Free Web NovelChapter 27: Rift Mix-Up 1
After six hours of trying to sleep, Luke gave up and decided to start his morning productively. With free time, now that he wasn’t in the academy, Luke was able to start doing his morning routine again. He came out of the practice room, sweat dripping down his shirtless chest. There wasn’t a feeling better than waking up early and doing something hard first thing, Luke had always stood by that, although maybe he would have to put that feeling in second place.
Valeria’s smile after learning her mana core would be fixed was a better feeling than anything else in the world.
The sun hadn’t even risen yet when he was finished working out. With nothing better to do, he started cooking a classic breakfast that he would make at home, eggs and potatoes. Luke made the same meal every day after finishing his workout, yet he never got tired of it.
Not having a rush on time, he carefully measured two portions of the meal and prepared the cookware. The aroma of spices filled the house as he cooked. He worried for a while that Valeria would wake up, but she never did.
When he finished cooking, he plated both meals, but once he realized that Valeria wasn’t awake, Luke covered the meal.
He ate in the still quietness of the morning, the sun finally started to peek over the nearby houses. Luke cleared his plate in a few minutes and rinsed it, before sneaking into the bathroom for a quick shower. When he exited, Valeria was still asleep. He was certain she had woken up to him before, but maybe this was a byproduct of trust.
Luke searched through the wardrobe in the dark, hoping to find any kind of active wear for the rift. All he found was an academy uniform and dress clothes. With no other option, he changed into the academy uniform and prepared himself to leave.
He walked into the kitchen and wrote a note on the food:
Headed out for the day, I’ll be back before dinner.
Then he walked to the front door and checked his status before leaving.
[Name: Lucius Kreuger]
[Rank: F]
[Mana: 28]
[Spells: Defense Increase (F), Grease (F), Pattern Recognition (F), Frost Spike (D), Fill Water (D), Vine Shield (C)]
[Bonded Spouse: Valeria Kreuger]
[Spouse Abilities: Shared Growth]
[Spouse Mana: 0]
[Trust: 45/100]
[Affection: 11/100]
[Milestones Completed: 4/14]
Luke was pleased with his stats. His mana was already halfway to D-Rank, while he owned multiple spells higher than his rank. The C-Rank spell alone would be worth a fortune and he couldn’t forget about the spell ticket that he put in his inventory; there was also the F-Rank spellbook that Valeria still had.
Even with all the mana he had gained, Vine Shield would use up half of it with a single cast. Luke would only be able to cast it once in a rift, but he was sure it would be able to block an attack from even a C-Rank monster, let alone a D- or F-Rank one.
While lost in his thoughts, he had already made his way onto the train platform, the humming runes signaled its arrival. Luke couldn’t help but notice the lack of passengers on board now that the academy had ended. The only other people in the train car were dressed in normal explorer attire.
Since the world revolved around magic, heavy armor and weapons weren’t commonplace, but it was still normal enough for low-rank hunters to wear breastplates and light guards for their arms and legs. Although past D-Rank these man-made pieces of armor were just extra weight.
Unless an explorer has a strong defense spell, the biggest focus during combat is positioning and speed. Luke was familiar with the usual cast and dodge tactics, but had only realized their importance during his rift excursion. That’s why he decided to pick up his workout routine in hopes of increasing his body’s stamina and agility.
He could have asked Valeria for money to buy cheap utility spells that would help with his stats, but as a man he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to ask her for money.
He already had a D-Rank attack spell that would be capable of dispatching any F-Rank monster he’d come across, as long as it wasn’t a boss, so there was no point in worrying about cheap spells.
The train came to a halt, slightly jerking Luke as he kept his momentum. He almost grabbed Valeria’s wheelchair, before realizing that she wasn’t with him. He hadn’t realized before, but this was his first time in the world by himself.
Luke walked through campus. It felt so uncanny to see it empty. Not a single soul stood in the quad, that would be fully populated on any given day.
He walked past all the classrooms and back to the rift park. There were a few other explorers lining the pathway. Most seemed to be students that he had graduated with; only a few older explorers stood around the rift park.
Luke saw his teammate standing at the top of the hill, his blonde hair was easy to pick out in a crowd, not that there was much of one.
Leon seemed to notice him as well, waving towards Luke. He eyed Luke’s outfit of choice, mentally making the decision not to comment on it.
"You are here early. We still have 45 minutes until our meet time."
"Oh, I didn’t even check the time."
"Don’t worry about it. The earlier we start the, earlier we finish. While we have time, how do you want to split the money we get from this rift. I doubt we will stumble upon mana crystals, but we still have a chance for a spellbook."
Luke hadn’t thought of the money from the rift, mostly because there was very little to gain from low rank rifts. Mana crystals are the most valuable thing, but are very rare unless you enter a S-Rank or higher rift and most spellbooks are only worth a handful of silver coins at F-Rank.
"It makes more sense just to keep a spellbook if we find one, but if we find a mana crystal then we should do a 50/50 split, assuming we both do our parts."
"Sounds good to me. Are ready to head in, then?"
"Been ready."
They both nodded and walked up to the front desk where a woman sat with a litany of papers lining the desk. Leon told her the reservation details and they were permitted to enter.
"Rift 301, rift 301, where are you."
The blonde boy spoke to himself as they walked through the rows of rifts to find their own.
"Here it is!"
Leon shouted as he beckoned for Luke to follow him.
They both stood in front of the rift, the same void black swirling inside. The podium stood beside it, listing the description of the dungeon.
Goblins.
The enemies were the same green goblins found in almost every fantasy novel. Neither Luke nor Leon were concerned as the monster was considered the weakest of any humanoid F-Rank monster.
’So his confidence wasn’t unfounded after all.’
"Ready to enter?" Leon asked.
"Born."
Leon stepped through first, followed by Luke.
As they disappeared into the rift, the paper on the podium flew away revealing a second rift description paper. Red warnings lined the paper.
