Cyril Sarnath
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Chapter 206 Willow's Theory
🕑 Added 2024-03-15 20:24:56 +0000 UTCWillow muttered to himself, nearly being overwhelmed by excitement. The absolutely, incredibly, fantastic technological marvel of the spaceship, dropship and spacesuits could only be rivalled by the thrill of exploring a new rift.
To stand inside an extraterrestrial rift made Willow beyond ecstatic.
He had so many questions, so many theories and so many hypotheses.
Standing inside the boss chamber, Willow’s spacesuit ran a standard analysis, which was included in the cost they had paid before the mission. And as he expected, the analysis shown to them by Keynes Kid had been done only next to the rift’s exit. A rookie mistake. To consider a rift as a homogeneous unit was a commonplace error on Earth. True, rifts followed certain, cohesive themes but the scope of what was considered a theme was barely understood and researched.
To say that others weren’t interested in these themes wouldn’t be factually correct because some were obsessed with them. If they could find a pattern, then there was a chance to predict what could be inside a rift. That had been one of Willow’s jobs back on Earth before he awoke on the spaceship. He planned to continue it here.
As expected, he mused to himself. There is no granite here.
There was salt, limestone, traces of metal ores and many unknowns not recognised by the spacesuit. But that wasn’t entirely what Willow was curious about. A Level 1 rift was exactly 500 cubic metres. There was some variance to where rifts’ borders were because rifts’ exits weren’t set in the same place.
So it was within a realm of possibilities that this rift had a surface. It might not be the case as rifts didn’t follow any known laws of physics but a chance always existed.
Why was the existence of the surface important to Willow? It was because of Willow’s theory regarding rifts. He believed that rifts weren’t organic and there was a higher purpose to their existence. Willow’s early hypothesis had been built upon several assumptions that upgraded the hypothesis into a theory that rifts existed only to serve ascenders. However to fulfil their role, rifts had to meet certain requirements.
There had to be real and tangible benefits, although sometimes these benefits were hidden. One of the last discoveries Willow had done before waking up here was finding monsters in previously inaccessible locations within rifts. Some rifts, when enlarged by a rift orb of enlargement, gained access to new locations that introduced a new monster type and it was strongly suspected that a similar process should apply to natural resources.
It didn’t end there as some believed that the true prize of rifts was hidden away behind countless rift orbs. Willow liked the idea albeit it stepped outside of his pureview. He was focused more on the practical side of rifts.
“How’s the harvesting going?” Natalia asked through the comms. “We’re ready to leave to open the next rift.”
Willow’s excitement spiked. He glanced at Kora who was gathering the glowing moss into… wait a minute, was that a spatial container? Willow was convinced that all their items had been lost upon coming here.
“I am about to finish,”Kora replied. “We’ll start heading back in two minutes.”
Ah, well, Willow thought then checked his mana. He still had over a hundred units.
“Scan the area using all my mana,”Willow said to the spacesuit AI, hoping for at least a fifty metre deep scan.
***
Keynes stepped out of the first rift. The parameters shown by his spacesuit changed, adjusting to the condition on the planet. Behind him emerged Sellana, Ul, Roman, Pierre, Persephone, Trisk, Willow, Kora and finally Natalia.
Keynes had to admit that Trisk had done an outstanding job with the area surrounding the rift. The area was flat, at least 5 square metres and shielded from the eroding winds by a two metre wall. The pathway leading back to the landing zone wasn’t finished yet but Trisk had made it safe for lower Levels to move. Surely Natalia would ask Trisk to finish up the pathway while Keynes was off to explore the second rift.
Indeed, a moment after Natalia was out of the rift, she began assigning tasks to everyone. Keynes noticed that they varied slightly from the original ones but didn’t comment on the deviations.
“Let us start with the moss,” Pierre spoke, not content with being ordered to return to the landing zone. “We have to begin tests as soon as possible.”
Roman joined him, dragging Trisk into the argument. Keynes and Kora exchanged glances but otherwise remained silent.
“Quiet,”Natalia said, her voice icy. “Mission objectives are not up for debate. Now. Focus because I won’t repeat myself. Trisk, I need you to encase the rift. Build a chamber no higher than two metre high and turn the pathway into a tunnel with an exit at the landing zone. Only then, Kora, you will replant moss in the chamber containing the rift. Sellana, I want you to design a system of runes that can support life. Pierre and Roman will help you to ensure that she didn’t exclude something critical. Understood?”
Natalia’s harsh words elicited silence which she cut through asking again, “Understood?”
“Yes!” a chorus of voices replied.
“Off you go then.”
Keynes picked up on the cue and turned toward the next rift but then Willow spoke up.
“A moment, please.” Everyone stopped, looking at him expectantly, Keynes including.
“What’s the matter?” Natalia asked, visibly irritated.
“While inside the boss chamber, I allowed myself to spend all my remaining mana on a deep scan. I found some promising traces of metal ores and salt. But more importantly, I found an empty space about eighty metres above the boss chamber. It appears that there is another cave up there.”
Silence followed Willow’s words, which appeared he misinterpreted, adding enthusiastically, “it’s too early to get too excited, but I am very sure that we haven’t seen the best of what this rift has to offer. We should investigate it further.”
“Later,” Natalia sighed then turned to glare at Trisk. “What are you waiting for? Start building the chamber.”
***
The second rift was located at the bottom of a shallow gorge, around forty metres from the landing zone. On their way there, Keynes and Natalia discussed how to build an access to the rift. For Natalia, Keynes and Persephone the steep and jagged mountainside didn’t pose much of an issue but Willow and Ul required their assistance. In the end, Keynes decided to use [Flight] and get both men to the bottom of the gorge.
“Why don’t we use [Flight] to get to the other rifts?” Willow asked. “It would save us time.”
“We still have to assess the access to other rifts,” Natalia said.
“You are free to do so,”Willow replied. “But there is no point for us to go through this.”
“I agree,” Persephone added. “It would save us time.”
Keynes expected a retort from Natalia but she surprised him with an acknowledgement. Was he dreaming?
The bottom of a gorge was quite narrow with a crack running through some of its deepest parts. With walls barely a metre apart, Keynes felt a little claustrophobic. The spacesuit adjusted the brightness of the visor but he knew that at the bottom of the gorge darkness was thick.
“I may need you to…”
“Sure,” Keynes said. He knew what needed to be done the moment he landed inside the gorge.
Carefully wielding [Chaos Aura] together with spiritual aura, Keynes used the chaotic energy against the rock, turning it into gas. [Chaos Aura] was not the right tool for such work and yet, wielding it in this manner came to him naturally. He understood with near absolute confidence that his proficiency stemmed out of the Chaos buff. At the same time, the power of [Chaos Aura] felt out of place. It felt like too much for a Level 4 ascender to possess.
How much harm could this thing do in the hands of the likes of Windsor Freeman? He didn’t like the answer.
Once he was done clearing the area around the rift, it was time to enter it.
- Rift (Common, Stable)
- Level 1
- Status: Sealed
- Requirements: -
- Modifiers: -
- Details: This rift contains a higher number of monsters and a boss (overcharge effect). The monsters are immune to the planet’s environment.
- Affinity: Toxic
- Special Status: Overcharged, Unexplored
Toxic affinity? Great. This sounded like a headache to Keynes and he entertained an idea to move on to the next rift, but considering all the mana he had already wasted he could pretty much go in, clear the rift and then move on.
“Persephone, Natalia,” Keynes said as he touched the rift with his spiritual aura. “This may get out of hand. Make sure to kill every single monster that creeps out of this rift. We don’t want a stray toxic monster.”
“There is no—” Willow started saying but Natalia cut him off.
“Will do.”
Keynes turned to Ul and Willow.
“Ul, there is little chance that anything inside this rift is going to be edible. Stay as far from the rift as possible.”
Ul backpedalled until his back pressed against the rocky wall.
“You too, Willow,” Natalia added.
Do you wish to unseal the rift?
Yes/No
Keynes picked ‘Yes’ trying to unseal the rift without causing the rift outbreak but it didn’t work. He would need to speak to Willow about this issue. There had to be a way to open rifts without causing the monsters to spill out. Normally, Keynes wouldn’t mind as some uncleared rifts could be used as essence farms but they didn’t have infrastructure or time to support such endeavour.
A buzz rose in the air. Keynes entered the rift.
A pale sky with a distant, white sun and a flat wasteland welcomed Keynes. The hostile sight was accompanied by countless insects the size of seagulls, their stings aimed at him.
Heh, Keynes sighed, unleashing [Chaos Aura] without control of spiritual aura. Uncontrolled aura didn’t drain his mana, which right now Keynes needed for [Flight].
His spacesuit offered an updated report about the rift’s air. The rift was less toxic than the planet’s air despite the toxic affinity which Keynes found amusing. Other parameters were fairly standard for a rift.
Without considering his surroundings, Keynes shot into the sky and flew toward the boss a half kilometre away. Most monsters didn’t reach Keynes, destroyed by ambient [Chaos Aura], those that did, failed to inflict any damage to him.
About 50 metres above the ground, the toxicity was low enough to make the air safe but Keynes didn’t dismiss the spacesuit. It was part of the reason why no damage could get through.
The giant insect peppered the sky, easily a million monsters. Their great number indicated their individual weakness. Keynes got higher, approaching 100 metre altitude. The air here was clean and free of monsters.
His time at this altitude didn’t last long as he made it to the boss. The area where the boss resided was clearly marked by a pool of thick green haze and larger insects in vibrant, dazzling colour. Keynes descended on them like a fist of an angry god. Nothing survived his attack but at the price of one-third of his mana.
The enraged monsters attacked him with abandon but he let ambient [Chaos Aura] do its thing. He was once more lucky with another spatial pouch but the reward chest only gave him two skill shards. Still no scroll of identification.
“What a depressing place,” Keynes said.
I kinda like it, Alice said.
“Of course you do. Let’s get out of here.”
***
He exited the rift and had to duck as Natalia’s fist almost hit him.
“Sorry!”she shouted in the comms. “I thought you were a monster.”
Finally someone said it, Alice laughed.
“I am not a monster. By the way, the rift is cleared,” he said. “There should have been a monster on your side for at least five minutes.”
Natalia looked away, while he sensed amusement from Persephone.
Something, no, someone shot past him. He caught Willow by his shoulder.
“Where do you think you're going?”
“Inside, of course. I have to assess the rift.”
“There is nothing to see. The rift is mildly toxic with no flora.”
“That’s even better!” Willow said enthusiastically. “I have to see it.”
Keynes sighed and let Willow go. Natalia protested but her protests sounded subdued.
“So, how was it on your end?”
They looked around. Hundreds of dead insect-monsters lay dead, carpeting the entire bottom of the gorge.
“Easy,”Persephone replied before Natalia, who didn’t add anything.
“Can we eat these?” Keynes asked Ul.
“Please, no,” Jedd said from the orbit. Keynes smiled but shared Jedd’s sentiment on the subject. He would rather find another rift than eat toxic insects.
“I’m not sure,” Ul said. “But they do look yummy, don’t they?”
Oh, someone with your sense of humour, Alice said.
