> As adept Invocation and Inscription manipulators, Riftwalkers don't just use the energy of the universe. They infuse their own energy into the universe to overload the space between realms and conjure anomalies. As such, Master Riftwalkers may open and seal Soul Rifts, hop through the fabric of space, or absorb the Soul essence of space itself.

Excerpt from "The Art of Hado: Branches and School of Thoughts"

Eugene De Lavet

We all turn to the source of the voice and see a woman we've never met before. She looks well in her fourties, stiffly slim, remarkably gowned in a dress that matches the color of her turquoise hair. Her tired eyes scan us before she speaks up again, "You shouldn't mention that insect of a man's name near settlers. If it wasn't for him, none of this tragedy would've happened."

"What do you mean?" Melodi asks.

"He was supposed to be our guardian, but he drained the essence of the forest in search of some gemstone! He turned this place into a desert and starved our people." The woman's nose flares as she spats.

"So the giant skeletons are the forest warden's creations?"

"No. But the essence of the forest had kept us safe from these demonic forces for so long. Angelo knew better than anyone that these Soul creatures and everything associating with them would never bring anyone good, yet he opened those rifts in search for the gemstone. For the demonic power! We've suffered for a hundred years."

"But you weren't even born a hundred years ago!" I say. "How can you hate someone you don't know?"

The woman points at me. "How old are you? Fifteen? You aren't even half my age. Don't talk to me until you understand what real hatred is."

Azra says, "If a human opened a Soul Rift, the same Soul Rift can be closed by a human. A Riftwalker or a Soul Revenant can seal such anomalies shut."

"And are you either of those?" The woman questions with an annoyed look.

"I had sufficient Riftwalker training."

I look at Azra in disbelief. I've never attempted Riftwalking since swordsmanship is a hard enough skill to master, and it's damn hard. Anything that has anything to do with non-Human realms are hard. I can work with things I can touch, but I can't reap open a Soul Rift with my bare hands! You have to use some sort of mental vibing stuff, and that's just not for me. I'm not gonna spend ten years of my life trying to levitate some rocks by knitting my brows.

But Azra got himself to nearly Level 400, got promoted to Commander, knows Riftwalking, knows how to pick a lock, and is tall? Life really is unfair sometimes.

"Then you better close that rift." She grunts before walking off.

As soon as she disappears from sight, Lek says, "What's her problem? We're doing her people a favor. It's not like she's paying us or anything."

"No point arguing, man," I reply. "The woman is a living bitterbark tree. Old man Rizeni is pretty naggy too. If everyone becomes like them once they turn fourty, I'll jump off a cliff once I reach thirty-nine."

"Don't talk about my father like that." Melodi frowns.

I was about to come back with something witty, but then I remember what the General just did for us. "Oh yeah, sorry."

"So when are the Gashadokuros showing up again, Mr. Riftwalker?" Alleria asks the Commander.

"The rifts should open by midnight tonight. You have the afternoon off. Go and do whatever, but make sure to be back here by evening."

"Are you sure stopping here is okay?" Lek inquires in a low voice. "We've seen what Pyro can do. In the unlikely even that, you know. . ." He stops for a while, eyeing Melodi. "He might catch up to us."

"The lava wall Pyro conjured plus all the fighting should gobble up all his reserves. He was going for an all-in trap or bust strategy that didn't pan out as well as he would've liked. In case he'd won, it would take at least two days for his army to recuperate. So long as we leave inside this timeframe, I'm confident it won't be a problem."

I wave my hand through his body. "Stop worrying, bro. Did you hear what Azra said? We. Have. The. Afternoon. Off! Have fun now. Care about dying later." Before Lek turns to me, I've already hopped on my bike. "You gonna go or what, Lekky? I saw an oasis on our way here, not too far off. Might wanna get some fresh water. My throat's screaming for some."

"Fine," he groans. "But I'm only tagging along to keep you outta trouble."

As we ride off, Melodi yells at me, "Don't go too far!"

"Yes, mom." I yell back.

***

There's gold under every plot of land if you dig deep enough, or at least that's what I've read about in a picture book. A short distance away from the village lies exactly that place: a verdant oasis with a clear water pond, surrounded by tall, green, dense grass. I never thought trees would be ever be something of rarity, but right now, I'm delighted to see anything that doesn't coat a shade of yellow on itself.

I take a walk around the pond. The water is so clear, the surface looks like a mirror reflecting the sky and the beauty of creation that is my face.

I pick the chillest sand dune near the hillock to lie down, sword by my side. Lek asks, "Dude. You seemed very excited about your day off. What are you gonna do?"

"What do you think I'm gonna do?" I say. "I'm gonna spend my afternoon in the most productive way possible and take a nap on this warm, cozy hillock."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"As suspected. I can't believe we resonated as companions."

"If anything, that says as much about your qualities as it speaks of mine. Now quit yabbering and go travel through space or something. And don't enter my dream again."

"Whatever. I've grown tired of your fair-haired princesses anyway."

"See ya." I grab my Distortion Orb and rub on it until Lek fades from view. Now I am alone, with an entire oasis to myself, nobody else in sight to aid in case of emergency, and with looming threats just a border away. What can go wrong?

Soon, the warmth of the sand and sunlight envelopes my body, lulling me into an easy sleep. Until I hear rustling noises.

I leap from my spot, grabbing my sword, scanning the surroundings. I catch a shadow nestling behind the foliage and approach it. The shadow, albeit small, is undoubtedly of a human. Apart from when I'm not careful, I'm very careful, so I unseathe my sword just in case.

"Who's there?" I speak up so the unsuspecting stranger knows I'm here.

A voice comes from inside the foliage. "Kitty. Kitty! Where are you?"

I drop my weapon. The voice is elegant, feminine, and too singsong to be that of an adult.

As I get closer, the person keeps rummaging behind the groves as she calls out, "Kitty! If you're around, answer me, Kitty!"

Then a small, slender girl crawls out of the foliage, her ocean blue hair tumbles to the ground, her eyes squinting as she leans forward and looks around. I wonder if she's looking for herself because she looks exactly like a cat in that pose.

She looks up at me. When I was young, Lady Tanaka used to remind me to run away if and whenever I see a stranger. But she just stares at me with her squinted eyes until I squint my eyes in return before asking, "Hello Mr. Smug Face. Have you seen my Kitty?"

"I'm not Mr. Smug Face! And no, I haven't. What does he look like?"

"She's small and walks on four legs."

"Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down? I mean, you're small and walk on four legs, but I don't think you're Kitty."

"You will know her when you see her!" The little girl grins. "Will you help me, Mr. Smug Face?"

"Only if you stop calling me Mr. Smug Face. Name's Eugene, but you can call me Mr. Handsome Face if you have a nickname complex."

"Alright! Mr. "Stop Calling Me Smug Face" Smug Face, please help me look for Kitty."

"Witty little one, aren't ya? Fine, I'll help you look for your kitty. It's not like I have anything better to do, and I have a bike. Riding a wheelbike is probably faster than crawling."

I ask for her name. It's Aqua. I lead her to my wheelbike, and she's amused by it. She asks all kinds of questions, like how it runs, what Soul Dusts are, and a bunch of other annoying question that are mainly annoying because I also have no idea how the wheelbike operates but still have to spew nonsense in response so I don't appear birdbrained.

Finally, she asks, "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Wow. Aren't you a sharp one? No, I'm not. Okay, so we gonna go back to the village. Let's look for your kitty among all the kitties in this place. How hard can it be?"

"Don't go to the village. Please go to the rockies. Kitty often wanders there." The girl says in a timid voice.

"Where's the rockies?"

"I'll show you the way. But you turn left here."

"You sure? That's the opposite direction from the village."

"Trust me! I'm a native."

"Sure." I'm itching for an adventure anyway, so let's just roll with it.

***

"Is it this one?" I sluggishly point to the ebony cat so dark that its fur color blends with the color of the sky. Aqua shakes her head, for the five millionth time. We drove around the sand dunes on the sdie of a rocky hill countless times, passing by countless cats, but none of them belonged to her. That made me start to wonder if she really had pets, or if my brain was fried under the desert sun and I've been hallucinating this whole thing all along. Pointing at cats and talking to the air for three hours straight isn't exactly a good look.

What surprises me is that there are also people living on this hill, setting up tents and camps on the side. There aren't any carpets in front of their houses, so I assume they aren't settlers. In fact, I barely even see a person, at least not one outside of their tents. Only cats. Dozens and dozens of cats lying along the ragged rocks, licking their feet and doing other cat stuff. Why are there that many cats in this place, and why haven't I realized this when I first drove past? There might even be more cats than people here.

"Arrrrgh! Screw this!" I hop off my bike.

"But my Kitty. . ." Aqua opens her eyes wide, and they glimmer for a second.

"You go find your Kitty yourself, girl. I'm done. I have to meet up with my guys tonight and I'm already late."

"You cannot give up now. My mom told me to never give up. If you quit once, you'll become a quitter!"

"Nice try, kid. I don't need to give up to become a quitter. Anyway, this is right at the middle of Kakwai, so I'm sure you can find your way home. See ya."

Just as I'm about to leave, Aqua looks to the distance and screams in delight. "Kitty! There you are!"

She rushes to the animal from afar. It jumps at her, licking all over her face. She hugs it inside her lap as she cries, "Where have you been? I've been worried sick!"

I stare at them in disbelief. The more I witness their heartfelt reunion, the more my blood boils. I feel like I've been cheated, been played, been toyed with in every way possible. I swear we've driven past that animal at least a dozen times. If that little girl had paid attention instead of asking random things, we would've gotten things done in ten minutes. Not to mention, this animal is a. . .

"WHY DID YOU WASTE MY TIME? THAT'S A FREAKING DOG!" I scream.

The girl, the huge dog that's double her size, and the villagers from inside the tents look at me as if I'm some kind of alien.

"Mom told me you can't yell at kids, Mr. Smug Face! People will think you are a bad man!"

"WHY DID YOU CALL A DOG A KITTY?"

"Her name is Kitty! Why are you yelling at a truthful child?"

"WHO THE HELL NAMES A DOG 'KITTY'?"

A few villagers gather around us, and few soon turn into a dozen. A middle-aged man confronts me and says, "What are you doing, you nomad? You think you can bully our precious?"

"I was helping her find her cat—dog!"

"You nomads always spill the same nonsense! Last week, we had a guy come to us to ask for a horse-camel. And now a cat-dog? There ain't no such thing as a cat-dog. Ya asking for trouble? Because trouble is what you're gonna get."

"N-no! That isn't what I mean. Ask the girl! I helped her! I even know her name; we're buddies! Right, Aqua?"

I frantically turn to the little girl only to see tears brimming in her eyes as she sniffles. "You yelled at me. . ."

"I spent two hours—argh!"

The man's face turns red. He grabs a shovel from the side of his tent and walks up to me. "On behalf of this village, I demand damage for the trouble. Four gold coins. Now."

"I don't have any money."

"I don't care. Make some. Else you're gonna get it." As soon as he finishes his sentence, the other people picks up their shovels too. Some of them even whip out their daggers, and even an axe. I don't think these guys are regular settlers.

The chieftain, the middle-aged woman, this young girl, then these bunch. I swear, the folks around here have some serious loose screws in the head.

"Four gold coins, now. There's one of you against twenty of us. Ya gonna do this the hard way?"

"I've told you. I don't have any money."

"Then the hard way, it is. Don't say I didn't tryna reason with ya," he grunts. "Boys. Beat 'im up."

I re-unseathe my Bloodweep. I can't take out my Orb and summon Lek without endangering myself. I don't know how skilled these guys are, and I can't analyze their fighting style. It looks like I'm truly going to be on my own this time.

But there's one thing I have that they don't. A sword.

I get into an offensive stance. Overconfident? Probably. But I don't need a defensive stance against some shovel wrangler.

The man with the shovel hurls himself at me. But before he's able to make any contact, engine noise soars from behind my back. I reflexively get out of the way, and a wheelbike smashes into the man, sending him flying. The person on the bike whips out her flail with her left hand and smashes the spike ball into the stomach of another man, all the while keeping the balance of her vehicle. Only after those men writhed on the ground does she jump from the wheelbike.

"Don't touch my friend," Melodi declares.