To Kade’s disappointment, there was no ambush. He stood near the cliff wall on full alert for no reason.

There weren’t even any chunks of ice that he had to watch out for. His impatience flared up. He figured waiting eight minutes was more than enough.

He could use [Inferno Burst] once. If he had to use it twice… well, he wouldn’t need to. Probably.

Kade walked among the buildings with a curious look. He found the answer for them still being visible despite the constant snowfall.

Something was off about the roofs. They were too… pristine—not in the classical sense, but in that they didn’t look weathered as they should be.

He frowned as he bent down to confirm he wasn’t seeing things. He wasn’t.

The snow that landed on them disappeared.

Falling snow no longer existed below the roofs. The effect must be sporadic since the buildings still had snow burying them, which couldn’t have been possible otherwise.

Kade wanted to use [Inferno Burst] and find out what was hiding underneath.

My [MP] will recover fully in a few minutes.

He continued to wander around and noticed that there didn’t seem to be a stop with the buildings. The further he walked, the more of them he discovered in the distance.

Not that his vision was great in this place. The snowfall might be light, but it was enough to obscure everything at the edges of his eyesight. There was a reason he couldn’t see the buried buildings from the top of the cliff.

Kade’s frown grew more severe as the minutes passed. He realized two things that made him uneasy.

This was no small settlement. It was a city. A proper, sprawling city that had been buried in snow. And second, he hadn’t felt the need to activate [Inferno Burst] to warm himself since he fell down the cliff.

It was still cold, undoubtedly so, but it was the tolerable sort. It no longer seeped into his bones and made it feel like he would freeze to death.

Kade was concerned about that. He was worried that he might be dealing with some sort of magic that would erupt against him.

There must be a reason for such a change in the norm in the Rift Zone.

I hope this just means monsters are on the way. I don’t want to deal with magic nonsense.

He shelved his plan of using [Inferno Burst] to ‘excavate’ this place. For now.

Kade froze when he felt the ground rumble.

A thunderous sound boomed—a deep, resonating bass that Kade felt more than he heard. The vibration rippled in the air, shook the packed snow under his feet, and rattled his bones. It sounded like a beast had woken from a long slumber.

Kade immediately saw that the snow had started to land on the roofs. They no longer disappeared. A fraction of a second later, he felt the snow give way under his feet.

He didn’t panic. Falling through the snow was nothing compared to falling down the cliff. The rate of his descent was far slower now. It also helped that he noticed the snow was melting rapidly around him.

Whatever was happening, he wouldn’t die immediately, and that was enough.

Kade grunted as his injured leg slightly worsened when he landed on hard ground. The snow melted not long after, revealing a city that should’ve been stunning but was instead ominous in its current state.

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Like everything in this Rift Zone, the buildings’ roofs were made of white stone that was just off in color, standing out slightly among the snow. However, the walls of the buildings had black, pulsing veins that throbbed every few seconds.

Kade had been aware that the buildings were enormous. The size of the roofs made it impossible to be anything else. However, seeing the entire structure still shocked him.

He peeked into a surprisingly pristine window of one of the smaller buildings. The interior looked like it belonged in an eccentrically decorated house. Some misplaced objects on the floor suggested that someone had lived in the house, even though it was now empty.

“System, are monsters capable of creating this city?” Kade asked as he continued to look around.

Yes.

He hadn’t expected an answer, but he had assumed it would be a denial even if he did. This implied that these Rift Zones could contain sentient beings with their own society.

It was a far cry from only having to massacre hapless goblins.

Kade couldn’t find much of interest as he explored the city. The only thing left was to enter a building to see if there would be any excitement. The issue was that the black veins that pulsed on the buildings’ walls almost seemed to be daring him to do so.

Every time he looked at a building, the veins started pulsing quickly. It was like they were excited that he might enter.

Kade had tried to be responsible and avoid obvious trouble, but circumstances backed him into a corner. It wasn’t like he could leave the city because that would revert him to needing [Inferno Burst] to warm himself and avoid freezing to death.

He would much rather go out in a blaze of glory.

Kade poked the door with his [Soulrend]. It gave way almost immediately after the contact, leaving a small hole in the door.

He backed away, eyeing the building warily. If it crumbled so easily, entering the place wouldn’t be the best idea.

Kade stared at the black veins on the walls. He hesitated before thrusting his [Soulrend] into it, prepared for a violent backlash.

It sounded like two metals hitting each other. The tip of his [Soulrend] didn’t make a scratch on the black vein. The only thing it caused was it to pulse faster.

He pulled back with a frown. The pulsing reverted to its previous pace without the contact.

Kade stared at it again. He had a stupid thought.

What if I touch it with my hand?

He did precisely that. The pulsing of the black veins increased to a level that seemed to vibrate. He could see the entire building deteriorating underneath them. It was like the more the veins pulsed, the faster they consumed the building they covered.

Kade stepped back when he noticed the building was no longer stable. It held itself up for several seconds before he heard a loud crack.

The walls split open as it all crumbled down. He didn’t care about the destroyed building. It was the black veins that interested him.

Kade had felt it under his palm. It was hard and smooth to touch, almost like a polished rock. Now, it moved like a liquid.

He tightened his grip around his [Soulrend] and watched the black liquid slowly mass together. It compacted into something much smaller but still stayed formless as a blob of liquid.

Kade felt this was enough. It bored him. He gave it enough of a chance to do something interesting.

He strode up to it, thrust his [Soulrend] right into the center of the black blob, and activated [Inferno Burst].

Insufficient [MP]. You must have a minimum of 10 [MP].

Kade paused momentarily in surprise before pulling up his [MP].

MP: 0/20 | MP Recovery: 6.3% per minute

It should be full.

He backed away quickly and whipped his [Soulrend] to the side, throwing off the black liquid on the tip.

The only thing he did was touch the black veins. It had to have depleted his [MP].

Kade reversed course. He stored the [Soulrend] and sprinted back to the cliff. He needed to buy time to recover his [MP] and be in a place with a path of retreat.

After throwing himself at the lesser troll, he thought nothing could make him turn from a possible fight. Finding out that physical attacks were useless was more than enough to convince him.

Kade felt the ground rumble again. He didn’t stop his sprint to the cliff, but he looked back. The orderly planning of the city allowed him to see what had happened.

Another building had collapsed.

He could see more black liquid that joined what he had freed.

Kade reached his destination. He didn’t slow his pace and ran toward where he had landed after falling off the cliff. His [Soulrend] appeared on his hand as he jumped at the cliff wall.

He slammed the [Soulrend] with full strength into the ice and felt it sink deep enough to support his weight. To maintain his position, he dug his left hand into the large crack that formed, pulled his [Soulrend] out, and plunged it back at a higher spot on the cliff wall.

Kade knew this would be slower than he wished, but hearing the constant rumbles of buildings collapsing behind him gave him plenty of motivation to climb as fast as possible.

He wanted to be nowhere close to whatever would form once the entire city crumbled.