“I am sure most of you know the history of Land’s Fall. For those of you not familiar, I will just give a brief introduction. Maybe you just didn’t pay attention in class or you weren’t in attendance that day,” the warden continued their explanation.

After the fiasco that was the coming of age party for the Sanonborough twins three weeks ago, things had calmed down considerably. Ms. Rashan had taken the blame for the wind summoning claiming it to be an accident. A welcome service that had given Liana’s family enough breathing room to gather themselves over the evening. Nardar and Tara had been conflicted about the woman, not quite sure how to react to potentially stealing Liana’s future fame.

Sure, it had taken the otherwise certain heat off of their family but it might have closed other doors. Apprenticeships with other well-established people or a connection to one of the noble houses.

The talk with her extended family the next day had gone well enough. She had mostly listened, nodding at everything said to her, but ignored most advice given that none of their extended family had been told about the flow-related incident of the day before. To them, they acted as though she was still waiting for her blessed skill.

Inquiry through Monika and Teira had informed Liana about several things. Most, maybe even all, of Ms. Rashan’s claims had been correct. She seemed to be a trustworthy and honest person which was even more important if her parents were to agree to an apprenticeship. The woman even living with the Sanonborough family at the moment so the chance of impersonation was slim.

“Land’s Fall was founded as an adventurer town around 200 years ago with the goal of offering a safe haven and trading hub for adventurers that were in the flats to hunt rift and delving their depths,” the instructor continued.

“What separates Land’s Fall from all other areas with an above-average spread of rifts is the stability of occurring rifts here. In most regions, a rift is only stable for a single completed delve. This is not the case in the Flats. The region allows for the frequent delving of individual rifts for several years, potentially decades. Of course, this doesn’t apply to everything that rifts usually offer but it works well as a proving ground and a place where you can level up with a higher level of safety due to information available on a huge count of rifts.

“This brings us to what you will experience today. You will be escorted into one of those stable rifts by one of the nine escort parties on duty today. The danger level will be minimal as each of the rifts has a sub ten average level. Each escort party consists of two to three combat and field medic capable individuals of level one-hundred-twenty or higher.

“Everyone who doesn’t have a combat trait will only be carried through to their first kill. This should unlock a minor combat class later on, for everyone so inclined. Non-combatants will leave the rifts at that point in time as a cohesive group. Everyone with a combat trait, stay behind when the other groups dispatch, you will get a few extra instructions.

“Your escorts will be assigned at random based on trait compatibility - as far as applicable and discernable. While there will be no danger to you, as each of the accompanying teams will suffice for the rift clearing five times over, the dukedom wants you to familiarize yourselves with combat situations as much as possible in the case of rift guardian attacks. That means be on guard.

“But I am sure you have been told about all this beforehand. Do any questions remain?” the instructor asked. Even after a pause that Liana felt was longer than necessary, nobody had spoken up. For good reason too, they had been drilled on rifts, rift guardians, and teams frequently in school. This much was expected since the majority of teachers at “The Academy of Primary Studies” were retirees of adventuring related occupations.

The institute itself was primarily there to inform the younger generation about the varieties of classes and their potential. Even with the academy, there was still a declining interest in thriving in one's class, especially as people grew older. The effort and danger of achieving higher-ranked classes were too high for most people to bother with them. That fact alone would have made any reasonable government reduce even the smallest spendings. Oddly enough at first glance, this did nothing to hamper the monumental spending on the academy in Land’s Fall and its peers in the entire dukedom and in most human cities. The benefits a few successful high ranked classes could offer were just too vast.

So was the danger a few potentially angry high rankers, that missed out on even better classes due to never receiving proper information, posed.

Finally, the instructor broke off his pause and began splitting the girls into several groups of sizes ranging from four to six people. She quickly said goodbye to Evelyn and Cora, with whom she had been standing the entire time when they were separated.

They never asked about our traits and neither our names, how do they know how they should sort us? Didn’t he just say they were gonna group us based on traits?

Liana didn’t have much time to consider that. Within a minute she and her peers were gathered into little groups, each to receive stern speeches by their escorts.

Liana’s group ended up including three other girls, Jenna, Elisa, and Valeria next to her. They usually got along fine but the rather chipper girls seemed to be quieter than usual, Liana noticed. She herself wasn’t an exception, their nerves were on a knife's edge already, half dreading half anticipating the coming hours.

A small shiver crawled down Liana’s back, irritating her for a second but she chose to ignore it.

Clap

She jumped. Just a bit and enough to quicken her turn to investigate the sound. A tall woman - at least half again as wide as her - approached, both hands now on her hip. Striking an impressive pose with long auburn flowing hair bustling through the breeze.

Liana calmed. Shock slowly melding into confusion. Just a moment ago there had been only dirt separating them from the giant cliff that was the border to the Flats.

Did she just climb up the cliff? Glancing around she noticed that all the other girls looked equally stunned.

“Jup just came up through the cliff. Can’t do it for long outside rifts but is fun regardless, always worth the expression of shock. I’m Susan, call me whatever you want. I dun care.”

“Alright chicks. Listen tightly. If you can’t repeat what imma tell you, I’ll make you wait outside the rift. Most important thing first. I want you to always stand behind me or Cyn - the fine gentleman that will come down with us,” she chuckled as though having made a joke but quickly continued. “And with that, I mean next to either of us. The rift is stable and we know the pathways in’n’ out. I’ll take one of you down the side corridors while the rest stays with Cyn. He is a constructor, primary focus defensive structures, so as long as you are close to him nothing below level a hundred is gonna be a danger to you.

“Cyn there anything you wanna say?” she asked concluding her little speech. For a second only confusion was visible on all of the girls’ faces as the woman looked over their heads at none of them.

The grumbling voice of a man made each of the girls stand straighter again. As far as Liana could tell none of them had been as alarmed as when the female escort had clapped. At least not as bad as the first time around.

“We get a bonus if no one gets hurt, so if you mess up I’ll mess you up. Stay behind me and do what we say and it’ll be shiny,” the man snarled.

“Before I forget, if ya whiny brats listen we gonne be out in an hour, so listen. I want lunch at a proper time, not like yesterday with the boys.”

Motioning the group further to the side of where they had gathered they trodded towards one of the muscle-driven elevation platforms. The wooden construction was pristine against the background of the flats.

Far in the distance setting-wards, the flats met up with the horizon and the sky, between here and there nothing besides the endless expanse of the flats, so had the geography books claimed, and looking out she believed them.

The reddish-gray tainted dirt further below was ugly and bleak.

They said its color comes from rust and salt but that didn’t make any sense. If there is that much rust this must have been made from iron once and pa said iron is rare.

The flats or endless flats - how they were named in documents - hadn’t gained their names willy-nilly. The region had originally been called the scar. During a plethora of excursions into its heart, the perception had slowly shifted. Even several days of running for high agility runners hadn’t initially resulted in a crossing. Accounts and retellings of their experiences had been spread all around Land’s Fall until at one point almost everyone called them the flats instead of the scar.

The endless flats were only interrupted by stable rifts and the occasional rift guardians. Encased all around by an endless wall of rock.

Seeing it, Liana could believe it. The vastness incomprehensible, its dangers unknowable but surely just as boundless. Worse even, the rifts down there didn’t offer the distinctions wild rifts offered.

“If you are looking for a combat class and not just want to unlock the possibility you might want to pick all the synergizing combat skills you have unlocked previously now. Only if you have thought ‘bout it though. We got a bunch of equipment down on the flats which you can borrow if you want to unlock anything specific. Su likes teaching kids knives so if you ask nicely you might even get some good gains in a few kills,” Cyn said, interrupting not only Liana’s musing.

Their downwards journey was sponsored by the strength of Cyn’s arms and a safety system consisting of a counterweight.

Internalizing the instructions she had just received Liana looked at her status. She had made some progress of which she was no doubt proud. Advancing a skill by two levels in three weeks was solid. Even better was that it was actually useful. Both her parents appreciated the use on them when they came home from work.

Name: Liana

Class Unlock: 4 years

Status:

Physique: 5

Agility: 6

Reaction: 4

Flow: 8/8

Attunement: Ocean (Water, Air, Life, Death, Cycle)

Traits:

In Rhythm

Child of the ocean

Ocean’s Attunements

General Skills:

[Panous’ Cycle](blessed) - Rank 1 Lvl 1

[Ocean Breeze] - Rank 1 Lvl 3

She had wanted to accept [Dancing] as well, a weird prodding in the back of her head telling her that it would make [Ocean Breeze] more intuitive, faster, efficient, and stronger. She had held off so far on the instructions of family members but she could use every advantage she could get, and if she was being honest, she wanted to spite Ionis - her soon-to-be mentor. If she turned out to be wrong, she would have a skill that she enjoyed - a stark contrast to [Panous’ Cycle]. Both In Rhythm and [Panous’ Cycle] the problem child of her status, just like her brother according to her though her parents were yet to be convinced of that.

Coming tomorrow she would, what was generally called, graduate. Becoming officially her own person, with neither parents nor family having a say over her - officially. That was as long as one didn’t sign an apprentice contract.

On a whim, she accepted [Dancing]. It might well be her last own decision.

Her parents had decided for her to apprentice to Ionis Rashan. She hadn’t had any input on the matter, not that she was particularly opposed. They had even ended up being invited to Mr. Sanonboroughs home to discuss terms of proper employment in his house after they inquired about the flowbringer through him.

The man had seemed honest and accomodating in his dealings according to her parents. Liana herself had not been privy to that conversation. The summary was that employment in his house would be great but nothing compared to apprenticing under Ionis. The odd flowbringer, who insisted on being called by her first name, had not been lying when introducing herself at the party. Even more impressive was that of the around five hundred individuals publically stating to have surpassed the threshold to the rank four class, many seemed to hold her in high regard. Some going as far as accrediting some of their success to her and saying that her power approached the threshold as well.

Though what exactly her abilities were non would divulge.

“Hop Hop y’all. Don’t dilly dally. You got skills to unlock and I want to have dinner,” the shout from the man, Cyn, brought her back.

They had arrived all the way at the bottom of the pit by now. Only the wooden construction now separated Liana from the dangerous terrain all around her.

She glanced around to look at the other girls around her, each equally hesitant.

“We have done a sweep of the area just a few moments ago, there is no need to worry. The last rift guardian sighting was several weeks ago and it was removed promptly. Let’s get going,” the instructor yelled from somewhere close to another platform.

Seems like we aren’t the only hesitant group, she thought. It made sense too, the flats had been the major deterrent for everything in their lives. Show your parents a bit of sass and they’d promptly threaten you with a quick excursion to the flats. Its danger level seemed to be very inflated going by the relaxed attitude of the people around her.

Liana wasn’t the first to step off the platform. She wasn’t even in the initial group, she dragged behind a bit. It wasn’t only hesitation and worry, at least not only worry about the flats. She had turned around to inspect their means of transport. The constructions were flimsy-looking at best when compared to the height of the cliff face in front of her.

The grey brownish rock, interspersed with moss and other plantlife obscured half of the sky. Without the help of others, she would be trapped down here, she couldn’t defend herself, and she couldn’t pull herself back up the cliff.

Liana laid her hands over her prickling stomach, to comfort herself. The thought of being at the mercy of others was sobering yet not unfamiliar.

It was also inconsequential. She would follow the instructor's and escorts' orders, taking every advantage she could get, just as her parents had instructed her.

Cyn who had disappeared for a short while approached from somewhere off to the side heaving two large burlap sacks with sticks poking out of the tops rushing behind the slowly distancing group of instructors.

Picking up the pace she began following the rest of her group which had splintered off from the amalgamation of other groups. She would not be left behind.

Her sprint ended abruptly when they reached a five-man large hole in the ground. The edge of the hole was only barely tinged with the rest of the red predominant in the flats, fading into an impenetrable black.

New Skills available

“Now I see a few of you are confused. I bet you all unlocked the [Running] skill ain’t that right?” Cyn said with upwards drawn lips. A glance into her very being confirmed as much

[Running] (Physical) - Running is easier and higher speeds can be reached, you are less prone to injuries while running. Agility while running is increased by 10% per level, Physique by 5% ( + 1 Agility)

“Is a good one if you ask me. Shame I never have the slots to pick it up. Obviously don’t pick it if you haven’t planned for it. And don’t worry, if everything goes to plan you’ll unlock a few others while we are down here. In the stressful environment kids tend to have an easier time unlocking them,” the now almost cheery seaming Cyn continued.

One of the girls next to her gasped, Liana wasn’t sure who. She turned just a moment later with muscles strained ready to bold, trying to see what had gotten the other girl shocked. She couldn’t find anything surprising, besides Valeria staring at the black pit. The other escort though was nowhere to be seen.

“Now you see this black pit here right, the one your friend is staring at. A pretty normal rift entrance. You just jump inside and you will come out the other side unharmed. Quite fun if I do say so myself. Better than some of the others here. Susan jumped in there already to make sure everything is safe. Go ahead, I’ll join you in a second.”