Keynes and the rest didn’t wait long for Haruka’s and Pandora’s father to arrive. They’d been warned that he was en route, what they weren’t ready for was the manner of his arrival.

He came on a flying platform.

It was four metres long and two metres wide and made out of wooden planks connected with a rope. On the platform was a metre square board with a formation engraved on it.

Two people sat on the platform.

One looked like an older copy of Haruka and the second one resembled captain Ventura to the point where Keynes didn’t believe it was a coincidence anymore.

Both men were Level 3 with two maxed-out attributes. The man resembling Captain Ventura had his Strength and Dexterity maxed out while Haruka’s father had Mind and Perception. Very strange that one.

They stepped off the platform and approached the fire. Haruka’s father wore very much the same attire as everyone else from his village. He had barely any rift items on him, unlike Pandora who had the most.

The other man had a green shirt that clearly came from a rift. There was power to it. The same was true about his boots and pauldron on his shoulder.

Villagers greeted their chief with smiles and cheers. Bill approached the other man and both hugged each other. It clicked then that this had to be Bill’s father.

The chief stared at his son with concern, then his eyes met Keynes’s.

Not knowing what to do, Keynes nodded, out of respect. Vivena did the same.

After that, the chief exchanged a look with the man he’d arrived with and then asked his children to walk with him.

Bill’s father came over to Vivena and Keynes and sat next to them. Others didn’t pay them any mind, they laughed at something Bill had said.

“Hawthorne.”

“Vivena.”

“Keynes.”

“You’re far from home, Keynes and Vivena.”

Keynes understood what the other man was implying and didn’t take the bait.

“What does it matter?”

“It matters.”

Keynes sensed Vivena’s readiness to inject her serum.

“We could say the same about you,” Vivena added. “You weren’t born here, were you?”

“That’s true. I wasn’t but it’s my home now. It still doesn’t answer the question: what are you doing here?”

The man wasn’t hostile but he was blunt. Maybe he tried to feel out Keynes’s and Vivena’s characters, maybe not. Keynes didn’t care much. Pandora had been clear about who was in charge here and so Keynes only half-listened to him and Vivena while they conversed about why they shouldn’t be here.

“Keynes?” Vivena said his name and glanced at her. “Are you listening?”

“No,” Keynes replied truthfully. “Not interested in bickering about us being here.”

“Oh,” Hawthorne said a little cynically. “So, you have levelled a few times and you’re above the law already.”

Keynes ignored the other man after that. He was clearly attempting to unsettle them. He worried about Vivena though. She was easily provoked lately.

But to his surprise, Vivena didn’t erupt or showed any signs of distress. Instead, she said, “Haruka accepted us as his guests. I don’t see why you’re trying to antagonise us against his judgement. Do you think yourself smarter than him?”

Hawthorne’s face was split by a grin.

“Of course I do! He’s still an upstart. Like you two.”

With a wild chuckle, Hawthorne stood up and looked to the side. A few moments later, Haruka, Pandora and their father appeared there, returning to the camp.

That flying formation is fascinating, Alice said out of nowhere. You should take a look at it, master.

What for? I can fly without it.

What about others?

What about them? Keynes countered.

Never mind, she snapped and vanished, leaving Keynes unsure how to react to her outburst.

Well, maybe she’s right. Such a platform might have its use, he thought then sent the thought Alice’s way.

I am sorry. You’re right.

She didn’t reply and he didn’t pursue the topic.

There was no more time anyway. The chief stepped into the light and asked for everyone’s attention. As every head swivelled in his direction, he looked directly at Keynes and Vivena.

“My name is Bonolo, I am a chief of the First Tribe and I’d like to extend my invitation to you, Keynes and Vivena. My son Haruka speaks very favourably about you. That said, I must explain a few rules to you.

“Firstly, we don’t kill other humans. Every offender will be trialled and sentenced according to our law. Secondly, our tribe thrives only because we share and cooperate. We don’t ask you for your secrets but if you can help others in their struggle, do it. If you need help, others will be there for you. Lastly, do not travel south or ask questions about this restriction. It’s a matter of our tradition.”

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Keynes and Vivena said her thanks.

With the formalities done, the camp returned to the previous frivolous state. Haruka swung by Keynes and Vivena, his sister trailing him.

“We’re leaving the first thing in the morning. What about one last delve?”

***

Their village was two days away from the Level 3 rift. He’d inquired about the village a few times, wondering what to expect. Africa wasn’t the only place where native tribes lived. But most other tribes were already touched by civilization, affecting them.

This one felt different and yet… The presence of Bill and Hawthorne indicated that these tribesmen weren’t strangers to the outside world. After all, Haruka had said that they were aware of what was going on outside the walls of the reserve.

The village defeated all Keynes’s expectations and of course, everything he had learned prior to their arrival didn’t prepare him for the sight.

With a warning, they left the thick rainforest and stepped into the savannah. At first, he thought he was looking at the forest on the other side of the savannah but he quickly realised that what he saw was something entirely else.

The savannah was perfectly circular and manmade. In the middle of it stood a patch of the highest trees Keynes had seen in his life. The small forest had a radius of a kilometre while the savannah around it was five kilometres wide at every point.

The village was located in the central forest. Houses were built high in the trees. Many flat wooden constructs were visible near the top of the trees. From them, the flying platforms were taking off and flying into the distance. It was like looking at some futuristic city only it was anything but. Everything was ropes and wood. There was no glass and steel, ever-present in the endless agglomerations.

“This is… I can’t find a word to describe it,” Vivena murmured.

“It wasn’t always like this,” Haruka replied. “Before the outbreaks, we lived on the ground. Many of the structures you can see high in the trees would have collapsed if not for the rift materials and formations. You can tell, this is just a work-in-progress.”

“That’s magnificent.”

“It does look nice,” Haruka agreed.

They crossed the savannah and were met with a delegation from the village. The chief and Hawthrone had left them yesterday, flying on their platform. These constructs were mana hungry and both men needed to recharge their tanks in order to fly back.

Hawthorne was at the head of the procession with several tribesmen following him. He wore his green shirt and shorts. No pauldron this time.

The newcomers helped carry some materials back to the village. Keynes and Vivena had agreed to donate all their materials to the village. The content of their dimensional pouches stayed with them though.

As they drew nearer, the true height of the tree came into play. They were easily a hundred metres tall and as wide as a house.

What Keynes hadn’t noticed earlier was a hedge of plants with sharp leaves and stems armed with prickles. Some spots of the hedge seemed to be damaged in the past. Haruka noticed Keynes’s stare and said, “The prickles are poisonous. They are the best defence against rift monsters.”

“Is this poison strong enough to stop a Level 2 rift monster?” Vivena asked curiously.

“Not really. It barely can kill a Level 1 monster but that’s not the point. When a monster tries to force its way through the hedge, these plants will slowly wrap themselves around the monster, immobilising it. Its death is slow but works as a deterrent.”

“I wasn’t aware that rift monsters are intelligent enough to heed such a warning,” Keynes said.

They passed the wooden gate entering a wide, paved alley. This forest was nothing like the rainforest around the savannah. The space between enormous trees was either cultivated or kept in a state of order not found in a wild jungle.

Their destination was stairs snaking around a tree. Keynes’s and Vivena’s heads were turning right and left as they took in all the sights: suspended bridges, treehouses, wild structures under construction and on top of that the swarm of tribesmen. There were thousands of them. Keynes expected a few hundreds of the villagers, not this…

The stairs ended on the wide platform built above the canopy of one of the tallest trees. The platform itself had to be over fifty metres wide. A house was built on it.

Chief Bonolo came to welcome them.

“Welcome to the home of the First Tribe.” He waved everyone away except for Hawthorne, Keynes and Vivena.

Neither Pandora nor Haruka objected to the treatment.

As the four remained alone on the massive wooden terrace, Chief Bonolo waved them closer to the rail. From this terrace, they could almost see the entire savannah.

“We are grateful for your gifts and that you took good care of our sons. Haruka’s and Bill’s mothers will want to have a word with them when our wives are back in the village.”

“A village…” Keynes murmured. “That word hardly describes … this.”

Chief Bonolo smiled, his face expression very much like Haruka’s.

“It wasn’t anything as majestic as this before the outbreaks. The rift materials have fuelled our growth to an unexpected degree. I can’t fathom what we’ll be able to achieve with Level 3 materials.”

“So this is all thanks to the rifts?” Vivena asked.

“Yes.”

“What about the trees?”

The chief glanced at Hawthorne, giving something away though Keynes didn’t know what it was.

“Trees came earlier. They are the product of my Talent. Anyway, this isn’t why I wanted to talk to you. Haruka told me that you can open the hidden doors. In exchange, you wish to max out your Mind attribute and get your share of spoils. I am okay with that. However, if you’d like to fully participate in the life of the village, then we’d expect more from you.”

“Are the Level 3 materials not enough for you?” Vivena asked.

Hawthorne grunted. “She has a point, Bonolo. These materials are priceless at the moment. To our knowledge, this is the only open Level 3 rift in the world. And it begs the question - how this rift has been opened.”

Both men looked expectantly at Keynes and Vivena. No answer came forth. To their credit, the other men didn’t press the subject and settled back on the hidden doors.

After a moment, they changed the topic.

“Haruka mentioned that the hidden reward seems to be tailored to the people who cleared the rift with the hidden door.”

“We believe so but have managed only to find three hidden doors. It’s hard to draw a conclusion from that.”

“We have seven rifts nearby.”

“What’s the spawning rate of the hidden door?”

“None seem to appear in Level 1 rifts and if more than four people enter the Level 2 rift then the spawning rate goes down.”

It looked like they’d done some testing. Good.

“Did you find any keys?”

“None.”

Could it be that the key spawning rate was linked to the number of people clearing a rift? After all, the amount of essence was. And according to them, the spawning rate of the hidden doors was too. It was a very interesting subject but the chief’s time was short as he had many things to attend to.

***

Haruka returned to the large terrace and took Keynes and Vivena to their new rooms. Once again they were back to the entanglement of suspended bridges and otherworldly sights. Haruka showed them to their rooms they had been given for their stay.

They were crude but comfortable. Vivena was glad that she didn’t need to sleep on the ground anymore. Their rooms had hammocks. Once they settled down, it was time to see the Mind attribute training method.

They travelled between bridges to a larger structure built haphazardly on a side of a tree. It resembled a gigantic bracket fungus and started to understand what they meant by saying that without rift materials, none of this would be possible.

The exterior seemed smooth, all the cracks between planks patched. They’d taken care in building this place. The open door led into the dark interior. The smell inside was intense, a mixture of earthy and peppery notes with a hint of sweetness.

A short corridor opened to a larger room with many comfortable-looking seats. They were empty now. The light came through the slits in the ceiling.

“Haruka? I see brought guests, welcome to the Mind House,” a young Level 2 woman greeted them. She was also one of a few villagers wearing more than a couple of sashes.

“Hello, Adanna,” Haruka replied, sounding a little shy. “Keynes here would like to train his mind.”

She took measure of Keynes then her eyes returned to Haruka.

“What about you? Have you finally changed your mind?”

“No. My path is different.”

“One attribute wouldn’t hurt you.”

“I understand, Adanna, but I can’t.” He sounded regretful. Keynes considered saying something but it wasn’t his business.

Adanna accepted his decline graciously then her attention returned to Keynes.

“Is that your first time?”

“No,” Keynes replied. “But I haven’t used your method though.”

“In that case, I have to explain how this goes. We cultivate our own mushrooms. The mushrooms have psychedelic effects and proved to be an excellent tool to train the Mind attribute. What Level are you?”

“Two.”

“We will go for the stronger sort then. Relax. You will love it.”