Chapter 96

I climbed into the seat in the common room without invitation. The four adventurers turned to me, thankfully looking amused rather than annoyed at my presence. I took that as a good sign.

“Hi, I’m Bastian,” I said, introducing myself.

The youngest of the group — as far as I could tell — leaned forward from where he sat opposite me. He had a wiry build with the hint of stubble from going a day or two without shaving, his long arms resting on the wooden table. “The Factor’s kid, right?”

“Grandkid,” I corrected.

“Huh, Miss Penelope’s son then. Lucky kid,” replied the biggest of the four-person crew, only to get punched in the arm by the woman next to him, who was only slightly smaller in size.

“Don’t say weird shit like that,” she retorted with a glare that could curdle milk.

“You’re the one making it weird!” he countered, puffing his chest out as if in indignation.

They devolved immediately into sniping at each other, which led to me frowning as well. It was kind of hard to pump them for information when they were busy yelling at each other. The last member of the group — who could have been the wiry guy’s older brother based on his appearance — saved us all.

“How about you two take a walk or find a bed and burn off some of that energy?”

As though they had just been waiting for that suggestion, the two of them got up and left. It wasn’t lost on me that they went up the stairs rather than out the front door.

“You know they do that on purpose so they don’t have to sit through these planning sessions, right?” wiry-guy asked.

“I know, brother —” Ha! I was right! “But what else should I do? Listening to them argue gives me a bloody headache. Anyway, what do you want, kid?”

I tried to flash a charming grin, but even I could sense how forced it felt through the haze of my negative emotions, so I dropped it immediately rather than come across as disingenuous.

“Have you two been in a Rift before?” I asked.

The older of the two snorted. “You sound just like Holt did when he was your age.”

“I wasn’t that bad,” Holt complained, his dark eyes flicking between his brother and myself.

“You were. Every time Mum left us alone to have a drink or ten, you would be bothering every adventurer you could find. That or climbing in the rafters.”

Holt smirked. “Worked out, didn’t it? Look at us now. Shame this place doesn’t have more rafters though…”

Holt was clearly joking as his eyes traced the thick beams that criss-crossed the roof above. I followed his gaze and had to admit he was right — there weren't a lot of them. Made me wonder if that was due to the thickness of the wood used.

“Anyway, more than a few of those adventurers were willing to share their tales with me. Nothing wrong with giving to the next generation, eh Jeb? What do you say?”

I nodded in agreement with Holt hoping together we could pressure Jeb into talking.

“Fine, fine. Heavens, Holt, you’re just a big fucking child sometimes… ‘scuse the language, kid. Don’t tell your Mum on me, and I’ll spill. What do you want to know?”

“Is it true that Rifts give Paths just like Dungeons?” I asked. The tome I had been given explained that, when one entered a Dungeon, they would be given Paths to complete. Some simply appeared upon entering, while others only showed up if you were in close proximity to the target. Either way, they didn’t fall into the normal Path list — existing outside the limit of ten Active Paths.

“Sure. Keep in mind Holt and I have only been in two Rifts. There is the standard Path everyone gets when entering a Rift which is called ‘Close the Rift’ —” Jeb paused, his eyes narrowing at me. “Why haven’t your Grandpa or Mum told you this?”

“They said I’m too young and would tell me when I turned ten,” I lied. The fact was, they might tell me if I asked, but I didn’t want them to suspect I might try and enter a Rift on my own. Surely I should be able to earn an Achievement for going into a Rift alone and unprotected before earning my Class Path? The tome hadn’t detailed one, but the Myriad Paths seemed to reward risk, which meant I needed to do it unsupervised. Hopefully, it would give me an Achievement that could progress my Path of Daggers to Tier eight in an instant. Then, I might scrape by and unlock the Path of Weapon Mastery before Grandaunt Agnes arrived.

Jeb wanted to clam up, but Holt gave him a gentle shove. “Can’t hurt to tell the kid.”

When Jeb’s lips thinned, Holt took over despite his brother's glare. “So, ‘Close the Rift’ is a guarantee as is ‘Defeat the Champion.’ Only two things every Rift has in common. After that, it can depend on what else the Rift has in it. The Adventurer’s Society seems to think that if you close a Rift without defeating all the monsters inside, that they are reabsorbed back into the Dungeon — Myriad Paths don’t seem to like that, so you should get a Path or two for defeating whatever else is within. Sometimes there are also gathering Paths, you know? Like, collect the five blood roses or something. Rift Paths are always pretty straight forward like that, because they’re not as complex as Dungeons where you have loci of power and stuff.”

“You have been in a Dungeon as well?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me as some of my old self shone through for a moment. Holt shook his head though, so I focused back on my actual task. “What about rewards from Rifts?”

“From the Paths or harvesting?” Holt asked, ignoring Jeb’s annoyed look.

“Both, I guess?”

I knew a little of what he meant. Rifts that appeared could reflect any of the floors of the Dungeon they came from, though my tome said that anything below the third floor was incredibly rare. My book also detailed the most common items harvested from the Dungeons — which explained why Meravia was so wealthy. The Echoing Depths put the Endless Plains to shame in terms of what could be found within — providing rare metals, herbs, bamboo, and aetheric water in abundance. The results were that the crafters of Meravia had far more to work with than the limited supplies of aetheric water and herbs that came out of the Endless Plains. The latter Dungeon did make up for that with the ability to capture, extract, and then sell a wider variety of beasts found within its depths. Still, that was both harder and more expensive, and the difference between the two nations' wealth showed in my lessons with my Mum.

“Paths…usually a couple of Unallocated Stats for closing the Rift — incredibly useful in case you didn’t already know. The others, well, depends on the difficulty. Dungeon aether coins are the most common, but sometimes it could be a Skill Seed or a rare material for alchemy, enchanting, or some other crafts. The way I have been told though is that there is an element of luck to it.”

“Are they big?” I asked quickly. “Rifts, I mean, I know Dungeon floors are supposed to be so big that each one can rival a Duchy. And what about Aether Harvesters?”

The latter was something mentioned in the tomes. Enchanted items so large they needed to be carted into the Dungeons because they were too difficult to carry — heavy as well, but I was sure with the right attributes, someone could lift them if they weren’t so unwieldy. The picture of the harvester had looked kind of like an organ — a memory of me in my past life sitting at a piano reminding me of just how much I had forgotten or lost through the cycle of reincarnation — crossed with a wall of studded gems. What I did know is that Aether Harvesters were controlled by the royal families of Ajinar and Meravia, and to be found using one in a Dungeon was a death sentence.

“Shit, kid, unless you want to become an enchanter don’t even think about Aether Harvesters. I’ve only seen one once, and I can’t tell you a thing about what it was doing. All I know is they produce aether coins by sucking up the ambient aether in the Dungeon… which sounds like a real stupid thing to do in a Rift. If it collapses while you’re inside it, you’d probably die… or end up back in the Dungeon which spawned it. So, you know… also probably die.”

“Huh? It would collapse?” I asked with a frown.

Jeb finally rejoined the conversation, though he directed his answer at his brother with a glare rather than at me. “Rifts have a finite amount of aether. The Guild of Scholarly Seekers has written plenty on the topic. Dungeons continually produce aether somehow. Rifts do not. You use up enough of the ambient aether within a Rift, and it will collapse with you in it.”

“Why don’t they just do that to close Rifts then? Couldn’t you just try and pull out enough aether without going inside?”

“I’ve heard they have tried that. Never succeeded, and if they know why, they’re not telling anyone who isn’t paying for the information. Or maybe they’re being paid to keep it hushed up. I dunno, and I think my brother and I have answered enough of your questions, kid.”

Jeb’s dark eyes darted towards the hallway that led to Gramps’ office, and I finally decided to take the hint. “Thanks, Holt. You too, Jeb!”

“See you out there when you’re a bit older, hey, kid?” Holt replied with a grin. “I can put in a good word for you with the Farwalkers Guild if you’re interested. Always looking for new blood.”

Jeb just shook his head in annoyance, finally rolling up the map he had on the table before pushing himself out of his chair and heading for the door. Holt stood as well.

“Jeb, where you going?” Holt called after him.

Jeb didn’t turn around. “For a walk.”

“Wait up!” Holt said, picking up a couple of bags and an unstrung bow before scrambling after his older brother.

I watched them go, thoughts rolling around in my mind. Grandaunt Agnes would arrive in a month. Gramps was convinced that she would want some time with me before I started at the Academy. Time to ‘prepare me’ is how he put it.

It’s too soon, I complained mentally, worry mixed with fear worming through my guts.

Rifts had appeared throughout my years in Hornpeak. They were always found by the local Warden of the time, averaging a few every year. More importantly, not once had they been less than a day and a half from the settlement — as though the Dungeons avoided spawning them near people.

One and all, the Rifts had been closed by Adventurers — or in more recent history, by the Baron himself. The details of that agreement had never been revealed to me, but from what I understood, our noble Lord had paid the Adventurer’s Society for the right to close those Rifts himself. Either way, my idea of taking a risk and entering a Rift before I unlocked a Class Path was probably dead in the water. I would need to be lucky enough for one to spawn nearby, then quick enough to get there before Nazim could hunt me down and stop me. Even with half a day's head start on the wolfkin, I doubted my chances.

There were other ways I might earn an Achievement. The Path of Thievery was an option — even though it would break Mum’s heart — but I would likely have to do something crazy like rob the Hornpeak Mining Company. No idea how I would escape carrying some silver, and even then, it probably wouldn’t be enough for anything too grand. The Baron’s keep was another option, but I had serious doubts about my ability to succeed with that. His keep was far better protected than the original wooden palisade of Lady Yalindra — not to mention his soldiers were far more careful and dutiful.

There was another option though.

Am I really considering this? I wondered.

The thought plagued me until late that evening after the rest of my lessons and training. When I finally came up with an answer, my first thought was to discard it — but I was angry and desperate. If Nazim figured out where I was going he would definitely try and stop me. With trepidation, I reached into my stash and pulled out a Skill Seed. I activated it, committing myself to a path that I wasn’t certain I should walk and help I knew I shouldn’t seek.