HideousGrain
patreon
Apocalypse Healer - B1 Chapter 29
🕑 Added 2024-10-31 12:18:49 +0000 UTCMelach turned to the nearby merchant to ask if his goods were defective while Torb caught David’s expression.
The Dwarf was still pale, and his eyes drifted back to the purple vortexes at times, but he regained composure.
“Rifts are portals connecting these places,” Torb pointed at the few Rfits that had formed near Arc, “...with other planes. Usually, they connect to isolated dimensions and are often created from gods trying to expand their influence by deploying the creatures in their servitude to newly integrated worlds.”
Melach returned to them, cursing softly, “The maps aren’t defective. Apparently, the Rifts formed just now. The Rift Cores have yet to stabilize.”
“I’m unsure if I read your expressions well, but we don’t like Rifts, right? Will monsters emerge from them?” David inquired.
If that’s the case, I want to go there!
“Rifts drain the surrounding Aether to fuel the Rifts’ cores. Once filled, the Rifts will stabilize and materialize monsters. To sum up what that means…Yes, we consider Rifts as hostile entities,” Melach nodded, his expression still sour.
“The monster types of the Rifts have yet to be determined, just like its danger level. But considering the number of Rifts materializing near Arc, we shouldn’t have a problem finding a Rift with a low star rating. That’s what you wanted to know, didn’t you?”
There were at least four Rifts near Arc. Two materialized south and west of the Sanctuary, while the remaining pair was north. The distance between the pair of Rifts couldn’t be more than a few kilometers.
“Materialize monsters? That’s possible?” David asked, but he was met with a pair of skeptical gazes.
“You have been fighting your kin after they were resurrected as undead Infected,” Torb said, while Melach added, “And you can wield magic. If I’m not mistaken, it hasn’t been too long since you regenerated from getting struck by a god’s divine lightning bolt in what? 10 minutes? 20 minutes?”
“Twice,” David corrected the Elf.
“What?”
David pressed his lips together, “Nothing. Forget it.”
He cleared his throat, “Are those monsters special? How strong are they? Can we fight them?”
Melach groaned, “No, we cannot fight them yet. Neither the type of Rift nor the star rating has been determined. We wait until the Familia issues exploration and culling missions and pick the one that best fits our needs.”
“We will…wait?” David asked disappointedly.
“I wouldn’t call it waiting,” Torb chimed in. You still have a lot to learn. We will go to the library to refresh your knowledge about Rift types, how to clear rifts, what to do when a Rift evolves, and so forth. Once the Familia issues some emergency missions, we will be informed.”
“Emergency missions… Do you think the Sanctuary is in danger? Are Rifts that much of a threat?”
Torb winced, “This is the first time I’ll see one, but I’ve heard enough about Rifts in the early stages of world integration to know that one Rift is already dangerous, let alone four materializing near simultaneously.”
“Even a Rift of the lowest grading has a Boss and Mini-Bosses at the Bronze Rank. And I’m not talking about a Pseudo Mini-Boss like the Mutating Giant Infected. The Rift Bosses are on a whole different level. A level most Protectors cannot handle just yet.”
David’s heart drummed wildly at that, but he tried not to show it, “How strong are the Protectors here? Shouldn’t most Protectors be fairly powerful since they come from already integrated worlds?”
Melach winced, “Yes, but no. The power we acquired in our worlds has been sealed as we stepped into the Earthen Union. Everyone started with a Basic Class, albeit some were given an altered Class with two Basic Skills. The Basic Skills are part of the power we’ve already unlocked in the past, which is also why it was easier for me to evolve [Mana Bullet] into [Arcane Blast].”
The Pantheon regulated everything around the System Sanctuaries up to the finest details, yet they failed to prepare countermeasures for cases like this. I mean…if some weird-ass gods created those Rifts, shouldn’t it have been possible for the Pantheon to counter them? Or are those gods from the Pantheon, and this is some sort of fucked up test?
David liked fucked up tests like this, but it didn’t sound bad to have a safe place to stay when he needed time to rest. If a single Rift was already a threat to Arc, how would they handle four of them?
“That’s odd…” Turning to the others, he murmured, “I want to know more about Rifts.”
“Good choice,” Melach commented, gesturing to David to follow him.
***
News of the Rifts reached them not even two hours after Melach and Torb forced several books upon him. He was not even close to finishing all of them, let alone understanding everything. Some intel was stuck in his mind, but David’s mind drifted to the Rifts outside Arc every other minute.
The ID slate in David’s pocket heated up, and the others seemed to experience the same as they retrieved them simultaneously.
Their heads jerked up, and it looked like they were reading something. Their eyes trailed from one point in the empty air before them to other points.
Ah, right.
David inserted holy power into the warm ID slate, conjuring an azure, rectangular screen.
[Familia Emergency – Rift Overflow]
Several 1-Star Rifts materialized unexpectedly in the last four hours.
Three out of four Rifts stabilized as Common Rifts and can be cleared, but the fourth Rift reacts oddly.
The indicators perceived demonic waves and a high level of Aether emission.
Therefore, it is presumed the fourth Rift ushered the others into existence.
No more Rifts have formed, and no signs indicate any more materializations, but that can change at any point!
Emergency Missions have been issued to all Familia members.
Gather your forces and clear the Rifts!
“That doesn’t sound too bad,” David murmured while getting up from the chair. However, a look at the others indicated that he was missing something.
Both Torb and Melach were still reading through the message – probably reading it over and over again –, their expressions deadly pale, and their eyes flickering in fear and anger.
“1-Star Rifts are the best we could have asked for,” Torb nodded, but he was far from relieved, “The Common Rifts are also great…”
“But the oddity is an issue,” Melach squinted at the azure message before him, “Demonic waves and high Aether emission. That means there will not only be many demonic creatures emerging from the Rift but the Aether and demonic waves will permeate the surrounding land and alter it permanently. If it had been a different type of Rift, it wouldn’t have mattered as much… Unfortunately, we’re talking about the destructive nature of a Demon-type Rift.”
That didn’t sound too great, but it didn’t feel like a major problem to David.
“As long as we clear the Rift fast enough, we should be fine, right?”
Melach was about to make a snarky remark when his eyes drifted to the library window. Several Protectors and Familia members gathered and left to face the Rifts head-on.
“If we clear the odd Demon-type Rift fast enough, it should be possible to avoid the worst case.”
“Which would be the manifestation of more Demon-type Rifts due to the high Aether emission, mixing with the nature of the demonic waves, right?” David continued, earning surprised gazes from his team.
David rubbed the back of his head and pointed at a page in the book before him, “That was written there.”
Torb burst into laughter and patted David’s back, and even Melach had difficulty hiding his grin.
David smiled back, trying hard to control his restless heart, as he pointed out something about the Familia’s message.
“The emergency mission says nothing about a reward. Do we have to go to the Familia to accept any missions before we go?”
Melach shook his head subtly, “The Familia will reward us according to our contribution, actions, and the aftermath. If Arc is destroyed, it wouldn’t matter how much you contributed to the clearance of the Rifts. The Familia wouldn’t reward you as generously as it would have if Arc survived.”
That could be both good and bad. What exactly was counted as a contribution? Did it only include slaying enemies, or would he, as a Cleric, receive higher contributions for both killing enemies and healing allies? That was probably it. At least, that was what David was hoping for.
“In that case…shall we leave?” David beamed at his unlike partners in crime.
Torb nodded, grasped his shield with one hand, and shouldered the mace smoothly. Melach cursed but complied. He reached for his Mage Wand and gestured to his barbaric partners to follow.
“We have hardly any experience at fighting together. Our only experience as a trio was against the Giant Infected. That wasn’t too bad, but it will be different this time. Every Rift has one Boss Monster and between one to five Mini-Bosses, sometimes more. However, ordinary monsters are the greater problem. There will be dozens by now and hundreds once the Rift Core has accumulated more Aether. There will be hundreds in a few hours, and they will stall us, wear us down, forcing us to consume our stamina and energy until the real deal emerges.”
“I don’t see the problem,” David shrugged, “You said you wanted to become stronger. Enduring and overcoming a threat like this is exactly what you need. At least, that’s how it worked for me.”
He momentarily activated [Holy Touch] around his finger and smiled at the Elf.
“Your family would be proud of you if you garnered the interest of one or multiple gods,” David added, igniting a fire in the Elf’s eyes.
“Let’s go,” Melach declared, “What are we waiting for?”
“Which Rift are we heading to?” Torb asked, only for both Melach and David to answer simultaneously.
“To the most dangerous one, of course!”
