Death Smith - Book 2 - Chapter 21

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Skilled competition

One day later.

Late-April, 14 AR.

Inside Rift 12.

Four Rifters ran up the ruined stone steps, feeling bits of it crumble underneath their feet as they rushed upwards to stay just ahead of the monsters. They could hear the burned Bark-brains behind them, roaring and hissing as they tried to close the distance with their enormous frames. Behind them were hordes of Centaur-toads, equally burned and wounded. “Keep the momentum, lads!” Lance yelled as they rounded another corner and heard a few of the monsters slam into the wall behind them, showering them all in bits of stone and dirt.

They were playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse, with them trying to keep the monsters right on their heels and blinded by rage. The ash and smoke in the air irritated the Rifter’s lungs, but none of them complained about it, knowing full well that they had an important job to do.

As they reached the top of the tower, they spotted the hole in the wall, showing where they had to jump through. ‘Don’t think... Just jump!’ Lance thought as he watched the three Rifters make a beeline towards the hole and jump out. The three Rifters with him weren’t a high level, but they were skilled runners and confident enough in their ability to outpace the wounded monsters behind them.

Lance followed right behind them as he jumped out and was airborne for a few seconds before he slammed into another ruined tower, barely holding on to the ropes and vines the other Rifters had placed there. The force of the jump caused him to swing wildly for a moment before he could pull himself up and scramble over the edge, aided by several hands. As the four of them caught their breaths while being congratulated by the other Rifters, they could see and hear the horrible scene that was unfolding.

The Bark-brains had underestimated the size of the hole and their speed as they crashed into the wall, their enormous frames smashing through the stone with ease. Dozens of burned Centaur-toads behind were in a similar predicament as they piled up on top of each other, toppling down the tower in a writhing, hissing mass. The sheer drop had reduced their bodies into red smears on the ground. “Nice job, lads,” Lance said as he complimented the men that had been with him.

All across the ruined city the Rifters had created similar scenes like this, taking advantage of traps, ambushes and brutal tactics. They had crushed monsters with boulders, made them charge into sharpened wooden pikes, poured boiling water on them, or simply lure them into plummeting to their deaths.

“I could’ve sworn I felt one of them nibbling on my rear.”

“It is a hard target to miss.”

“Ah, sod off!”

The runners vented their stress and fatigue in that moment, knowing that there was still work to be done. The fire had decimated the monster’s numbers, but the pain from all their wounds and burns had whipped those that had remained into a frenzy. This made things easier for the Rifters if they were smart about it.

Lance peered outwards as he heard shouting. “Lance! We found them!” He could see the smaller frame of Mira in the distance, waving her rifle in the air to signal him. He noticed her pointing to the east, towards the ruined keep. He could vaguely see how a few Rifters were making their way towards it, with three shadowy monsters in pursuit.

“Lads! Gear up. We have some Rift-guardians to kill.”

* * * * *

Twenty minutes had passed since Lance and his squad had joined up with the others to fight the Rift-guardians. These Guardians were floating in the air like weird, ethereal squids. Their bodies, black and shadowy, glowed with a dark mist that distorted the air around them, only to dissipate a moment later. Their many tendril-like limbs were long and thin and covered in a grey liquid. As far as Lance could see, these monsters had no eyes, but they were clearly intelligent judging by how well they were able to read the Rifter’s movements.

‘These guys are surprisingly fast,’ Lance thought as he felt the fatigue and discomfort in his body from where their tendrils had hit them. At his Endurance level, he could shrug it off, but some of the weaker Rifters that had gotten hurt were out of the count with arms or legs that were numb and unable to move them properly.

Lance and Scott were each fighting a Rift-guardian, while a smaller force led by Iyas had pinned down the third Guardian. There were sounds of combat all around them in the ruined keep. Stone and burned wood groaned as the Rifters fought against the monsters, with several Rifters holding back waves of weaker monsters near the main entrance. “Keep it up! Kill them all,” Scott screamed as he smashed apart a few of the tendrils of the monster he was fighting.

‘Get low!’ Lance ducked as quickly as he could, hugging his axe close to his body. He narrowly evaded the monster’s limb as he felt the wind of it against his scalp. ‘Step in closer,’ he heard Thomas’ experience guide him, forcing Lance’s body to rush forwards. Thomas’ instincts, honed by years of training, surged through Lance’s mind. He threw himself aside as another tendril swung for him. He felt it graze his shoulder, but he kept moving, hacking, and slashing at the tendrils with his axe as they sped past him. Lance eventually severed two of them. A torrent of yellow blood spurted from the monster’s severed limbs as they fell to the ground with heavy thumps.

“Not so quick now, are we?” Lance taunted as he circled the wounded creature. He wanted to finish it quickly to help with the others but froze as he noticed the monster’s remaining tendrils tremble, as a fireball formed between its limbs, growing larger and larger. ‘A magic user? This is bad,’ Lance thought as he retrieved a javelin from his inventory. He threw the javelin towards the monster, hoping to get to it in time.

He watched the crude bone javelin impact with the fireball, causing it to explode violently and burn the monster. Without pausing, Lance rushed at the monster and tackled it into the stone wall behind it, only to slam it and himself through the wall and into the next floor, hacking punching at the monster with all his might before it slipped away from him. It was as if the monster sensed the difference in power between the two of them. Before it could escape, Lance threw his axe at it, hitting it straight in the centre mass as the momentum forced the monster back onto the ground.

Summoning his entrenching tool, Lance switched it to the pickaxe setting as he slammed the tip inside of the monster’s torso, pinning it firmly into the ground. The strange anatomy of the monster made it hard for Lance to judge how much damage he had inflicted and how best to kill it. ‘Force!’ It was as if he could feel Thomas inside of him, fighting for control of his thoughts, breaking apart his concentration. It was uncomfortable but proved helpful, seeing as he was overthinking things again. Instead, he took a page out of Thomas and Dieter’s book as he slammed his right hand against the monster’s shard, slamming the black-red shard further into its torso before Lance grabbed it and started pulling on it.

The Rift-guardian buckled like a wild horse as its shard was getting ripped out of its chest. Lance could feel the creature’s cold yellow blood pour over his hand as he ripped it out, accompanied by a sickening sucking sound. The stench of the creature’s blood was overwhelming, and Lance had to fight the urge to vomit. Finally, the shard came free, and Lance stumbled backwards, barely able to keep himself from falling over. And as the monster flailed its limbs one last time in its last moment, Lance looked at his palm, seeing the bloody guardian-shard in his hand. He was about to store it in his inventory when he noticed something was sticking to the shard, something white. When he grabbed it he immediately became aware of the notification popping up.

[Skill-shard found]

[Use] [Store] [Destroy]

Lance blinked a few times as he stared at the skill-shard for a moment. Mentally, he had not yet accepted the situation, or the rarity of a drop like this. “A skill-shard?” He said out loud as a smile formed. That smile soured suddenly when Scott burst into the room, smashing apart the Rift-guardian he was facing. Like Lance, yellow blood and shadowy gore covered the Rifter from head to toe.

Scott panted as he stood up, ready to smash the dead monster one more time. When he spotted Lance, his eyes narrowed on the skill-shard in Lance’s hands. “Give it to me.”

* * * * *

Two Rifters were holding Scott back, talking to him to just calm down and talk it out. “Bugger off. That skill-shard is mine. I killed the bloody thing. It is mine,” Scott said as the veins in his forehead matched the anger he was displaying.

The fighting had died down after the Rift-guardians had been slain. Iyas and the others had killed the third and final one. There were still sounds of occasional Centaur-toads being killed by a Rifter, but nothing that really resembled a threat. Most of the Rifters were watching the standoff between Lance and Scott, while others began ripping out black-shards from the slain monsters in what little time they had.

“Says who?” Mira asked as she stood between Lance and Scott, pointing at the taller Rifter. “From where I am standing, Lance is the one holding onto the skill-shard and you are making the bold claims. What proof do you have that he took it? Do you have any witnesses?” A few of the other Rifters whispered among themselves, speculating who was in the right.

“I don’t have time for all of this. Back off, Scott,” Lance told Scott as he felt the earth tremble once more, showing that the Rift was starting to end. He didn’t want a confrontation with Scott, preferring to keep a low profile. But there was something about Scott that he despised, hated even. The man was a bully, a fake leader, and was letting his greed get the better of him. It reminded him of someone. ‘The more time I am wasting here, the less time I get to harvest black-shards and store these monsters.’ The skill-shard was a precious asset for sure, but Lance was also counting on storing these Rift-guardian’s and harvesting them back in his lair to make a big profit.

“Back off? Or what?” Scott said, pushing the two men that were trying to hold him back. The greed in his eyes had changed for fury as he stepped closer towards Lance, almost as if he wanted to kill him on the spot.

[Use]

The skill-shard glowed intensely before Lance slammed it against his chest, letting the radiation it was giving off get absorbed into his white-shard. He could feel the surge of energy flow into his body as notifications popped up on his status screen. He ignored it as he took a step towards Scott, calm and determined. “Back off now. I’ll not warn you again.”

The sudden shift in Lance’s demeanour and the fact that the skill-shard was no longer a potential prize halted Scott’s steps as his eyes narrowed on Lance’s. He was about to open his mouth when a spear slammed between his legs at an incredible speed, ripping apart the stone tiles in a violent display. “You heard Lance. Back off, Scott. Or do you want to explain to the GRRO how you broke the single most important rule amongst Rifters? To never fight other Rifters?” Iyas asked with a creepy smile, one that almost dared Scott to try.

To hammer his defeat down further, Mira also stepped forward, gripping her rifle with both hands. “This Rift is closing. Either get out with a hand full of black-shards or leave without eyes in your skull.”

The fury in Scott’s eyes continued to burn for a while longer before he finally backed off, accompanied by even more tremors as the Rift became more unstable. With Scott no longer there, most of the other Rifters also left the ruined keep, desperate to grab one or two more black-shards on their way out.

“Are you alright?” Iyas asked, his eyes softening now that Scott was gone.

“Yeah, thanks for the assist. Sorry that you got dragged into this.”

Iyas smiled, as if Lance said something amusing. “No worries. A life is worth more than a few black-shards. Besides, you can’t put a price on the fear Scott felt when the room suddenly turned against him. It will become a fond memory.”

“Yeah, I’d say he was close to bricking it,” Mira pitched in as she stepped to the side to dodge a falling ceiling tile. “My daft gentlemen, might I persuade you to get out of this dump before it becomes our tomb?”

At that, Lance and Iyas nodded, grinning like teenagers as they grabbed their gear before leaving. Lance timed it so that he was the last one to leave the keep, storing two of the slain Rift-guardians in his inventory without getting noticed. Afterwards, he ran after Iyas and Mira to the Rift-event that was in the centre of the city, still smiling as this world itself shook under his feet.

* * * * *

As one, the Rifters reappeared in a torrent of black energy. Some Rifters shot back into existence in a stable, grounded manner. They slid to a sudden halt on their feet, deftly fighting off any kinetic energy that accompanied Rift travel. Other Rifters slammed onto their knees or onto the ground face first. Dazed, they shook their heads and tried to stand. The rubble, stone and dirt that had accompanied the Rifters had showered the Rift site, with the protective barriers having caught most of it. Beyond the debris, the Rift had also shot one grey bird outwards, letting momentum carry it upwards before it flew upwards on its own.

“Fresh air!”

“Finally! Who is up for beers?”

“Pay day!”

The Rifters celebrated among themselves while some immediately went towards the GRRO personal that were rushing towards them. Beyond a few minor injuries and fractures, this Rift had gone remarkably well. They had finished the Rift sooner than expected, with the brutal hunting tactics and the large-scale forest fires decimating most of the monsters.

Lance watched Iyas help Mira up to her feet while joking with her, telling her again to weaponize that leg of hers. ‘If they keep this up, they’ll become a couple,’ Lance thought with a soft smile as he followed the others towards the cubicles and central office. He slid his hand inside of his scarf to touch Beta before storing the bird inside his inventory, proving that his companions could leave a Rift just like any other Rifter.

The office itself was nothing more than three cargo containers locked together but compared to what they had experienced with the Rift, it might as well have been a five-star hotel.

“Coffee?” an employee asked as he went towards the Rifters with a large tray that held several cups. Beyond that, there were muffins, bagels, apples, and other snacks for them to enjoy.

“Perfect,” Lance said as he grabbed a cup and an apple, moving inside of the barracks to give his statement to the site overseer. He identified himself to show that he was still alive and give her a brief report. Beyond explaining that they had burned down the forest and that one Rift-guardian had used a fire skill, there was little to report. He did not bother reporting Scott’s behaviour, not wanting the hassle that would no doubt accompany such an act.

Once he confirmed the payment, he found a chair to sit down and enjoy his apple, commenting to the Rifter sitting next to him just how much he enjoyed sitting in a proper chair again. Right there and then he made the mental note to either buy a proper chair in a workshop or find one during another Rift. ‘Perhaps even a table while I am at it.’

He opened his status screen and checked the many notifications he had, ranging from the experience he had gained, the status of his equipment, his level ups, and his new skill. ‘Let’s check the skill first.’

[Ricochet: Lvl 1]

[Cost per usage: -25 Stamina per bounce]

[Effects: Allows the user to bounce throwing attacks with greater speed and accuracy.

Lvl 1 allows one 1 bounce, increasing projectile speed by 5%.]

He read the description a few times, going over every tiny detail. At first, it might have seemed like a somewhat useless skill to allow something to bounce, but the increased speed and accuracy was something to pay attention to. The description hinted at him being able to allow it to bounce more times at a higher skill level. ‘Perhaps the speed will increase even further if I level it up?’ He wanted to test it out immediately but knew it would look weird if he suddenly got up and started throwing weapons at trees or bushes.

He then looked at his status screen and noticed the two levels he had gained. One for killing a Rift-guardian and the other for having cleared and survived the Rift. The number of levels he had gained from this Rift had been a lot more than his previous Rifts. ‘Having more companions sure helps,’ Lance thought as he placed three points into Endurance and three into Agility.

[Endurance:] [57] (+3)

[Agility:] [57] (+3)

He then finished his coffee as he made his way over to his cubicle, determined to scrub away every bit of blood and dirt that his body and clothes had collected over the last few days.

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Author: Osirium

Copyright: 2022 OsiriumWrites

Released: 2022