Alex took an extra hour to make sure that he was able to maintain his current state.

It felt odd to know that his eyes were open, but for the first time since he had released the Celestial Lotus Sect Head, he couldn’t see anything at all. The vision in both of his eyes was completely dark. Even when he looked down at his own arms in the tightly confined space, he couldn’t see any mana leaking from his skin.

It’s almost time for some payback, Val.

It had only taken the small mana wyrm a day to figure out how to hold in his natural mana, whereas it took Alex almost two full days.

After realizing that he was being tracked through his leaking mana, Alex searched for a way to hide his presence while he learned to get it under control. The solution had been surprisingly simple, and he wanted to kick himself for not seeing it earlier.

The trees. As he’d noted earlier with his vision, they prevented any mana from traveling or soaking into the wood. He’d begun to see the blank spots in his vision as obstacles to avoid but otherwise ignore. After he had the thought, it was just about finding one of the dead trees that had a large enough hollow center for him to hide in it.

Unable to stretch his muscles more than a few inches in either direction, Alex had slept for several hours before practicing holding in his mana. At first, he’d thought about it as if he were holding his breath, but with his Core. That didn’t seem to work at all, and it took several hours of experimenting for him to figure it out. Even though Val attempted to help through their limited communication, it was ultimately more confusing to understand than Alex continuing to test independently.

What worked in the end was Alex thinking of his skin as a porous surface, which, with his modern understanding of the body, made a certain amount of sense. As he worked on the theory, he tried to direct his mana to react to his skin as if it were a shell or a boundary rather than its natural state. He saw immediate results and spent the next several hours testing it with his restricted movement.

He knew it would require a certain amount of concentration to perform while moving outside the tree; however, that was still better than his mana acting as a constant tracking beacon.

Alex had wondered why Val was able to pick up on the method faster than he could, despite the fact that he knew he had a higher Willpower stat than his companion. Alex could only guess that it had something to do with being a beast.

Perhaps their natural ability to hide and stalk prey makes this something easier to grasp? I don’t know, but either way, it’s time to start working our way out of here.

He stretched his shoulder and knew that it would be stiff. It still hurt, though the gash was largely scabbed over by this point. The largest point of worry was that the bandage he’d applied was also scabbed over and likely stuck to the cut.

I’ll just need to be careful with how I move my left arm…

Knowing that he needed to find more water and food soon, Alex shimmied his way back out of the hollowed tree and sat on a branch. The breeze was chilly but refreshing after his confined space for the last two days.

He’d taken those two days to plan and think through how he would tackle these patrols and escape through the Rift exit. The first step, regardless of the plan was going to be to use one of the consumable manuals from the altar room.

Sitting on a high branch, he looked around. There was no movement in sight. So, he reached into his spatial pouch and removed the advanced technique manual. When the prompt appeared to consume the manual, he accepted and watched the book turn into purple motes of light. They looked similar to the experience that came from killing, but instead of flowing into his chest, the lights rushed to his forehead.

Knowledge flooded his mind, and Alex marveled at the fact that he had just instantly absorbed information on how to complete the advanced skill. He was surprised at the ingenuity of how the mana moved to activate the skill and formed to create complex illusions.

Now he knew how it was formed and knew that he could create at least passible illusions using the technique. If his magical control stat wasn’t as high as it was, he didn’t believe that the consuming process would have worked.

Can it fail? Would the book have been wasted?

Alex was thankful that didn’t happen, and as if to confirm his previous thought, a window appeared in his vision.

New Skill Learned: [Mirage] (Journeyman - Level 3)

Do you accept? Yes/ No?

Journeyman? Well, that’s new. Also, why is it already level three? Is it because I learned it from a manual?

As he considered this, Alex surveyed the surroundings and wondered about the manuals he’d seen on the Auction House section of the app.

Are any of those consumable? Do people understand the value of this yet? What about scanning these things? I doubt it would carry over the magical properties, but someone could at least study the written theories, right?

At the last thought, Alex felt a bit of loss at the fact that he hadn’t saved the manual to do just that. He wasn’t sure he needed this skill to get out of the Rift, but he wanted to have it in his available skills in case it was needed.

He shrugged the thoughts away and accepted the prompt. Deciding that such thoughts were unimportant for his current situation, Alex climbed down the tree and thought about how he would proceed.

While exiting the Rift was his primary objective, a part of him eagerly wanted to get a bit of revenge on the group that had tormented him for the last few days. He was hungry and tired and had been forced to kill to survive.

Nope, I don’t need to think about that now. These people work with or worship monsters. They’re hunting me. I’m weak and I will use them to get stronger.

He felt a sense of bloodthirst that he’d never experienced before build up in his chest. His breath quickened, and he set off in the general direction of the Rift exit, certain that he would soon get a signal from Val that there were enemies in the area.

As they ran, Alex attempted to split his mental focus. Keeping in the mana was becoming easier, though it still required a certain amount of thought. He pushed his own limits by extending a small tendril of mana and trying to thin it out. Any time the process of forming the mana tendril would interrupt his mana restraint, he would let the tendril dissipate and get his leaking mana under control as quickly as possible.

With Val on overwatch, Alex focused on keeping his feet moving toward the Rift and improving his skills.

It wasn’t long until the alert came, and Val flew back down to Alex. They made a plan, and Alex began to draw a ritual circle on the ground where they stood.

They don’t know that we’re here yet, but once the trap is set and hidden, we’ll lure them over this way.

The plan that Alex had thought of while stuck in the tree was to use hit-and-run tactics. They would set up a trap and prepare to receive the group; if they were too large, they could run immediately. If the size was between one and three, then they would ambush and fight.

Alex had absolutely zero shame in the tactics he was planning to use. He was significantly under-leveled and had been hunted by these people for days.

The next four days consisted of the pair perfecting this style of hit-and-run tactics. Concealing their leaking mana, setting up traps, and using the terrain to their advantage. Once everything was ready, Alex would release his mana and hide. If the group was too large, they would flee without revealing any of their cards. If the group was small enough, Alex would use the Mirage skill to create a stationary illusion of himself sitting by a fire or sleeping against a tree.

Each and every time, the groups fell for the bait and attacked him, believing him to be weak and vulnerable. As they attacked, Alex would use a trick he’d seen the Mana Spinners use. He’d extend a mana tendril to the ritual set up under his illusion and activate it from a distance. It would catch the groups in sleep, snare, or shocking traps. While he had also been studying the small demolition ritual that the spiders had used, he was hesitant to use it in this scenario for fear of alerting more nearby groups to come investigate the small explosions.

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Alex made slow and steady progress toward the exit but was more than happy to reap the benefits of the Shadow Serpent Sect. His level rose rapidly, soaring to 20 in just those following four days. While some of the fights were quick and hectic, most of them posed little danger to Alex as long as he was able to set up the trap rituals properly ahead of time.

There were a few close calls as the groups moved too quickly or happened to stumble on them before the stage was set. This led to several hours of dodging and running at top speed. He would intentionally leak mana for a time before concealing it again and changing directions abruptly to lose his pursuers. He continued to work on controlling his mana, and as his Willpower rose higher with each level, so did his control over mana, making the task more manageable.

He took many interesting items from the groups that they slew. Some had carried smaller spatial bags. Many had swords similar to his own rapier, which he took as backups. He took a nice dagger as a backup weapon, and there were many potions and antidotes that the initiates kept on their person.

The first time he’d analyzed a healing potion, Alex had been elated. He drank the contents immediately, and his shoulder healed rapidly. Within minutes, the wound that had been plaguing him for days became nothing more than an itchy scar.

Fuck, magic is awesome.

The next fight had gone smoothly, and they’d killed four Serpent’s Acolytes with little struggle. The last one, who was in charge of the group, had broken free of his restraints in a rage when he watched Alex silently stab his comrades. The rest of the fight would have been very dangerous for Alex, as he was still 14 levels beneath the small group leader, except Alex had begun to set up a backup trap for this kind of scenario.

It appeared that the mana or skills the initiates used could be enhanced or overcharged in a way when their emotions reached a certain state. This wasn’t the first person to break the hold of the rope ritual, so Alex had begun to prepare. His confidence rose as the acolyte stepped into the Sleep Ritual.

As soon as the man stepped into the circle center, which was covered by the dead vegetation Alex had dragged in front of the chalk lines, Alex activated the ritual. He knew that the Sleep Ritual wasn’t as instantaneous as the Binding Ritual that he’d been using and that it was possible to shake it off if the target was in a rage. To ensure that it would work, Alex needed to change the target mood from rage to confusion or fear.

He’d learned early on that fear wasn’t easy to produce, as all of these sect acolytes believed themselves wholly superior to Alex. The arrogance was blinding. It wasn’t until it was too late that they ever realized their mistake. So, he’d found that confusion was easier to work with.

Alex used [Mirage] to make it look like he vanished. This would only work if Alex held perfectly still and concealed his leaking mana. That could be dangerous, as all the enemy had to do was continue running forward and stab his rapier where Alex had last been seen. Which is why he and his companion had added the final layer of deception and confusion. Alex scanned the man to confirm his name before projecting his thoughts.

You’re up, buddy. His name is Ru Xuan, got it?

Ru Xuan.

Alex smirked as a woman's scream came from the opposite side of the sect’s team leader. Following the scream, a voice in the distance called the man’s name.

“Ru Xuan!” came the disembodied and creepy-sounding voice.

The man spun in confusion several times. Unsure of where Alex had vanished to and what was calling him by name. As he spun, his rage sputtered out, replaced by confusion. It was this change in mental state that allowed the ritual to take effect. Within moments, Ru Xuan, level 41 Serpent’s Acolyte, fell asleep on the hard forest floor.

“Hungry food mana!”

Val came flying from the woods as the man slumped to the floor.

Alex snickered before answering his companion. “Good job, Val. Yes, you can check if he has any Mana Stones. Only take one!”

Alex had not been the only one improving in the last week. Val leveled alongside him, and his intelligence continued to climb. The mana wyrm monitored Alex’s thoughts and internal dialogue and began to mimic some words on his own.

Val had quickly learned to ask a question followed by an emotion, and Alex would do his best to decipher the request. He’d then tell the wyrm what the word was and they had begun to communicate this way.

The first time Val had yelled ‘Fuck’ into his mind, it had caused Alex pause.

Do I need to start watching what I think? I basically just taught a toddler how to curse in his first handful of words.

“Fuck!”

Valtherion yelled again in response. The loud curse word came immediately and without hesitation, like a toddler discovering its new favorite word. It was accompanied by a feeling of joy and satisfaction.

Alex had groaned and continued on at the time.

He now approached Ru Xuan and gave Val a pat on the head. “Nice job. The scream was a nice touch.” For a moment, Alex wondered if it was sad that Val had learned to mimic some of the screams of the sect members they killed, especially this early in his life.

Nothing to do about it. This is the situation we’re in and it’s the best way to get out of here.

Alex began removing Ru’s clothing. His own clothes had become torn and shabby long ago and he was long since able to smell his own stench. His confidence had grown, and he decided that it was time for a wardrobe change and a larger attack before they broke off and finished the run toward the Rift exit. The dark black and purple sect robes would allow Alex to blend in with a slightly larger group and begin an attack that they’d never expect.

Val was sniffing at a pouch that was attached to the man’s sash, and Alex noticed that it was another spatial pouch. While not all of the members had them, it was at least the fifth he’d found. He’d tested and been disappointed to note that he could not put one spatial pouch inside of another, even if one of them was empty. This led him to have one spatial pouch that he used while emptying any others that he found and keeping them folded into a normal midsized pouch that he’d found from one of the other initiates.

While it might be greedy, Alex couldn’t stand the thought of leaving something so novel as a spatial pouch behind. Even if they were small, on Earth, they would fetch a handsome price; he was sure of it. He emptied the most recent pouch, raising an eyebrow as several purple and several blue Mana Stones fell onto the ground.

This guy was loaded-

“Hey! No, just one! Ah!” Alex jumped toward Val as the little beast scooped up one blue and one purple stone. The little glutton was swallowing them before Alex could even close the distance with an [Empowered Step] to catch the bond.

Grumbling, he scooped up the items that had been emptied from the pouch. His main spatial pouch was tied to his right hip, and he put most of the contents in it. The mid-sized pouch was slightly smaller than the size of a shoe box, and he kept it strapped length-wise across the backside of his belt.

He reached behind himself and opened the regular pouch, storing the most recent spatial bag with the other four. Alex gathered the man’s clothes in his arms and set them on the ground by the others that he’d killed first. He walked back and killed the now-naked sect team leader. Blue lights flew toward his body, and golden lights danced down around Alex before he dragged the man’s body to one of the many sinkholes that filled the dry, swampy forest environment.

The entire ordeal had Alex questioning his humanity. He knew that if he stopped to give what he was doing any more thought, he’d likely throw up and have a melt down. It was one thing to strike at someone who’d ambushed him, but here he was doing the reverse. He brought his pursuers into traps, killed them, and then looted them like they were monsters.

He looked down at the dark-colored robes he had stripped off of the man and felt his throat tighten and his jaw clench. For the sake of continuing on, he mustered his Willpower and shoved the thoughts aside.

A Cinder Frog watched him curiously as he slid the man into the pool. Alex heaved and looked back at the frog while waiting to ensure the body began sinking. Once it did, Alex returned to the others and cleaned his sword before returning it to the spatial bag at his hip.

Alright. Now, we just need to go clean off in that river we saw earlier, change our clothes, and move on to the last ambush.

"Home?" asked Val through their link. While Val could project sounds through [Create Lesser Illusion], the voice still sounded slightly off, and the little wyrm seemed to prefer the mental form of communication to the stilted vocalizing.

Yeah, then we’re headed home, buddy.

At the thought of home, Alex thought of Mark and Sarah. His thoughts began to spiral to his last week filled with survival and killing and the look that Sarah might give him.

Alex quickly squashed the thoughts and feelings again, telling himself that it wasn’t the time or place to think about something like that. At that moment, and until he left the Rift, he needed to remain ruthless and confident.

As he stripped off his clothes and stepped into the extremely cold river water, Alex firmed his resolve once more. He washed and dressed in the robes of the sect leader. Abandoning the clothes and tattered camping backpack that he’d been using, Alex felt like he was making a conscious step away from his humanity and the life he had on Earth. He was a killer now, and he did his best to shed the guilt of that thought along with his camping clothes.

I guess it’s time to review my ill-gotten gains and make our final preparations.

Status

Name: Alex Moore - Level 21

Class: Ritualist (Novice)

HP: 426/430

MP: 102/460

Traits: (1/3)

{Primordial Will}

Titles: < Unbound >

Pathfinder

Unbound

Control Freak

Physical Stats:

Strength: 19

Agility: 31

Constitution: 42

Vitality: 21

Magical Stats:

Intellect: 32

Willpower: 266

Mana: 21 + 25

Wisdom: 54

Bond Skills:

[Mana Siphon] (Novice - Level 9)

Primary Stat Shared - Mana

Active Skills:

[Mana Shaping] (Novice - Level 19)

[Mana Infusion] (Novice - Level 13)

[Empowered Step] (Novice - Level 17)

[Ritual Insight] (Novice - Level 12)

[Mirage] (Journeyman - Level 5)

Passive Skills:

[Efficient Rites] (Tier I)

Bound Items:

Unique E Rank Growth Item - Heavenly Eye of the Celestial Sage