“What do you mean she’s breaking from the System?”
“Now that the System of this universe is functional again, it has begun to clean up errors. Spiritual companions that had been activated before the System went online malfunction.” Keynes remembered Alice explaining this to him. “Your spiritual companion doesn’t want to become a mindless element of the System and…she rebelled, I guess?”
Alice did what? Even with 35 attributes into Mind and the Pure Body buff, his mind reeled from the overwhelming concept of Alice fighting the System. But the most important question was—could she win and break free?
“No.” Lem Solaris crushed Keynes’s hope. “If the System decides she must revert she will. But…”
There was ‘but’! That was optimistic.
“It appears that the System values your existence higher than any other being in this universe right now and your spiritual companion may receive a special privilege.”
“I…need time to process this.”
“Sure. I will be in touch to discuss your training once your mind settles down.”
With that, Lem Solaris vanished, leaving Keynes alone on the small beach.
“What the hell just happened?”
***
The next day, Keynes was sitting in an aeroplane bound for the Level 4 rifts. Columbus, Kora and a small group of Level 5 ascenders travelled with him. If Keynes’s mind wasn’t consumed by Lem Solaris, he’d question their presence. They had some basic skills like [Fireball], [Ice Shard] or [Nature Strike]. It was almost enough to make Keynes wonder what his company was doing with all the skills they were finding in the rifts. He knew they were not selling them. It was prohibited as it could empower the Solar Council.
But these issues, no matter how serious or valid, only scratched his mind while Keynes was focused on his bond with Alice. I need her back, he repeated like a matra in his head. To his deepening frustration, the bond remained muted. What does ‘breakin from the System’ even mean? Why didn’t I ask her? Calling out Lem Solaris proved futile as well. Either she couldn’t appear inside the moving aeroplane or she didn’t have anything to say to him, which only frustrated him further. She’d stopped him from absorbing the traits. Now the Trait of Dominator was gone…
Keynes wanted to doubt this strange child which wasn’t a child but he couldn’t. She’d taken him into a sealed Level 5 rift like it was nothing…
The bond stirred and a weak feedback of assurance came through it.
***
Alice hadn’t returned but the signal from the bond seemed optimistic. It soothed his mind to the point that when Kora came to his private compartment with the news that they were closing on the destination he was shocked.
They wear near the South America’s coast somewhere in the northern part. He hadn’t paid attention at the meeting before leaving Emerald City about the exact location of the rifts Columbus had in mind but he knew they’d belonged to the Resistance and were part of the parting deal between Columbus and the Resistance.
“Look,” Kora said and Keynes followed her finger. She was pointing at the city…
“Holy fuck,” Keynes muttered, not being able to hold back his shock. Down there was a coastal city. He didn’t know its name as it hadn’t been on any map he’d seen before. There was a high shiny wall shielding it from one side while the rest was exposed to the ocean.
But the city itself wasn’t the source of their shock, the hordes of monsters were. There had to be over a million monsters. There must be a cluster nearby to produce this number of monsters. He could see a variety of explosions, fire, ice, smoke and many colours representing skills he didn’t know. This was a training ground but an insane one.
“New Columbiana.”
Keynes glanced at Columbus who stood slightly bent as he watched through the window.
“It’s the first time I hear about it,” Keynes admitted and Kora nodded as well.
“Because it’s a recent development. New Columbiana is trying to copy the success of Arshem.”
Neither Keynes nor Kora knew what Arshem was.
“Esopp didn’t lie when he said that you live in your own bubble,” Columbus said with a hint of amusement. “Arshem is the first city that fully adapted to the new reality and its economy is based purely on monster hunting. New Columbiana is in a better spot because of access to the ocean but the fact that it belongs to the Resistance hampers its growth.”
“Why?” Kora asked.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“There are many reasons. The most important one is that the Resistance needs the city’s resources to level up and train their army. Everything is the secondary
“Doesn’t the Resistance have the rift cluster near Lake Baikal?”
“They do,” Columbus admitted. “But the Resistance is trying to move them all here and leave the area near the lake.”
“They are trying to do what we’re doing,” Keynes noticed.
“Everyone’s doing the same. The location of the rifts is very inconvenient and having all the rifts in one place makes much more sense,” Columbus explained. Keynes knew that much.
“Why haven’t these been cleared?” Kora asked. “They are wasting rift rewards.”
“It depends and is usually left to people with brains. They’d calculate what’s the best course of action based on the needs and end goal,” Columbus replied. “In the case of the Resistance, it is as I said, they need to level up their army and the quickest and most efficient way is this.”
“Then why aren’t we doing the same thing?” Kora continued. Keynes remained silent, curious as to what Columbus would say. Keynes was also surprised how outspoken she became.
“Logistics mostly but also a different priority. For us, the most important thing is the Level 4 raw materials as there are barely any in the market. Untainted Paradise has a monopoly and makes hefty profit out of this. We plan the same thing for the Level 5 raw materials.”
Keynes remembered the otherworldly landscape of the Level 5 rift and wondered about the value of such a place in comparison to a Level 4 rift. Level 5 rifts were also twice the size of Level 4 rifts so twice as much raw material. On top of that, Level 5 skills and items. But he understood the warning from Lem Solaris about the Level 5 rifts. They weren’t going to be an easy delve like Level 4. Teams might need to be expanded, tactics updated and so on. But this was a problem for another time.
The topic returned to Arshem. Kora was interested in the structure of the city and its economy. Keynes could see the appeal in it. Having a whole city built with rifts and monsters in mind was a novelty. It was also surprising how well informed Columbus was. Or was it simply Keynes and Kora who weren’t paying attention to the outside world? It was concerning, especially in light of what Jedd had told Keynes in the rift about space travel.
As Columbus and Kora discussed, the picture of Arshem became more complex. The World Government didn’t like what happened to the city as there were rumours that Arshem might announce their independence from the World Government. Of course, the success of Arshem encouraged cities with access to monsters and rifts and that didn’t even scratch the dominions that were out there. Several of them grew strong enough to become a regional nuisance.
It made Keynes think about Vivena and how she was doing. Was she still bent on stopping him? Keynes was aware of a contingency plan to cause the fourth outbreak after they had a functional Level 5 rift cluster to deny the Solar Council exclusivity of Level 4 rifts.
Would she come after him then? Could he stop her? With [Mild Illusion] handling Vivena shouldn’t be a problem though but Keynes had no doubt that she would have her own tricks. If they met again, their fight might turn bloody.
The plane was eventually approaching the airport. New Columbiana was officially declared the capital of the Resistance, although Columbus had said the real headquarters was hidden in the wilderness. He didn’t know its location as it had changed since he’d left the Resistance. It showed that the Resistance didn’t trust Columbus anymore and while it made sense, Keynes didn’t like it.
***
A delegation in green, elegant uniforms was awaiting for them at the landing. They exchanged pleasantries and greetings then entered two armoured cars. Keynes paid close attention to the Levels of the soldiers and their spiritual stages. Most of them were mixed essence, which was understandable, but he noticed several Level 5s and even one Level 6 rift essence ascenders in the delegation team. Either the Resistance tried to posture their strength or these weren’t outliers and the Resistance’s strength was higher than Keynes expected. In terms of the spiritual stages, this was the same old story. No one trained it.
The city was a true military state with soldiers everywhere but still Keynes saw many civilians or adventurers, as they called themselves. Their travel to the meeting with the Resistance’s leadership was a short one. Because the city was built recently, many things were pre planned. Their cars had priority in all traffic and as they drew closer, they entered an underground road with heavy checkpoints.
“Do you think they’d let us see the city later on?” Kora asked.
“Our schedule is too tight for sightseeing,” Columbus replied and Keynes cursed himself for not paying attention earlier. He didn’t know what their schedule was. “We’ll meet with Cassandra, then go straight to the rifts and leave shortly afterwards. Not all our rifts are here.”
More travelling. Great.
Cassandra turned out to be a Level 6 mixed essence ascender with little resemblance to her brother. She was looking quite young but the appearance at Higher Levels meant very little. She wore an immaculate but plain green uniform a few shades darker than her subordinates. Her posture was stiff, her stare critical and calculating.
She met them in a standard meeting room with a long table and many chairs.
“Columbus Curt,” she said. “It's a pleasure to see you again.”
“Likewise, Cassandra. Let me introduce you.” He extended his arm toward Keynes. “Keynes Kid.”
She nodded, showing little interest. Keynes kept his spiritual aura tightly wrapped around himself and he knew that most people perceived him as Level 1. He was making progress with managing the spiritual equilibrium. Once he resumed the full control of his spiritual aura, he would start adjusting his power level to the environment. Some people understood only strength. From Cassandra’s reaction, Keynes figured out she was just that kind of person.
“That’s Kora Kowalska. She’s a part of Keynes’s team.”
Beside Cassandra were three other people but she didn’t introduce them as they stood in the background. The people who came with Columbus, Keynes and Kora remained outside the room.
“Let’s get to business, Columbus. With the recent developments, our seat in the Solar Council is no longer guaranteed.” She showed them to their seats and didn’t wait for them as she sat down herself.
Keynes frowned at that. Did she mean the Solar Tax?
“It was bound to happen,” Columbus said. “With the new mana containers in the market, BlueSpace lost their bargaining chip.”
“And what is my bargaining chip?” she asked flatly. “Strength?”
“Army,” Columbus simply said, almost matching Cassandra’s tone. “Freeman has damaged the integrity of the World Government. They are splintered into many small factions that only nominally exist as the whole. Death of Syberius Sael had the same effect on the Old Blood. The only cohesive army is the Red Moon Legion but their past association with us is not doing any favours to them. You’re the strongest army on the planet and Turtelli knows it.”
Cassandra waved a hand at his reply.
“Turtelli knows shit. He’s merely a puppet.” She grew quiet for a few seconds. “Anyway. As we agreed. You open 25 Level 4 rifts for me and you can take the remaining 8 rifts in the south for yourself. Your transport is waiting.”
She stood up and left without a further word. One thing Keynes was certain of. He disliked her very much.