Walking through the Rift’s exit was an odd experience, as if he were walking through a giant fisheye lens. Finally, he emerged onto the other side and the purple-laced-blackness faded away, revealing a landscape of mountains. The weather was gloomy, foggy and gray. His stomach lurched, but he managed to keep himself from emptying his stomach onto the dirt road below his feet. Looking ahead, the road continued around the side of a mountain on which he stood.

Looking back, the rift closed behind him.

Rift Entrance: [The Imps’ Palace]

* Rating: Level 1

* Conditions: [unstable]

* Rift will collapse in 1 second…

He glanced at Mirai’s health and began to panic. “Just… hang on, Mirai. We’ll figure this out, I promise.”

Mirai didn’t so much as twitch in response. Looking ahead, he could see that the road led further into the dense mist. Roads meant civilization and, if his video game wisdom were worth anything, civilization meant healing potions—maybe even full-blown healers!

The only question was which direction. The road seemed infrequently traveled and the tracks that did exist didn’t clearly indicate one way or the other.

Pausing to listen for signs of civilization, the world was quiet. The wind was light, allowing other sounds to reach him. He could hear bird calls echoing up from forests at the base of the mountains, bending and creaking trees growing precariously all along the side of the mountain, and many other natural sounds. Finally, he heard something—a loud clanging echoing down the road, like metal being hammered. He hurried up the road towards the sound.

He ran as quickly as he could without dropping Mirai, sweat dripping from his face as he rounded a corner and came upon a large wall and door. The wall was made from the trunks of large trees with the tops shaved into points. The road led up to a thick door that sat open. Two sconces adorned the entryway, throwing light over two lounging guards.

The guards saw Edgar approaching and jumped to their feet. They weren’t in uniform, but were decked out with serious weapons. One had a great sword strapped to his back and the other had a longbow strapped to hers.

They didn’t draw their weapons, but the woman said something to the man next to her and he nodded, running off into the town.

“How bad is it?” she called as Edgar approached.

“Not good. Critical health and she’s bleeding. Maybe a couple minutes left—can we come in?”

“Ok, Caleb went to tell the healer we’re coming. This way!”

The woman jogged into town. As she left her post, she whistled and an alternate appeared to take her place. She gestured to the gate and they nodded, walking over to take over the watch.

The town was tightly nestled along the mountainside. At some points, the space was so tight that the buildings had been built directly into the cliff face. The sound of metal on metal echoed out from a blacksmith’s shop, but otherwise the town was empty. The guard turned down a staircase onto a lower level of the town. Here they found the other guard, Caleb, standing with a woman dressed like a druid, wearing a flowing green cloak with flowers stitched into the hood. A panel appeared over Caleb’s head.

Caleb Crawford

* Race: [Human]

* Level: 6

The healer waved him into a building with a large flower painted over the door.

“Come in!” she said, stepping inside.

Caleb stepped aside and Edgar hustled in.

“Thank you, I-”

The healer waved a hand, “don’t thank us yet. Lay her there, on the bed.”

Edgar did as instructed, kneeling awkwardly, and the healer helped him lay Mirai on the bed. She was surprisingly strong.

“What’s your name?”

“Edgar.”

She hesitated for the briefest moment, staring Edgar’s character info. He could tell instantly what she was looking at—his race.

“I-It’s nice to meet you, Edgar. My name is Heather.”

Heather Van Thorne

* Race: [Human]

* Level: 32

Edgar blinked, noticing her high level. He wondered if that meant she was thirty-two times stronger than he was right now. He had trouble even imagining it. For all he knew, the power curve could even be more drastic than that too.“Will you tell me your friend’s name?”

“Her name is Mirai! We were fighting in the Rift against a bunch of imps. Everything was going fine, until this bigger imp appeared. He dropped down from the ceiling and- ”

Edgar’s jaw hung loose as Heather waved her hands and a giant flower appeared, seemingly sprouting out of the wooden floor boards. It tilted over until it drooped over Mirai and trails of translucent pink petals fell like a curtain around her.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Whoa… That’s some beautiful magic,” He mumbled.

“Are you alright, Edgar?”

In the corner of his screen, he saw the [Bleeding] condition detach from Mirai’s status bar and disappear. All at once, he felt a great weight lift off of his shoulders and he slumped to his knees. Tiredness washed over him in a wave as his adrenaline petered out.

“Oh my god, I’m so glad… I really thought we weren’t gonna make it…”

“Here, honey,” Heather waved her hand and a trail of green leaves appeared, swirling around him as his nose filled with the smell of a meadow in springtime.

His status showed his stamina recover to full in an instant. The surge of energy was almost overwhelming.

“Whoa!” His eyes widened, “Wow, that beats the hell out of caffeine!”

Heather smiled, “I’m glad you’re feeling better. Both of you will be fine. I’m going to take a more patient approach with her, just to be safe, but she’ll be good as new in a few hours.”

She glanced towards the door, where the two guards were hovering. “You got the girl here just in time. Good job, you two.”

Caleb smiled, hanging on the side of the doorway.

The woman sighed, “I’m glad. Welcome to Clifton, Edgar. Glad we could help. We’ll get back to our posts if everything’s settled?”

“It is. Thank you, Ellen.”

Ellen Crawford

* Race: [Human]

* Level: 6

They both nodded and departed.

“There’s an inn with a tavern a few doors down. Go and rest up there while I finish up on your friend.”

“Sure, what do we owe you for your services?”

Heather hesitated, looking him up and down, “how about I just sell you some potions and we call it even?”

Edgar sighed, realizing he was still half naked.

“It’s twenty-five copper for the lesser healing potion, but if you buy four, I’ll throw in an extra for free.”

Edgar glanced at his inventory, finding one-hundred and fifty-six copper and ten iron coins there. He blinked, realizing a number of other things were in there as well. There would be time for that later.

“I’ll take the potions.”

The woman nodded and gestured to a shelf on the far wall, turning back to attend Mirai.

“Wonderful. The potions are just over there and you can leave the money on the counter. I’ll send your friend to the inn when she’s all fixed up.”

Edgar nodded, fiddling with his inventory until a large pouch of one-hundred copper coins materialized in his hands. Leaving this on a nearby counter, he grabbed five of the [Lesser Healing Potion].

Item: [Weak Healing Potion]

* Restores a very small amount of health.

* Recommended Level: 1 to 3

Closing his inventory, he stole one last glance at Mirai laying underneath Heather’s giant flower. The tension had left her face and he could see breath rising and falling steadily. She looked peaceful and her condition was already much better than when they had arrived.

He sighed, stepping outside. The town was an interesting sight, built right into the side of the mountain in two small tiers. The fog of earlier had given way to an open sky full of stars with a giant moon, tinged with purple glow. Looking into the distance, he could see that this mountain was one in a range of mountains stretching away into the distance, with more beyond.

Behind him, Heather’s place looked like a small, two-story house. The others near it all looked like regular houses too and there weren’t many. As he looked around this lower tier of the city, he spotted a building larger than the others, three stories tall, with windows flickering with warm light. Assuming that was the inn, he headed over.

It seemed like most of the town was gathered here, drinking and chatting as the evening settled in. His first surprise was how young everyone looked. He scanned for player names and levels, but nothing appeared above their heads.

He also caught a few people noticing his tail, but they didn’t seem to think much of it. They nodded at him as he passed with friendly smiles, cheeks warmed by their drink. In fact, as he walked across the room, he realized there were a number of races other than human represented in the tavern. There was a man with scales who looked like a sort of lizard man; a man covered with fur and a face like a lion; and even a youthful woman with pointed ears and silky blond hair that he instantly recognized as an elf.

Hmmmm… All these races and Heather still looked at me like that… Is a Riftling really all that different from a lizardman or a leonid?

He did notice two oddities, though. For one, there wasn’t a single child. As a sixteen year old, he got the impression he was the youngest person there. The second was that everyone was oddly beautiful. As he took his seat, the tavern keeper stalked over.

The tavern keeper had his head cocked curiously, “what’s your name, kid?”

Edgar hesitated and the man narrowed his eyes, “well, can I get you something?”

“Food?”

“We’ve got some of that. Drink too?”

“Sure.”

“Food and drink for the boy,” the man gave a nod to one of the bar maids, who disappeared into the kitchen.

Then he grabbed an empty glass and began idly cleaning it, leaning back against he wall.

“You’re a level one aren’t you?”

Edgar glanced at him, “so you can’t see my level?”

The man blinked, surprised at the question. “Of course not. Not until I know your name—and you don’t have to tell, alright? A healthy amount of skepticism can be a good thing. Especially for a low level like you, kid.”

Edgar nodded along, as if this were totally normal. He could tell the man was explaining something painfully obvious from his perspective—common knowledge. In Edgar’s experience meeting Mirai, the guards, and then Heather, he had kind of guessed this was how things worked.

“Thanks, I am though… level one.”

The man sighed, “I thought so. You must be nervous as hell being out here.”

Edgar glanced at the groups to his left and right, but no one seemed to be minding him except for the tavern keeper. The atmosphere in the room was warm and full of laughing, flushed faces. Edgar couldn’t bring himself to feel this way. He’d narrowly dodged death twice in one day and his memory of Poppy’s fearful face kept popping into his mind.

“It’s been a day.”

The man nodded, his chest rumbling with a thoughtful hum. “I’m sorry… Is everyone alright?”

“Yeah, we’re alright. I was scared for my friend, but Ms. Thorne said she’d be fine.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” he paused. ”You know we’re two hops from the edge of the Network here, right?”

“Two hops from the……… what?”

The man looked at him quizzically for a minute, until another customer waved a hand.

“Enjoy your food, but in the morning you should head home. Black Mountain is too dangerous for a One. Find a safer place to grind your first few levels.”

Edgar watched the man walk off down the bar to chat with one of the patrons.

“If only it were as simple as going home…”

~~~~~~~~~~

* Check out the Stats Page for this Chapter here