Free Web NovelChapter 22: Ancient Rift
An Ancient Rift... It wasn’t something to joke about. While it offered copious rewards, the risk was just as great.
Nuri was surprised to learn that the family had cleared an Ancient Rift once, further proving how formidable this team was. Not everyone lived to tell the tale.
Like normal Rifts, Ancient Rifts also had quotas to meet, and the number was always six — the maximum people in a party.
Diana, Murray, and Hugo were a team of three, so they must have been matched with three strangers. Given how dangerous an Ancient Rift was, it was one of those turning points in a Labyrinth life: either you befriended them, went through thick and thin in the Rift, and became lifelong companions, or the opposite happened.
"How was your first Ancient Rift like?"
Murray and Diana looked at each other for a long moment.
"Well," Diana said, letting the words linger, "it went... pretty good, actually. We met three beautiful people who happened to also be an Explorer family."
Nuri nodded, impressed. This family seemed to have a good history with people — meeting the other family and, of course, him.
Nuri leaned in.
"What about the boss? How did that go?"
Murray and Diana looked at each other again, this time, however, Nuri detected sour expressions on both of their faces.
After a while, Diana broke the silence.
"We faced the Blade Tempest. The father lost an arm and a leg saving my husband, so the mother retired to take care of him. The daughter is still an active Explorer. She’s trying to climb instead of staying on the ground like us."
"Ah... I see."
Blade Tempest was a Named undead and a 2-Star Mythic monster. It was far beyond the capabilities of a couple of measly Second Constellations. Nuri considered them lucky to have lost only an arm and a leg.
Monsters in the Labyrinth weren’t categorized by Stars alone, but by Affixes as well, and this affected the Essences, Imprints, and Labyrinth gear they dropped.
There were six officially known monster Affixes: Common, Elite, Epic, Heroic, Legendary, and Mythic. freewёbnoνel.com
Elite and Epic mobs were often slightly mutated versions of their Common variant, and Explorers might encounter them simply by walking through the Labyrinth.
Heroic and Legendary were entirely different variants, though still within the same species. Most only appeared in normal Rifts and on the higher floors. Legendary monsters usually served as mini-bosses.
Mythic monsters, however, were the true bosses of the Labyrinth, appearing only in Ancient Rifts or in some of the highest-floor zones.
The prowess of Mythic monsters was almost evenly matched with their upper-Star counterparts, perhaps even greater due to their exclusive Traits. As a result, a 2-Star Mythic could be registered as a 3-Star Heroic in terms of threat level.
Nuri rolled the threat math around in his head one more time, then exhaled.
His Star Rating would drag down the party average, and the Rift might assign them a Legendary instead of a Mythic. The monsters inside would also likely be mostly 2-Star. Could he even hold his own against them?
’...Just live a little.’
Murray must have seen his hesitation and tried to reassure Nuri.
"You got a whole day to decide, so think careful—"
"I’m in," Nuri assertively said.
Diana looked at him with worry.
"Are you sure? It’s not a decision you can just make on a whim."
Nuri clenched his fist.
"I’m certain. Just one condition."
Murray narrowed his eyes.
"What is it?"
"I need to reach Level 2 first."
The scarface uncle chuckled and nodded.
"You’ll get plenty more reps before we reach the destination."
"Then it’s decided," Diana softly said, beaming.
Nuri knew leveling up wouldn’t help much in terms of preparation, but at least it would give him some peace of mind before the inevitable doom.
[You exaggerate.]
"AH!" Nuri screamed, jolting backward.
"Nuri! What’s wrong?!" Diana hurriedly asked, her face turning from happy to terrified in seconds.
"Oh! It’s nothing! Nothing. I thought I saw a bug," Nuri vehemently denied.
Diana tilted her head, as if he had said something so out of touch.
"You’re... scared of bugs?"
"Ah... well—"
"Hey. Everybody’s got their own shameful little secret. You’re scared of bugs, and that’s fine, kid!"
Nuri slowly turned toward the voice, forcing a smile that hid a knuckle punch.
"Thanks a lot, Uncle Hugo."
He turned his attention to Rosaria.
’Rosaria! I missed y... No. Why the fuck did you do that?! You scared the shit out of me!’
[Finish the "I missed" sentence.]
Nuri instantly ignored the goddess’ unserious demand. He had completely forgotten about her after such an eventful day that it felt like a week had passed.
[So cruel of you.]
’Please save your words today. I’m about to go into an Ancient Rift, so I need all the help I can here, alright?’
[...]
Not hearing an answer, he pushed again.
’Is that okay?’
[...]
Did Nuri make her mad or something? This volatile goddess...
’Don’t save too much.’
[Ok.]
Honestly, Nuri could never understand her mind. She was such an enigma, and this bubble of text in front of him didn’t help much either.
But sometimes, she was surprisingly easy to read.
’...Okay then. I missed you. Happy?’
[...]
’Well?’
[Yes. This Great One missed you too.]
Nuri heaved a sigh, prompting Diana to ask:
"What’s the matter?"
He smiled politely.
"Nothing. I’m just itching to slay some monsters."
***
"On your right!"
Nuri twisted to meet a Yellow Spider hurtling toward him through the air. He swung his blade with the motion, drawing a line from left to right that sliced the spider in half.
"One more!"
Two spiders, one Red and one Blue, were ahead of him. Hugo just knocked them off their feet, so the chance was now.
[Skitter Lunge]
His body surged forward as soon as his legs gave it force. The blade flashed through the spiders’ eyes, drawing a horizontal line that rendered them sightless.
He recovered the sword with the momentum and curved back, cleanly slicing off the Blue Spider’s head. Murray moved in on the Red and killed it too.
It was perfect teamwork.
[Your party has killed six Colored Spiders (1★).]
[+72 XP]
[You are now Level 2.]
