The economy was slow to respond to the outbreaks. And the sole fault for that lay at the World Government’s and the Old Blood’s feet. In the first months, the general public didn’t have access to rifts and even knowledge of what was inside them was restricted.

But neither side understood how persistent the free market can become once it finds out what is at stake.

The initial assessment saw only the rewards (items and knowledge) and essence as a source of profit. A similar attitude was on the resistance’s side where additionally the rifts were viewed as the vehicles of individual growth.

It took a different pair of eyes to see the true potential of the rifts. A brother of an officer, responsible for a rift in a remote location, realised that things taken from the rift are perfectly restocked in 24 hours.

In the case of that rift, the endless supply of raw material was timber.

In less than a week, a group of a hundred tree cutters was assembled and each day, after the troopers cleared the rift, the cutters entered and removed every tree inside.

This discovery was a game-changer for the market and all this before finding out how significant the difference between normal and Level 1 timber was.

From there, the expansion was a formality and the keyword was greed. It helped that the higher-ups on the World Government’s side were focused elsewhere so the middle ranks could sell the rights to the rifts.

Before the World Government directors realised what was going on, the officer and his brother controlled a hundred rifts with timber, freshwater, rare herbs, nutrient-rich soil and stones used in construction like marble, limestone and slate.

The World Government was too inefficient and bureaucratic to react swiftly to this. And all of this had happened before the ores and gems were discovered inside the rifts.

The Economy in the Age of Rifts

“The World Government is here. I activated the lockdown,” Sylv reported. Keynes was stunned by her calm voice. She said it as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“We don’t know why they are there,” Wagner explained. “I hold a seat at Geneva’s Ministry and my company was never a big supporter of the World Government. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to seize my assets again.”

“Again? Did they do it before?” Vivena asked.

“Tried and yes. Someone in the government knew about some of my projects and they wanted them.”

Wagner stopped the car two kilometres from his estate, right before the terrain started to rise. They didn’t see any troopers here and according to Wagner, this was the best place to block the road. From there the road snaked upward with Wagner’s estate as its destination.

“Wagner,” Vivena said. “I see only one way to find out what they want.”

They understood. Keynes and Vivena exited the car and watched Wagner drive away. Despite Wagner’s calmness about this whole situation Keynes couldn’t stop worrying. If the World Government found them again, it might mean Windsor Freeman coming down himself to catch Keynes.

Keynes glanced at Vivena, the black armour suited her more than her green coat. She noticed his look and turned to him.

“It’s gonna be alright. I know why you don't trust me but I want the best for you.”

He frowned because he didn’t expect this from her and worse, he didn’t know what it meant. He understood her interest in securing his Talent for her family. But this? Argh.

Alice, you’re a girl, right?

This is a complex matter and I don’t want to talk about it.

What was that, huh?

“You okay, Keynes?”

Keynes realised that he must have been doing strange faces while talking to Alice in his head. None of his friends knew about her yet.

“I am fine, thanks. Shall we do some recon?” He knew that a Level 6 and a Level 7 would do just fine without his help but wanted to be there.

“But we must be careful.”

On foot, the way to Wagner’s estate was quicker as it often cut through the road in the form of a tunnel and an absurd number of stairs.

As they got closer they heard helicopters in the air. Seriously, at this point, Keynes hated helicopters. They were a bad omen.

To see inside Wagner’s estate, they would have to climb the rocky wall the house stood adjacent to. It was out of the question—

The shooting started then.

***

Wagner pulled up before the main gate. It was open but the entrance was barred by a squad of troopers. As he stopped the car and turned the engine off, they gestured to him to leave the vehicle.

During driving, he swapped the armour for casual clothes. The dimensional pouch was a handy little thing.

“Identification.”

“Wagner Zimmermann, the owner of this house.”

A stout, well-built man with a thick moustache came from inside the estate. He checked something on his tablet then nodded, satisfied. He stopped five metres from Wagner, clearly not taking chances.

“Officer Hellescott, the leader of this operation. I have to ask you to grant me access to your house, Mr Zimmermann.”

Wagner closed the car’s door and frowned.

“I don’t see a reason why I should do so.”

“Because that’s what the World Government wants. If you don’t like it, then take it up with my boss.”

Wagner looked around. The squad had their rifles trained at him. He couldn’t gouge their Levels without making them know that he was doing so. Escalating the tension might not be the best idea right now.

Those people wouldn’t stand a chance against him but that wasn’t the issue here. Thousands of troopers were arriving in Geneva every hour. He might be Level 7 but he wasn’t some god who could take on an entire army. Maybe in the future individuals with insane powers would walk on this planet but today wasn’t the day.

So he needed to get rid of them without killing a single trooper.

“If you tell me what it is about, I may consider your request.”

Officer Hellescott fell silent thinking about his words. At the same time, Wagner sensed another person coming from behind. He squinted and saw a woman not looking a bit like a trooper. Her armour was more casual and she had a brown cape. Either Sylv’s unnatural attractiveness or Vivena’s innocent beauty dulled his senses but he found the woman unappealing to his eyes. Maybe it was her short hair? Who could say? And what does it matter, anyway?

She approached his car in a relaxed manner.

“And who are you?”

“Dreux, a tracker.”

Wagner’s jovial attitude vanished in an instant. If she was a tracker then Keynes and his friends were the reason why they came here.

She glanced inside the car while Hellescott tried to bring Wagner’s attention back to him. Wagner didn’t care about the officer. This woman was the true threat. Wagner accessed the dimensional space, keeping his items at his fingertips.

“You came here alone?” she asked, like him, ignoring the officer.

“I am Level 7, a member of Geneva’s Ministry and CEO of Greenera Energy, one of the largest companies in the world. Do you really think I will answer questions from a lowly officer or a tracker?” His voice was sharp and cold like steel. The World Government’s attempt at seizing his assets had failed because the bureaucrats hadn’t been ready to deal with a Level 7. After all, Level 7 was the very pinnacle of strength and those who achieved it were in a position of great power.

Dreux turned out to be the same. Suddenly, she lost some of her aggressive confidence and Wagner knew he had to capitalise on it.

“I am asking you nicely to leave my premises before you create a diplomatic scandal.” He turned back to Officer Hellescott but to Wagner’s surprise, this man didn’t seem as intimidated as Wagner hoped.

“Mr Zimmermann, I think you’re misunderstanding what is being said here. We aren’t here to ask for your permission, although I tried to be nice, we are here on the direct order from President Freeman. We will enter your house one way or another and we can cause all diplomatic scandals in the world for all I care. Now—”

Wagner swapped his clothes for his black armour and took out the items that boosted his attributes, and a staff.

The Staff of Growth (Uncommon)

“Longer! Make me longer!”

-

Length can be extended by 25%

-

[Staff]

Level 1

When Wagner had heard about the Staff of Growth, he’d had something else in mind. He hadn’t had a chance to use it since then. It was time for some action.

“What the—”

The staff hit Hellescott’s head knocking him out in an instant. Wagner didn’t use all his strength and still, the staff almost cracked. Or maybe it was the officer’s skull?

He whirled, catching the tracker in the side. She grunted, her face filled with pain. The soldiers started shooting. Wagner jumped over the hood and hid behind the car. Bullets could still penetrate some parts of his body and it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

Helicopters were coming too. Great. He was on a timer.

This is what you wanted, Wagner reminded himself. His plan involved luring Freeman and Shaper here after all. Yeah, that idea doesn’t seem appealing all of sudden with the World Government breathing down my neck.

With the officer and the tracker out of commission, Wagner had to clean up the rest of the troopers. They were attempting to circle the car but they couldn’t match his Level 7 Dexterity and Strength when he shot from behind the cover. In less than ten seconds, the squad of ten was lying unconscious on the ground.

Vivena and Keynes joined him a moment later. They’d clearly run here and though they were both Level 2, Keynes looked less exhausted than Vivena. His Contender Ring and maxed-out attributes did make a difference.

Keynes froze when he saw the officer.

“If he is here then they know,” he said.

“Who’s that?” Vivena asked.

“Troubles,” Keynes replied. “It may be time to leave Geneva.”

“Hold on, Keynes. I have a better idea. Let’s discuss it inside.”

They glanced up. The helicopters stayed in the air circling high above Wagner's estate. For some reason they didn’t intend on landing.

“What about them?” Vivena pointed at the officer and the tracker. “They are at least Level 4.”

“Hellescott is Level 5. He’s a tough opponent.”

“You fought him?” Vivena asked, shaking her head in disbelief. “You’re Level 2.”

“My maxed out attributes aren’t only for show.”

While Vivena knew what maxing out attributes was, she wasn’t aware that Keynes had maxed them all out. Their conversation was brought to a swift end by Wagner.

“We must leave— Keynes?”

Keynes grabbed Hellescott by the collar of his armour. Hellescott cracked his eyes open, only barely.

“If you go after me again—”

“Keynes!” Wagner shouted a warning. The tracker recovered and got to her feet. She didn’t hesitate and moved but didn’t come at them, instead, she started running away. “Ah, well. I thought she could try something funny.”

Keynes let go of Hellescott and turned toward the running tracker.

“I don’t think your plan of challenging Freeman is going to work,” Keynes told Wagner.

“What did you say?” Vivena asked. “You want to challenge Freeman? How?”

“If we can beat Freeman, it is inside this estate. So we better go there.”

***

They returned to the estate, locking it down again. Hellescott and his troopers were left on the road. Vivena and Wagner thought it might tone down the government’s response. Keynes wasn’t so sure. He was surprised to even see Hellescott after his failure. But if the Level 5 was here, it meant he’d been given another chance and he’d do anything to succeed this time.

Keynes took a shower, while Wagner held a meeting with his staff. Keynes knew what Wagner was going to say to them and felt sorry for the bunch.

He’s NUTS! Luring Freeman here?

Keynes slapped his forehead. Wagner was risking his family’s lives and Keynes couldn’t accept it. No matter how much Wagner assured him, Keynes had a very bad feeling about this.

And on top of that, Ren, Christopher and Tyr weren’t back yet.

Keynes switched the shower off then turned—

“WHAT THE HELL?!”

Daiyu Fen stood with her fists on her hips like an angry demon. Her violet eyes bored into him without a shred of magnanimity.

Alice! Why didn’t you tell me about Fen?!

Oh, sorry, but she isn’t an enemy, right?

Never mind. He huffed in his head.

Slowly, Keynes reached for a towel. He felt that Daiyu Fen was on the verge of attacking him here and he… he didn’t have his dimensional pouch on him. Crap. He also left his Contender Ring next to the sink. Crap.

He wrapped the towel around his waist.

“You lied to me.” The amount of vexation in her voice was as thick as the amount of the steam in the air right now.

“I am sorry.” Keynes dropped his gaze. “I have nothing in my defence.”

He should have seen the slap. It stung even though her Strength was the same as his. But it stung more on an emotional level. Keynes failed her.

“I shouldn’t have listened to you, Keynes. If I didn’t, I would already be on my way to save Tulli.”

She turned to go.

“Fen,” Keynes whispered. “Before you go, I have to show you something.”

“Oh,” she snorted. “One of your many secrets you’re keeping for yourself? I don’t think so.”

She resumed her walk…

Keynes released his spiritual aura. Daiyu Fen froze. He squinted at her, waiting and gauging her reaction. His aura buffeted the walls of the bathroom.

Master, what are you doing? Alice asked, concerned.

She’s a friend. Keynes replied. This is the only way I can help her right now.

When Daiyu Fen turned toward Keynes, her face looked stricken. He resumed control of his aura and it vanished for Daiyu Fen’s senses. The silence stretched between the two.

The tension grew until Daiyu Fen snapped.

“What was that?”

Keynes sighed then showed her his full profile.

Name: Keynes Kid

Species: Human

Level: 2 (Perfect State)

Progression: 6%

Spirit Stage: Medium

Spiritual Companion: Alice

Attributes

Permanent

Temporary

Total

Strength (5%)

24

0

24

Dexterity (6%)

24

0

24

Will (9%)

24

0

24

Mind (4%)

24

0

24

Perception (7%)

24

0

24

Vitality (6%)

24

0

24

Spells:

Spiritual Ghost

Talent:

Lockpicking

Techniques:

The Technique of Lesser Cultivation The Technique of Lesser Aura Control.

Status:

Buffs:

Enhanced Learning (permanent), Purified Body (permanent), Photographic Memory (strong), Untraceable (medium, permanent).

Debuff:

Chaos (permanents, semi-dormant, ???).

Daiyu Fen dropped on her bottom, her eyes like boiled eggs.

“Keynes…” she whispered. “What is this? How?”

He sat down in front of her and for some reason, her face started growing red. He frowned then noticed where she was looking and quickly readjusted the towel.

He blinked, feeling unnatural heat spread all over his face and then dropped his gaze again, blushing.

“Sorry about that.”

In the periphery of his vision, he saw her shrug.

“I don’t mind.”

But I do.

Anyway.

“If you are going to succeed in rescuing Tulli, you will need my knowledge.” He decided against trying to stop her. She wouldn’t listen to him. And he actually believed that Daiyu Fen had a better chance at succeeding alone if what Kaito Ren had told them over the phone was true.

***

Shortly after Daiyu Fen left, the attack came. Keynes, Wagner, Sylv and Vivena stood in a monitoring room watching the government troopers trying to cut through the steel plates covering doors and windows.

“This is a special, enhanced alloy of steel. Its resistance was increased through various processes. They would need more than standard equipment to get through it.”

“I still don’t believe she has left,” Vivena murmured to herself, not listening to Wagner. “The fight ahead of us… what if they decide to bomb it?”

Wagner actually smiled hearing her question and Keynes knew why. Wagner’s plan slowly started coming together in Keynes’s head, if he only could take away his family out of here.

“Freeman wants Keynes alive at all costs. He will never risk his life. It makes this house one of the safest places in the world.”

“What if Freeman comes here by himself? Do you have a way to defeat that monster?”

Vivena asked the right questions. If they had a serum with 15 poisons, then she’d actually be able to defeat him. What they had at hand wasn’t enough though. And it wasn’t the end of their problems, Wagner’s plant traps, and all that, would amount to nothing if Freeman sent the fodder ahead to clear the path for him.

“Don’t forget where we are. Geneva is a proud city. If Freeman comes here and I believe he will, he will learn the true extent of this city’s wrath,” he replied and then as if reading Keynes’s mind, added. “I also have friends who will come to our aid, as for Freeman, when he steps inside these walls, he will be challenged beyond his expectations.”

Keynes didn’t argue with that, even though he remained sceptical but what choice did he have at the moment? Besides, he indirectly agreed to this madness.

With that said, Keynes left the monitoring room to train in a gym. He had to start pushing his attributes higher and train his aura control. Alice refused to share her efficient attribute training technique with him, claiming that the circumstances weren’t right.

***

Windsor and his entourage were on their way to a plane when Ronald Rugman stepped in their path. He wore a silver uniform that nicely suited his face and hair.

Seeing his second in command, Windsor told his entourage to go ahead and wait in the plane. Windsor stepped in front of Ronald, being a head taller than his friend, he looked down on him.

“What’s the matter, Ronald? Don’t you have duties to attend to?”

“I delegated my duties to directors. There is no point in having subordinates and not using them. Instead, I decided to accompany you.”

Windsor narrowed his eyes. Ronald Rugman decided to accompany him? Was his second out of his mind? Where was his audacity coming from? This situation began irking Windsor.

“Your duties are too important to delegate them to directors,” Windsor said, sounding on edge. “You’ll get back to them immediately.”

“Windsor,” Ronald said. “Keynes Kid is in Geneva. Shouldn’t we be on our way there?”

Windsor’s body stiffened at the mention of Geneva and Keynes Kid. His spies had already confirmed the location of Keynes Kid but there was a second bottom. Columbus Curt was on his way to Geneva and from Hellescott’s team, Windsor knew that Keynes Kid stayed with Wagner Zimmermann, a very influential and rich Level 7 who shouldn’t be underestimated. Windsor didn’t see a reason why he should go there personally, not yet at least. He’d sent a million troopers there but they were surely going to fail him.

Keynes Kid was his most important asset but Windsor had realised something. The true authority didn’t come from numbers or wealth but personal power. People couldn’t be trusted. Even his most trusted servants were failing him.

After sitting on the top of the World Government for twenty-one years, Windsor finally understood that he hated it. Armies? Wealth? Lands? Even the Rock of Gibraltar, his new palace he was so proud of, they meant little to him. Personal power was everything.

The Human Project had finally seen some successes. It was time for Windsor Freeman to become a god. Only then, he was going to catch Keynes Kid and, be it Columbus Curt or the entire world, nothing would be able to stand in his way.

“This is a good point, Ronald. Take another plane and fly to Geneva. Bring me Keynes Kid. If you fail or betray me, I’d have you killed.”

Windsor walked away from Ronald Rugman, leaving his second in command speechless.