Our preliminary studies found rift essence to be 50% more potent than human essence, meaning that Level 4 who exclusively used rift essence should be stronger than Level 5 human essence user. This strength gap will only grow at the higher levels. We also identified a drawback of using rift essence – it takes twice as much time to level up.

My recommendation is to further research this phenomenon as we do not understand the underlying principles that make rift essence more potent. There may be other, hidden, drawbacks and benefits that we are not aware of.

‘Excerpt from the monthly report to the Inner Circle Office.’

Lawrence Lawe

World Government Chief Scientist

Keynes was angry and felt he could lose control at any moment. After he’d refused to be carried out by medics, he was herded to a medical point where a healer Jake used [Heal] on him. The strength of the spell wasn’t extraordinary, yet, as Jake explained, the spell was only Level 1, but it was enough to cut Keynes’s recovery to hours.

He clenched his fists, sensing the snap coming—

The door opened and his eyebrows lowered as he saw who entered his room.

For a very brief moment, he thought he was seeing Sakura, instead, it was the source of his anger.

Daiyu Fen.

Why couldn’t she back off? What was wrong with her?

Keynes almost snarled at her as his fists started shaking from exertion.

And then he snapped. Immediately, all his rationality evaporated and he saw only red. The strength of his personality ailment was crushing today. And he wanted it to take over and do whatever it wanted.

But since gaining 1 point in Spirit and training his Will and Mind, Keynes learned how to halt these attacks. Even though he desired to kill the girl and destroy everything around, he’d never do it. He took hold of his emotion and slowly pushed it out, leaving a cold emptiness inside.

Daiyu Fen tilted her head. She didn’t know what just happened and he didn’t feel inclined to tell her.

“You still haven’t recovered?”

Keynes’s brows furrowed.

“Why are you here?”

“You know why. To learn your secrets.” At least she was honest.

“There is—”

“—no secret. I heard that one before.”

They stared at each other for a while then Keynes looked away. Her attention made him uncomfortable. Such moments were too intimate to him.

He was about to say that she’d hear him say it again when an idea popped up in his head. It wasn’t the best one but it’d worked with Esopp Earl. If there was a sliver of chance… he needed to try.

“If you want my secret, you must be prepared to trade something in return.”

She stiffened, her confidence wavered but only for a short moment. As she regained her composure, Keynes noticed something he’d seen many times (mostly in movies).

A primal intensity awoke in her eyes. He waited.

“What would you like to know?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. She was suspicious now.

“I wish to understand what drives you to be—” He almost said ‘so stupid’. “So bent on getting stronger.”

His words got her on high alert. She opened her mouth to answer but before she did so, she changed her mind and left the room.

What now? She came across as not very secure about this topic. Why was that? But more importantly, maybe it would be enough to discourage her from demanding his secret. If this was the case, then Keynes was glad about the outcome.

***

Trainees entered the last rift, the variable one, without Keynes. They didn’t sound very excited about this the next day, mostly because they’d been told that some Level 1 rifts could be deadly even for Level 2s and 3s, which was an ominous sign.

A day after the incident, Jake the Healer, repeated [Heal] on Keynes and advised him a day of rest, which Kaito Ren promptly ignored and chased the healer out of the academy.

The academy asked about their progress toward the next level, which was startlingly high for everyone. Keynes gained 5% from six rifts in one day. It lifted their moods, except for Keynes who didn’t like the idea of levelling up yet. His training wasn’t done yet. If they continued this pace of progression, he’d be Level 2 in fourteen days and that without taking into account boss rifts and the variable one.

Three days later he approached Kaito Ren and asked him what to do.

“I am sitting at fifty percent right now and I feel like this isn’t right.”

“Because you haven’t maxed out your attributes but you are close and your Spirit knows it.”

“Maxed out attributes? You haven’t mentioned this before.”

“Yes, I haven’t. I didn’t think you’d get this far. It appears that Ventura’s training pushed you through the hardest part. Now it is only a matter of time before you reach it.” At the mention of the captain, Keynes stiffened a little. They didn’t talk about him since they’d parted ways with the captain.

“I have less than ten days before I level up. Is that enough time to max out my attributes?”

Kaito Ren didn’t answer as he considered the question.

“It may be enough time, but only by the skin of your teeth.”

“Then I’d have to skip the rifts until I max out my attributes.”

Kaito Ren’s body language changed upon hearing it. This was a bad sign. Keynes was aware that they wanted to level up them quickly but hadn’t they said they also wanted to train their attributes? To make them stronger.

“Is it important to max out your attributes?” Keynes asked before Kaito Ren spoke his mind on the previous matter.

“It is. Without maxing out the attribute, your advancement bonus will be heavily diminished. But there is cost—”

“I know. Levelling progression slows down,” Keynes interrupted him.

“Yes.”

“And I guess, they wish to level me up as fast as possible.”

“That’s the case.”

“Why all this talk about getting us stronger then?”

Kaito Ren looked around his office. They were alone. With slight reluctance, he answered.

“I believe that Director Wolf genuinely wants you to max out one or two attributes. He wishes to make your group special, a true elite. But it seems Esopp Earl doesn’t share his ideals.”

“They want me to open Level 2 rifts already.”

“Most likely.”

Keynes mused this, feeling creeping fear. He shouldn’t be surprised to find the World Government to disregard his needs and wants. He was only a tool to them. He couldn’t let them get away with this. If he levelled up before he maxed out his attributes, it’d make him weaker than he had to be.

Balancing on the edge between fear and anxiety, Keynes forced the words out of his mouth.

“We need to find a way to slow this down. Will you help me?”

Kaito Ren sighed, which he did rarely.

“I cannot push you harder than I already do. All I can do is to speak with the director and hope for the best.”

“The captain—”

Kaito Ren’s hand snapped up.

“I am not Ventura. He is Level 5 with a shady past. Even Waxilium Earl couldn’t contain him. I cannot stand up to someone like Esopp Earl. He can kill me with one punch and in this new government, no one would hold him accountable for that. You must understand that people like Esopp Earl run the show now.”

Keynes nodded calmly although he raged inside. He wished to say more but knew well enough that Kaito Ren spoke the truth. The head trainer was disposable to them. If he tried to argue too hard, they’d remove him without batting an eye. But Keynes wasn’t—or at least he believed so—and he’d use this as the leverage to gain more time.

“Would you be able to arrange a meeting with the director?”

Kaito Ren closed his eyes to keep his cool. Did the man already give up on their plan to escape and defy the World Government? Sadly, it appeared so.

***

He was asked to visit the director’s office first thing in the morning. The office didn’t look much different from Kaito Ren’s, which was unexpected. Christopher Wolf was the head of the academy.

Director Wolf wasn’t alone in the room. Kaito Ren leaned against a wall, seeming quite at ease. It was starting to paint a picture, although Keynes was willing to give the ex-specialist a benefit of the doubt.

“Keynes, the head trainer said you wished to talk to me and that it is important. You have the floor.”

He didn’t offer him a seat, which was fine.

“Do you know what my Talent is, director?”

The director gave Kaito Ren a sideways glance, perhaps, expecting a foul play. Keynes knew he couldn’t share his Talent with other trainees but what about the director of the academy? Did he know the truth about Keynes’s Talent?

“I don’t know. I was explicitly told to not inquire about your Talent.”

So Keynes’s suspicions proved right. The top brass kept others in the dark. Maybe for the best. If people learned that he was the one who opened the rift and possibly caused the outbreak… They’d seek revenge.

“In this case, I am not going to tell you but please tell the High Lord that my Talent won’t work if I haven’t maxed out my attributes.”

Kaito Ren gave Keynes an unreadable stare. It didn’t seem he liked Keynes’s idea. On the other hand, Christopher Wolf didn’t hide his emotions. His eyes widened in shock as he stared at Keynes.

“You wish to max out your attributes? Do you have any idea how long it will take?”

“I am close to maxing out some of them.”

The director turned to Kaito Ren expectantly.

“Head Trainer, why wasn’t I informed about this?”

“I’ve learned about this yesterday myself. I didn’t expect my training to push Keynes so far.” Your training? It was the captain who truly pushed me, Keynes thought bitterly but said nothing. Being arrogant wouldn’t fly here.

“This is not a decision I can make. I have to speak to the High Lord.”

***

Traveller watched Earth for some time since the encounter with the strange Level 75 who had tried to destroy the planet. While destroying a planet full of sapient life forms was reprehensible, it didn’t unsettle him nearly as much as the fact that someone kicked a Level 75 out of here like a doll and Traveller didn’t detect their presence. Granted, Level 75 in this Universe was weaker in comparison to his Universe but still. This level of power wasn’t a pushover.

He liked the timing even less. He appeared near this planet just in time to stop its destruction. Coincidences like this didn’t have the right to be. He was being used here, this much was clear.

Intrigued and driven by an unhealthy level of curiosity, he checked on the planet and made several startling discoveries, which made him understand what possibly occurred here. A Human unlocked his Talent. Unlike Traveller’s Universe, this one had only one magic system — Talent System. It was one of the best and the worst systems he’d encountered. For a starter, it produced an endless number of weak individuals as most Talents were bad. But at the same time, from time to time, a Broken Talent appeared. Those were insanely rare—one in billions—or something along these lines.

Often owners of the Broken Talents caused issues in Traveller’s Universe as they spiralled out of control, overshadowing other magical systems.

There could be many reasons why this Universe was set up with this system. Traveller didn’t like a single one of them.

Level 75 had taken an interest in a particular Talent. Traveller found the Human and grimaced when his Talent turned out to be Lockpicking. A Talent that allowed the user to open locations and objects. It wasn’t a Broken Talent by any stretch of the imagination. There were thousands of other variations that would have been more powerful. For example, a Talent that opened one’s flesh, a quick way to bleed out an enemy. Or even better! A Talent to open enemy’s secrets. That could actually be handy to Traveller, he realized.

But this? This was good for a thief…

And then he looked deeper and saw something disturbing.

No, this couldn’t be. Who…

Every single rift on this planet was sealed. It was wrong. How could anyone do that? Without rifts, they had access only to their own essence.

Traveller shivered at the thought. Poor sods.

Then he looked closer and found things that profoundly shook him.

The Seed of Life was crippled.

The Humans had their Spirit Core set at the Weak Stage—the lowest one—as their baseline. This was cruel, without at least Medium Stage, the Humans couldn’t access Spiritual Companions and without them, their understanding of the System would never be complete. They’d never learn how to cultivate, as the Spiritual Companions were responsible for teaching the first cultivation techniques.

It didn’t stop there!

The Humans had their sixth attribute—Vitality—replaced with something called Damage Reduction. It offered strong damage reduction at high levels but without Vitality, Humans couldn’t live long and gain a Perfect State and without a Perfect State, there was no Supreme Stage and without Supreme Stage… it just went on and on.

It was beyond cruel but also extremely smart. Without rifts and higher spiritual stages, this world would never gain enough spiritual energy to become Tier 2. Without Tier 2, no one could level up above Level 10.

Is this some kind of experiment or some ill-thought farming world? But there is no point in farming human essence. It’s weak. No. This must be something else.

Traveller extended his mind to other planets in this system and found the same thing. All the planets had their rifts sealed. Then he reached farther up to other systems with sapient life forms and the same scenario repeated there.

Crippled Seeds of Life, removed Vitality and Spirit set at Weak Stage. Whoever did this, cut off every possible avenue of growth for these civilizations.

He blinked, cursing himself for the omission. Lockpicking could open locations. THIS was the reason why the Level 75 appeared here and tried to erase the Human with Lockpicking Talent.

But why? Why cripple these civilisations?

Traveller considered leaving the unfortunate planet and searching for an explanation when he felt the rifts on the planet open. But something went wrong and an act of transgression was committed. Interesting.

Chaos magic was very rare but always a treat to watch. Not so much for those affected by it.

Traveller spent some time observing what happened and he wasn’t particularly surprised to find Humans get greedy. This was a common reaction to global events. They’d go insane when they learn how to create dungeons, he chuckled. But when focused on the Human with Lockpicking Talent, things got a little more interesting. He was trying to do what… cultivate? Guiding essence throughout the body was a good relaxing technique but it did very little for the Spirit Core beyond the second stage, which the Human was stuck on. He also trained his attributes, which… seemed rare for Humans. They preferred their easy levels.

Time passed as Traveller debated with himself. He had the power to access the Code but knowledge and expertise not so much. He could mess things up pretty badly. Especially the spirit stuff. But he could help with attributes. Whatever these Humans were they deserved at least a chance.

He replaced damage reduction with Vitality and sensed the world go crazy. He didn’t blame them, he’d do the same. Lastly, he sent a little message to the Humans, directly into their Spiritual Interface.

Only then Traveller left.

***

Keynes cut off grassneck’s head with ease. Its body was thicker than any other creature he’d encountered in the rifts. Even the variable rift hadn’t produced monsters to challenge a grassneck one on one. As the essence rushed him, Keynes quickly guided it around. Others reached the stage where the essence didn’t cause them pain any longer but the feeling still wasn’t pleasant.

Nearby Daiyu Fen killed another grassneck. She was a true force. Her determination drove her to take crazy risks. She pushed herself harder than Keynes and he had a bad feeling that she could catch up with him before they level up.

He turned to the High Lord. He gave no signs that the director had talked to him. Did he think that the silent treatment would make the issue go away? If so, then he was a fool.

Keynes made a step forward—

Damage Reduction removed.

Vitality attribute reinstated.

Shouts came from other trainees. Others received the same message. They were excited, shocked, terrified. Keynes found no emotions to express. Maybe a little of disappointment that he didn’t discover this by himself. He had a right hunch after all.

The High Lord stared at something, perhaps checking his Spiritual Interface. There were still a couple of grassnecks left in the rift. Not taken by the euphoria or stillness like the High Lord, Keynes decided to use the moment and kill the remaining grassnecks by himself.

As he dodged and attacked, he couldn’t help but think about Vitality. What did it mean to have Vitality attribute? And more importantly, why did this happen? Why did the System decide to reinstate Vitality?

Then came more…

“Humans, learn the cultivation of essence lest you’ll never grow strong. Hint: compact instead of guiding.”

More shouts followed, indicating that others also got it. But there was something different about this message. “Compact instead of guiding” Could it be that the message referred to him?

He shook off the stupor in time to evade a tail that headed for his face.

“Compact instead of guiding.”

The words played in his head over and over. Maybe it wasn’t specifically about him and there were others who also guided the essence, keeping it a secret.

The last monster died by the High Lord’s hand. Shortly after opening the reward chest, they left the rift.

Director Wolf, Kaito Ren, Officer McJames and many other people were waiting for the High Lord. Every person in the rift hall stood silent, watching the High Lord. The trainees for once felt invisible.

“I presume you all got the messages.”

“Yes, High Lord,” Director Wolf said. “A call from—”

The High Lord cut him off with a wave of his hand.

“I know. I have to leave the city. You’re in charge, Wolf.”