Chương 42: 209. The Fractured Path

Alex grinned down at his phone as he walked with the column on the small road that paralleled the railroad tracks. Olivia was sending him a daily update on the house and what she was up to. The last three days had passed quickly, most of their traveling group falling into a comfortable routine. They rose early and focused on covering most of the day's distance in the morning and early afternoon. As the days wore on, they would take more breaks and specifically look for a safe place to set up camp.

The things they looked for were enough space to fit everyone comfortably and, preferably, a defensible position close to a Rift. Each team member had sent him updates. They'd all embraced Mark's competition, so details were sparse, but just interacting with them made Alex want to be back at the Team House with everyone. Mark and Sam were only a day away from being back, whereas Sarah and Jonathan had already made it back.

Olivia: The way she's chasing him around and trying to do everything he needs is just weird, I'm telling you. He couldn't drop the grin from his face as he reread her text.

"What's got you so giddy?" Aisha asked as she and Elyse walked up beside him. Alex barely recognized Elyse as one of the group that they'd broken out of the cells beneath the arena. Her class still showed as a Grappler, but almost everything else had changed. She'd cut her hair to shoulder length, and with a rinse in the river, proper clothes, and a few good meals, she seemed transformed. She was pretty in a way that he knew Mark would find attractive.

His best friend had always been into the classic beauty of a modest woman. Elyse's personality and choice of dress reminded him of that. He'd already done what he could to drop hints of his party's amazing tank and looked forward to introducing the two.

"Come on, it's got to be his woman. Right?" Elyse guessed while nudging Aisha.

"Well, in this case, it's not so much her. It's more what she's talking about," he said, looking at the two of them. Robert glanced over his shoulder. Alex had noted how much he paid attention whenever the topic of his main team came up. He'd been very intentional about not sharing details of the team's skills or specific functions outside their roles. Still, the more they talked, the more he found himself describing their personalities and what good people they were.

The more he shared, the more he realized how lucky he was.

"Oh, is it something spicy?" Aisha asked with a laugh, elbowing him. Alex's smile faltered as a bit of color rose to his cheeks.

"What? No. She's talking about my companion. Someone that we recently brought onto the staff is apparently excessively pampering him in an attempt to get on my good side."

"Oh, your bond. Varion?"

"Valtherion," Alex corrected.

"The big blue snake with wings?" Robert asked.

"He sounds pretty awesome."

"More like intimidating," Elyse said timidly. Alex shook his head.

"He might look a bit intimidating, but I promise he's a sweetheart. He's still maturing a lot, but he's getting smarter and smarter by the day. I can't wait to have him back. The evolution he went through while I've been down here should have given him a huge power increase."

"I find it hard to believe that any snake is a sweetheart," Aisha said skeptically. The sentiment made him laugh.

"I get that, but he acts more like a dog. I promise, you guys will love him."

"Robert, Alex!" called a familiar voice. Eric jogged over to their group and waved. He'd been one of the first to join the closer circle of freed gladiators. Robert was close with the man and trusted him a lot, which was why he'd been put with the small trio acting as scouts to their caravan. Alex checked his own memories, as another one of the three scouts was… Scout. With the sun beginning to crest over the nearby trees, he knew that they were looking for a decent place to set up for the night.

Sure enough, as he reviewed the memories Scout had experienced over the previous half hour, he knew what Eric had come to report.

"We found a pretty decent spot to set up. Stewart found the Rift before either of us," Eric said. Alex didn't say anything. He'd already worked out an excuse for his clone's natural mana sight, telling everyone that it was a passive skill of "Stewart's" rather than the shared power of his eye. Other than Robert, Aisha, and Luis, no one knew about his clones and treated the three as if they were part of Alex's main team.

He noted the dynamics and interactions of those around him as they made their way to the evening campsite. After several days of setting up camps and preparing for the evening, most everyone knew their role and fell into their work easily. Preparing the area as best they could, getting the wagons safely situated, preparing places to sleep, and an evening meal took more than two hours most nights.

Alex let Scout continue to monitor and prepare the area around the nearby Rift they'd found, while Mage and Warrior helped him set up their own camp. The two clones fielded most questions that came his way, not needing to even bother him to know how he'd answer the questions. Once he'd finished setting up his tent, he moved on to help someone else, making small talk as they worked. It wasn't until they were seated at the fire, preparing to eat an evening meal, that he had a revelation.

He looked at those around the camp with him. Specifically, at those closest to him, and those who were comfortable enough to interact with him. Then, he looked just outside of their small area, at those who were curious and near enough to see or hear him, without actually being in the group. Robert must have seen the look on his face.

"What's on your mind?" He took a bite of the soup while waiting for Alex to finish his own.

"I told you guys I was just an office worker before the integration." He looked at Robert, then at Luis, who sat nearby on the ground.

"Well, I feel like I just realized something. Of the people here, you three are the closest to me. We've interacted the most, trained together, and fought together. So that makes sense. But there is also this larger circle surrounding ours, of people who seem interested but don't interact with me. If they have a question for me or a request, they go to Walter, Martin, or one of you guys."

"Well, it's not that you're unapproachable, but that is the nature of a leader. Most people will assume that you have other things going on and generally avoid that interaction unless you specifically say otherwise. Of course, there will always be people who don't seem to have that innate social sense. They'll come to you with anything and everything, regardless of how important you are or how much you have going on."

"I guess so. It was just interesting to notice," Alex said with a hum.

"You'll probably notice there's actually a third group in this scenario, too."

"Oh?" Robert nodded and scribbled two circles in the dirt before scratching some circles in between the two rings.

"There will be a middle group. They'll usually be the people that you take time to interact with directly a few times, gaining their trust and humanizing yourself. They'll be more comfortable coming to interact with you and make requests. The rest of them are likely the people we're close with," he gestured at Luis with his spoon.

"Like Eric and Elyse. They'll interact with you more just by nature of being close with us."

"Makes sense. I guess I'm just wondering if I'll continue to see this on a larger scale. Even aside from your group and the Koru'qai, I've recently brought on a fair number of people, and I'm sure there will be more."

"Probably something similar. But it's really just those two outer groups that get larger. The inner group tends to stay the same size for most people leaders. At least, that's what I understand," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Why do you think there is even an outer group?" Alex asked. He scanned the area around their fire again, still finding a few people who were lingering nearby.

"I mean, the group of humans in this caravan is pretty small. It's a bit odd to me that we wouldn't all get to know each other."

"You want?" Luis asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Do I want people interacting with me?" The question caught him off guard, but he chuckled as he gave it more thought.

"I'm not sure. Probably not, to be honest. But at the same time, I don't want to be unapproachable."

"There's a trade-off there. Probably even more so after the integration. You're strong, and a lot of people will want to gravitate toward that. But even those same people might be intimidated by the same thing that makes them feel safe."

"Fair point," Alex shrugged.

"Honestly, I've never been the kind of person to have a big social circle. Even now, I'd rather lock myself away with my companion and throw myself into magic testing for a few weeks, only stepping out to go on an adventure or two with my team. But… there are a lot of people who need help right now. I feel like if I can do something to help or set my people up for success, then I need to."

"You're referring to the Continental Event that you told us about?"

"That's an immediate concern," Alex affirmed.

"But there are plenty of people who don't even realize it's as big a deal as it is. Even without that looming threat, they need help. The Safe Zones are in a weird spot that I don't feel will last. They're too cramped, filled with a mix of people who are scared and grow more confident with each level gained. They'll need more food soon, which will require branching out, farming, and reestablishing control over the countryside.

Rift breaks have taken over whole areas of rural land that a few people with skills could utilize to make an enormous difference…" he let the rant drop with a sigh. There was a short silence among the small group, everyone soaking in the larger changes to the world.

"What's your next step, then?" Robert asked.

"What do you mean?"

"When you get back to your house, and everyone gets settled. What's your plan?"

"Hmm," Alex scratched the stubble on his chin.

"There is a lot of power for me to consolidate. With the project I've been working on, and recent success, I'll need to think carefully about how to proceed." Robert listened quietly, knowing that Alex was still being intentionally vague about his recent magical project. Even to the trio, he'd only shared that it was a study of Rift magic using his newly enhanced stats and the cadence stone.

"While it might not be as revolutionary, I also figured out how to use my magic to create enchantments. My mentor will want to delve deeper into that, and it opens up all kinds of pathways to power and safety, not just for me, but for my team. That will probably be where most of my focus will be when we return home. Warding and enchanting have a lot of potential to provide safety for our group, and it's about time I start building up the property.

There's a lot of magic that I can layer around the estate in general to protect everyone living there." This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"Magical fortress? Cool," Robert said.

"Yeah, something like that." Alex laughed with him.

"If I can figure out how to create better wards, magical gear, better mana batteries, tools, and stuff like that, it could really push the group as a whole to the next level." His mind drifted to the enormous monolith of mana-conductive stone now stored in his bracer.

"I'll probably build a dedicated space with the Koru'qai's gift built into the structure. If I can use it to power larger, more permanent wards, that would be a game-changer."

"Sounds like you'll have your hands full." Alex laughed again, tying his plan for the next few months into the conversation they'd just had.

"Notice how almost none of that is interacting with people, though?" They continued to make small talk until the camp was settled. Only then did he stand and stretch before taking a winding path through the small clusters of people, checking on those that he could. Whenever an issue was brought up, he'd do what he could to reassure or fix the problem.

Some of the more immediate matters, like blankets or clothing, he was able to solve on the spot thanks to his spatial storage item or the quick communication with his clones. After he'd helped whom he could, he made his way to the tree line. He gave Luis a nod as he passed their small section of the woods, knowing that the quiet man would keep an eye on things while he went to work at the Rift.

"Looking forward to more testing," Mage said as Alex walked into the clearing.

"Same. I want to keep exploring the other paths tonight. I think I'm starting to see a pattern since our first success a few days ago. The different functions of the ritual can vary a lot based on intent." He bumped his clone's fist as he passed, making his way to the cleared space near the portal.

"I'll head back to the camp. Let me know when you're ready to set the runes," Scout stood from where he was kneeling, making marks in the dirt for where certain parts of the ritual should go.

"Sounds good. Don't go too far," Alex answered absently as he scanned the Rift. D Rank Rift Uncommon Rarity Rift Slots [0/100] The conversation with his clones was nice, but largely unnecessary. While he knew that and knew they all shared the same thoughts, the separate streams of consciousness made it hard for him to know exactly what the others were thinking without intentionally 'looking' into their minds. The conversation also kept him from feeling like a crazy person.

He started creating the ritual with Mage's help, and even though he'd set it up several times over the last few days of travel, it still took the better part of an hour to set everything up and an additional couple of hours to charge it with enough mana to begin. While it was possible he could speed up the process by using the new mana monolith, he didn't love the idea of such an item being exposed.

Rather than using it so openly on the road, he was willing to spend the extra time entering the Rift and siphoning mana with his skill. It felt like training for his skills anyway. He'd spent some of the downtime in the previous nights thinking about how each of his skills and knowledge in unstructured magic played such a key role in the ritual. He was able to do, in a couple of hours, what had taken the sun elves almost two days.

He knew some of that seemed exaggerated, mainly because he'd improved the efficiency of the ritual after several iterations, where the sun elves had been forced to use his first real attempt at combining rituals and runes. The largest difference, though, came down to the size of the ritual. Alex was creating a ritual that was only just big enough to encompass the Rift, whereas the sun elves were empowering one big enough to span their entire camp.

The extra downtime within the Rift also gave him the chance to scout out the creatures and environment inside. Even after all those months, he found it mind-boggling that there were fractured parts of worlds inside the Rifts. The biomes, creatures, and plant life could all vary so drastically inside the Rift, he was never quite sure what he'd get when he stepped through to the other side. Sometimes it was beautiful and temperate, while others were immediately hostile and uninhabitable.

As he charged the ritual around the uncommon rarity Rift that evening, he was stunned by the nasty environment within. Everything in the Rift was coated in a gritty, dripping substance. In most areas, it was bright pink, reminiscent of Pepto-Bismol, while in others it was shaded to an artificial-looking purple. Aside from looking disgusting, he had a strong feeling that it was poisonous. After entering the first time, he created a space for himself just inside the Rift using the area-of-effect cleansing spell.

The fact that the spell targeted the pink gunk as something to be cleansed was telling. While using [Mana Siphon], two large creatures had attempted to attack him, rising from the surrounding space that Alex had thought to be solid ground. The kill notification presented by the System called the creatures Nitrsks. After they were dealt with, he decided he had a strong dislike of the Rift.

Once he was ready to begin with the runes and directing power, he called Scout back to join him, while having Warrior enter their tent to 'sleep.' Once his clone was out of sight, he recalled the mind from it so that he had a second for the intent involved in the ritual. Just as he had the other times, he held the Cadence Stone loosely as his mind began to probe the intent and power of the ritual. Before long, he found himself at the same crossroad he had each time before.

It was only a vague sense of the idea, but each path represented a different route toward the ritual's overall intent. One felt like power, another like freedom, and the other like death. He'd been cautious of the third path in all of his other experiments. Though as he sat now, thinking through what he'd learned, he realized that the death he felt wasn't his own. None of the feelings were in reference to his own safety or power.

It was then that he connected the paths with the purpose of the runes he was actively using in the ritual. The path of power was the one he'd taken to completion. That's the Empower Rune. It upgrades the Rank of the Rift. He shifted his mind's eye to the second path of flowing power, pulsing in time with a natural rhythm. It felt like open skies and soaring through the air. Some of the most unfiltered feelings of freedom he'd felt in his life. That must be the Fracture Rune. It is meant to break open the Rift.

Knowing what he knew now, it became more clear that was the intent of the elves. They'd used a slightly different combination of runes to achieve their goals, and if it hadn't been for his timely intervention, he was sure that the Rift would have opened up to allow the Sun Elves free access to Earth. The third path was a bit of an anomaly to him, though. It felt dangerous. It can't be the other runes in the ritual. Portal, Storage, and Channeling don't make sense for this feeling.

He carefully sent his mind down the path, intrigued by the discovery. While he did, he knew that the sense of death and danger wasn't applied to him. If it followed the same logic as the other paths, then whatever the effect was should apply to the Rift, not to him. The path turned and twisted, its angles sharp and sometimes narrow. It felt different to travel when compared to the wide, flowing river of power he'd experienced days before when ranking up the first Rift.

He focused on the intent of the path and soon realized what it was tied to. Fracture. It was another aspect of the same rune. A different kind of intent. The more that the realization settled on him, the more certain he was that the rune could have two very different effects based on the intent he pushed into the rune. Similar to how intent mattered when setting a rune during enchantment. He pushed the thought to Mage, who was maintaining the intent of the Fracture rune.

Understanding passed between the two parts of his consciousness, and the path he walked became more defined. It was easier for him to get a sense of direction. He took a deep breath and followed it through. As he did, his thoughts raced, and his heart rate increased. If the path did what he assumed, then it could change everything. He hadn't upgraded another Rift since the first. There didn't seem to be any reason to rank up Rifts along the countryside as he passed unless he was willing to stay and close them.

Leaving behind Rifts that were more likely to break, with higher-level monsters, was dangerous. The day before, when he'd realized that the second path led to breaking open the Rift, he'd very intentionally ended the ritual early, not wanting to get anywhere near that completion. The excess mana that was produced from interrupting the ritual was redirected into prototype mana batteries as to not be wasted. At present, though, he wasn't thinking about ending it prematurely.

Mana ran through his veins, and as he came closer to the completion of the ritual, he grit his teeth. He touched the small button of power and grunted from the effort of the last few mental steps. Before he even realized it, a small explosion of mana went off around him. A small gust of wind accompanied it, but only enough to ruffle his clothes and the brim of his hat. When he opened his eyes, he stared at the Rift. It hung suspended in the air, spinning lazily without a care in the world.

There was a brief moment of confusion as he wondered if he'd been wrong or if something in the ritual had failed. It wasn't until he noticed that the rotations of the Rift were slowing down more and more that he was certain he'd succeeded. Congratulations, [Parallel Mind] has leveled up! Congratulations, [Efficient Rites] (Tier I) has advanced to (Tier II) He dismissed both windows, mesmerized by the change in the Rift. To his left eye, he could see the mana in the air begin to stagnate.

The gentle pulsing tempo in the air around him, visible through the use of the Cadence Stone, also came to a slow halt. There was a long moment where everything around him seemed to hold its breath. His clones, the Rift, even the magical energy itself seemed to freeze. Alex was so startled that he flinched when a crack appeared across the still surface of the portal. Small at first, it grew to cover the entire surface from top to bottom.

Without warning, it shattered, falling to the ground like an enormous mirror breaking. When the pieces of the still portal hit the ground, they dissipated, no longer visible to his normal vision. His eyes grew wider by the moment as the Rift ceased to exist. You have slain Nitrsk - Level 42"What?" The pace of his breathing quickened further.

"Oh. Fuck." You have slain Nitrsk - Level 47 You have slain Nitrsk - Level 33 You have slain Kryndax - Level 56 You have slain Nitrsk - Level 41 You have slain Kry n dax - Level 52 You have slain Nitrsk - Level 38 You have slain Nitrsk - Level 44 You have slain Kryndax - Level 59 You have slain Nitrsk - Level 35 You have slain Nitrsk - Level 48 Panic set in as he saw dozens of notifications roll in.

He ended all [Factured Body] skills and released the [Parallel Mind] skill to restore his body and mind to full power. Concerned at the backlash that might come from the experience gain, he looked around in worry as blue motes of light began blinking into existence all around him. So much experience flooded his body, and so many System Windows appeared, that he had a hard time telling what was happening.

You have slain Nitrsk - Level 34 You have slain Kryndax - Level 59 You have slain Kryndax - Level 55 You have slain Nitrsk - Level 38 Congratulations Awakened. You have leveled up! You have 3 Free Points to distribute. Congratulations Awakened. You have leveled up! You have 3 Free Points to distribute. Congratulations Awakened. You have leveled up! You have 3 Free Points to distribute.

You have slain Nitrsk - Level 44 You have slain Kryndax - Level 59 You have slain Nitrsk - Level 35 You have slain Nitrsk - Level 48 Congratulations Awakened. You have leveled up! You have 3 Free Points to distribute. Hundreds of notifications continued to roll in. He saw some come in for much lower-level creatures, likely passive wildlife or offspring of the monsters that hadn't grown to their full power; however, the System seemed to prioritize the higher-level beasts.

The next set of windows sent him into a cursing fit. He stood quickly and tried to take a few steps away, back toward camp, but there wasn't any escaping the System windows that followed his vision. WARNING: Abnormality detected. Awakened One has obtained knowledge beyond the scope of current planetary integration parameters.

"Aw, mother fu—" Just as before, another message materialized. Processing course of action… Diverting resources to the solution… Processing… System deemed to transport awakened anomaly to Integration leader, Overseer Istreal, for final judgment.

"Nope. Nope. No, no, no." Alex took two more steps before stopping and shutting his eyes tight. He clamped down on his mind as he felt his consciousness begin to pull away from his body. The inexorable pull won out, causing his body to fall to the ground in a heap. A tinkling laugh could be heard in his mind as he felt the passing of space and time. It sounded genuine and filled with amusement.

It wasn't until his metaphysical body felt like it had stopped completely, suspended in the void of nothingness, that he heard her speak. WARNING: Divine Presence Detected Initiating Soul Protection Protocols… Filtering divine essence to sustainable levels for mortal Constitution. WARNING: Extended exposure is not advised. Congratulations, Awakened! You have gained a Title! You gain: Title - The Chosen of Istrael"So, we meet again, Magician." //