Joe didn't lose consciousness this time. The berries mana entered his system and drew towards the poison like a lodestone, the different forms of mana annihilating each other when they came into contact. A battleground raged through his core as Joe did his best to stay awake and direct the power.

"More," Joe managed to say through gritted teeth. Diana had three more in his mouth when he managed to pry it open, and he swallowed almost reflexively. He dove into his inner world and felt his skill try to help stabilize him as well. Joe felt his mana drop slightly and then return to full over and over again. He dove into looking for the reason—anything to take his mind off the pain. The answer shouldn't have been a surprise, but he hadn't considered it before now.

Mana had gathered in his skin. It was present through all his skin in more minor degrees. So small that he hadn't even noticed it before now. The mana was gathering underneath the fox's venom, slowing the poison's absorption. The answer would have brought a smile to Joe's face if his jaw wasn't clenched against the pain. Tough Skin was helping out, after all. Joe had wondered if the skill was a mistake after all the recent piercing and slashing damage he'd taken. The cuts on his arms didn't seem too bad, but it was hard to tell. It was nice to have some concrete evidence the skill was doing something.

After an eternity, or an hour depending on someone's level of poison saturation, the burning faded, and Joe took a deep, slow breath. He opened his eyes and saw Diana kneeling next to him. Her brow was sweaty, and her face pale as pearlescent eyes scanned him. He relaxed, and she sighed in relief before letting her Skill drop, her eyes returning to normal.

"You have to stop doing that. Even if there is a Skill called Stupidly Brave or Shitty Decisions, it's not worth unlocking it. Use. Your. Head." She punctuated each of her last points with a soft knuckle thump to Joe's forehead.

+1 Fortitude

Joe's worn-out body barely felt the preceding sensations, but Diana apparently noticed based on her sigh.

"And now you'll never listen because it just rewarded your stupidity. What was it?"

"Fortitude. Makes sense. I told you it sucks to earn it."

"Yeah, I think I'm good for now."

Joe groaned and sat up. His shoulder and hip still hurt, but it wasn't much compared to the memory of the burns on his chest or the now scabbed over lines on his arms. They hurt, but none of them would have required stitches. Not that stitches were currently available. Joe congratulated himself. Leveling Tough Skin had been a good choice. The trio of guards looked at him in shock as he gestured for a canteen. Mike handed his over silently, though Deena blurted out a question.

"How in the hell are you still alive? I didn't want to say anything, but the fox always kills someone. Always. Usually, it's that poison that does it."

Joe didn't reply at first. He chugged what was left in the canteen, and only the fact that he'd finished it stopped him. He then realized that his clothes were soaked in sweat, explaining why he was so thirsty. Joe thought he smelled pretty bad from the poison and aroma of multiple fights in a single day. He needed a rinse-off badly, but it would have to wait.

"I keep getting exposed to the fox's poison. This was stronger than before, but it wasn't the first time. The spitting thing is new to me, though. Man, fuck that guy, am I right?"

Everyone except Diana was staring at him still. Diana had rolled her eyes and gone over to touch the pillar. The questions from the guards continued unabated, with Deena taking the lead.

"No, you don't get it. Someone always dies. They send people in groups of five, and a good run has four people coming out leveled up. No one wants to go in here with over a twenty percent death rate."

"Huh." Joe nodded and thought about her words. He knew the rift was scary, and hell, it was downright terrifying if you were fighting anything close to your level. But he had always wondered why people weren't lining up outside for the chance at more power. In the uncertain times they'd lived through, personal strength was not something to be tossed aside lightly. Someone knowing that they had a one in five chance of dying would put a damper on demand.

At this point, Diana returned to the group, and Deena took her place. She looked at him expectantly for a moment before she spoke.

"Are you going to check if you have enough essence to level up Bite? There's no way we're getting to a third pillar tonight, so you might as well."

Joe tried unsuccessfully to hide the grimace on his face as she mentioned his least favorite skill. The fact that he hadn't considered using it once on this rift run had been great for him.

"I don't know. I've maxed out my bonus attributes, so I was thinking about saving for the level up. It just seems unnecessary."

"Joe, I know you don't like that skill," Diana said gently. "I don't think anyone here blames you either but this place, hell this whole new world, is deadly, and leaving power on the table is a recipe for disaster."

Joe didn't say anything for a minute, and no one bothered him. Deena returned with a smile, probably having leveled up her active skill. Eventually, he stood up and went over to the pillar. There were no new options, and he couldn't level his class here. Joe was out of excuses, and he knew it. Without dwelling on it, he leveled up Bite and dropped to zero essence. The skill had saved his life at least once so far. It was stupid to leave it at level one. Joe kept telling himself that despite the unhappy mood that descended over him.

Carl and Mike kept looking over at the pillar while everyone rested on the grass. Joe spoke up, doing his best to shake off the dark mood that had infected him.

"Go ahead and look, but I wouldn't level up unless you've got all your bonuses. Ultimately it's your call. Just know we've got your back."

The men took turns at the pillar, their eyes darting around for several minutes each before returning to the group. Joe looked around, and everyone seemed tired. It had been enough time that there was a good chance they could leave without issue. When Joe thought about it, it seemed like a stupid idea, though. Who knew what was out there right now. Unless they didn't have a choice, he didn't want to leave until all the group was level two.

"C'mon. Everyone up. Let's kill some monsters." Joe got to his feet and made sure not to groan as he did so. He pointed at the trio of guards. "You three need to get those bonuses. Push yourselves on whatever you can. I think the lower the skill is, the easier it is to level, but I'm not completely sure. Diana and I have your back."

The group assembled and moved forwards. They approached the next challenge slowly to scope out any changes. There were double the previous monsters but no other changes. Joe called out orders before they strode into the clearing.

"Diana and I are on crow duty. You three kill the gnolls as fast as possible. We'll help if you need it but push yourselves. You won't get a better opportunity."

The fight went pretty well. The crows were extra annoying, with two of them in the air. Once again, Joe missed his bat, as the spear was challenging to use against airborne enemies. After missing a second stab, Joe was annoyed enough to drop his spear and pull out his dull knife. The lack of reach should have been a disadvantage, but his comfort with the weapon let him land his next strike and sever a wing. After that, it was easy sailing. He and Diana had to pin one gnoll each for the guys, but that was it.

They tried the same strategy in the next room, but things got a little chaotic. The fewer gnolls were easier to handle, but the snakes were fast. Joe managed to kill them both while Diana kept the crows from doing any damage. It would have been funny to see her swatting at birds if they weren't fighting for their lives at the time. He did get to see Deena use her skill again, and her strikes were a bit faster. Joe figured it would be like any of his skills. They were underwhelming at first, but he could see how they would be far more impressive at a higher level.

Once again, they retreated after clearing the second challenge. This time Joe had the group do situps and pushups until they ran out of stamina. Then he gave them each an extra berry to help the healing process. It was all a guess, but they were pioneering information and had to start somewhere. Again anger surged deep in Joe as he thought about the System and its information gatekeeping. This knowledge was basic and out there, just not available to them.

After a half-hour, Joe pulled everyone out of their trance and got the group moving again. It was a risk to keep hammering forward through tiredness. People could get sloppy, and mistakes would be more likely. Both would lead to injuries they couldn't afford right now. The first challenge was easy, with the group tactics falling into place with practice. The second challenge room was where the first accident happened.

They'd been doing alright, killing gnolls while keeping everything else at bay. Joe had lost sight of one of the snakes when he swung his spear and killed the other. So far, everyone was being smart and keeping their distance rather than going for risky kills. Deena activated her skill again and killed both gnolls in front of her. Then she grabbed her head and stumbled to her knees. The snake reappeared out of the grass no more than five feet before her, coming in at full speed for a strike.

Joe didn't think. He simply moved. Joe reached out and grabbed the snake out of the air, aiming for the back of its head. He missed and caught it a couple of inches down from that. Unfortunately, that was enough wiggle room for the snake to strike down and bite his hand. The snake's fangs seemed to hesitate for a moment on his skin, but ultimately they pushed through, and Joe felt a cramping burn lock that hand in place. Joe couldn't let go, and his left arm was out of position to draw his knife. Anger made his vision tint pink while he activated Bite and bit entirely through the snake just below the head.

Chunks of bloody snake were spat out and sprayed across the clearing. It didn't matter as the flavor of old fish, and spoilt ambrosia salad coated the entirety of his mouth. His mouth went numb from the inherent poison running through the snake's blood in a solid mixed blessing. Great, Joe thought, more poison to go with the venom. The thought of higher-level ones was terrifying if this was a low-level rift. Joe used his left hand and ripped the snake's head out of his other. He tossed it against the thorn wall before looking around. The rest of the monsters were dying, disappearing into fire.

Joe didn't say anything as he sat down and put two berries in his mouth. The cramping was at his elbow now, and he didn't feel like seeing what would happen when it hit his chest. Every time he increased Connection, moving the mana around felt just a little easier. He was far from mastering the ability, though, as more than half of the energy diffused into the rest of his body. At least it wasn't wasted, though, with little cuts and muscle tears worked to repair themselves far above the speed of natural healing.

Overall the venom sucked, but with the healing berries and his boosted Vigor, Joe cleared it out of his system in under an hour. He flexed his hand as he opened his eyes and looked around. Deena was on her feet, though she still looked a little dizzy. The men were standing guard at the entrances, and Diana hovered a couple of feet to his right, focused on Joe's arm. She opened her eyes as he stood up and saw the slight pearlescent flash of her skill before it faded. Joe opened his mouth to explain, but she held up her hand.

"I'm not going to give you any grief. You were protecting someone, like usual. Just do your best to be careful."

Joe didn't say anything but nodded before turning to address Deena. The woman looked embarrassed as he met her eyes.

"I'm guessing that's the first time you've used your skill enough to bottom out your mana." Joe swept his gaze around to include everyone else in the clearing. "It should be pretty obvious to everyone that doing so in combat is a very bad idea."

Deena's cheeks flushed red, and her eyes were downcast. Everyone gathered around Joe, and he went over the plan for the last two challenges. They would take on the third one before retreating and working on trying to get bonuses and waiting for the respawn. They would repeat for the fourth. It wasn't a great plan, and the information gaps were big enough to drive a semi-truck through, but it's the best he could come up with at the moment.

After their second run of the third clearing, persistence finally paid off. First, Carl and Mike broke through, and Deena followed after ten minutes of meditation. That was a cause for celebration. Joe settled for a single high five each and then handed out an extra berry. The last room would be the toughest, being entirely populated by snakes and crows. As a rule, the crows went for the eyes, and the snake's venom was no joke for the higher-leveled ones in that clearing.

The first attempt went well, with only some facial scratches to show for missed blocks and sloppy strikes. The second attempt, a half-hour later, almost ended in disaster. One of the crows became tangled in Carl's hair, drawing both him and Mike into a frantic attempt to get it out. Its beak and claws dug into the man's scalp and drew blood. That is when the last snake got through Deena's guard and stuck both of them in quick succession. Joe and Diana put it and the crow down to finish the fight immediately afterward.

Both men were moaning, and their entire legs were rigid. Their jaws were clenched from the pain, and Joe dug his fingers in tight until he forced each of their mouths open. Diana Squeezed the berries to a pulp while dropping them in. She looked at Joe for confirmation, and he nodded as more joined the first. He had needed a lot to handle the fox the first time. It had been a boss, but neither of the men had his level of Vigor.

"Focus." Deena yelled while kneeling between the two men. "Push the mana towards your legs. You've seen Joe do it. You can do it. Focus, damn it."

Joe didn't know if it was helping, but it wasn't hurting anything. Almost an hour and a handful of berries later, the men's jaws relaxed, and Joe immediately checked their pulse. It was too fast but otherwise strong and steady. Joe figured they were out of the woods and looked to Diana for confirmation. She continued to look them over but gave Joe a thumbs up when she saw him looking at her. Joe gave out a sigh of relief. His stress level was about at its limit if he was honest with himself. He'd been on a combat bender for over a day, with the only breaks being from poisoning and stab wound recovery. It was time to go rest.

There was one thing he wanted to do first. He told everyone to hang tight and moved ahead to see what the next level of treant looked like. It was only a couple of feet taller but seemed to have almost doubled in width. Instead of a smooth bark similar to birch, it now had a thick and ridged covering like hickory. On one of its high branches sat a suspiciously perfect-looking apple. Joe wouldn't have been fooled even if he didn't know that it was a monster. Good things aren't just lying around in rifts. Joe backed away quietly while giving the monster a solid double bird salute.

A minute later, when he returned to the group, Carl and Mike were climbing unsteadily to their feet. Both men still looked rough, though they were smiling more than Joe would have thought likely. Mike filled him in when he saw the confusion on Joe's face.

"We both got a point of Vigor. We can level up and get the hell out of here."

The young man's clear relief at leaving made Joe wince internally. He'd been trying to make them strong enough to survive, but maybe he'd pushed them too hard. Neither man seemed to be holding any grudges, and each one leaned on one of the ladies as they headed back towards the portal. Once they were there, each took turns leveling up. Joe asked them if they'd made any other changes, and both nodded emphatically.

"There's more options now," Carl said. "I took sense mana now that it's there. I think that's going to be a very important skill in the future."

"I did too," Mike chimed in.

Joe walked over and placed his hand on the pillar. He wondered if things had changed for everyone or just the two men. They were level one at the beginning and just starting to use mana, even from outside sources like the berries. It would make sense that more options would be unlocked after the marathon of a day they'd just experienced. Joe's eyes glanced over the skills and froze when they came to the bottom of the list. There was something new filling his vision, and he couldn't help but smile.