Chapter 25: Rift State RatsAt first, Rowan thought he had been transported to that space of madness, and he braced himself for a new round of chaos, but he settled when he saw how stable his environment was. His sight focused on the moon again, it was larger than the ones he had seen on the two worlds he had the privilege to live in, almost taking a third of the sky. Deep pits and craters adorned its surface, and they resembled oceans filled with blood. The sight was enigmatic, and he lost himself in a few seconds, bathing in the glow of the moon. He pulled himself away from the wondrous sight with an intense force of will. His sight swept across his body and he noticed he was on a circular formation, made from the yellow rocks he touched at his manor; he could dimly see that passage with the green door and red doors when he focused his sight on the formation. From inside that passage, he knew that this world he found himself in was devastated, and he was in a small corner of it, he wondered where he found himself. His new sight was special, as he could track the trajectories of sounds and motion, it encompassed more than sight, as he could see heat and odor even pressure, and a myriad of other forces he was not even aware of or even begin to comprehend, it was a brand-new world and if he survived his first year, he would make sure he understood and enjoy the beauty that his new sight was capable of showing him.𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮 It may seem that his suffering and near madness had granted him a powerful ability, and he no longer needed his eyes for the moment. There was something about this world that felt ancient, around him was a scene of desolation, crumbled towers and bridges, a Castle that had been torn in two, broken spires shooting in the cloudless sky like the broken teeth of a giant. And massive mountains that were covered in scales. One of the mountains moved and opened a jaw filled with teeth the size of trees. Oh. Hell no. Is this the classic case of jumping from a frying pan into the fire? He pushed his spatial sight back to the formation and saw it was beginning to build a certain energy. The energy felt familiar, it was what drew him to this world, and he hoped it would also take him back, he estimated it would be completed in a minute or two. He did not see any present danger to himself presently, so he finally decided to check his Primordial Record, he was certain many things had changed inside. PᖇᎥᗰᗝᖇᗪᎥᗩᒪ ᖇᗴᑕᗝᖇᗪ Name: Rowan Kuranes Age: 11/11 Strength: 2.7 Agility: 1.9 Constitution: 7.3 Spirit: 47.9 Class: None Title: Plane walker Skill: (None) Passive: Decipher language (complete), Icy soul (level 4) Records: 𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗢𝗦 [ATAVISM]- level 0 [29/2000] 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗟 𝗦𝗘𝗜𝗭𝗘𝗥 – level 0 [0/1000] Aspect Gained: Spatial Sight (Spirit +30) Passive Skill Upgraded: Icy Soul [Spirit +5{level 3}. Spirit +10{level 4}] Soul Point:75 .5678 Remark: Divine Fodder At first, he had missed it, his eyes popping out when he saw the growth in his Spirit. Then he saw his rapidly increasing soul points and would have wept in happiness, but he had forgotten how to cry. In the madness of this past few days, something inside him had been broken, maybe never to be fixed again. Everything he once knew was the basis of his entire belief, his character had been shattered, and he was numb. What was a man, but his beliefs and ideals? My understanding of the world, of life and death had collapsed, and my new reality was hostile, and I understood none of it, but a memory of a doomed prince who died in pain and regret. To tell the truth, deep down, he did not think he was going to survive. There seemed to be no hope for him, any breakthrough he got led to another new problem to fix, and now… His soul point broke the hundred mark and continued to increase. He found the break he so desperately needed. His Spirit had broken past the ten-point threshold that only a Legendary being had and had grown far higher than his other stats. Rowan now realized how profound the effect of such a high Spirit was on him, his Spatial sight he once thought had no cooldown was wrong, it has one, but his Spirit could comfortably support the expenditure. The reason he could pull through the space of madness was not only because of his tenacity but also his Spirit which had grown to accommodate many of these supernatural forces. Spirit was one of the most important stats. It encompasses, reasoning ability, comprehension capacity, force control, and so many other things. It was one of the most difficult stats to raise. If any stat reached or surpassed the legendary state, it usually came with benefits and an additional quirk. For spirit, it was parallel processing. Most legendary could generally divide their minds into two, of course, some outliers are particularly gifted in their Spirit ability that they could separate their thought processes into three or more, but it was Rift state Dominators that were often capable of that feat. In simpler terms, it was multitasking, you could be reciting a thousand-page poem, while fantasying about your neighbors… Cough… Car, and still be replying to a query from your wife about why you did not do the dishes. So many fun things to do within a single moment. The wind brought a new sound to him… A rustle and his Spatial sight zoomed across the debris for hundreds of meters, phasing through rocks and rusted metals, and he saw a pair of rats the size of horses. Their furs were like steel needles and their eyes glowed blue, the moment his sight touched them, the rats flinched and began looking around and sniffing, each of their movement crushed rocks and their speed was terrifying. Rowan knew Legendary Dominators and had seen powerful creatures during his lifetime, this pair of rats could be rift-state creatures or even higher. Rowan went very still and shifted his sight, so he was not focused on them any longer, but it seemed one of them had sensed his position, for it gave a shrill scream and charged, its speed was so fast, it appeared as though it was teleporting. Ares goddamn balls. I knew it was too good to be true. I can't catch a single break! Nevertheless, Rowan knew he had to stay here for as long as possible, his very existence depended on it. Every single second he spent here meant more soul points in the coffer. The speed of the Rats was terrifying, but with his Spatial sight, he could analyze their movement paths, and even though he could not react to them, he could put a barrier to slow them down. How was he to do that, exactly? He had an idea, he was not sure that it would work, but he would make do with the tools available to him for a single one of these rats, he was sure, could kill everyone in his town and beyond. Rift-state creatures were powerful because they had access to Aether. He divided his mind into two parts, as he tracked the incoming rats while ascertaining the best place to lay a trap, their movement was not linear, so the calculations were difficult.