The spider was Level 2 and of a common rarity. It didn’t have any abilities. It was the size of a large dog and died to a single slash.

“I need a weapon,” Vivena said.

Because of her Talent, she was using the raw strength of her body to kill the monsters. Without her Talent, she was only a normal Level 2 rift ascender.

Keynes took out a dagger with piercing property and +1 to attack speed, and handed it to her.

Vivena looked at it for a second then asked.

“How does the attack speed work?”

Whenever you attack, your action will be faster than normally it would be, Alice told Keynes and he repeated Alice’s words to Vivena.

The appearance of the rift monster took a lot of pressure off Keynes’s chest. He needed this.

As they moved further south, cutting straight through the jungle that once had been one giant desert, they began to notice signs of rift monsters' presence. Trees were broken, bushes trampled and the clearest sign—the lack of wild animals.

“It’s so quiet here,” Vivena said.

“Rift monsters hunt the animals. Though not always.”

“What do you mean?”

“The hunting ground in Emerald Lake,” Keynes replied. “Your folks had genetically-engineered animals and some of them overpowered the rift monsters. Only mess came out of this.”

There are more rift monsters ahead, master.

Keynes thanked her and relayed the message to Vivena, her brows knitted as she indisputably wondered how he knew.

The spiders came first as they moved through the canopy and displayed unusual agility. Their attack pattern was simple, stop above the prey and drop on it with their fangs ready to bite.

Vivena had it harder as she only had a dagger. Keynes told her to stay behind as he moved first, acting as a target for the spiders. Soon though, a different kind of rift monster joined the fight and the mystery of broken trees was solved. It looked similar to the grassneck from Scotland’s uncommon rift but its skin was leathery, its neck shorter but thicker and when it opened its maws, rows of angled teeth appeared, ready to shred anything to pieces.

It was called a hornless rhino and it charged Keynes without regard for what stood between them. Keynes dodged and cut at the level of the monster’s midsection.

The swords barely punctured its skin.

The reason lay in its passive skill – Hardened Skin – which increased physical resistance by 20%. It took Keynes a few more tries to kill the monster.

Meanwhile, Vivena dealt with the spiders.

When they cleared the area from the rift monsters. They started a camp, ate and took a moment to rest. The monsters’ force was small but they’d been running before and it took its toll.

They kept their recovery short, wanting to cover more distance before nightfall. On their way south, they encountered several more packs of monsters. The last one had three varieties of rift monsters. The spiders, the hornless rhinos and the tree monkeys.

The tree monkeys were Level 1 and a common rarity. They were clearly stupider than Level 2 spiders and they often got in the way of the spiders as both monsters used the same attack from the air.

Even though their limbs tangled and they fell to the ground, the rift monsters didn’t fight between themselves. It didn’t really matter.

Keynes and Vivena did a short work of them.

***

For the next three days, the number of rift monsters grew but at the same time, Keynes and Vivena started developing a rhythm in their fight against the rift monsters. Their training still took a substantial toll on Vivena, which surprised Keynes. He had only a 2 points advantage per attribute but she wasn’t able to keep up with him no matter what.

He thought back to Scotland where he’d trained with Daiyu Fen, Tulli and others. They’d struggled for a time too. Then they’d had to cross the 80% mark which boosted their attributes temporarily and they had been able to come closer to him.

But never close enough.

Are you sure our attributes are equal, Alice? Keynes asked.

She didn’t answer immediately as their bond was thin, indicating a large distance. When she came, she gave him her usual: ‘I cannot speak about it’.

But she hinted that there was always more. It worried him that despite all this time, he still didn’t understand how the System exactly worked. Always, when he thought he grasped it, he found more leads. Frustrating as it was, it also filled him with purpose. There was much to learn and learning was a breeze for him.

On their fourth day in the World Reserve, they encountered a larger than normal force of the monsters. Over a hundred monsters rushed their way. Five different varieties; all common or uncommon though.

“Should I?” Vivena asked, thinking of using the poison serum.

“No. This is nothing.”

But that wasn’t exactly the case. The jungle was a difficult place to fight, especially with many rift monsters capable of quickly moving in the canopies of tall trees. The treacherous ground and thick bushes that obscured their vision didn’t help either.

When they were done with the monsters, they collapsed, exhausted. Keynes was perplexed by how tiring the battle was. He’d fewer issues fighting alone against the monsters in Crest. Why was that?

“Nothing, huh?”

“The air feels wrong,” he murmured.

“What does … ah, never mind.” After a silent minute, she added a little mockingly. “It indeed feels different.”

“How far from Level 3 are you?” Keynes asked her, ignoring the jab.

“Ten percent away,” Vivena replied.

“That’s close. If there are more monsters in the south, your ascension to Level 3 is a matter of a day or two.”

“Finally,” she said. “I was Level 2 for too long. You should think about levelling up too, Keynes.”

“Not yet.” He shook his head. First things first: maxing out his attributes and rising his spiritual stage. Only then he’d rush to Level 3. There was something else on this continent that could help him but it was a topic for another day. “I must max out my attributes first.”

“Why?”

“Extra attributes.” And the Orb of Perfection.

“Is that why you are so much stronger than me?”

“Perhaps.” In truth, he didn’t think it was all but didn’t wish to talk about it with her.

***

By the fifth day, they encountered the first large swath of savannah. Its golden grasses and scarce trees looked surreal in the landscape dominated by a thick jungle. The savannah was flat and they could see the treeline on the other side, approximately ten kilometres away.

Ah, and there was one more thing.

Two people were running in their direction, chased by a horde of rift monsters.

Keynes and Vivena exchanged glances, understanding crossed their faces. Vivena was on the brink of levelling up after the morning slaughter. It would bring each of her attributes to 26 points, making her stronger than him. He was fine with that.

His process of maxing out the attributes wasn’t idle either.

His Will gained the most and stood at 21%. Then was his Strength with 20% and Dexterity with 19%. Perception and Vitality lagged behind a little - 15% and 14%. Mind attribute was the hardest to train and he barely pushed it to 6%.

What pleased him the most was that his Spirit Core felt close to ascending to another stage. Looking at the horde coming their way, he was sure it was here he’d finally do it.

Keynes and Vivena rushed head on toward the rift monsters. The two figures running the opposite way noticed them and shouted something. Keynes and Vivena ignored them and as they came closer, Keynes took out his shortswords. With increased Strength and Dexterity, his speed increased.

“WHAAA--”

That was all he heard from the two people. And then he was among the monsters. The number of varieties was way higher than the number of uncleared rifts found in the military system - courtesy of Esopp Earl.

Either the military system didn’t have all the information or variable rifts were out there.

In the end, what did it matter?

The more monsters, the merrier.

It was a havoc. Everything came at him from every side but with a solid, flat ground beneath his feet and [Flight] skill, the monsters could never overwhelm Keynes. If there were too many of them, he took to the sky and landed somewhere else, always keeping an eye on Vivena and circulating the absurd amount of essence that was continuously flooding him.

As he climbed higher into the sky, he saw more monsters than he could count. They were endlessly streaming out of the woods on the other side. He sighed, feeling exhaustion. His body burned from the sheer amount of essence that had passed through the channels in his body. His body couldn’t take any more and Alice hinted that he needed one last push to make his core advance but the battle wasn’t the right place for that.

It was time for Vivena though to use her trump card.

He dived to where Vivena fought and with shock, realised how tired she looked. And still, she hasn’t used her poison serum. She’s kept her promise.

“Vivena!” he called from above. “Use the serum!”

In an instant, the tides turned. It was a dark testament to Vivena’s Talent. She turned into a powerhouse. Her tiredness vanished, she put away the dagger and cut through the monster like a laser beam with her bare hands.

Keynes watched it from above - a hundred metres high in the air. And then he felt it, a wave of spiritual energy originated from Vivena - she ascended to Level 3. Her aura flooded the battleground although it wasn’t as strong as his. Her spiritual stage was at the very bottom and no matter how high her attributes climbed, her Spirit Core remained unchanged.

Level 3 combined with the full power of her Talent gave each attribute 65 points. According to Wagner, Level 7 had only 35 and Level 10 had 47 points. She was stronger than Windsor Freeman. Keynes only had 25 right now…

That stark realisation weighed on his mind, demanding of him to level up as well. He was tempted for the first time to do so, seeing the display of her power today.

No. His Will forced the internal voice away. This is not the way to gain true power.

The two runners saw Vivena’s spectacle of death too. They returned, but fought at the fringes of the horde that circled around Vivena like a deadly whirlpool.

How do I do it, Alice? He meant the spiritual stage. She knew and stayed silent. How do I do it?! He snapped. Damn it! Bend the rules if you must! Tell me!

She was very slow in responding and her voice was strained. Painfully so.

Overwhelm the core with essence and keep it contained until you get the system mess--

Their bond weakened, her distress came through it.

He closed his eyes and focused on his core and all the essence that circled it. Enough essence to progress him 2% toward the next level. No.

With all his Will, Keynes pressed the essence into his core. The core was full and dense and so it refused him but still he pressed. His progress was slow and then painful but he always pushed forward.

SNAP!

Congratulations!

You achieved the Elevated Spirit Stage!

-

Spiritual Companion has improved!

-

Spiritual Aura strength has increased!

-

Spiritual Resistance has increased!

-

[Spirit Ghost] has improved!

-

Your Understanding of Spiritual Energy has improved!

-

Spiritual Communication has unlocked!

-

Spiritual Mantle has unlocked!

Spiritual aura exploded out of him, rivalling the strength of Wagner’s aura. The rifts monster beneath Keynes howled in pain.

Congratulations, master! It feels good to be in the Elevated Stage. I feel like I can almost touch material things!

Not withdrawing his aura, Keynes descended. With his aura at full blast, the monsters showed signs of significant distress and weakness. Many Level 1 monsters collapsed if they came too near, Level 2 fared better but not nearly close enough to pose any kind of threat to Keynes as they’d had before.

Vivena blurred next to Keynes, her speed mind-numbing, outpacing his Perception. But he noticed something, her spiritual signature. He could almost track her by her spirit energy alone.

“What is this?!” she asked. “The strength of your aura… it’s like my grandfather’s. That’s insane!”

He smiled, feeling ecstatic.

“Let’s clean up the monsters.” He made a step forward and then turned to her, adding. “Congratulations on levelling up, Vivena.”

***

Haruka and Bill watched the most unexpected spectacle in their lives. Some crazy jackasses engaged a massive horde of rift monsters. Granted, these were mostly Level 1 and 2 common and uncommon monsters, but Haruka and Bill had been fighting them for days and their numbers didn’t diminish. At some point, they’d decided to call it a day and run.

“Are you seeing the same thing I am seeing?” Bill asked, slack-jawed.

“Yeah. A freaking flying Talent. What a lucky bastard!”

“Don’t get me started about Talents…” Their Talents weren’t the most useful, although they had their uses. Still, nothing as fancy as flying.

“Hm. Should we?” Haruka asked, leaning against a tree.

Bill’s forehead creased. The last time they slept was two days ago. They weren’t in the best fighting shape. One mistake and the possibility of death was all too real.

“I guess…” Bill murmured, climbing to his feet. The other two idiots were risking their lives after all. It didn’t feel right to leave them to their deaths. “We can nip the monsters from a flank.”

They saw the flying guy say something to the girl on the ground.

And then something-- everything changed.

“Now what is it?” Bill asked from the tree. Haruka frowned; when did Bill climb the tree? “She’s suddenly stronger… holy smokes. Look at this, Har.”

Haruka joined his friend on the tree. The girl on the ground turned into a meat grinder. Everything around her died, her body just a blur. Haruka watched the avatar of death do her job.

“What Level did you sense when they passed us?” Haruka asked.

“Level 2s.”

“That isn’t a Level 2 there…”

And then a spiritual wave reached them.

“Did she just…”

“Level up? Aye,” Bill confirmed. “And her speed increased again… This isn’t normal. Who the hell is she?”

Haruka jumped off the tree, then rolled his shoulders.

“If we have a chance, it is now.”

Bill agreed and descended the tree. Then they attacked the fringes of the horde that was mesmerised by the formidable girl. Both men used wooden clubs called rungu, a baton finished with a hard knob. The weapons were crafted from Level 1 wood and honed by the best crafter from their village.

Most monsters didn’t survive the first hit.

“What is that damned idiot doing up there?” Bill asked, pointing at the flying guy.

Haruka shrugged, remembering why they’d decided to flee the horde. There were too many damned monsters for them to kill. Some fine idea they had to go hunting alone.

As both men fell into a rhythm, another explosion of spiritual energy came down crashing. This one was powerful. The aura that rivalled theirs.

“What now?!” Bill shouted.

“Elevated Stage,” Haruka said, more to himself than to Bill. If this man up there was only Level 2 and in the Elevated Stage his aura was as strong as theirs, it meant only one thing.

Perfect State ascender.

“We must be careful,” Haruka said to Bill who swung by, breathing heavily. “Very careful.”