Archie blinked open his eyes to find himself sprawled on the ground.

Exhausted, Archie pushed himself upright. The fiery sensation he had felt earlier was now a mere memory. He held a box in his trembling hands, a box that cradled a blue egg stone.

He was bathed in sunlight, yet the sky was devoid of a sun or clouds. His gaze fell only on the rocky terrain beneath his feet.

Archie took in his surroundings. His view stretched to the horizon, yet all it revealed was an expanse of rocky terrain.

‘I only see land. Does that mean I have a Terra Ethereal?’ Archie mused. He knelt and ran his fingers over the ground, wondering if it would react.

The rocky terrain felt real, as solid as any rock. He gathered a handful of rocky sand, which also felt authentic. He even brought it close to his nose, detecting a unique scent that reminded him of a chemical, though he couldn’t identify it.

Archie remained calm. He had anticipated being teleported somewhere, so his current situation didn't alarm him, but it did leave him puzzled.

From the books he had read, he knew that a Terra Ethereal (for land) would typically encounter a mountain or a pile of small rocks. Yet, all he saw was the ground beneath him, and he hadn't heard any sound before his surroundings materialized.

Archie felt an eerie solitude in the vast area, with no air and no sound except for the echo of his own footsteps as he explored.

After a fruitless search, Archie admitted defeat and decided to leave this place.

“SHINE!” Suddenly, a rift materialized in mid-air, its shape reminiscent of floating shards.

Archie was taken aback. He wondered, ‘Why is there a rift here? Could it be that I never actually entered my nature encounter?’

Archie approached the rift, speculating that it might lead him to his nature encounter.

As Archie stood before the rift, he studied it.

It was a jagged, star-shaped fracture in space, radiating a bright light from its center. It had multiple shards or fragments extending outward from the central point. The edges of these shards were uneven and sharp, suggesting that this rift was either recent or still occurring.

“BEAT!” The rift throbbed as Archie stood before it.

Intrigue washed over Archie; he had never encountered a rift before. He extended his right hand and made contact with the rift using his index finger.

“AHHH…” Archie let out a scream as his fingers began to disintegrate into glass-like sand. He stumbled backward and fell to the ground.

“What is this!” Archie cried out. His hands were slowly crumbling, but he felt no pain. The sight of his body turning into glass sent shivers down his spine.

Archie tried to stand and escape.

“SWOOSH!” His legs shattered like glass as soon as he attempted to stand. Archie fell to the ground once more.

“THUD!” Archie turned towards the sound to see the box containing the egg stone had fallen to the ground.

"No! Without it, I can’t return," Archie cried out. He tried to retrieve the box with his left hand, but as soon as he touched it, his left hand shattered.

Archie lay on his back, immobilized, feeling a sense of despair. He looked up at the sky and saw his shattered body, turning into shards, beginning to swirl in the sky and enter the rift one by one. Archie looked down to see that his lower body had turned into glass and was being drawn into the rift.

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In a desperate attempt, Archie rolled over and began to crawl using his chin, trying to consume the blue egg stone with his mouth.

The moment he secured the box in his mouth, his entire face fragmented and was drawn into the rift.

The Rift pulsed gently, like a calm breeze, slowly warping itself and disappearing after swallowing Archie.

---

“Where am I?” Archie was disoriented. He was standing and his body was whole.

Archie ran his hands over his body to confirm his existence. Physically, he was unharmed, but his situation was far from normal.

Archie scanned his surroundings to find that he was encircled by rifts.

The sunlight filtered through the rifts, casting a glow on Archie as if the rifts were bestowing their blessings upon him.

Archie looked up and saw countless crystalline rifts glittering from the ground to the skies, extending beyond his line of sight.

Archie looked down to see that even the ground he was standing on was composed of rifts, fused together to form a solid surface.

The ground sparkled beneath his feet, leading him to question,

‘Is this real? Or am I hallucinating?’

To prove to Archie that everything was real,

Archie’s head began to throb and his stomach churned. His hands felt prickly, as if tiny nails were slowly piercing him. Gradually, the pain in his body intensified.

“AHHHHHHH…”

Archie let out a scream, feeling as if his body was shattering, but it remained intact. This time, he only experienced the pain, but his body was unaffected.

“Must be my body reacting to not consuming the blue egg stone…” Archie groaned in pain. He dropped to his knees, clutching his stomach.

His stomach felt as if it was being scorched by acid. He could feel his body temperature rising, and sweat began to bead on his forehead. His eyes started to burn and water.“Am I going to explode?”

“No, you are not.” A melancholic voice reassured Archie.

Archie was drenched in sweat, unable to even look at the source of the voice. He couldn't discern whether the voice belonged to a woman or a man.

In his intense pain, the voice was the only thing that kept him from losing consciousness.

The voice continued to address Archie,“Archie Troy. We chose you as our successor, our Rift Runner. Don’t disappoint us.”

“SWOOSH!” Archie vanished from the spot in an instant.

The Rifts gradually shimmered, as if they were engaged in a silent conversation. The sunlight dimmed, and the rifts began to fade one by one.---

“THUD!” Archie landed on the ground. He looked up to see he had returned to the tenth floor and Justina was standing before him.

Archie coughed, struggled to stand up, and looked around to see he was alone. He thought,‘Am I the first one to return?’

"Everyone has already left. What kept you for seven hours? It's nearly evening," Justina asked, her tone laced with surprise.

“Seven hours!” Archie gasped in shock and asked, “Seven hours! How did that happen? I've never heard of someone being inside the trial for seven hours.”

“You tell me. What did you encounter inside the rift?” Justina stood before Archie, scrutinizing him for any changes.

Archie responded, avoiding her gaze,“I saw land, nothing more.”

Archie concealed the truth. Once he learned about spending seven hours inside the rift, he realized that his experience was quite unique. He didn't trust her enough to reveal everything he had seen.

Archie had heard numerous rumors about commoner students being killed or disappearing when they acquired a Graded Ethereal greater than A. So, he was cautious around Justina.

But Justina quickly realized that Archie was not ordinary. Even Bruno's attention confirmed her suspicions that Archie was someone to watch, so she waited for him for seven hours.

She had even informed Max and the others that the ROT test was concluded, and reported to her superiors that every student had received their Ethereal. They had all left the place. The students had boarded the bus and departed the area.

At present, only Justina and Archie were alone in the vast area. If Justina planned to coerce Archie into revealing the truth, she could easily do so, as there was no one around to question her actions. However, she respected Archie’s decision and didn't pry. Justina pointed below Archie’s right eye and instructed,“Touch it to open the E-Screen.”

A sudden realization hit Archie: he hadn't consumed the blue egg stone. He was at a loss for what to do next.

The only way for someone to access an E-Screen is by consuming a blue egg stone. The sole purpose of the blue egg stone is to display the system screen and maintain and control the Ethereal. The blue egg stone is a significant milestone in technological advancement, as combining a monster’s heart with bio-nano technology made it possible to create an E-Screen that is only visible to the user.

Without an E-Screen, Archie couldn't determine which Graded Ethereal he had or even know what Ethereal he possessed.

Left with no choice, Archie confessed, with a slight modification to the truth,“I didn’t eat the blue egg stone. I was teleported back here before I even had a chance to eat the egg stone.”

Justina swiftly turned away from Archie’s view the moment she heard what Archie said. She covered her face, concealing her shock and bewilderment, thinking, ‘If he didn’t eat the blue egg stone, how is he still normal? Why didn't he go berserk, or die?’