The meadow couldn't be empty. That was as near a fact as they had come across in their time in the rift, but there was nothing there. Joe and Diana peered from the path's edge into the meadow in front of them. The pervasive evening light held, casting shadows from the trees and shrubs in the surrounding forest. They spent fifteen minutes looking for any threats, and both saw nothing. Diana motioned to step back, and they retreated before she spoke.

"What the hell? Either it's empty, or the boss is invisible."

"I don't believe for a second that it's empty," Joe said. "I hope it's some

new trick and not an invisible boss. Did you feel any mana or essence in there?"

"Nothing. To every sense I have that place is empty. What now?"

"I think we go in there with our heads on a swivel and adapt to whatever crazy new shit is ready to pop out of the woodwork at us."

Diana nodded, and they walked back towards the boss's meadow. Joe stepped forward with Diana right behind him. He walked to the center of the clearing, and Diana stood at his back, facing the other way to cover Joe's blind spot. At first, nothing happened, and Joe felt his tension rising the longer the stalemate continued. A noise crept into the edges of Joe's hearing. It was like the wind in the distance, though it was regular, and there was no wind inside the rift. Slowly but steadily, the sound increased in volume until Joe could make out the sound of wings in the air, and his head jerked up a moment before Diana's did as

well.

A shape roughly the size of a smart car was approaching over the treetops. It hovered at the edges of the clearing, and Joe got his first look at the newest rift abomination. It was a giant moth with mostly brown wings, bright green lines, and purple spots. The body was solid black and smooth like a wasp rather than the relatively soft look Joe thought was more typical of moths. Its head lifted, and Joe felt the weight of its attention on them.

A harsh screech that was all broken glass and abused metal echoed out of its surprisingly small and pointed proboscis. Joe felt the

hair on his arms stand up as his mind and soul fought off what he perceived as a mental or magical assault. The moth wasn't the first rift boss to try that approach. Fortunately, Joe knew the appropriate response to this sort of thing.

A wordless scream burst out of Joe back at the boss. It didn't faze the boss in the least, but Joe felt the effects of the boss's mental attack lessen. He didn't know if it was the defiance or if disrupting the sound reduced the effect. That was a matter for later. Right now, Joe had a tryout for the world's biggest flyswatter. He watched the moth hover a moment before diving in their direction. Joe firmed his stance and prepared to accept the charge.

The moth boss swerved off at the last moment, cutting a circle around the pair before flying back to the meadow's edge. Joe held firm and focused on the area around them. He almost hadn't noticed it in the thrill of the charge from the boss monster. Dropping from the moth's wings were specks of grey dust almost imperceptible in the poor lighting that permeated this rift section. Noticing that obvious trap was the only reason Joe hadn't extended to try and take a swipe as the moth flew around them. That and the damn thing was fast. It wouldn't even have been a guaranteed hit.

"The dust is definitely poison," Joe shouted over his shoulder to Diana.

"No shit."

"Eloquent. Did you pick up anything from the boss?"

"Malevolent Mothsquito. I'm guessing it will try to bite you at some point."

"Why me? You're smaller it will probably go for you."

"You look juicier. I'm snack sized for that thing. Besides, everything bites

you. It's your thing."

"I want a new thing," Joe grumbled.

The Mothsquito had grown tired of their unwillingness to chase it and probably also their banter. That was Ok, though. Joe was tired of that thing still drawing air. The monster charged them again, and this time Joe shot forward, his glaive cutting the air in a straight thrust. The monster pulled up and circled just out of reach again, this time directly above them. Poison invisibly cascaded around them as Joe ate a berry out of habit. The dust hit him, and he was surprised at the lack of potency. It numbed his skin slightly, but the poison component was shockingly weak.

"There's more than just the dust," Diana said around a mouthful of berries. "I haven't figured it out yet, but I think it's so we don't notice whatever else it's doing."

"Can you hit that thing? I'm getting real tired of it hanging back and poisoning us."

Diana raised her hand and traced the monster's path through the sky. It was moving quickly, and she didn't fire. Joe left her to it. It was her skill, and he wasn't going to second guess how she used it. Instead, he reached into his pack and carefully pulled out a handful of needles wrapped in a scrap shirt. Joe unwrapped them and put them in his right hand, holding the glaive awkwardly in his left.

"C'mon ya' ugly bastard! Let's get this party started," Joe screamed at the sky.

The boss gave another screech though it was even less effective this time. Joe stared it down, and the boss dove their way again. He knew what to expect and threw his needles above the monster when it swerved away from the collision. The monster beat its wings to stop, spraying Joe with a heavy dose of the grey powder. It screeched again, but this time it was from the shotgun pattern of grey needles piercing its wings in multiple places.

The holes were small and barely impeded the boss's flight. That was true until a glowing sphere took a chunk out of its upper torso. Despite the poison that tasted like ash and burnt broccoli, Joe smiled as a long black forearm dropped to the ground. He lunged forward, gripping his glaive with both hands. His strike caught the faltering boss and tore through the wing. There was more resistance than Joe had expected, and his weapon caught up in the bottom of the leathery membrane.

Black chitinous legs grasped Joe's weapon and the boss pulled itself down to Joe. He swung his weapon in an arc to try and dislodge the monster, but the boss held it tight. Joe went to throw the glaive away, but he was too late as another leg snaked out and caught his shoulder. The monster was silent this time as it plunged its spear-tip mouth straight into Joe's left forearm.

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Joe screamed as he felt the mouth hesitate momentarily on his skin before plunging in and striking the bone. Joe felt the bone crack, though not break outright. The boss hesitated, and Joe brought his own skill into the fight. His mouth glowed as he bent down and bit through the moth's fuzzy antennae. Turnabout was fair play, after all. The monster released him and scuttled back out of reach before Joe had time to activate it a second time.

His eyes never left the monster that was leaning slightly off balance. Joe reached over and wrapped his arm in the t-shirt that had previously held the needles. He worried briefly about the poison getting into his open wound, but he'd worry about it later. The poison would only be a problem if he didn't pass out from blood loss. Joe's regeneration and the berries were working to patch him up, but something felt off. His jaw hurt way more than it should have.

Since he'd leveled up his bite skill, it didn't hurt to bite through even the wooden treant. The skill boosted his durability as well as his damage. Experimentally his tongue ran over his teeth, but they were all in good shape, so it wasn't that. The boss charged, and the time for thought and introspection was over. Joe gripped his glaive awkwardly as he readied a thrust at the giant bug bleeding smoking ichor on the ground.

A blue sphere with streaks of purple shot past Joe and buried itself in the monster's head. It didn't even twitch as it dropped to the ground and began to burn away with blue fire. Joe stared at the beast with his jaw hanging open. He knew Diana's new skill was powerful but damn. He made a mental note never to actually piss her off. Diana's cry behind him broke the stupor, and Joe turned around to see her crouched on the ground with small purple veins burning down her arm towards her hand.

"What happened? Is it the poison?" Joe stumbled over to Diana as he spoke.

"Poison...mana...the dust...covered it up," Diana groaned out through clenched teeth.

Joe reached down and squeezed some berries in his injured hand. The ripped skin and muscles burned, and he felt the tendons pulling on the cracked bone in a symphony of agony. As gently as he could, Joe pried open her clenched jaw and poured the juice of a half dozen berries into Diana's mouth. She grunted like he'd kicked her in the gut but didn't say anything. Her skin was already bruising where his fingers had gripped her face, and Joe let her go.

"Fight this, Diana. You've got mana manipulation. Push it away."

Joe ate some berries and a walnut and felt the healing mana work through his body. He pushed it towards his wound, but a surprising amount stayed around his mouth. The pain had been worsening, but Joe hadn't even noticed his panic over Diana. He focused on that area, ignoring his arm for the moment, and felt the poison mana in his veins. The damage followed the exact same path his mana used to activate his bite skill.

That dirty son of a bitch had found a new way to poison him. The dust was a numbing agent to prevent him from noticing the foreign mana working through his system. Joe found it working in his body wherever regeneration worked to repair him. If he weren't fighting for his life, Joe would have admired the genius of the attack. It was a magical poison that worked when skills were used. That explained the damage to Diana and the tracing of the poison down her arm. The good news is his poison resistance skill seemed immune to the foreign mana. It was about time that skill pulled its weight.

Five minutes later, Joe was still leaking blood out of the wrapped hole in his arm, but he no longer felt like his life was in danger. He was still dizzy as he stumbled to Diana and gently laid his hand on her shoulder.

"Diana, are you there?" Joe's voice was small and weak with the worry for her that coursed through him.

"I'll make it," Diana grunted. "Level up. You'll heal faster."

Joe opened his mouth to argue but realized she was right. The extra attributes would hasten his recovery, and this trauma would no doubt count towards bonus attributes. He stumbled towards the pillar and slammed his hand down on the top. The menu unfolded in his mind like always. Joe ignored the skills and found the level-up option. He felt power course through him as his being expanded. He shoved one point each into fortitude and reflex before closing the screen and walking back to Diana.

If Joe had felt his life was truly in danger, he would have put both free attributes into vigor. The bleeding in his arm was manageable with the supplies they'd gathered so far, and his body and skills were also clearing out the poison. So, Joe put a point in fortitude because it absolutely sucked to earn it and a point in reflex because it brought him up to ten. Also, he had no doubt he'd earn some more vigor before his next level.

Diana seemed better, though not great. The angry purple veins had receded near her shoulder, and she seemed to be winning the war with the poison mana. Joe looked around the clearing and found a glowing purple stone sitting on the ground where the boss used to be. He'd been hoping for more essence stones to get Diana her next level. Joe picked up the crystal and felt power and poison in it, but not much else. His senses weren't attuned to that sort of thing. It could wait until Diana was up and running.

He plopped down and ate some more medical trail mix. The mana went a little wild to get released all at once, but Joe shepherded it through his body. Slowly the poison and poison mana were both milled down and removed. Joe pushed the remainder of the healing energy to his arm. He wasn't good enough to split the individual types into different areas, or he would have moved some of the blood mana to his bones. His body would need to make some more blood to get back to full fighting shape. By the time Joe was finished, his arm had slowed to a trickle. He rewrapped the arm tighter with his now wholly ruined t-shirt and managed to staunch the blood flow entirely.

Joe took stock of his body. His arm throbbed in time with his heartbeat. He could feel his body and skills working to pierce him together now that the poison had cleared his system. He was tired, and everything hurt, though. His head ached almost as much as the rest of him from all the attempted mana manipulation. For the hundredth time, Joe thought about investing some free attributes at his level-ups and discarded the thought just as quickly. The attributes were low, and it made gaining them easier than it would be otherwise. By comparison, Joe had to heal from a ton of damage to get the same point in vigor. Seeing those low attributes bothered him now that he had all his physical attributes over ten. He admired his sheet while he waited for Diana to finish up.

Joseph Lemuel Wanderun

Class: Feral

Level : 5

Rank: Mortal

Tier: 1

Attributes:

Strength 10

Alacrity 11

Fortitude 11

Vigor 13

Reflex 10

Connection 5

Glamour 6

Skills: 5/7

Bite lvl 4

Minor Regeneration lvl 4

Tough Skin lvl 4

Lesser Poison Resistance lvl 4

Diminishing Restraint lvl 4

Diana's stirring and loud groan drove Joe from his introspection. Once he had healed, Joe couldn't wait to test the limits of his new attributes. The bonus attributes would once again be mostly magical until he didn't act like a dying car battery while in the rift. He looked over and saw Diana blinking owlishly as she looked around the clearing.

"Any good loot?" Diana's voice sounded rough, and she winced as she flexed her jaw.

"Some weird purple crystal. I have no idea what it is," Joe said. He continued in a quieter voice. "How's your jaw?"

"Sore but better than being poisoned to death." Diana smiled, but a slight wince ruined it.

Joe nodded. He had more than a little experience with almost being poisoned to death. The last boss fight had been weird. On the one hand, it had been relatively easy. Now that he knew the boss's physical attacks, Joe felt confident in avoiding devastating strikes like the one to his arm.

On the other hand, the fight would have most likely been unwinnable if Diana didn't have a ranged skill. Also, the boss not appearing until they were in the meadow added complexity to everything. They would need to keep their eyes peeled for any new tricks from the rift in the future.

"How's the level? Any new skills?"

"The level is good as always. I didn't check the skills. I wanted to keep an eye on you and close up the hole in my arm first."

"Well, I'm fine. What are you waiting for?"

Joe shook his head and went back to the pillar. He placed his hand down more gently and went through his options. Joe still had enough essence to upgrade one of his skills to level 5, but he hadn't yet in his haste. If there were skills worth acquiring, it would change that. He scanned through the ever-increasing list and looked for new entries. Minor enhancements and various senses dominated most of his available options, but eventually, he spotted two new ones. Joe wasn't entirely surprised. Every new fight to the death seemed to bring something new to the system store at these low levels. Joe doubted it would continue forever.

"There are two new ones. I don't know how I feel about them, though."

"Well, c'mon and spill."

Tough Bones

mana cost - minor / passive skill

Adds +1 Fortitude per Skill Level (SL) to the user's bone durability.

It wasn't impressive. Joe already had Tough Skin boosting his defense. He still had two open skill slots, but he wasn't sure that it would be a good idea to use one for another common skill. On the other hand, he felt the bones in his arm aching from the boss's attack, and avoiding that feeling in the future wouldn't be a bad thing.

"Boring but solid," Diana said. "Why did it only get unlocked now? You broke half your chest in the fight with the first hound. I know those ribs were still cracked when you came in here."

"I'm guessing it didn't count because it didn't happen in the rift. I think this is the first time I've broken a bone here. Maybe. It's hard to remember all the injuries."

"And the other one?"

"I don't like that one, but I might need to take it."