Chapter 15: Inside The Rift
As soon as he entered the rift, William’s vision blurred, and a feeling of weightlessness engulfed him.
He felt as though he were falling from a high cliff without being able to do anything to stop it.
It wasn’t William’s first time entering an Astral Rift, so he did not panic and remained calm throughout the process.
Instead of focusing on the Astral Rift itself, his mind was more occupied with what Vivian had said just before pushing him inside.
’Why do I have a feeling that she knows something...’
William wasn’t an idiot. He could tell that the final question Vivian had asked him was far from normal.
And when he connected that question to what had happened in his previous life, his brows couldn’t help but furrow.
’Is it possible that she also has memories from the original timeline?’
The moment that thought surfaced in his mind, William couldn’t help but tremble slightly as he wondered whether Vivian would drain him dry again after he left the Astral Rift.
’Ugh... seriously, I haven’t even started doing anything yet, so why are so many things already different from what I remember?’
He sighed inwardly and shook his head.
Although he had many thoughts running through his mind, he decided to temporarily put everything aside and focus on the Astral Rift first.
’Then you will have to work hard, Junior.’
Recalling Vivian’s final words, William couldn’t help but smile faintly.
’Well, it seems I will have to put in a lot of effort in the future.’
Suddenly, the feeling of weightlessness surrounding him gradually began to fade away.
William’s eyes sharpened instantly as he knew he was about to enter the small dimension contained within the Astral Rift.
A flash of white light filled his vision and the next moment, William’s eyesight cleared, and he found himself standing in the middle of a vast grassy field.
A cold wind swept past him, carrying with it the fresh scent of forests and earth while causing his black hair to flutter gently.
William immediately scanned his surroundings cautiously to check whether there were any monsters nearby.
Only after confirming that the area around him was temporarily safe did he finally relax slightly.
Turning around, he saw a spatial rift similar to the one he had entered floating only a meter behind him.
If he wanted to leave the Astral Rift later, he would be able to do so through that same exit.
Around one hundred meters ahead of him stood a dense forest filled with towering trees. Even the smallest trees there were over ten meters tall, while the tallest among them reached nearly twenty-five meters.
Other than the forest, William could also see a river flowing in the distance to his right. He estimated that it was approximately three kilometers away from his current position.
To his left stood a massive mountain located roughly five kilometers away, while behind him stretched an endless grassy plain that seemed to continue forever.
"The density of Aether Energy here is at least three times higher than in the Rosco Barony..." William muttered after sensing the surrounding Aether Energy, a delighted look appearing on his face.
The Rosco Barony was merely a remote countryside territory. Naturally, it did not possess any Aether Energy Gathering Formation.
Unlike the Rosco Barony, most of the important territories within the Silver Wing Kingdom had large-scale Aether Energy Gathering Formations installed around them, significantly increasing the density of Aether Energy in those areas.
Because of this, the people living within those territories cultivated far faster than ordinary people who lacked such privileges.
"If I practice the second Chapter of the Supreme Star Scripture here, I can probably form my Aether Core within a week and officially become a Star Warrior..." William muttered softly to himself.
However, he also knew that he couldn’t remain inside the rift for an entire week.
If he suddenly disappeared for that long, Elena and Karl would definitely become worried.
They were already feeling uneasy because of the strange changes in him over the past few days, and the last thing William wanted was to make them worry even more.
"Even if I don’t stay here for long, I can still accelerate my core formation by finding some high-grade herbs or other treasures," William spoke to himself while glancing at his status window.
====
---) Status [Locked]
---) Inheritance: God of Time—Aevion’s Inheritance [Currently Under Trial]
---) Trial Summary: To be recognized as the true heir of the God of Time and obtain his power, you must first prove that you are worthy of wielding a power capable of changing the course of the entire world. To change the world, you must first change your own future. Step forward and shatter your past by walking a completely different path.
---) Trial Task:
1. Become a Star Warrior before the Aether Affinity Test next month.
2. Kill five unranked monsters and one Star Warrior-level monster. (Currently killed monsters — 1 Unranked Monster)
---) Time Remaining: 24 Days
---) Trial Reward: Your soul will no longer be repelled by the current timeline, one random skill.
(Note: If the heir fails to complete the trial tasks, they will lose the opportunity to inherit the God of Time’s legacy, and the heir’s soul will be sent back to the original timeline.)
====
He had already killed an unranked Forest Tiger earlier and now needed to kill four more unranked monsters along with one Star Warrior-level monster.
"I wonder if these monsters will drop something good once I kill them."
William’s favorite part about hunting monsters inside Astral Rifts was seeing whether the monsters would leave behind valuable loot after dying.
He still remembered that in his previous life, the very first monster he had killed inside an Astral Rift had dropped a skill scroll.
"Let’s see if my luck is still as good as it was the first time I entered a rift in my previous life..."
Muttering to himself, William stepped forward and began walking toward the forest ahead of him.
****
Somewhere inside the Astral Rift, a portal similar to the one William had used to enter glowed slightly, and from it, three humanoid beings over two meters tall with pitch-black skin stepped out.
Although their builds resembled those of humans, sharp blade-like spikes protruded from their arms and their eyes glowed with a dark violet light.
If William had been present here, he would have immediately recognized them as beings from the Abyss.
The three people looked around after entering the rift and smiled slightly.
"This newly formed Rank One Rift seems quite good. I just wonder which realm it connects to," One of them spoke with a slight smile on his face.
"What does it matter which realm it connects to? Since we are here, this rift belongs to us, and the other party will have no choice but to abandon it if they do not want their people to get killed."
(A/N: I already explained how Astral Rifts work in Chapter Seven, so I will not explain it again here and waste your time. If you have forgotten, just take a look at that Chapter.)
