Alex’s mind raced, and a plan began to form. He stepped away from the sect warriors, knowing that they would be able to hold for the moment with their increasing power, and the immediate attention turned to the ambushers. He jogged the short distance to kneel next to Sam.

Sprawled out on the ground and with his upper robes torn, there was blood around him from the gashes in his back. With a quick look, Alex turned the teenager on his side and moved the flaps of his top aside to see that the wounds on his back were already closed.

Sam was crying, and his hands were shaking. Alex couldn’t tell if he was shaking from mana exhaustion or fear and pain. But as he approached, through his heavenly eye, Alex could see him activate the [Rejuvenation] skill on himself, even though there were already leaves falling around him.

Shit, did he already use the mana Val gave him, too? He’s over healing himself because he’s scared.

“Sam, how much mana do you have left?”

The young blonde flinched and looked up at Alex with watery eyes.

Alex reached out with a thread of mana to speak into his mind. As soon as the connection was made, he tried to send Sam feelings of calming comfort and confidence.

It didn’t work.

Alex was surprised, as he’d always been able to send feelings over to the teenager. As Sam connected back to Alex though, he realized what the issue was. As soon as the two-way connection was made, Alex almost threw up.

The feelings of self-disgust, panic, and helplessness that came through the communication in a tidal wave.

Sam, listen, buddy. We’re going to get out of here, okay? The exit is right there, and we are going to make it.

Alex looked away from Sam and Val to survey his surroundings. His plan continued to form, his mind worked at its maximum speed to connect the dots of his available tools.

Alright, look at me, Sam. How much mana do you have?

Alex reached up to his chest and undid the clasp of his new jian’s shoulder sheath. He set the sword itself on the ground to free up his hands. When it was off, he reached into his pouch and removed one of his last five D Rank Mana Stones. He crushed it on the ground and began to weave mana threads in a tight wrap around either end of the empty sheath.

“I want to go home. Please. I don’t want to die.”

Alex froze as he heard the words spoken aloud, and his head rose to look at Sam.

Sam looked at him with wide eyes and tears streaming down his dirty cheeks. The teenager looked so young at that moment as his lower lip wobbled. Even though Sam had spent two years in the Rift, bringing his general mental age and time lived to 18 years, his body was still that of a 16-year-old. And in that moment, he looked at Alex like he could solve all the world’s problems.

“I’m going to get you home, Sam. You understand? We are getting out of here.” He emphasized each word in the last sentence, holding eye contact with the boy. Water stung his own eyes as he heard the chaos around them and knew that they still had an enormous hurdle to overcome. Alex desperately hoped that he looked confident to the boy and that his plan would work. He returned to wrapping physical mana threads around each end of the sheath.

He glanced over his shoulder to see the fight. The Firstborn was surveying everything from the back lines, occasionally striking out at one of the ambushers who fought their way too close. The attacking pattern was ruthless and similar to how it had attacked Sam. The Firstborn would bite down on the attacker’s body with its large fangs to hold it in place just long enough for its tail to come crashing down for a finishing blow.

Okay, Sam. Can you cast rejuvenation on us both?

Sam shook his head, and a notification appeared in Alex’s vision, but he quickly dismissed it.

“Just one.”

Fuck. Okay, do you trust me, Sam?

There was no pause as he nodded his head, complete confidence in Alex.

Good. Stay right here and conserve your mana. Don’t cast anything else for right now. Your back is completely healed, even if it still hurts some, okay?

Sam nodded again and leaned against the rock beside him, clearly avoiding pressure on his freshly healed back.

Alex took a few steps away and told one of the sect warriors that he needed the shield from his spatial pouch.

It’s a bit small. But I guess so is he.

Shields were not widely used in Tianluo, but all guards kept several sets of different weapons or tools in their pouches.

I should really start doing the same. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn't even be able to attempt this insane plan.

Alex carried the shield back to Sam and knelt on the ground. Thanking Eura for the endless mana-shaping exercises, he was able to lay down a Weight-Reducing ritual on the inside of the shield in record time. Then, he put a feather and some ash into the nodes that required them and inserted one of his D Rank Mana Stones into the peak of the ritual.

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Sam, lay on this.

Sam moved over and looked at it awkwardly. He laid down, and the shield was enough to support from his shoulders to his rear end, but his legs and head hung off the sides.

It’ll have to do.

As soon as Sam was settled, Alex crushed up another Mana Stone and began to use as many threads as he could produce to wrap the boy’s chest to the shield in a tight cocoon. He saw some confusion and fear in the boy’s eyes, but Alex just told him to trust him again and that getting Sam out was his highest priority.

Val! Come here.

Alright, buddy. This is it, you’ve got the most important job. You’re going to get us home.

“Home?”

Yep. I need you to do this.

Alex sent feelings of hunger and need, which Valtherion seemed to naturally understand.

“Mana?” Val sent back feelings of confusion.

Alex finished connecting all the mana threads and attempted to push Sam side to side. He was satisfied that the threads would hold in their strengthened physical state. He connected the threads to the scabbard and held it up to Val.

Bite onto this and pull Sam to the exit. If you do, I’ll give you all the mana you want when we get out of here.

Alex pointed to the Rift, and he felt a sense of understanding come through their bond. Valtherion looked at Sam before looking back at Alex. There was a brief pause before the wyrm was biting down on the dark leather sheath to be used as a bit, similar to how horses used.

“Friend, home.”

Sam, now’s the time for that [Rejuvenation]. Can you cast it on me? You’re going to take some bumps and bruises, but it won’t be anything too serious.

“What are you doing?” Sam said aloud, panic taking over his normally quiet demeanor.

Trust me, Sam. I’ll be right behind you. We’ve got to do this now, though.

Sam looked at Alex for a moment, face serious, but his eyes were dry. He nodded and cast the healing over time spell on Alex.

Alex activated the Weight-Reducing Ritual.

Val flew off at speed, barely hindered by the weight of the teenager. Blue light streamed into him, and Alex had a hard time distinguishing the blue motes in his right eye from a potential magical attack that his left eye might see.

Shit, I wonder if there’s a System way to turn that off.

Turning, Alex saw that the Firstborn had already noticed the pair moving toward the exit. It ducked its head and began to weave its way after them.

Alex let his mana begin to leak and did his best to push additional mana outward. While it was hard to do, he focused on the feeling he’d had when Eura blanketed the area of Tianluo. There was a small wall of resistance, but out of necessity, Alex pushed through it and felt his mana explode out of his body. It wasn’t a feeling he’d ever experienced before, but it worked.

The Firstborn stopped in its path after Sam and turned directly to Alex.

Yeah, bring it on, you giant ugly noodle. You’ve tried a few times already.

As the snake drew closer, Alex bent to scoop up his jian and used the last of the Mana Stone dust on the ground to wrap threads around his hand and the sword. He looked behind him to make sure that Sam was directly behind him, and the Firstborn was in a straight line on the opposite side of him. With a final breath, he took up the position for Lotus Roots and tried to still his thrumming heart.

Stay patient. This is gonna hurt like hell.

As the serpent drew closer, Alex assumed an offensive stance. He felt a sense of Deja Vu as the black-scaled snake pulled back and struck at blinding speed. Alex struck forward at the same time and felt the giant fangs to his body. One entered his shoulder and pierced out of the back of his arm, while the other pierced high on the right side of his chest. He held in a scream.

The attempted slash at the snake was a feint to ensure his sword arm wasn’t caught in the monster’s mouth. In his peripheral vision, he saw the snake’s tail begin to raise up high, which is what he’d been counting on. When the snake tensed its jaws, it turned Alex’s body, and he saw Sam and Val vanish through the portal some distance away.

Alex set his destination point as he felt hot venom flow into his body.

He hadn’t anticipated any amount of venom.

Idiot, it’s a goddamned snake from another world that even the people curse as a sort of hellscape. Of course, it’s going to have venom.

The fangs pulled out of his body with a sickening sound, and he knew that the time had come. It was his only chance at escape, and despite the pain, Alex found the strength to raise his sword arm and step off the ground.

He activated [Feather Step] just as he brought the sword up and braced it against the shoulder where he anticipated impact. A fraction of a second later, an impossibly strong blow struck him. In his relatively weightless state, Alex assumed the same speed as the blow he absorbed and was sent flying through the air.

There was an odd moment of peaceful clarity as he soared through the air. He realized that his plan had worked, and the insanity of it all made him want to break out into maniacal laughter. If it had just been a few weeks ago, he would have thought that only in a movie or anime could someone be literally knocked through the air close to the length of a football field.

He slammed into the ground and rolled more than once. When he saw how close he was to the Rift, he chuckled and coughed up blood. His wounds from the fangs were already closing thanks to Sam’s [Rejuvenation], but the venom was fighting against the friendly mana in his body.

Struggling to his feet, Alex looked down the hill at the two worlds that lay before him. Off to the right, and on the other side of the ravine, was the dark side of the Rift, where he’d spent nearly a month running for his life and way out of his depth.

To his left was the light side of the Rift, where he’d learned a lot and made some true allies. From this distance, he couldn’t see Tianluo, as it was nestled in the forest of cherry trees, but his breath caught in his throat as he watched two figures rise up over the crest of the horizon, larger than life.

A six-armed, golden humanoid roared into the sky as all six arms were brought down onto a form that grew more slowly.

Rakshasi.

The Night’s serpent grew larger than Eura’s form and began to wrap its tail around the golden man. Several stars of golden light formed in the air around the two, several times larger than the ones he’d seen in Tianluo. Eura fought against the Godzilla-sized snake, doing his best to fight with his multiple limbs and magic.

Several notifications had appeared in Alex's vision during the fight, but he’d dismissed them without giving them attention. As the most recent one appeared, he took a moment to look at the updated Rift Quest.

He shuddered and limped through the Rift exit.

Nope. Just— hell, no.

Adjusting Rift Quest…

Old Rift Quest: Security

The Rift’s balance of power grows uneven. Choose a side and help to establish security and safety for the surviving inhabitants.

New Rift Quest: The Clash of Titans

The strength of each Sect will continue to grow as the Prophecy that has been laid dormant where worlds collide has come to pass in a way that no one expected. Both of the Rift’s Titans have been released from their prison. Choose a side and help to establish security and safety for the surviving inhabitants.