Morning arrived in quiet stillness. Outside, winter maintained its relentless grip, wrapping the world in cold and silence.

Beyond the walls, the world remained hushed, as if holding its breath. The sky, still cloaked in lingering darkness, hinted at the coming dawn, but the sun had yet to break through the icy haze.

David woke early, his body stiff from exhaustion, yet his mind sharp with anticipation. Today was the day. The Rift awaited.

The silence was abruptly shattered.

The door to his cell swung open with a metallic clang, the hinges groaning in protest. A guard stepped in, his boots clicking against the floor with practiced precision.

“Your transport to the Rift is scheduled at 0530 hours,” the guard announced, his voice devoid of warmth. “You have a couple of minutes before we depart.”

David gave a slight nod but said nothing. There was no time for breakfast. Not that it mattered. The lingering fatigue from Rift Collection duty clung to him, weighing down his limbs, yet it did not make him sluggish.

He had chosen this path. Willingly. And he would walk it without hesitation.

The power restraints were fastened around his wrists—a familiar, cold pressure against his skin. They hummed softly with embedded mechanisms, ensuring that his abilities remained suppressed until deemed necessary.

Without another word, he was led out, his boots echoing with each step as he climbed into the waiting armed truck.

The ride was as silent as ever, the vehicle’s reinforced walls sealing them away from the outside world. Only the occasional murmur of communication from the front seats broke the quiet.

David sat motionless, his thoughts a steady current beneath the surface.

Soon, they arrived.

The Rift site loomed before him, its shifting energy surging and pulsing, a living anomaly in the fabric of reality.

No matter how many times he saw it, it unsettled him.

A tear in the world, raw and unstable—barely controlled, barely understood.

Only a handful of people were present—some monitoring the Rift’s stability, a few guards, and the awaiting RiftWalkers, those who would venture beyond its threshold.

David was led closer, standing at the edge of the site as the others began arriving, one by one.

He wasn’t looking for them, though.

David’s gaze swept across the gathered individuals, searching for something—or rather, someone. The prisoners.

Those who, like him, were trying to reduce their sentence—people who might, just might, have his back.

But none came.

His chest tightened, disappointment settling deep within. He was alone. Again.

Then, movement caught his eye.

A young man, younger than David himself, arrived last. He conversed with one of the RiftWalkers, his words lost to distance.

Yet, his expression was unmistakable—a gentle smile, a relaxed stance, and the way his lips moved in quiet conversation.

It reminded him of the first time he had met Zack. How he had foolishly expected kindness, only to be met with cold reality.

But he didn’t want to assume the worst—not again.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Judging too quickly was a trap, one he refused to fall into.

Time passed, and eventually, the young man turned toward him, stepping closer. His movements were relaxed, casual, yet there was an air of quiet confidence about him.

"You must be David," the young man said, his tone lighthearted yet firm. "I'll be your captain for this venture."

David's brow knit in mild confusion. Captain? This guy? His words felt almost absurd, yet they carried an air of truth. Could he really be in charge of the entire group?

The young man’s optimism cut through his thoughts.

“I see you were looking for fellow inmates," he continued, his gaze unwavering. "But according to my paperwork, there’s only one prisoner listed here—you.”

David’s stomach sank further.

No backup. No allies.

The young man didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he flashed a grin, his tone almost playful.

“But don’t worry. My group’s got your back—just don’t do anything crazy. We all have our limits, right? So, just stay in the back and let us do our thing.”

A call came from behind them.

“The Rift’s been measured—D-Rank! We’re clear to enter!”

The captain turned, his demeanor unchanged. "Alright then," he said, then turned back to David.

With almost playful ease, he reached out and clasped David’s wrist.

"You're up first."

David barely had time to process before he was ushered forward. The Rift pulsed, its swirling form shifting in response to his presence.

He inhaled sharply.

And stepped in.

The world shifted.

A rush of pressure enveloped him, like being pulled through a vortex. His vision blurred, colors blending into an incomprehensible spiral of light and shadow.

For a split second, there was nothing—no sound, no feeling, only weightlessness.

Then, the world reassembled.

He landed on his feet with a dull thud, his boots sinking deep into—

Ice.

A shudder ran through him as the cold seeped instantly into his legs. He steadied himself, exhaling sharply, his breath visible in the frigid air.

A forest stretched before him. But it was unlike any forest he had ever seen.

Towering trees, their trunks thick with layers of frost, reached skyward like frozen sentinels. Their branches, coated in shimmering ice, refracted the dim light, casting fractured rainbows in every direction.

The ground beneath was a pristine sheet of snow, untouched and glistening beneath the pale glow of an unseen sky.

It was breathtaking.

The silence was near absolute, broken only by the faint whisper of the wind as it wove through the crystalline canopy above.

Each step David took sent a soft crunch through the stillness, the ice shifting beneath his weight.

In the distance, frozen waterfalls hung in mid-cascade, their flows suspended in time. They glowed faintly, as if the ice itself held some inner luminescence.

A world preserved in a single, endless winter.

David’s fingers brushed against the bark of a nearby tree—it was smooth, impossibly cold, yet alive. Beneath the ice, the faintest pulse of energy thrummed against his fingertips.

This Rift was the complete opposite of the last one.

He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.

Taking another steady breath, he turned his gaze back.

One by one, the team arrived, their boots sinking into the untouched snow.

The captain stood at the front, surveying the frozen expanse with an almost satisfied look, as if this unforgiving landscape was exactly what he had hoped for.

Without a word, he raised a hand and made a quick motion. From his spatial ring, a series of thick, insulated covers appeared, swiftly distributed among the team.

They were meant to shield their gleaming suits from the relentless cold, offering a layer of protection against the unforgiving winter.

The winter was absolute. The kind that seeped into your bones, that made every breath a sharp reminder of how unwelcoming this place was.

David braced himself, already anticipating what came next. But he was wrong.

The captain, now draped in the heavy cover, strode toward him, the crunch of ice beneath his feet the only sound in the eerie stillness. He stopped in front of David, holding out an extra cover.

“Here,” he said simply.

David remained still, hesitant.

The captain let out a short laugh, shaking the cover lightly. “Come on, man. Take it. It’s freezing out here—don’t leave me hanging.”

David hesitated a second longer before finally reaching out and taking it. The fabric was thicker than it looked, the inside lined with something that immediately retained warmth.

Maybe, just maybe, this Rift wouldn’t be as miserable as he thought.

The captain turned back, his sharp gaze sweeping across the frozen wilderness. His eyes darted between the towering trees, their frost-laden branches glistening like crystalline sculptures.

Without hesitation, he sprang forward, his boots barely making a sound as he launched himself toward a massive tree.

He hit the bark, bent his knees, and pushed off, propelling himself toward the next trunk. Each movement was swift, precise—one leap, then another, climbing higher with practiced ease.

The others watched as he ascended the towering tree in mere moments, reaching its peak.

David wanted to know what his powers were, but all he found was precision and speed.

Perched atop the highest branch, he scanned the horizon. A moment passed in silence before he turned and descended with the same effortless grace, dropping from branch to branch until his boots met the snow once more.

“We move through the forest,” he said simply.

No one questioned him.

They pressed forward, their suits gleaming under the refracted light. The ice-coated branches above caught the dim glow and shattered it into prismatic fragments, casting fractured rainbows across the snow.

As they walked, those shifting colors danced upon their suits, painting them in hues of violet, blue, and gold.

It was a surreal sight—one that made the world feel almost otherworldly, as if they were stepping through the heart of a frozen dream.

David, for once, didn’t feel like an outsider. The quiet murmurs of the group, the rhythmic crunch of their boots against the frost, the dazzling play of light—it made him feel part of something, if only for a moment.

It wasn’t long before the forest thinned, and then—

The trees fell away, revealing the edge of the world.

David stepped forward, his breath catching as he took in the sight before him.

A dreamy chasm stretched beyond the cliff’s edge, an endless ocean of clouds stretched into eternity, their silken forms shifting and coiling like restless phantoms.

They billowed in slow, mesmerizing waves, parting and reforming as though something unseen stirred beneath their surface, breathing life into the mist.

Beyond them, the mountains loomed like ancient titans, their jagged peaks rising like frozen sentinels against the sky. The sunlight barely reached them, casting their slopes in an eerie twilight glow.

Glacial rivers snaked between the ridges, their icy surfaces reflecting slivers of light. Waterfalls, long frozen in time, clung to the cliffsides like silver scars.

The scale of it was overwhelming.

David felt impossibly small in the face of such vastness. He took another step forward, his mind lost in the sheer beauty of it all.

Then—

“David! Stop!”

The captain’s voice cut through the trance, laced with sharp urgency.

David barely had time to react before his boot pressed into something softer than expected.

“That snow isn’t ground—”

A sharp whoosh beneath his feet.

The breath in his lungs froze.

The world tilted.

In an instant, the snow gave way, and David was swallowed by the edge, plummeting into the unknown.

The last thing he saw was the captain reaching out—before the world tipped, and he plunged into a freefall.