22. The Rift (I)

Raziel peered into the Rift, his two healthy and repaired [Elusive Dreamhounds] by his side.

How was he supposed to get down there?

It wasn’t like there was a ladder clinging to the side of it. Occasionally, a spear of azure light shot down from the aurora into the Rift. Raziel didn’t know what that signaled, or if he could take advantage of it somehow.

“Can either of you [Shapeshift] into a giant bird or something and fly me down?”

For now, Raziel left the [Nightmare Transformation] ability selection on hold. If he ran into a situation where he needed that kind of power to survive, then he would add that ability to his beast summons.

Subtle and Sublime gave him an apologetic look.

“Why not? Let me see…”

Raziel channeled mana into his eyes and opened up their stats. He went into their abilities and narrowed into [Shapeshift].

[Shapeshift] - Rank II: Temporarily copy the form of the last being you made physical contact with.

He sighed. “Any other ideas?”

Raziel idly wondered what the normal purpose of channeling mana into one’s eyes was. Most people weren’t [Hunters], so they didn’t possess the [Hyper-Vigilance] specialization. On its own, channeling mana into his eyes didn’t sharpen his eyesight, or let him see through objects.

His ancestor called the technique an intermediate application of mana. Maybe it provided a unique benefit depending on a person’s specialization?

What happened when Father Linus channeled mana into his eyes? Or his father?

The edge of the Rift crumbled slightly when Raziel stepped closer, bits and pieces of dried earth falling into the abyss.

WARNING: YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER A RAID

PRISON OF THE UNMAKER

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Should he… just jump?

For some reason, images of every adult in his life appeared in his mind, and they all started yelling at him.

This was definitely Raziel’s subconscious telling him that he shouldn’t do that.

Maybe he could climb. The Rift's sides were made of earth, after all. There would be nooks to secure his feet and protrusions to grasp onto. Raziel nodded to himself. This was how he’d get down there.

Raziel summoned his beasts back into his core. Then he crouched at the edge of the Rift and slowly started making his way down. The ambient azure light of the aurora began to vanish into darkness as he went further and further down. Soon, Raziel struggled to have any sense of direction - left, right, up down - it was extremely disorienting. However, he simply kept finding a purchase beneath his last one, and bit by bit, made progress.

A few hours flew by.

Progress was slow.

While Raziel was completely blind in this darkness, he could tell that he wasn’t anywhere close to the bottom.

What if he’d only climbed down 5% of the Rift?

He was vulnerable - a bug clinging to a wall. At any moment, the Rift could expand again, crushing him to death under an avalanche of rock and trees -

An ominous rumble echoed through the massive abyss.

Raziel cried out as the rock he’d been holding onto crumbled to dust. He scrabbled and flailed against the side of the abyss, desperately clawing his fingers into the earth. The skin on his fingers shredded as his body kept sliding down. His stomach plummeted. He was going to drop - he knew with terrible certainty that he was going to simply fall and die.

Screwing his eyes shut, he used all his might to dig into the wall.

His body stopped.

Eh?

Peeking cautiously, Raziel noticed his hands and feet emanating a faint red glow. With a sense of wonder, he withdrew his hand before pressing it back against the wall. Channeling mana into his hands and feet didn’t make them sticky, per se, since he could take his hand off the wall without resistance. Raziel didn’t know how to describe it. Suddenly, it was all just very easy. He didn’t even have to search around for the next nook to stick his foot into - he could just move!

In fact…

Raziel slowly straightened his back until his body was completely vertical to the wall. His feet stayed planted.

In his excitement, his mana control fluctuated, and his left foot dislodged. With a curse, Raziel quickly smoothed out his mana output.

He needed to be extremely careful.

Without delay he started running down the Rift.

//

Deep in the Rift, a crow smiled peacefully, sensing that Raziel was still alive. By now, the boy had undoubtedly gotten far, far away from here.