifting off to sleep. Hey, Val. Olivia will be home soon. She has Nox with her, but stay at the house and make sure she's safe until I get home, okay?

"Oli?" The excitement that came through their bond matched his own. Yeah, bud. She's coming back.