Ethan had to sneak out to get Zaram. He pretended to go to the toilet.

“You’re my friend, alright. Zaram Blacksword, and you agreed to help back Alia up.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“Don’t refer to me as Commander. Ethan. Ethan. Repeat it.”

“Yes, Ethan.”

“Good.”

They walked out of the toilet together, and quickly introduced him to Alia. “Hi Alia, this is Zaram Blacksword. We met yesterday, and he helped me through the level 1 rift. So I saw him fight yesterday, and I thought, maybe, he could help us with a level 2 rift.”

“Wow.”

“Yes. Wanna give it a shot?” Ethan offered.

“Uh, I guess. No harm to see what a Level 2 rift is like, and where we stack up.” Alia nodded, and the attendant raised an eyebrow when they said they wanted to try a Level 2 rift.

“Retreat if you feel things are not going well.”

“Yes.”

They stepped through a Level 2 rift, and arrived at the exact same area as yesterday.

“Huh shit, we got to the arena like yesterday?” Ethan looked around, and then, two of the hobgoblins emerged. “Oh shit two of them. Dodge! Let Zaram handle them.”

Alia nodded, as they both spread out. Zaram’s two black scimitars appeared, and he charged at one of the hobgoblins. His powerful kicks knocked the hobgoblin back slightly, and he slashed.

The other hobgoblin decided to gang up against Zaram instead, and attacked Zaram from the side.

“[Defense Up].” He said and his body flashed silver. The attack did nothing. Alia was incredibly impressed.

“You didn’t tell me he’s a 2nd realm!” Alia kept her distance, while Zaram stabbed with a single thrust of his scimitar, and lobbed the first hobgoblin’s head off. He turned to face the 2nd hobgoblin, and his scimitar attack was blocked by the hobgoblin’s axe.

They exchanged blows a little, and then, Zaram’s scimitar turned into a blur. “[Multi-Strike].” The hobgoblin was slain in the aftermath.

“Whoah! Not just any 2nd realm, he’s a strong one too!” Alia stared. “He might be able to do this solo!”

Ethan nodded, but added a caveat. “I'm not sure what realm he is. He refuses to tell me. But he says he still needs a little bit of backup.”

“Got it.” Alia nodded.

An ogre walked out of the gates and into the arena. Large, burly, it towered over them. It held a large club with it’s left arm. It ran towards them and swung it's club.

The club wooshed over them. It missed.

“Oh fuck.” Alia cursed. “We can’t take a single hit at all.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Zaram, however, just walked up to the ogre. The Ogre swung his club, and undeterred, he went for the kill.

“[Power Slash], [Multi-Strike].” Zaram’s two scimitars turned into a blur, and slashed. The club smashed into Zaram, but at the same time, his scimitars made the giant ogre into mincemeat.

Zaram was thrown to the side from the impact of the strike, and his arm bled.

“Oh no! Are you alright?” Alia immediately shouted and ran over. Zaram stood like nothing happened.

“Just a bleeding wound that looks horrible. [Defense Up] absorbed most of the blow.”

But at that time, another Ogre appeared. It also had a club.

“Oh no.” Alia cursed, as she activated her wind ability to dodge the charging ogre's wild swing.

“Com- Ethan, Alia, attack it together. Get the ogre to swing his club wide and I’ll aim for the head.”

Alia nodded, the sight of the massive ogre filled them with a burst of adrenaline. Ethan still felt afraid, but nodded. “Yes!”

“[Shadow Copy]. Go!” His shadow copy split from Ethan, and charged. He moved sideways, and then all of them tried to lure the Ogre into a large swing, so that there’s an opening for Zaram to leap in and slash the head off.

The club swung right across, and Ethan felt his heart drop as it barely grazed his hair. “Holy cow that’s so close.”

Alia nodded. “Be careful! We can’t take a single hit from that! Not at our level!”

They tried to get close, but not too close, and for a brief moment in time, they were in a dance. They'd step in, the ogre would swing it's club, and they'd step out. Repeatedly.

“We could really use a ranged bow or staff-core.” Alia cursed. “I think that’s how most teams would handle these ogres.”

“But you don’t know what you get until you go in!” Ethan once again barely dodged the club. He was sure his pants would be drenched by the end of this, and then-

The Ogre swung a little too wide.

“[Charge], [Power Slash].” Zaram leapt through the air, and then glowed in a flash of red. He crashed right into the Ogre’s upper body, and then, his scimitar drew blood. The ogre’s neck was half-cut. The ogre’s other hand grabbed Zaram, and threw him to the side.

It roared in pain, but not dead yet. Zaram crashed into the stone corners of the arena.

The ogre swung it’s club, and its’ attacks were wobbly. It was swinging madly, and not very well.

Alia dodged, and dodged, and then, all of a sudden, she threw her blade.

“[Wind]!” The wind propelled her blade somehow, and it lodged itself on the neck of the ogre. The ogre struggled, but it only made the half-cut neck tear wider, and wider.

Then, the head fell off, as the tear ripped through the entire ogre's neck.

[Rift Completed]

“Holy shit.” Alia cursed and after a while, she jumped in joy. “We... we did it. We did a level 2 rift in our first week! Holy freaking cow we actually did it.”

Ethan smiled, and returned Alia’s high-five. “Yeah. But I’m saying we got lucky. I was useless in that battle. I’m not doing that again. Not until I get my core to the 2nd realm.”

Alia nodded, and Zaram got up. He was bruised and battered, but he smiled. “That was a good fight.”

Alia immediately checked the ogre’s corpse, and found a crystal core.

***

“Wow you guys finished it!” The attendant was amazed, and saw the collected core. “How do you wish to split it?”

Before Ethan could say anything, Alia already answered. “I think Zaram should get half. He practically carried us through the rift.”

“Got it. 30GP to Zaram. How about the two of you?”

“A quarter each, then?”

“15GP!” Alia smiled, and bowed to Zaram. “Thank you so much!”

“No matter.” Zaram nodded, and Ethan smiled. “I’ll walk to the medical center by myself, I’ll be fine.”

“Really?” Alia asked.

“Yes.” Zaram said, and then he walked away to somewhere quiet, where he vanished.

Alia looked at Ethan, and her smile could light up the night sky. “Thanks, Ethan. I really needed that fight to get my frustrations out. I feel better now.”

“Good.” Ethan nodded. “Dinner, then let’s get back and rest? I’m probably going to take it easy tomorrow, and head to the cultivation chambers after class.”

“Yes!” Thankfully, no one interrupted their dinner, and Alia was in a much better mood.