Haef’s hands shook as he finished a Level 2 ring. It was his ninth attempt to create a ring with ‘+ X to all attributes’. Out of nine rings, four failed to possess the modifier while the other four had only 2 points, which suspiciously corresponded to with the Level of the raw materials. This time Haef managed to cross the limitation and land ‘+3 to all attributes’. Too bad that Keynes Kid wanted at least two Level 2 rings with ‘+4 to all attributes’. But he’d already warned the boy that such a craft might be too hard for him though they were possible.

Earlier, Haef had accessed Artefact Exchange to check the prices and was blown away. Rings Keynes Kid asked for cost many millions of dollars. Even the price of the current one neared two million of dollars for Level 2. A Level 3 ring with the same modifier was twice as cheap, though it wasn’t explained why.

An itch to sell the rings was ever-present and only got worse after Haef calculated the total value of his crafts--including the failures--over three million dollars. Even including the cost of raw materials, he’d have still massively profited from this. And what he earned through his employment? Monthly, ten times less than he made in four days! Yes, Keynes Kid promised him a bright future and while Haef had accepted the mysterious deal, he didn’t exactly believe in it. But the thing was, though he could browse Artefact Exchange, he couldn’t interact with it in any other way, so his desires were a moot point in the end.

Eventually, Wigam returned to the workshop and Haef realised that he hadn’t slept in days. Without leaving the underground part of the compound and using remaining rings to boost his attributes, it was easy to forget about sleeping. Not to mention the excitement stemming from the most recent success.

“Boss, you should get some sleep.”

“I am on the clock here,” Haef replied and he realised that he actually should report this ring to Keynes Kid. “Besides, I have to see someone before I earn a rest.”

***

He is still conflicted, Alice reported to Keynes. But he did not hide anything from you, master.

That’s okay, Keynes replied, reminiscing his own internal struggle. I actually understand him. In a way, he’s like me.

He is nothing like you, master! Alice said with indignation, her wispy form solidified for a brief second as emotions shot through their bond. You are honest with people you work with, while he is scheming something behind your back.

He isn’t scheming. He’s just pissed that he gets peanuts for his work.

But without you, master, he would not be able to gain access to required resources.

Indeed. This kept Keynes from offering Haef a better deal, at least for now. If the crafter proved loyal, which Keynes hoped for, his future would be brighter than Haef could imagine. But it was the topic for later. Now was the time to meet with the crafter and Esopp and go through the ritual.

Keynes met Haef halfway. The crafter showed Keynes the ring Alice had spoken about. It gave 3 points to each attribute at Level 2. It wasn’t what Keynes had asked for but Haef had warned him that such a craft wasn’t going to be easy to achieve. Keynes put the ring on his finger, all of his attributes were higher than itemless Level 7 human essence ascender. To think that Keynes was now stronger than the strongest people in the pre-outbreak world with the exception of Windsor Freeman and Shaper, was an odd feeling.

And yet, this power wasn’t enough to make him safe. Not even close.

Another such ring and you will reach the limit of your Spirit’s capacity, Alice said.

Already?

Yes, the weight of [Chaos Aura] drags everything down.

Keynes was disappointed by that. He’d hoped he would be able to wear additional three or four Level 2 rings. That would make him stronger even than Windsor Freeman.

“Thanks for that,” Keynes said, then glanced at the remaining rings on Haef's fingers but didn’t mention them. “Excellent job.”

From there they went to Esopp’s office.

While the ritual of secrecy wasn’t very complex, it had two ‘modes’: backward and forward.

Backward mode was hard to use and sealed knowledge already in existence. It required a clear and strong understanding of what was going to be sealed away, then a link had to be created between the two parties. Forward mode was much easier to use and didn’t need the link.

When Shaper had used the ritual of secrecy, he must have employed both modes but Keynes hadn’t been aware of this back then.

Esopp explained to Keynes the process. For their purpose, they needed a diagram, raw materials and the activation chant. It was possible to conduct the ritual without the diagram but Esopp didn’t know how to do that.

The ritual itself took less than ten minutes. Time was limited by the available materials. The longer ritual lasted, the more materials were consumed.

Esopp’s presence unsettled Haef but there was subsequent reason for Esopp to witness the ritual. While not taking part in it, Esopp still listened to Keynes’s revelation about the Spirit and cultivation. Esopp didn’t care about the crafting part, but the man was in the lowest spiritual stage and badly needed to improve. Unlike Wagner or Columbus, Esopp understood the urgency. Especially in the wake of the Solar Council meeting. Wagner had warned Keynes and Esopp about the council and their disgruntlement with conditions forced on them by Keynes.

Wagner didn’t know how much time they had but they certainly were on a timer.

Once the ritual of secrecy ended, Esopp ordered for Haef to be given essence allocation in the rifts. Haef was told to reach the Medium stage and start crafting from there. Keynes also warned him about a spiritual companion and their guidance. The spiritual companions Haef and others would now get wouldn’t possess personalities like Alice.

“I guess I’d have to start my own training as well very soon,” Esopp said after he and Keynes remained alone.

“It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the world catches up. Especially with Vivena and tribesmen understanding it quite well.”

“She’s been pushing the monthly ranking quite strongly,” Esopp said.

Keynes barely paid any attention to the Dominion of Monster after he’d left the World Reserve and though the personal rifts sounded appealing, the grind collided with his current plans. To get to the top 3 for the weekly ranking or the top 5 for the month one would require from Keynes too much time.

“I’m surprised she isn’t top 1 with her determination.”

“I’m not. I know Sandman. He was the best assassin working for the World Government. His Talent was top secret; kept even from me. It is good that he is focused on grinding the ranking instead of working for the council. We don’t want the attention of someone like Sandman.”

“We eventually will. With widespread access to essence it is only a matter of time before someone determined will rise in power and decide to challenge us. Look at Haef. He was nobody before the outbreak and now? Suddenly, there is a bright future ahead of him.”

Esopp flexed his muscles.

“What do you say we hit the rift you brought here?”

“No items,” Keynes added.

Esopp’s eyes widened a little but he nodded.

“No items.”

***

The Level 3 epic rift with mayhem type was the best rift their company possessed. After killing the rift’s boss for the first time, the System showed a brief description of what mayhem type meant.

Rift type: Mayhem (Tier 4)

It is a type of rift containing special monsters, traps and a deadly environment. This type may spawn several rift bosses and sub-bosses. The rift possesses valuable raw materials, possible multiple reward chests (hidden around the rift), and a special drop from special monsters. 50% chance to change the rift’s biome upon opening a new instance. A small chance to spawn a mayhem-exclusive biome.

This was everything the System had to say about the mayhem type. It was better than nothing though.

Keynes and Esopp took a lift and descended to the lowest level of the compound where Level 3 rifts were contained. This particular rift was heavily restricted and was only cleared by a large group of Level 4s and higher. The restriction had been placed because the first delve almost ended in a tragedy. Four ascenders encountered a Deadly Encounter and were severely wounded and forced to escape the rift. Even outside of the Deadly Encounter, special monsters and the deadly environment made the rift very inhospitable for most ascenders. Even Keynes had almost perished inside this rift.

They stood in a spacious well-lit room with the rift in the middle, but their attention was on the large panel containing information about the rift, or the information it should have contained. The information about the rift was scarce. It was understandable; they had the rift only for a few days and not enough strong people who could safely delve it.

A guard approached them.

“Sir, are you going inside?”

“Yes,” Esopp replied. “After it’s cleared, I want a team to enter it and tear it apart. We barely have any information about the rift, I see.”

With that, the guard walked away, while Keynes and Esopp prepared themselves.

“No items,” both men confirmed.

That is going to be fun to watch, Alice muttered.

Returning to the base of mere 29 points wasn’t fun but it was for the best.

Inside the rift they found an ordinary-looking forest in a full bloom. Alice immediately flew away to scout the surroundings. Keynes noticed Esopp’s hands being covered by a thin sheet of frost.

“A Talent?”

“Yes. Everything I touch will freeze. Including the air around my hands.”

“Doesn’t it hurt you?”

Esopp shook his head. They slowly traversed the forest, finding it very odd to look so normal. Even stranger was the lack of the monsters… Oh, shit, Keynes realised a split second before the roots exploded out of the ground. Both of them reacted in time and avoided the strike.

“The trees are monsters,” Keynes said.

“If I only had Freeman’s fire skillset,” Esopp muttered while dodging the root attacks. There were many of them but the man’s attributes were sufficiently high to keep him a step ahead of the monster’s attacks.

Keynes took a different approach and blanketed the area around himself with his spiritual aura. These monsters were of epic rarity and so Keynes had to push much more spiritual energy to keep them away. Luckily, the strain of his Spirit wasn’t as bad as he thought.

“How?” Esopp asked, seeing Keynes standing on the ground unbothered.

“Spiritual aura,” Keynes replied then focused on the trees around. He might have a way to repel their attacks but he needed to fight back otherwise the whole idea would be pointless. Affecting the trees with [Telekinesis] was out of question. Keynes didn’t have enough mastery over his skill to pull that off. Unfortunately, the rest of Keynes’s skills weren’t of much help either, with the sole exception of [Chaos Aura] which he didn’t want to use.

He noticed Esopp catch two roots in a strong grip. The frost spread over the surface of the roots though Esopp’s Talent required a few seconds to actually freeze the roots. During that time, he had to dance, avoiding other attacks. While his method worked it was slow…

Then Esopp surprised him when he said, “Shatter.”

Every root frozen by his Talent shattered, spraying blocks of ice on the ground.

Keynes gaped at the other man. He didn’t see that one coming.

Impressive! Alice appeared next to Esopp’s head. Tell him to do this again.

But there was no time for that. Trees around them shook. An evil mutter and wail rolled through the forest. Alice instantly picked the source of that and told it to Keynes.

“Deadly Encounter,” he relayed the message to Esopp. They were going to have a tough fight ahead of them.

“You sure?” Esopp asked.

Keynes nodded, then decided to get rid of the monster-trees surrounding them. No matter what kind of creature was coming it was going to be a difficult fight without their items.

He used both auras like a blade that cut through each tree, killing it. The rush of essence told him that he was on the right track. Trees were monsters.

“Remember to cultivate the essence!” Keynes reminded Esopp. “You have to reach the Medium stage in the next few days. Level 4 rifts won’t be as easy as this one.”