Alex leaned over the small hand-drawn map that was laid out on the folding table under the tent. Several others stood to either side of him, and while he was hoping for more information, the drawing didn’t show too much.
He moved away from the table to return to his team, standing a short distance away. Taking a deep breath of cold air, Alex looked around the abandoned supermarket parking lot. News vans crowded between old shopping cart corrals and dirty patches of half-melted snow were piled up in the corners of the lot.
Alex found it surreal, standing there in his robes while reporters did interviews and moved back and forth, only casting an occasional wary glance at the blue portal. He had to assume that the Rift opening near the portal contributed to its looting and complete abandonment, but it looked like it hadn’t been doing very well even before the New Year.
The entire situation boggled his mind, and he was surprised to see such a shift in what was accepted and publicly tolerated. Just a few months ago, when he’d stepped into his first Rift, people had been fleeing the scene in a panic and then law enforcement had shown up and blockaded the entire area. News outlets were shut down and not allowed to record in the area, and the only source of media was from people posting online. Even then, what was leaked was seen as fake or doctored video for a growing conspiracy theory.
Now, some of the most reputable reporting sources were on site and interviewing the present adventurers as if they were professional athletes.
It’s amazing what people can accept as a new norm and adjust to fit their current lives.
He knew that there was more to it than that, but as he looked back and forth at the gathered groups, he was impressed by the general population’s resiliency.
Just as his thoughts were drifting to his family and how his dad might be handling taking the changes, a woman wearing elaborate robes approached him at the same time he walked up to the rest of his group. She carried a staff that had a small red crystal set into the top of the wood.
“Heading in soon?” she asked in a serious tone. “We should coordinate paths so we can avoid getting in each other’s way.”
Alex felt his friend’s eyes turn to him and fought the urge to look to Olivia for help. “We, uh…” he cleared his throat. “We haven’t really talked about it yet, but I think we’ll take the left side. There was a ridge on the map they have up there, we’ll probably follow that.”
The uncertainty in his voice made him wince internally, but the woman just nodded. “Works for us. We’ll take the central path. I’m Maya, by the way.”
“Alex,” he replied, offering his hand.
She shook it and smiled at them all. “Good hunting.”
As Maya moved back to her team, Olivia nudged Alex’s shoulder. “For someone with such high Willpower, you looked ready to bolt there for a second.”
“Willpower doesn’t help much when you have no idea what you’re doing,” Alex said with a weak laugh. He scratched the back of his head. “I mean, I can be determined or use my quick thinking all day long, but that doesn’t mean I know which decisions to make.”
“You do fine in combat,” Sarah pointed out, adjusting her quiver awkwardly.
“That’s different. I’ve trained for that, lived through it a few times now. But this?” He gestured vaguely at the surrounding scene. The news crews, other teams, the Rift, and even their own group, “Leading? Making a tactical decision or deciding what we’re all going to do? Making decisions for you guys, instead of asking everyone what they want to do? I feel like I’m making it up as I go.”
“That’s literally what everyone does,” Mark said, adjusting his shield. “You think she knew exactly what she was doing? She’s probably just as nervous.”
Alex shrugged and looked for a way to change the subject. He looked over Sam’s head toward the shimmering blue portal and nodded toward it.
“Ready?” He asked his group of friends. After receiving nods all around, “Then let’s-”
“Wait!” Mark interrupted, fumbling with his spatial storage. “One more thing!”
Sarah groaned. “If this is another-”
“Team photo!” Mark called while lifting his phone from the pouch. “Come on, first official mission! We need to document this.”
Sam bounced over, and his enthusiasm was infectious. He moved his staff from one hand to the other so that it wasn’t hidden behind Mark. “Where should I stand?”
“You’re like a puppy,” Sarah muttered, but she was already moving into position.
Sam’s eyebrows came together in a frown, and Mark laughed. “Our team mascot! The healing puppy!” He threw his arm over Sam’s shoulder, causing the much smaller teen to bow under the weight.
“I am not the mascot,” Sam said with some embarrassment. “That’s Val, for sure.”
“I’m not standing here all day,” Olivia warned, but she took her place next to Sarah. Her attempt to look annoyed was undermined by the smile tugging at her lips.
Alex looked at his friends on the screen of Mark’s phone as he held his arm out. He felt a good deal of his anxiety melt away as he joined them in the center of the photo between Mark and Sarah.
Mark held up his hammer with a huge grin, and Alex felt Sam poke him in the side with his staff. Everyone chuckled as Mark snapped way too many pictures, the loud clicking sound making it all too obvious.
“Everyone say ‘Teams Event!’” Mark called.
Only Sam said it, his excitement making Sarah laugh mid-eye-roll. Olivia managed a tight smile, clearly uncomfortable with such a public spectacle.
Mark checked his phone screen for a moment before beaming. “Perfect. That’s going on the wall at the new house.”
“We are never doing that again,” Olivia stated flatly, but Alex caught her fighting back a proper smile.
Together, they regrouped, ignoring the onlookers, and stepped through the Rift’s entrance. The transition was smooth, almost unnoticeable, except for the slight tingle of mana across their skin and the momentary loss of weight.
Then the new world opened up before them, and Alex heard Sam’s quiet, “Wow.”
The blue windows popped into Alex’s vision and rather than dismiss them, he used a trick that he’d been working on in the last week. He focused his attention on the blue windows and mentally pushed them to the right of his vision.
The windows shifted without noise or complaint, though Alex could only do it when he pushed his intent toward the windows. So far, no one else in their group had been successful in recreating the feat, so he assumed it had to do with his Willpower.
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With the blue screens out of the center of his vision, he did a quick scan of their surroundings and made sure that they weren’t at risk of being attacked. When he saw they were safe, he looked to the quests, nodded, and dismissed them.
Personal Quest: Cull Crystal Wolves
Slay 10 Crystal Wolves at any level.Rift Quest: Shatter the Resonating Crystals
Destroy all 12 Resonating Crystals within the Rift.
Alex blinked as his eyes adjusted to the strange light of the Rift. Above them, the night sky was bright with ribbons of blue and pink waves. Their boots crunched in snow that seemed to glow, though he wasn’t sure if it was from magic or from the reflecting stars and lights overhead.
He glanced at the others and saw most of them looking around the surroundings, which made him happy to know that they’d likely followed the standard Guild advice of dismissing the quest windows first and ensuring the area was safe.
“Any surprises with the quests?” Olivia asked.
“Nope. A cull quest and the crystals that Jamie told us about outside.” Alex answered.
Mark hefted his hammer. “I’m guessing my hammer will be better at smashing crystals than those stupid vines we were fighting last week.”
Alex waved them to the left. “Let’s start moving to that ridge and get out of the way of the entrance. Other teams should start coming in any second now.”
“Right,” Sarah said seriously, gripping her bow tight.
“Formation like we practiced,” Alex said, feeling a bit foolish for taking everything so seriously. He pushed the thoughts away hard, being more aware than most just how dangerous the Rifts could be.
Now’s not the time for all of this second-guessing. Get your shit together.
No one said anything in response, but they all moved into the appropriate positions like they’d practiced at the house. Mark led the group, with Alex and Olivia behind him to either side. Sam stood behind Alex and Sarah walked next to him, behind Olivia. This had the four of them in something of a square, with Mark as a point out front.
Mark started out their walk with his shield raised, though he lowered it after a few dozen meters. The environment was peaceful and looked truly magical.
“This place is beautiful,” Sarah said before the entire group tensed as a howl echoed across the meadow. It didn’t sound close, but the timing was eerie.
A flash of movement caught Alex’s eye, and he instinctively raised his wand to point in the general direction. He stopped when he saw the white rabbit bounding past them, a trail of white, blue, and purple light trailing behind its tail as it moved.
Mark chuckled after noticing Alex’s reaction, and Olivia snorted as well.
“Are those the Crystals we need to break?” Sam pointed over the small ridge at a huge floating crystal. It was the general size and shape of a pickup truck if it was standing up vertically. It glowed a pink-purple that made it stand out from the white light of the surroundings and the blue light from the sky above.
“I think so, good catch. Let’s head that way,” Alex said. “Olivia, you can peel off and start scouting in that direction when we get to the tree line.”
“Got it,” she said.
They closed the distance to the floating crystal and Olivia moved away into the shadows of the trees with [Shadow Step]. Alex glanced over to Sarah and saw her edging closer to the center of their group now that the other pillar of her side of the formation was gone.
He was about to reassure her when a growl cut him off. Three wolves came out from behind a cluster of dull crystals that were spread across the ground. Their bodies were partially covered in pink and purple crystals, similar to the one that they were heading to destroy.
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Alex was a bit surprised to see that the wolves were on the smaller side. They were only slightly bigger than a fox and he quickly scanned them, wanting to make sure that they were the creatures that he thought.
Crystal Wolf- Level 4
Class: None
<Hostile Creature>
All three of the wolves were level four or five, and Alex was relieved that they would start out against the lowest range of monsters in the Rift.
“Alright, Mark. You’re up.”
Mark let out a whoop while loudly knocking the side of his hammer against the front of his shield.
Through his left eye, Alex could see Mark release a wave of barely controlled mana. While it wasn’t the same as pushing for a skill, they had theorized that while drawing the attention of the animals and releasing his mana in a burst around him, he could begin to direct the System toward some kind of taunt skill.
For now, it actually didn’t do much, but it wasn’t that big of a waste since Mark wasn’t doing anything with his mana, anyway.
Alex split his focus with [Parallel Mind], letting one part of his consciousness begin weaving a ritual in the air for his wand, while the other monitored the approaching enemies and the fight as it started. The skill had become invaluable since he’d gotten it, allowing him to do two things at once, which he felt was never more valuable than in moments like this.
Two of the wolves charged at Mark, their crystalline growths glinting in from a combination of the strange lights in the sky and an inner glow. The third wolf, however, darted to the side, circling toward Sarah’s position.
“Left!” Alex called out, but Sarah’s arrows were already flying. She missed as she stumbled back from the approaching wolf and let out a strangled cry.
“Shit,” she muttered while nocking another arrow. He could see her hands shake, and the wooden arrow shaft bounced twice off of the side of the bow.
Her next shot also went wide, and her growing frustration was evident in her quick mumbles and curses.
Olivia materialized from the shadows behind the wolf, but Sarah had already released her third arrow in rapid succession. Olivia had to dive sideways to avoid it, losing her position for a clean strike.
“Damn it!”
“Sorry!” Sarah called out.
Through his normal vision, Alex watched Mark handle the wolves. He showed no fear as his large frame and muscular arms wielded both shield and hammer with shocking ease. His kite shield kept the beasts at bay as he watched for openings to strike. Though a few attacks slipped through his defenses, they left only minor scratches and glancing blows.
Even though Alex knew they were superficial wounds, it was hard for him to see tears appear in Mark’s clothes and small patches of red begin to bloom on the snow at his feet.
He was doing great, but…
“Sam?” Marked called while taking a step back. “Could use a quick heal!”
But Sam had moved toward Sarah when she was threatened, leaving their tank without support. Alex saw Mark’s expression shift as he realized he was backing into empty space.
Time to help a bit.
Alex released a bolt of mana from his wand, enhanced by the small wind ritual he’d prepared in the air before him. The blue bolt passed through the hanging circle and took on a swirl of power and potential that crashed into the crystalline side of the wolf. There was the sound of muted, breaking glass as more red blood peppered the white snow.
The wolf on Mark’s left crumpled instantly, the level difference between them too great for it to survive the empowered shot.
“Thanks!” Mark called out, now easily handling the single wolf.
Sarah finally found her rhythm, and as the wolf paused to look between her and Olivia, sent a shot directly into the monster’s shoulder. Olivia didn’t waste any time and stepped forward to hamstring the beast, preventing it from retreating or repositioning. The wolf went down quickly under their combined assault.
“Sam,” Alex said, “you’ve got to stick to the position unless called. Mark is your primary focus, he’s got to know where to find you.”
“Right, sorry,” Sam said, hurrying back to his spot.
The last wolf fell to Mark’s hammer, and a brief silence fell over the group. Sarah was staring at her bow, jaw clenched and hair slightly disheveled from her initial stumble in the snow.
“That was…” Olivia started.
“Rough,” Sarah finished. “My aim was horrible. I can’t believe I came here thinking to use this after a few days of practice.” She held up her hand horizontally and looked at it as it shook slightly.
"We'll improve," Alex said. "Mark's tanking was solid, and that last combination between you and Olivia worked well. We just need to—" Another howl cut through the air and the group all turned in the general direction it had come from. "—work on it as we go," Alex finished his own statement. "Same formation, but Sam, remember—"
“Stay centered, I know,” Sam nodded.
Alex was happy to see that Sam didn’t look upset or even frustrated. He knew Alex wasn’t being hard on him, just trying to help him improve.
I was worried that he’d think anything I said to him would be me getting mad or being too critical. I’m glad to see he sees it for what it is.
Alex began weaving another ritual as they moved closer toward the hanging crystal, waiting to see more wolves step in their path. They had a long way to go, but at least they were learning.
And no one died. That’s a good start.
The morbid thought popped into his head unbidden, as he realized it was his greatest fear in this entire situation. But after the first fight was out of the way, he realized it wasn’t something he should be immediately worried about. The Rift they were in was well within their means to complete and between Alex and Sam, the team shouldn’t ever be in any real danger.