Chapter 6 - Rift
Blue light flooded the street.
The newly formed Rift stood in complete silence, its swirling surface resembling liquid glass suspended in midair.
For a brief moment, the entire street fell quiet.
Then Mira stepped forward.
She glanced at the portal once before nodding to herself.
"Judging from the energy density it is likely a tier one rift."
I blinked.
"I thought it would at least be a tier two?"
She looked back at me.
"It’s dangerous if you become careless, a tier one rift is still a rift, remember that."
I nodded at her reasoning.
Within seconds, several Heroes arrived at this location.
They immediately began securing the surrounding area while police officers redirected the remaining civilians toward shelters.
One of the Heroes who wore a steel plate armor saluted Mira.
"Captain."
She returned the salute.
"I’ll handle this one."
"Understood."
The Hero didn’t question her decision in the slightest.
Instead, he simply turned and began organizing a perimeter.
"You are definitely a high ranking hero," I muttered.
"Hm?"
"Nothing."
Come to think of it, she’d never actually told me her rank.
And judging by the way everyone reacted to her, though, she was at least Gold-ranked... probably higher.
Mira’s gaze shifted between me and Fatty.
"You two are coming with me."
"What?"
Both of us answered at the same time.
"It’s a Tier One Rift and normally, I’d tell you to stay outside." she explained calmly.
"But you both have just graduated."
She smiled.
"Consider this your graduation gift."
Fatty scratched his head.
"Does that mean we’re officially Heroes?"
"No."
"..."
"It means you’ll carry supplies and think of this as a practical field experience."
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
"But are you sure that this is fine? Won’t we be breaking the law?" I asked waiting for her response.
"Think of it as your first lesson outside a training room, as long as you are powerful, rules can be mended."
Without another word, Mira raised her left hand.
A silver bangle around her wrist shimmered faintly.
The space above it distorted.
A second later, two weapons emerged from thin air as if someone had reached into an invisible storage room.
One landed in my hands.
The other in Fatty’s.
A straight-edged practice sword.
Fatty was staring at the spear he had received.
His eyes practically sparkled.
"This is so cool."
"Don’t get too attached to it, you have to return it." Mira said.
"It was cool for five seconds."
I tested the sword’s weight with a single swing.
It was comfortable.
Far better than the training blades at school.
Mira’s expression turned serious.
"The two of you stay behind me at all times and if I tell you to run?"
"We will run," I answered immediately not waiting for Fu Jun.
"Absolutely the worst decision, throwing your comrade into danger and running, your mentality is not that of a hero."
She smiled faintly.
"..."
It was a trick question.
She then turned toward the shimmering portal.
"Let’s go."
Without the slightest hesitation, Mira stepped into the Rift.
Fatty and I exchanged one last look.
"First time right?" he asked.
I tightened my grip on the sword slightly nodding.
"This is a memorable moment, we share our first time together." Fu Jun remarked.
"..."
I absolutely hate this fucking fat bastard.
Together, we followed her into the blue portal.
There was just one thing I didn’t know at that time.
Fatty had lied to me.
***
The sensation of passing through the Rift was unfamiliar.
For a split second, my vision turned blurred.
Then the world snapped back into focus.
"A cave?"
The air was damp and cold.
Jagged stone walls stretched in every direction, illuminated by clusters of pale blue crystals growing from the ceiling.
Water dripped somewhere in the distance, each drop echoing through the cavern.
"It’s much larger than it looks from the outside," Fatty muttered.
"You’ve both studied this already, the inside of a Rift doesn’t follow normal spatial rules, so always be prepared for the unexpected." Mira replied.
I looked around.
"So, where are the monsters?"
Almost as if answering my question.
Skitter.
A faint scratching sound echoed from the darkness.
Skitter. Skitter. Skitter.
Several figures crawled across the cave walls.
Spiders.
Each stood roughly the size of a large dog, their pale exoskeleton resembling bleached bone.
Eight crimson eyes locked onto us while razor-sharp legs scraped against the stone.
"External Boned Spiders," Mira said calmly.
"They are one of the most dangerous tier one monsters, watch your surroundings carefully."
The nearest spider leaped but Mira didn’t move.
She simply raised one hand.
A golden glow spread across her fingertips before condensing into a narrow blade of light.
Slash.
The spider split cleanly in half before its body even reached the ground.
"That’s it?" I asked.
"My powers are restricted here but I am still very powerful." Mira answered.
Stronger people could definitely enter low level rifts but their power gets restricted.
And Mira was experiencing the same thing.
Though her powers are restricted, her skills are not.
She casually stepped forward and cut another spider in two.
Three more spiders rushed toward us.
"This time you two should try, let’s see how much you have practiced." Mira said, taking a step back.
Fatty reacted first.
He lowered his spear and met the leading spider head-on.
Rather than wildly thrusting like an inexperienced student, he slid one foot forward, redirected the monster’s momentum with the shaft, and drove the spearhead cleanly beneath its jaw.
One strike.
One kill.
"Huh? How did you do it?" I asked slightly bewildered.
Fu Jun scratched his cheek.
"I have practiced a little."
Mira’s eyes lingered on him for a brief moment.
"Your fundamentals are quite solid."
"I will credit my grandfather for this..."
A second spider lunged toward me.
I instinctively stepped backward before forcing myself to stop.
’No!’
As this was my first real battle, running wasn’t going to help.
But still, I suffered a small mental crisis.
Looking back, I have mostly trained for self-defense and maybe to impress Mira.
And I was not a prodigy who, with just one look, could learn someone’s hard earned experience.
I tightened my grip around the sword.
Basic stance.
Center of gravity low.
Eyes on the target.
Exactly as I’d practiced thousands of times.
The spider closed the distance in an instant.
Its front legs swung toward my chest.
I deflected one with the flat of my blade, narrowly avoided the second, and slashed across its side.
Clang.
The sword bounced off the creature’s hardened shell.
"Seriously?"
The spider hissed and lunged again.
This time I stayed calm.
’Let’s aim for the joints.’
Not the armor.
The next exchange lasted only seconds.
Parry. Step. Turn.
The countless hours Mira had forced me to repeat the same boring sword drills finally began paying off.
When the spider overextended, I drove the blade into the gap beneath one of its front legs.
The resistance vanished as the sword pierced deep.
The monster let out a shrill screech before collapsing onto the cave floor.
I stood there for a moment, breathing harder than I’d expected.
"I-I actually did it."
Mira smiled.
"Your technique is rough but your fundamentals are solid. You should trust yourself a bit more from now on Evren."
For some reason.
That praise made me happier than killing the monster itself.