What are rifts?

Such a simple question and yet so fiercely debated by scholars and ascenders across the Universe.

During my early days at the Silvercloud Academy, I barely asked it myself so consumed I was with becoming the strongest.

I didn’t give it more than a passing thought when one of the most gifted ascenders—the Headteacher of the Silvercloud Academy—presented us with far sinister concept:

Is the existence of rifts natural or artificial?

I cared even less when I finally became a Level 11 and completed the academy.

The minds of immortals are strange and puzzling creations.

Eventually, I fell victim to the same maddening fever, which many of my fellow immortals had succumbed to.

I sought to understand rifts.

Otherworldly but structured, the rifts combined two contradicting features that should not co-exist. They were part of the world, natural and organic and yet, everything about them was convenient and necessary for ascenders’ growth.

Only after I found him, I started to entertain a very troubling notion - are rifts alive?

Personal Notes of,

Zerkon, 9th Pledged, Claw of Travelstorm, True Eye, Traveller of Unclaimed Planes, King without Crown, Cursed Worm

***

Windsor Freeman stopped in the middle of a large, natural cavern. Despite his heightened physical attributes, the way in here was challenging. Some parts were too narrow, others submerged.

“Who in their right mind comes here out of their own volition?” Esopp asked as he joined Windsor a moment later. “I despise this place already.”

Esopp Earl was one of the most trustworthy allies Windsor had in the government. He also was capable and smart. These were rare qualities to find together and they were the reason why Windsor brought him here.

“Take a look at this,” Windsor pointed at the shimmering point a few metres from them.

Esopp carefully approached it, then a spike in spiritual energy told Windsor that Esopp probed it with his spiritual sense.

“That’s the System Interface of a sealed… rift.”he said, surprised albeit quietly as if afraid of being overheard.

But they were alone as Windsor didn’t want this phenomenon to leak out. The explorer who had found and reported it was locked in a secured location, while only the top figures from the institute were briefly asked to gather up a research team. Nothing concrete was shared and would remain like this until Windsor knew what he was dealing with.

“I want you to open it,” Windsor said.

“Open it? How?” Esopp turned back and gave him a surprised look. “Can this be opened? Should it be opened?”

Windsor stood silent for several seconds considering the answer, though at the back of his mind he knew that he’d made this decision before Esopp asked the questions.

“It’s clearly a pocket dimension. We have records of Talents with spatial abilities that confirm the existence of the exotic phenomenon. It contains monsters as its description says and it is Level 1 indicating a possibility of Higher Level rifts,” Windsor said. “And so to answer your question, yes, we must open it. This rift is the missing block in our understanding of the System.”And the key to unlock the secrets hidden by the Old Blood, he added in his mind.

“But how to open it?”

“We have access to unlimited funds and the brightest minds our solar system offers,”Windsor replied softly, then his voice turned cold. “Figure it out, before he finds it.”

***

Ten years later

Keynes Kid watched the small auditorium fill up with students. They were all his age – sixteen – and on the verge of ascending to Level 1. They looked excited, which didn’t surprise Keynes. The Talent class was the newest invention of the World Government. Everyone was excited by the World Government, the only organisation in the world that didn’t concern itself with a project budget.

But his scepticism was yet to erode. What could they teach him that he couldn’t find on SolNet?

He was here to find out.

The last students entered the auditorium and took their seats. Luckily, the nearest seats next to Keynes were left empty. He chose the last row for that reason after all. He preferred solitude when other students were involved. It was a long, unpleasant story, which Keynes wished to forget.

Not that he could.

He possessed perfect recall, which allowed him to remember anything but with significant limitations. The recall was precise, but not instant. In the world of ascenders, compared with the insane variety of strange Talents, this wasn’t a big deal.

Only he wasn’t an ascender yet.

And this made his perfect recall a true oddity with one in a billion chance. A billion. Keynes couldn’t believe it when he’d checked SolNet. After that, he spent an entire week finding out if he’d be fine. Apparently yes.

But his peers from his school didn’t take it the same way. To them, he quickly became a freak because of his ability and no amount of explanation had sorted it out.

If not for his younger brother Harter, who was the school’s sports team superstar, Keynes would’ve had to punch his way out of bad situations. Something he wished to avoid. Even though he sometimes needed to confront bullies who just asked for it. Nonetheless, Harter wasn’t some guardian angel and the brothers often pushed each other to the edge.

A man in a dark forest green uniform entered the auditorium, hushing the conversations. When it came to military personnel, one showed them respect, no questions asked.

“Welcome, everyone,” said the newcomer. “My name is Specialist Webster Frog. I am a government Talent researcher assigned to the military base in San Antonio and I will hold weekly classes for your district.”

The introduction put smiles on some faces. Some people truly lacked self preservation. Keynes took Brief History of Talents out of his bag and relaxed in the chair. If he judged this right, fun was on its way.

“Is your name really Frog?”

And there it was. That one idiot who couldn’t help himself and threw his body under a bus.

“Yes, why?” the specialist asked without hesitation.

“No reason,” Joe Brown replied less confidently after hearing no laughs from the auditorium. In a class with a normal teacher, this would’ve been a different story. But even a bully like Joe Brown wasn’t going to make fun of someone from the army.

The corner of Keynes’s mouth edged up as he savoured Joe Brown’s discomfort.

Webster Frog looked around the auditorium with a critical eye then turned to the board. He wrote a single word on it.

TALENT

It was the most important thing in the world. Talent was unchangeable, unpredictable and inevitable. Every person received a single Talent upon ascension to Level 1 and became an ascender.

No exceptions.

Talents were controversial and always led to heated debates. What was the best Talent? Why did detrimental and non-active Talents exist? How to get a good Talent? Why wasn’t more money and attention spent on researching Talents? And so on. The questions and arguments were endless.

The emotional debate stemmed from several factors like the completely unpredictable nature of Talents, life-changing potential and fear of receiving ‘non-active’ or detrimental Talent.

In a nutshell, the Talent Unlocking Ceremony was a lottery and the odds weren’t great.

Still, enough people hit the jackpot to keep the dream alive.

Webster Frog was about to say something when the door opened and Principal Joshua walked inside in the company of a blonde girl Keynes didn’t recognize. The principal apologised for the intrusion then, in a hushed tone, explained something to the specialist.

Their conversation was short and ended with a polite nod from Webster Frog.

The principal left while the blonde looked around and because there were free seats next to Keynes she did what he feared she might do, she headed his way.

The specialist didn’t wait for her to take a seat and started his lecture.

As the blonde came to the last row, she asked Keynes if the seat next to him was free. He was going to say no but how would that play out? And she was pretty. Outrageously so.

“Hi, my name’s Vivena.”

“Keynes.”

She took out an electronic tablet and focused on the lecture.

So far so good if I don’t count Joe Brown’s jealous stares.

Bolstered by confidence from an unknown origin, Keynes waved to him, inevitably setting off unfortunate events that would follow the end of this lecture. Joe Brown hated Keynes because Harter’s ex-girlfriend had told Joe in front of the entire school that she would rather go out with Keynes than Joe. A little hurtful, for both of them, but Elisa wasn't a very considerate girl and when she wanted to hurt someone, there usually was collateral damage.

Joe’s gestures were obscene and Keynes focused on the lecture.

Yeah, it is going to be an interesting afternoon.

“Let’s begin with the most basic question—what is a Talent?”

It started a ten minute long discussion simply because there was no definitive answer to this question. Talents were a part of the System that involved runes, formations and glyphs—the difference here was they were man-made, while Talents were ‘gifted’ by the System.

One would hope that over the course of human history, they would have learned what the System was. But like with Talents, there wasn’t much known about the System. It was a mysterious reality-embedded framework that appeared upon ascension to Level 1 as computer-like labels inside one’s mind. Despite its resemblance to computer systems, the System could not be accessed in any other way than an ascender’s own mind and could not be connected to any existing computer systems.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

This, of course, was the official description but Keynes didn’t know any way to dispute it. Despite countless accusations that the World Government was hiding the truth, there was very little proof of the government’s wrong-doing. Keynes was careful about falling down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories, but failing more often than not.

Keynes returned to his book but the words of Webster Frog pulled him away from it.

“The true goal of the Talent class isn’t discussion about Talents but finding a way to improve them and make them more consistent. Our research is going to be fully transparent and will involve scientists from all over the world, Mars and Venus. It is the start of a new era.”

“Interesting,” Vivena said.

“It is,” Keynes agreed. “Ten years ago, the World Government banned research on Talents saying it was unethical. I wonder what changed.”

Vivena turned to Keynes surprised, then noticed the book on his desk and the question she was about to ask died on her lips.

The lecturer’s announcement gathered a lot of enthusiasm in the auditorium.

“Did they really say that?”

“Say what?” Keynes asked.

“That the research was unethical.”

“Yes,” Keynes replied then went silent for a few moments, bringing up memories from the day he’d watched the science conference as a six year old. “Several participants received detrimental Talents and sued the research company. It would have escalated if the government didn’t step in.”

“I haven’t heard about it,” she said. “How do you know it?”

“It was on TV as breaking news.”

“Ten years ago? You were six.”

“I have a perfect recall.”

This stunned her, which he expected and deliberate. It was always fun to observe the disbelief on people’s faces when they learned about Keynes’s memory (not counting bullies).

Meanwhile, Webster Frog asked the class to make a list of Talents they wished to get.

Everyone started to type on their electronic tablets. Keynes’s tablet was still in his bag but he didn’t need it--

“Once your list is ready, send it over to me. My email address is in the class details.”

Crap.

“Do you take part in any special programs?” Vivena asked him.

Keynes took his tablet out and placed it on the desk in front of him. Then he turned his head to her.

What kind of question was that? And what was a special program?

“I don’t,” Keynes replied, wondering what her question meant. He didn’t want to read too much into it. She was pretty, one misstep and his brain would turn into mush.

Webster Frog waited for the class to finish their wishlists then glanced at the emails he received from the students.

Keynes was the last to send his list. It was long and he had to add justification to the few Talents.

The lecturer closed his tablet and turned to the auditorium.

“Going forward, I will send you a weekly test.”

The class moaned but Webster Frog raised his hand and his spiritual aura washed all over the auditorium. It was weaker than a breeze by the last row but its strength wasn’t important here. This was a reminder of this man’s station and it did its job. The class fell silent and the aura vanished.

“Those of you who will fail to complete these weekly tests should expect a bad Talent. Some of you may even receive an inactive or detrimental one.”

“That’s a pile of crap,” the blonde said under her nose. “No one will fall for this cheap trick.”

“You’d be surprised,” Keynes smirked. “Most of them believe that Talents come from Talent Stones.”

Keynes squinted at the blonde when she didn’t say anything. Her eyes stared at him with curiosity. The piercing quality of her gaze gave him a shiver. She’s bad news.

But it was too late. Something stirred in his chest.

“Don’t they?” she asked and he couldn’t decipher if she was serious or made fun of him.

He picked the latter.

“Talent Stones were invented a hundred years ago to move the age of the Talent Unlocking ceremony from twenty to sixteen. Somehow, they are the only alchemical substance in existence that is known to affect our spiritual energy. Half of a hundred and twenty-one ingredients aren’t disclosed to the public.”

“Impressive but you got one thing wrong. Talent Stones don’t affect Spirit. Nothing does. They affect the body, making it strong enough to withstand the ascension.”

He didn’t know that.

SolNet, the Solar-wide Information Network, had an unimaginable wealth of information but it also was free and anyone could post anything there. If something wasn’t certified by the World Government, the Institute of Science and Research or several other credible organisations, it was likely a fake unless someone had means to replicate experiments posted there.

Of course, there was a chance that she either lied or was mistaken.

“Any questions?” the lecturer asked and unsurprisingly the class didn’t have any.

He didn’t know why he raised his hand but once more it was too late when he realised his mistake.

“Yes.”

Keynes froze, when the entire auditorium’s attention shifted his way. Even Vivena shied away from him. I am an idiot.

“Does a Talent Stone affect spiritual energy or the body?”

“Unbelievable,” Vivena whispered, perplexed.

“I know,” Keynes admitted smugly, missing the sarcasm in her voice.

Webster Frog nodded, scratching his beard. Levels slowed the ageing down and without knowing the researcher’s Level, it was difficult to tell.

Apparently—because it wasn’t officially confirmed—each Level added around 5-6 years to an ascender’s lifespan.

The lecturer stood silent for a whole minute. What stopped him from answering Keynes’s question right away, Keynes didn’t know. But the answer came eventually.

“Talent Stones are protected by the Global Secrecy Act and I cannot discuss them. What I can say is that we don’t have any means to affect the Spirit which should be enough for you to draw your own conclusion.”

He thanked the class and dismissed it.

“I told you,” Vivena said without haughtiness. “And thanks for the chat. See you next week.”

Keynes watched her walk down the aisle, approach Joe Brown and his sidekicks, then move past them as if they didn’t exist. Joe’s head turned toward Keynes, his face was a mix of humiliation and hatred.

Oh, boy. I don’t think Harter’s going to help me here.

***

“Who was it this time?” Harter asked, smirking.

“This time?” Keynes frowned. “First of all, it was one versus nine. And they paid for this.”

“One versus nine? Are you a salesman now, trying to sell me some kung fu crap?”

Keynes cleaned himself then turned to his brother, giving him a stink eye.

“Not a word about this to our parents. They’d make a big deal out of this.”

Harter shrugged.

“Whatever, my little, older brother.”

He fled the bathroom seeing Keynes’s rising hackles. Keynes turned back to the mirror, he didn’t look that bad and he’d made sure they would remember him too.

Avoiding his father was easy, he was a workaholic and paid little mind to what happened around him unless glyphs were involved.

Glyphs were objects shaped in such a way that they gained magical properties. Keynes’s father had a Talent that increased the efficiency of the glyphs he worked with. It landed him a good job.

His mother was a different story. She was very aware of her surroundings, always asked questions about school and wasn’t satisfied with easy answers. Her problem was that she didn’t understand social boundaries and she was prone to make things worse for him despite her best intentions. If she saw his swollen cheek, she’d drill him about it until he told her what had happened.

His thoughts were interrupted by an email from… Webster Frog.

At first, Keynes thought it might be about his fight with Joe Brown but that would be Principal Joshua calling his mother, not Webster Frog mailing him.

He opened the email.

I have read your Talent wishlist and under one Talent you added the justification - ‘I have perfect recall, it would pair nicely with a higher Mind attribute.’ Perfect recall is extremely rare and I do not understand why you were not offered a special program to work with your memory. I checked the database.

Anyway, given your unique circumstances, I would like to offer you a part in one. It is a brand new program and it will hopefully increase your chances in getting a Talent you desire.

I attached extra information for your parents.

Keynes put his phone down. He remembered that Vivena had asked him about the special program as well when he’d told her about his memory.

It could be a coincidence. He didn’t know everything, he simply remembered everything he experienced and that made a massive difference. And as embarrassing as it sounded, Keynes hadn’t researched his perfect recall very thoroughly.

Many things could have slipped through his fingers.

“Keynes! Get downstairs!”

Harter, you little snake.

***

A week passed without a major issue from his mother’s side. He managed to shift her attention from Joe Brown to Webster Frog. To Keynes’s surprise, she wasn’t very keen to accept the offer and on top of that, his father left the decision in her hands.

When the time for the next Talent class came, Keynes wasn’t pleased with the anticipation he was experiencing. He realised that he didn’t know a thing about Vivena. He checked the class register and didn’t find her name listed on it. He panicked a little, fearing that she’d withdrawn.

But then she walked through the door. Her eyes found Keynes and she started walking in his direction.

Joe Brown and his sidekicks saw it and rushed after her.

Keynes sighed, watching the idiot talk to Vivena. She stopped and listened to Joe Brown, giving Keynes a heart attack (he was a good looking guy after all). Then she shook her head and resumed her walk toward Keynes.

Joe Brown’s face twisted with rage.

“Hey, freak, we will talk again after the class,” he shouted, then spun and headed to where he sat.

“Hey.”

She took a seat next to Keynes. Her eyes looked a bit dreamy, making Keynes uncomfortable.

“What’s up?” Keynes asked. “You seem to be in a good mood.”

“That’s because I am.”

“Good for you.” Keynes smiled, wondering how to get rid of Joe this time. That pest would come after him for sure.

“It is,” she said, then added. “And I have good news for you as well.”

Good news… for me? What is going on here? I hope it is not some elaborate joke concocted by my brother.

Vivena didn’t have a reason to have good news for Keynes.

“Good news? What?”

“I talked to my parents and they agreed to help you with your Talent.”

Help me with my Talent, huh? Who are her parents?

He glanced at Vivena, trying to find some clues as to who her parents might be but she wore nothing out of the ordinary — a school uniform and skirt. The only detail that distinguished her from everyone else was her beauty.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Let’s have coffee after the class. Hm? What do you say?” she asked, projecting her good mood onto him.

“Why not.”

A moment later, Webster Frog entered the auditorium and started the class. He discussed the tests he’d sent out earlier. Unexpectedly, 40% of the class hadn’t finished them. No one felt any real pressure. You couldn’t fail the class even if you didn’t attend any lectures.

The specialist wasn’t pleased with the poor response from the students but it looked like he wasn’t going to press the issue.

The class passed in the blink of an eye and mostly covered the meaning of the tests and how they might enhance their chances at getting better Talents.

Vivena disagreed with the lecturer although she didn’t voice it. As they grabbed their bags, Keynes mentioned to her that he needed to see Webster Frog about a special program he’d offered him. Vivena’s good mood vanished, her expression became anxious.

“You could have said something,” she told him.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged, trying to sound ambivalent.

As he started heading toward Webster Frog, Vivena spoke up from behind.

“Are you going to take his offer?”

“Not sure, why?”

She came closer.

“Because my parents can offer you a better deal than the government.”

His first reaction was to ask her about her parents. Who the hell were they to compete with the World Government? But then he thought twice about this. She was overwhelmingly pretty, making it harder to think just by her sheer presence; she befriended him out of everyone in the auditorium and took a keen interest in his perfect recall.

And now her parents were in a position to help him.

Such coincidences were pure fiction.

Keynes knew he should have refused her offer and yet, he hesitated. It led to an awkward silence, even in the room full of students leaving it and chatting. It was Keynes’s mistake—the silence—and Vivena skilfully capitalised on it.

“Listen, Keynes, just hear me out. If you don’t like it, then fine, no hard feelings.”

By the time Keynes had the presence of mind to check on Webster Frog, the lecturer was gone. Keynes cursed himself for being a fool.

“I guess, there is no harm in hearing you out.”

Vivena perked up.

“Good. I have already booked us a table at a local restaurant.”

He blinked. Say what?

***

Another surprise waited for him outside the auditorium.

Or two surprises, actually.

Two men built like gorillas waited outside. The way they were dressed reminded him of funerals for some mystical reason. Or maybe it was the dangerous auras they had around them? Keynes had no idea.

“These are my bodyguards, Keynes. They’ll come with us.”

Keynes swallowed, getting increasingly worried about the state of his mind. He should get out of this place and away from Vivena and those two giants. Far away. How did they achieve such a size anyway? Keynes thought that ascenders couldn’t increase the mass of their muscles.

“We must check him first, miss.”

“It won’t be necessary. You’re Level 2s and Keynes is a non-ascender like me.”

“Understood.”

Level 2s?! She has Level 2 bodyguards… What am I doing here? Is it my dire curiosity taking control of me again? The last time didn’t end well. A few days in the hospital and a warning that his non-ascender body wouldn’t survive the next time.

It was a long story and Keynes wasn’t in the mood to replay it in his head.

They crossed the school grounds attracting a lot of attention. Keynes even noticed Joe Brown who had the expression of a shocked pig.

Vivena didn’t seem to pay any mind to it though and Keynes did his best to follow her example. They didn’t talk until they reached the car.

This wasn’t some random car. It was a luxurious supreme-class Bentley.

No harm in talking, idiot? I’m so screwed.

But he was also fervently curious about the mess he was stepping into. He even cracked a stupid smile when he saw Joe Brown glaring at him.