Let’s put our differences aside and forget about the source of the change. It does not matter if this was a god or a devil or the System itself. Damage Reduction is gone and its place is taken by Vitality.

Most of my fellow researchers at the University of Mexico agree that it is a foundation-breaking shift in our understanding of the biology of levels. To us, Damage Reduction was a simple mechanism. It granted 8-10% damage reduction per level. High level individuals were virtually unkillable thanks to that. Without it, those at the top can no longer ignore the danger posed by masses of low levels.

Or can they?

The Vitality attribute is very new and hence poorly understood and researched. Lack of high level volunteers makes our studies a chore. Nonetheless, some facts and knowledge were gleaned from many different—often desperate—sources.

The first big change we noticed was age. Many high level individuals had their age reversed. It is, therefore, safe to assume that Vitality extends the life expectancy.

The second change comes in form of life and stamina regeneration. If our current studies follow our first conclusions, it would be safe to say that Vitality is a lifesaver. Literally.

Foreword

The Biology of Levels

Doctor Edvard Eduardo

Your Mind attribute reached Maximum Advancement.

Level up to gain the improvements.

(Remaining time: 1 year)

Current essence absorption rate: 40%

Further Mind attribute improvement for Level 1 is impossible.

Keynes collapsed on the floor. His head felt like someone set off a nuclear chain reaction inside. He grunted, blinking tears out.

“Sorry,” Tulli whispered, thinking she pushed her Talent too far. “I will crank it down.”

“You don’t need to.”

Daiyu Fen opened her eyes and instantly her face twisted in pain.

“Stop it, Tulli,” she grunted.

“Sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” she told her then turned to Keynes who climbed to his feet and took off toward a fridge. Since they’d started their mind training, Keynes made sure to request a pack of ice. It worked well for headaches. “Did you max out your Mind?”

“Yes. Gods, it hurts like hell.”

“That’s … impressive.”

He pressed the ice pack to his forehead and sighed in relief.

“I’ve been training Mind for a while although, nothing as difficult and thorough as this.”

“It isn’t that hard after all,” Daiyu Fen concluded.

“Not if you have a government-developed Mind training app and a friend with Mind Control Talent.”

Tulli perked up but Daiyu Fen beat her up to it and said.

“You called her a friend?”

“Yeah…” He might have overstepped a little there.

But before any of them could explore the issue, Kaito Ren charged inside Keynes’s cabin without a warning. They turned to him a bit frightened. They’d after all said rebellious things. It wouldn’t be a stretch for the government to eavesdrop on their conversations. To think of this— yes, it was something, Keynes should’ve predicted. Stupid me.

“What— never mind. Get going right now. The three of you.”

They had questions but Kaito Ren dismissed them as he hurried them out of the cabin. They rushed through the living area in haste and it was startling to see that they weren’t the only ones. Troopers shouted commands, squads ran this or that way. The commotion outside was a bad omen. Was there another attack on the city, like the day Keynes arrived?

“What’s the matter?” Keynes asked after they entered the rifts compound. Security was tripled.

His heart was hammering and his more dire thought was that someone found out about his Talent. It’d be a disaster.

Kaito Ren led them underground to a shelter where Director Wolf and the remaining trainees waited. No one else was in the room.

“We got everyone?” Director Wolf asked.

“Yes.”

“What’s the matter?” Daiyu Fen asked.

The director looked her way, his gaze looking hesitant but then he answered.

“There was an attack on the Science Institute in Lisbon. High Lord Caesar Stonewood was killed.”

“Aren’t the High Lords like Level 7?” Lazark asked.

“They are,” Kaito Ren replied. “But there are other individuals who are Level 7 and quite a many Level 6s. With the right skills or Talent a Level 6 can defeat a Level 7.”

“But it wasn’t a Level 6 or 7 who did it,” the director said. “The High Lord was killed by a woman we couldn’t even recognise and our records hold the faces of everyone from Level 4 upward.”

There was a moment of silence no one wanted to disturb. Then the director spoke up again.

“What happened is a tragedy. Not only the Science Institute was bombed, killing hundreds of prominent government researchers but losing a High Lord is a big blow. I want you to remember who our enemy is so when you grow in power, you will be able to get revenge.”

“Who is the enemy?” Lazark asked the question that everyone was asking themselves.

“Columbus Curt, the House of Sael and the House of Ravencroft. They are the ones who attacked the Institute.”

“Is that why are we here?” Daiyu Fen asked, trying to keep confusion out of her voice. Keynes didn’t blame her, he didn’t exactly see a point for their presence here but he didn’t mind letting others speak.

“No. President Freeman imposed a lockdown for the next few days until they can investigate. I asked you here to inform you that for these couple of days, you’d have to stay in the compound. We have rooms to accommodate you.”

***

With five original attributes maxed out Keynes’s time had run out but Esopp Earl didn’t appear. The attack must have made him stay wherever he was. It didn’t mean the rift excursion wouldn’t resume though. He checked his progression.

Progression toward Level 2: 17%

The low number made him less worried. Time was precious in pursuit of the last attribute. Once he got it maxed out, he’d begin his ascent toward Level 2. And after that? He was going to escape this place. He’d not be Windsor Freeman’s tool to open rifts.

The next couple of days brought quite a few surprises.

Daiyu Fen maxed out Strength and Dexterity while Tulli did max out Mind. Tulli was so agitated that Keynes needed to show her his screens to calm her down. Samuel King told them that he was close to maxing out his Strength. On the other hand, Lazark, Butchereyev and Oxford Sioux weren’t doing well in terms of maxing out their attributes. Not that they cared. They were content with simply levelling up.

In Esopp Earl’s absence, Kaito Ren took the role of their protector in the rifts. They didn’t need it though. Keynes and Daiyu Fen cleared the rifts by themselves. The only issue was the desert rift with the physical resistant monsters. Kaito Ren was given a weapon that dealt magical damage but even he struggled a little. This was a testament to how challenging the rifts could be and this was only a Level 1 rift. How difficult could it get at Level 3? It was a humbling prospect.

“I am going to try it again,” Keynes said one day in a desert rift.

“Getting a sunburn?” Daiyu Fen caught his drift.

“Precisely, Vitality sounds like it is all about regeneration, endurance, resistance and so on. Exposing my body to a hostile environment should be the right way to train it.”

He voided his emotions. It didn’t lessen the pain but helped him stay in place when he wanted to run away from the relentless heat.

Surprisingly, Daiyu Fen didn’t follow his steps. She still trained Mind with Tulli but she no longer spoke about maxing out all six attributes.

“Why is that?” Keynes asked her one morning when she and Tulli decided to use his cabin for their training. A week passed since he did it and he thought they’d stop coming but they didn’t.

“Don’t talk to me when I’m trying to stop her from frying my brain like an egg.”

Oh, she had a point.

“I realized something,” Daiyu Fen said after a resigned sigh. “I’m not like you. I want to be stronger but there’s something different about you, Keynes. It isn’t only the fact that you seem to train faster than others but also your unconventional methods of training. I’d have never come up with an idea to burn or freeze myself in a rift in order to improve my Vitality. Don’t get me wrong, I think that stuff is messed up but if it works then why not. I’m not a creative type of person.”

This was a lot not only in terms of the sheer volume of things she said but also on a deeper, personal level. But it also was abrupt and uncharacteristic. Maybe she understood that Strength and Dexterity were all she needed to max out? Not everyone had Keynes’s point of view, well, actually, who had a similar one? His family was different from him, the captain advised him to max out everything but did he follow his own advice? Not really. And Kaito Ren seemed like someone who was stuck between two worlds and couldn’t decide, which one to pick – it scared Keynes because he understood the consequences of Kaito Ren choosing the World Government.

“It’s fine, Fen. You don’t need to max out all attributes now. You can do it after you level up; after you are comfortably strong.”

“I think I will do that.”

“What about the Mind attribute?” Tulli asked gently. It was funny to see her like this – a petite, timid person who stood in the background – while her Mind Control Talent made her a true powerhouse. One on one Keynes would’ve lost to her. “I feel like you’re close to maxing it out.”

Daiyu Fen hesitated, a shadow of doubt flickering in her eyes. Then she gave Keynes a strange glance. Whatever it meant, she affirmed Tulli that she’d max out her Mind attribute before levelling up.

“Where did this realization come from anyway?” Keynes asked. He was curious as to what made her give up on her initial plan to mimick everything he was doing.

“When I heard the rumour about the blonde who killed Stonewood, I figured out that the World Government will need us battle-ready. As the director said, we are special cases. I don’t need to be a genius to understand what my Talent makes me good for. I don’t know what Talents others have but between me and Tulli, it’s easy to extrapolate these kinds of things.”

She could be right. Many rumours were afoot: the World Government would be doing a purge, dropping nuclear bombs on cities linked to the Houses of Sael and Ravencroft, sending assassins after them. Some muttered that another outbreak was imminent and that the government would use it to punish the insurgents. Most troopers Keynes had overheard believed that the World Government possessed powerful rituals that would find the perpetrators so they could be punished. It was near impossible to separate the wheat from the chaff. Who knew what the government had? And that troubled Keynes. If they could find anyone on Earth what options did that leave to him?

He needed a breath of fresh air, he left the girls in his cabin as he didn't mind them there. He didn't have any valuables. The katana was inside his pouch and the ring on his finger.

Once the lockdown ended, life in the city quickly returned to normalcy if constant constructions and the presence of military could be called as such. Keynes ventured into the park where he found the oasis of calm in the madness. He had a couple of hours before their rift excursions started. The size of the park was a kilometre square. Enough space to hide from everyone.

Keynes walked a gravel path, ignoring the drizzle and wind. It was definitely sad weather, unlike the sunny San Antonio that made you lazy but happy. He could void his emotions but decided against it, instead, he dampened the emotional affliction enough to stop it from spiralling out of control.

There was balance Keynes was content with. He strolled the irregular pathways that followed terrain features until he noticed a patch of earth and trees that felt different. It nagged at him and so he slowed down then stopped. Staring at it produced no insight. Just a patch of freshly implanted soil and trees.

Keynes stood a few minutes like a long-forgotten statue left by a dead civilisation at the edge of the world. Then it clicked. He went to one knee and touched the ground. His Spirit unfolded, spreading about his hand. He knew immediately what it was.

“Impressive, right?” asked an unknown voice. Keynes half turned his head. An older man wore a plain brown uniform. Keynes had seen people in brown uniforms earlier and judging by their tasks, they were gardeners.

“The soil is Level 1,” Keynes said.

“Yes. Yes.” The man older man nodded enthusiastically. “How did you know?”

“The higher level, the more Spirit the material possesses.”

The man’s brows arched and he gave Keynes an appraising look as if seeing him for the first time.

“You’re one of those prodigy kids, aren’t you?”

The man had to be old to see proper grey hair and wrinkled skin. At least a hundred years old. Level 1 life span was around ninety years. So either he was a higher level or one of the exceptions. Keynes didn’t mention his age though. It didn’t matter to him.

“I am, why?”

The old man shrugged.

“They say you have special powers.”

Keynes shook his head and looked away, focusing back on the Level 1 earth.

“Does it make the plants grow faster?”

“I don’t know. We’ve just started this project. The director only recently gave us greenlight.”

“Why?”

“Politics, I guess.”

Keynes nodded to that but he guessed that the absence of Esopp Earl made the director bolder and from what Keynes saw, the director had his heart on the right side but belonged to the wrong organisation. It was a shame.

“Can I come here from time to time and meditate between the trees?”

The old man frowned.

“What for?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

***

The next day, between rift three and four, the trainees and Kaito Ren were asked to go to the small auditorium where Keynes had met other trainees for the first time.

A motion picture was projected on a wall.

President’s conference was transmitted worldwide. The man who Keynes vividly remembered from the cave, stood tall in the black, red and golden ornamental uniform that looked fit for an emperor. President Freeman put his hands on the edge of the rostrum leaning gently forward.

Behind him stood Esopp Earl and a few other individuals Keynes didn’t know.

“Welcome, my citizens,” he said sounding mournful. “I am here today to make an announcement and a promise. I am here to tell you a difficult truth. Over a month and a half ago, a despicable tragedy fell upon us, killing sixteen billion people. The outbreak is the single direst calamity that has happened to us in Earth’s history. Our best scientists…” he stopped there as if hit by grief.

At the same time, Keynes’s legs turned to jelly. He knew the outbreak had killed people but this many? This was beyond anything he could imagine. Crushing guilt came down on him like an asteroid. If he didn’t act on instinct and box his emotions, his emotional affliction would strip him here and now from his sanity. For the first time, since getting the affliction, Keynes felt its true strength. It was powerful and felt like thousands of little hooks protruding from long tentacles that nimbly attacked Keynes’s mind.

He hid a grunt and squinted at both sides, hoping no one saw his ordeal. Unexpectedly, Kaito Ren watched him but at least not openly.

“The same scientists who were murdered in a recent attack on the Science Institute. Those scientists worked around the clock to answer the fundamental question – why did the outbreak come to be? Now, we may never know the truth. We are not only mourning our fallen citizens who died to the terrible rift monsters, or the Institute’s scientists but also a very close friend of mine – Caesar Stonewood. The man who strived to uncover the truth. He was killed. Murdered brutally by terrorists who have the effrontery to say that they do it in your best interest. Those are the terrorists we must catch and punish.”

If not for Keynes’s strong grasp over his affliction he once more would have been crushed like a bug.

There were four pictures on the screen.

The first one showed a handsome, black-haired and fair-skinned man who couldn’t be older than thirty. He was dubbed as the leader of the terrorists – Columbus Curt, Level 7 with Double Attributes Talent that allowed him to double his attributes for several minutes.

The second picture represented a brown-haired guy with freckles and a cunning face. Reglant Ravencroft, Level 6 with Aerodynamic Skin Talent. No description was added.

In the third picture was a short-haired woman with a cruel smile and an outrageously luxurious dress. She had a Keen Smell Talent and her name was Tobia Ravencroft.

But these three pictures and mind-boggling bounties for their heads were just the background to Keynes. All he was interested in was the last picture.

Vivena Foxglove.

CCTV captured her in the middle of something and so the picture wasn’t the best quality but good enough to recognise her. They didn’t give her first name but her surname was Sael. There was no Talent added either. They didn’t know who she was.

She wore a green combat coat and had a small ivory dagger in her hand. The photo was taken on a street, some time after an explosion had taken place nearby, rubble was scattered everywhere.

Keynes stopped listening to the President’s crap. He lied through his teeth with startling ease. He and Waxilium Earl were the ones who pushed him to the brink of sanity, almost crippling him and now he claimed to not know a thing about the outbreak? Keynes couldn’t stand his voice. He left the room, despite the director’s question. He didn’t care. Director Wolf had his hands tied when it came to Keynes anyway.

“How are you holding up?” Kaito Ren caught up with him in the corridor.

“Don’t pretend you care, Kaito Ren,” Keynes replied bluntly, mostly because of his dampened emotions. “You are on their side now.”

Kaito Ren didn’t deny it, something Keynes distantly hoped for.

“The real world is a different place than high school.”

“You bet.” Keynes nodded. “I’ll need you to do something for me though.”

Kaito Ren narrowed his eyes and waited.

“I need you to fight me until I cannot stand.” Even if Kaito Ren was on the government’s side, Keynes was going to use him. He couldn’t afford not to.

“Why? You have maxed out most of your attributes.”

“Yes, I have. Only Vitality left to go and I must max it out before Esopp Earl or Windsor Freeman come here for me and drag me to a Level 2 rift.”

Kaito Ren stood speechless, his cool expression cracking and showing signs of disbelief. Keynes didn’t wait for the red-haired man to wrap his mind around it and asked.

“Will you help me?”

“Are we going to regret this?” Kaito Ren asked.

“I don’t know,” Keynes replied truthfully. “But I have to be Level 2 before they come for me.” And I don’t like the idea of them hunting Vivena like a criminal when they are a thousand times worse.

***

At the same time, all over the globe, government strike teams entered houses, offices and public places, arresting anyone who was deemed to have a connection with the House of Sael, the House of Ravencroft and Columbus Curt. Companies that belonged to these two houses were overtaken by the commissioners sent by the World Government Chief of Administration.

Some raids didn’t go according to the plan and some people were killed but nothing could be compared to the revenge served by the Stonewoods.