Cut.

Right foot.

Evade.

Left foot.

Cut.

This enemy was the hardest Keynes had ever faced. His hands trembled from the repeated impacts and the weight of the unidentified shortsword.

A week of swinging this damned thing did nothing but soured Keynes’s mood to the point when he no longer knew if it was his ailment or a bad day.

“Stop dancing around this tree and chop it down!” the captain yelled.

“I am training here!” Keynes yelled back. “And you aren’t helping… captain!”

The distraction proved too much to Keynes’s exhausted body and his arms failed to finish up a swing. The edge of the shortsword met the wood—a blasted, bloody hard wood—at the wrong angle and the blade rebounded, wresting the pommel out of Keynes’s hands. It dropped at his feet.

“Pick it up and carry on,” the captain said but at that moment Keynes ran out of Will and collapsed onto a carpet of wooden chips. I am going to steal a Scroll of Identification and identify this piece of rust, I promise you, captain. The unidentified shortsword Keynes used didn’t possess Level 1 capacity, making it nothing but a useless piece of crap.

It took a bit more effort to not fall asleep right here and now. Keynes’s Mind attribute’s training was coming along nicely and this was the result. Meditation and various brain games were easier than strength and dexterity training though he understood that his Mind training was lacking. Something was amiss and even the captain didn’t know what.

In the end it mattered that he made progress.

A rustle of leaves announced Willow Croft who stayed with them after they cleared the rift. That man was a pest, the captain’s words. With each day, he seemed less and less satisfied with the captain’s replies and harassed him for more.

Keynes and Kaito Ren silently cheered the researcher on. This was their way of getting at the captain.

Willow Croft didn’t come alone though. A soldier who accompanied him looked around confused. There were only a few wargs bodies in this area but it wasn’t what he looked at—of course—he stared at the stumps left by Kaito Ren. That madman was like a chainsaw with too much caffeine in his blood. It makes me looks lame even though there are two—freaking—levels of difference between us.

“What’s the matter, Croft?”

“The good corporal here has an invitation for Keynes to attend another session with Murphy.”

Keynes closed his eyes. No, he didn’t have the strength to deal with the other researcher today. Maybe if he pretended—

“Get up, slacker!” the captain yelled. “Or you’ll have no rest before the next boss.”

Two days to the next boss. Not much time… if he didn’t get a proper rest he would again fail the captain’s expectations. That Keynes wished to avoid at all cost. Not to make the captain happy but to thumb on the captain’s nose.

Keynes cracked his eye open and found the captain smirking. Irritating. Keynes sighed, stifling a groan of pain that came from— every part of his body. Then he started a long process of getting to a sitting position.

“Shouldn’t we help him?” Willow Croft asked as the three of them watched Keynes while Kaito Ren rhythmically ‘thudded’ in the background.

“Naaah.” The captain waved his hand. “He has it. By the way, what does this Murphy want with the kid?”

***

Two days later they slew the boss for the third time. It was getting easier at a rapid pace even with the captain’s diminishing involvement.

They still hadn't opened the reward chest when a group of heavily-armed soldiers approached the clearing.

“Lord Earl wants to see you now.”

The captain pointed a finger at his chest questioningly.

“The three of you.”

What now? Somehow Keynes developed a dislike of Lord Earl. But hey, this man ran this place and they preferred to stay on his good side.

As they left the rift, Keynes had a good idea of what this was going to be about. Willow Croft constantly pestered him about his progress toward the next level. And the thing was—

“Ten percent?” Lord Earl asked disbelievingly. Even his usually composed, stone-like face, twisted in frustration.

He sat in his chair, holding his left fist in his right hand, elbows on the desk.

“This is too slow.” The words ‘too slow’ felt like one of the trees Keynes had chopped fell on his chest, reaping sweet revenge. This was serious. Even Captain Ventura stopped grinning like an idiot and showed some solemnity for change. “I warned you and it is too late now.”

Specialist Ren’s face cracked then. His cool attitude was rare nowadays—thanks to the damned captain—but Keynes would give a lot to see it again. It carried confidence he badly needed now. What did the hell mean it was too late now? Too late for what?

“Lord—”

“Tom Ventura,” Lord Earl interrupted the captain. It was the first time Keynes heard the captain’s first name. “Your days in this base are over. The three of you are out of my hands now.”

“What does it mean, sir?” Kaito Ren asked, schooling his face as much as he could.

Lord Earl’s eyes were on the captain though. Both men stared at each other unyieldingly. It wasn’t clear what was going between the two but it couldn’t be anything good.

Keynes’s hand went to the pouch hanging on a cord around his neck. He didn’t put anything inside it. The captain and Kaito Ren didn’t know it was a magical item and he didn’t want to alert them. He didn’t want to risk losing it. The Contender Ring was on his finger, on the hand he kept behind his back.

“By now, he should have been twenty-six percent. Croft informed me about your training and it is clear where the blame lies.”

“You going to pin the blame on me?” the captain asked, not very surprised.

“It is not so simple.” He hesitated for a second, which was new, then continued. “In the outbreak world. But yes, you will take the brunt of the blame for this.”

And the captain did what he always had done. He shrugged.

“I’m good with that.”

“Sir…” Keynes blinked, remembering, “We received statements from abroad that Level 1s reported burning sensation inside the rifts…” One of the researchers had said it and then had claimed to make a mistake. Keynes hadn’t felt confident enough to press the matter but now he needed to know. “What do you mean by the outbreak world?”

He was sure his question breached protocol one way or another. Taking the example from the captain, he shrugged off the doubt and kept his eyes on Lord Earl.

Lord Earl gave him a searching look, perhaps searching for the signs of his emotional ailment. On this front, Keynes made staggering progress, subduing the emotions with his Will and mind-emptying techniques. It was obvious at this point that his strength didn’t lay in the physical side but a mental one. Not finding it, Lord Earl spoke to Kaito Ren.

“Your failure is evident as well, specialist.”

Keynes didn’t give Kaito Ren a chance to say a word.

“I have every right to know. I can’t even see my family. What does the outbreak world mean, sir?”

Keynes braced for a spiritual attack but Lord Earl didn’t do anything.

“Given where you are going, there is no need to keep the secret from you anymore. There are other rifts. 1324 to be precise, 320 of them have not been cleared to this date. A week from now the three of you will board a plane and fly to a city in Scotland that has seven rifts. One of the rifts is uncommon and one is variable, meaning the monsters and affinity changes daily.” He glanced at the document in front of him. “They provide more essence than common ones. We were too slow in levelling you up here and you are out of my hands.”

WHAT. WAS. GOING. ON?

Keynes took a step back, his mind reeled. The number of rifts was just INSANE. There were too many questions spinning inside Keynes's head to pick and ask one. All this time he was convinced that this was the only opened rift, that he was unique. So the World Government figured this out. While Keynes struggled with his emotions, Captain Ventura didn’t have the same problem.

“How were all these rifts opened? And why do you call it an outbreak?”

“That is classified, captain. And a warning for the future, to not search for this answer. My father thinks it would be a waste to kill you but it wouldn’t be the first time he changed his mind.”

“Right,” the captain muttered.

“Specialist Ren a word before you go.”

***

Keynes needed a cold shower to shake off the shock. To him this was personal. Much of his future, hinged on whether he was the only one who could open the rifts. Either option had its benefits and drawbacks and now he didn’t know what to think after facing the truth.

Hours later he was hacking the wargs with abandon. Fury was alive inside him. He wasn’t sure if it was his ailment or not. He didn’t very much care about that. Fury drove him forward, made him unstoppable.

He was not unique.

He was just a tool.

The shortsword sliced the air and Keynes found himself in the clearing. Wargs were scattered dead. Kaito Ren and Captain Ventura stood on each side.

“If it weren’t for your maniacal fury, I’d say you reached your peak already,” the captain said with mirth. “But you aren’t there yet.”

“Why did they keep it from me?”

The two men exchanged glances.

“If it makes you feel better then know that they didn’t tell me either.”

“Did you know?” Keynes asked Kaito Ren.

“I was aware but the number… it exceeded my wildest expectations.”

“And what does it mean that 320 of the rifts aren’t cleared?”

“When you opened the rift, its status was overcharged. From what I managed to learn, it means that rift monsters would spawn as long as the boss isn’t killed.”

“That’s useful,” the captain said immediately. “You could farm the essence all day long. Very handy.”

“Not exactly,” Kaito Ren explained. “You were in the cell when the outbreak occurred and the wargs poured out of the rift. It was difficult to stop them in the first place. Now, to control this? You would need a company to keep one rift secured. I don’t think they are doing that.”

“Then why keep them uncleared like that?” Something bothered Keynes here. If the wargs got outside as Kaito Ren said. And there were 1324 rifts out in the world. Did it mean all these monsters flooded the surface? Was this what Lord Earl referred to?

“I think we must make a decision,” Kaito Ren said just as Keynes pondered a dreadful realization. “Should we go ahead with the plan and move on to Scotland?”

Captain Ventura frowned.

“What else can we do?” His question was hinting at something.

“You know what I mean,” Kaito Ren said, the captain’s attitude wasn’t oblivious to him. “You as well as I know who Waxilium Earl’s father is. Level 7 Esopp Earl. His Talent is rumoured to freeze people. Can you deal with someone like this?”

It was time for Captain Ventura to drop a bomb on them.

“There are several people in the world I would hesitate to fight and Esopp Earl isn’t on the list. Remember how people like him levelled up. He hasn’t trained a single day in his life. They spoonfed him with the essence.”

“You can defeat Level 7?”

“Do you think this training is just for fun?”

“So, you think we should go there?”

“Yes. Seven rifts are not a joke. Besides, the kid still has some way to go before he can level up. Once you and the kid level up we can leg it.”

***

It made no sense but the thing that hurt Keynes the most was Sakura’s absence. She didn’t appear to say goodbye. Maybe she didn’t know about his departure (unlikely) but on the other hand, Keynes didn’t seek her out either. Vivena was still in his head, hopefully, he’d ‘forget’ about her soon.

They were led outside the same way Kaito Ren had brought them down weeks ago. It was a different mindset that perceived these corridors today. Upon the exit, they were met by a group of masked soldiers in black armours. Captain Ventura was the first to notice it.

“That stuff is made out of Level 1 materials,” he said.

The masked soldiers didn’t react to his words. Murphy Polloc who was going to travel with them to Scotland commented though.

“Level 5 Spirit must be quite a thing. To my senses, this stuff is just ordinary.”

“We don’t have the entire day.” A man stepped from behind the soldiers.

He had an oversized moustache, not exactly Mark Twain-size but close, and a hairstyle that belonged to the 1900s. Did he sleep under the ice for twelve decades?

“Squad Leader Hellescot, Level 5,” he introduced himself. “We must go through some formalities before you can leave the base.”

On a cue two masked soldiers stepped forward, one of them held a briefcase horizontally. The other one opened it, four syringes were neatly placed inside.

“What’s that stuff?” Captain Ventura asked in a light tone.

“It was decided that not a single person can leave this base without a tracker. If you refuse to accept the tracker. You will have to return to the base and await a decision on what happens next. If you try to remove the tracker, we will know and it won’t be pleasant for you.”

We should have escaped when I had a chance. What now? It was unlikely they’d let him stay in the base. They needed to level him up. Judging by the twenty masked soldiers, they didn’t come here to turn around empty-handed. Maybe the captain hadn’t bragged and could punch above his weight but what about him and Kaito Ren?

What if they had more soldiers outside?

“I guess we have no choice,” Captain Ventura said with a smile. Kaito Ren looked paler than normal and even Polloc didn’t seem comfortable with the tracker. Right, captain, what is your play here? Do we leg it? What’s the cue?

“We cannot risk you getting in the hands of our enemies,” Squad Leader Hellescott said. What is a squad leader? “In the nearby future, every citizen will need a tracker like this. Time’s changing.”

“Who is our enemy this time?”

The squad leader gave him a surprised look then gestured to the soldiers to start injecting the trackers.

“The Old Blood.”

“That’s awfully… official.”

“It’s time to show them their place. They lived off our hard work for too long.”

To the very end, Keynes believed that Captain Ventura had a plan of escape and wouldn’t let them inject the tracker. The idiot did NOT have it, Keynes realized, terrified.

“Good choice, Ventura,” said another voice after the soldiers had injected the trackers. Squad Leader Hellescott stepped aside, revealing a man in his mid-forties, clean-shaved and with the coldest blue eyes Keynes could imagine. “I welcome you on board.”

“Lord Esopp Earl.”

“High Lord.”

“High Lord?” Captain Ventura asked.

Keynes, Kaito Ren and Murphy Polloc frowned as well. They’d never heard the title used before.

“Ventura,” High Lord Earl said, his voice almost pleasant, almost caring, almost human. “I knew your parents. Windsor asked me to make sure you won’t go rogue. I am aware of your independent nature and I am pleased to find you cooperating. Killing you isn’t something I would enjoy. Now as for the confusion over my title. The World Government is changing as Hellescott mentioned. We are restructuring the army and bringing it into the structures of the World Government. Some other drastic changes were required as well. This isn’t yet official but for you, it doesn’t matter. If you wonder where I stand in the chain of command though, well, I report directly to Windsor and he is the ruler.”

Ruler? What is going on out there? Seeing the captain go quiet, Keynes kept his mouth shut too. Keynes’s instincts warned him about the High Lord. He was very different from his son. It was shocking that only two levels separated them.

Ten minutes later they were standing in front of a black aircraft. A modified private jet. It stood in the middle of a field. How did they land it here?

“You’re our greatest asset, boy,” the High Lord told to Keynes.

His voice made Keynes want to puke. He disliked this man already.

***

It turned out the vertical lift was a thing. But that wasn’t important. The squad leader was tasked with explaining the current situation in more depth and Keynes had a sinking feeling that there was something that these people didn’t tell him.

For one, the rifts appeared out of thin air. All of them at the same time and flooded the world with monsters. Billions died and no one, suspiciously, knew how the rifts came to be.

Billions died. Keynes let the thought hang in the air.

And it was far from over. The 320 rifts that hadn’t been cleared spun out of control. There were millions of rift monsters walking on the surface of Earth.

On top of that, from what Keynes understood, the World Government decided to bring everyone to its heel. He didn’t know what the Old Blood was but he quietly hoped that they would not let the World Government gain an upper hand.

With growing emotional baggage, Keynes missed most of the travel. Or maybe he just fell asleep? Anyway, he was in Scotland, or still above it. Through the window, he saw clouds. It was raining. Of course it was, they were in Scotland.

When the plane cut through the clouds, the true extent of the outbreak became obvious. The rift monsters didn’t even spare trees and buildings. Towns and villages lay in ruin. He couldn’t process what had happened here.

And there it was. The city. Its high walls surrounded it in almost a perfect circle. Despite the destruction that lay outside of the city’s perimeter it was an impressive sight. And they raised it in what? Four weeks?

Light…

Keynes blinked and heard others shout.

“Attack!”

When his eyes returned to normalcy he saw what happened. A part of the northern wall evaporated in an explosion. A shock wave hit the plane and it went through turbulences.

“Emergency landing,” someone said.

“We must get to the ground as quick as possible.”

“The Old Blood must have made their move then,” the squad leader said.

“Is the timing suspicious?” Captain Ventura asked. “Kaito, can you?”

He shook his head.

“Shit.”

“What is happening there?” Keynes asked as he saw balls of fire and blue dots fly about.

“Spells. We didn’t manage to secure all the rifts in time and many spells were stolen from us.”

“Spells?” Keynes, Kaito Ren and the captain asked in unison. A good thing Murphy Polloc was sleeping in the other cabin.

The squad leader told them.

“This changes everything,” Captain Ventura said, seemingly to himself.

The pilot outdid himself and landed on a patch of greenery. A vertical landing was a thing too.

The masked soldiers and the squad leader left the plane and rushed toward the breach.

“Follow me,” the High Lord said urgently.

Alarms blared everywhere but the rain was the worst. It pelted them ceaselessly until they found shelter in a building.

Keynes’s emotions flipped then, making him strangely excited about spells and what that meant for him.

Inside the building, they entered was chaos.

“High Lord Earl!” a woman called out. “We have an emergency.”

“I saw from the plane.”

“A word from the director of security just came. The compound with enchantments was hit. The attack came from inside.”

“Treason?” High Lord Earl face twisted with rage. “Traitors I hate more than anything. Do we know how many and who?”

“No, High Lord.”

He nodded at the four of them.

“They are from Jamaican base. Accommodate them.”

He left them.

“Welcome to the Scottish Cluster. My name is Joile McJames. I am an Administration Officer.” She has a pleasant voice at least. “Now let's cut to the chase. There is plenty of paperwork ahead. Given the circumstances, we shouldn’t waste time here. I will show you to the room. Come. Come.”

She was talking fast and with the chaos added to the mix, Keynes had a hard time following her words. Eventually, they were shown to a quiet room where they could fill in the residency papers.

“If you have any questions, you will find me in the next room.”

She fled.

“What the hell is going on?” Keynes asked. There were so many things on his head that he couldn’t keep them inside himself.

“It looks like not everyone wants to live under Windsor Freeman’s boot.”

Murphy Polloc’s eyes widened. Shit. They forgot about him.

“How dare you? O—”

Keynes didn’t see Captain Ventura’s hand. It struck Murphy Polloc with such speed that it killed the researcher the moment it touched him.

“Fuck.”

We are done here.