“What is it Bird?” Feline asked, lifting his head from the drawings.
“The Fifth Way. Corrupted.”
The three guardians turned their heads toward Diven. A formless pressure exuded out of their bodies. Div and En couldn’t see their expressions behind their masks—not that they had any, being faceless—but they had no doubt they were angry.
“No. You didn’t…” Dog muttered. “How dare you? Do you think we’ll let you go just because of that?”
“It’s fine, Dog,” Feline said. “I’ll absorb the rot-attuned skill. It may still push me over the line.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. His level in the skill was so low that ascending with it was always a long shot anyway. The attunement might give it the boost we needed,” Feline said. “Plus, we don’t really have a choice. If we wait any longer, we’ll die of old age before we ascend.”
“Fine. See, Diven, it's pointless to struggle,” Dog said. “If that’s any comfort, we’re not happy to do it either. We have no real choice in the matter.”
[Don’t let his words get to you.]
(I know. Once he is distracted, we run. Have you checked on Blighted Passage yet? I’m not noticing a change in our perception of the fifth direction.)
[From what I can feel, the difference from the base skill is only taking effect once we travel through the fifth direction. Then all I can sense is a strong rot. Sorry, I can’t make out the details.]
(Then we’ll have to hope it’s enough. From what they’ve been saying, Feline seems to have evolved The Fifth Direction, and it’s probably level 10 if they believe he can ascend with it soon.)
[Yes, I don’t know how far our Basic Rank level 4 skill will take us.]
Dog kept a close eye on Diven while Feline and Bird finished setting up the ritual. But ultimately, the canine masked faceless was the one with the expertise and he was needed to verify the exactitude of the other’s drawings.
With a ritual as complex as this one, they couldn’t afford to make a mistake. If there was even the slightest deviation, it would at best not work. But since the ritual would channel power from Diven into Feline, the risk to the latter’s life was tenfold.
When Dog turned around and entrusted guarding Diven to his two colleagues, Div and En seized the opportunity and darted away
With each of their steps powered by their new Blighted Passage skill, they would at least ensure that only Feline would be able to follow.
After ten steps, Feline had jumped into action and was already right behind them.
(I’m not seeing a difference!)
[He should already have caught us.]
(Why?)
[His skill is at the top of the Evolved Rank. Ten steps should have been enough to catch us.]
(Maybe it’s because he wants us alive…)
[It should make a difference. Let’s see..]
Diven turned his head to look behind him. Feline was close but he wasn’t catching up. In fact, it looked as if the masked faceless was struggling to follow them. His steps were staggered, unnatural. It seemed like he was hesitating.
The more they advanced, the more Feline seemed to be struggling.
[I get it now! Blighted Passage is destroying the fifth direction behind us.]
(I agree, it seems it’s decomposing quite rapidly after our passage too.)
[Let’s keep going, we’re not out of trouble yet.]
As happy as they were about their new skill countering Feline, they didn’t forget he wasn’t the only threat coming after them. Dog and Bird had given chase too, and while they weren’t able to follow the fifth direction, they were still Evolved Rank powerhouses.
Underestimating them would only spell trouble
And then, there was the faceless army. If it came back to surround them, they would be trapped. Blighted Passage or not.
Still, they were losing Feline. They continued running until they reached the entrance to a forest. Darting inside, they hid among the trees.
Feline was gone. They were safe, for now.
Skill leveled up: Blighted Passage Lv4 -> Lv5
[What do we do now?]
(We need to find the exit.)
[How?]
(Return to the river and keep following it until we find it.)
[That would mean putting our trust in Bird not lying when she said the exit was there.]The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
(Right… Considering what we now know, it seems more likely the exit is nowhere near the river.)
They didn’t know what to do. Their only way out of the rift was the exit portal. But the rift was so large that finding it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
[How do rift explorers usually find exits?]
(I don’t know. I guess they have a skill to help them.)
[Maybe Facet of the Explorer would help…]
(Possible, but we don’t know when we will be able to select it.)
[And it could also give an unrelated skill.]
Before they could think more, their discussion was interrupted by a sharp warning coming from Trap Detection.
They stepped onto their Blighted Passage just in time to avoid Bird swooping down on them.
[She’s flying!]
(We should have known, these wings aren’t just for show. Of course, Bird can fly.)
[That’s a problem.]
It would be a lot harder to escape if one of the guardians could look for them from high up in the air. Especially since the rift was pretty open. Sure, there were a few forests here and there like the one they were currently in. But clearly, it wasn’t enough to hide from her.
Nonetheless, Blighted Passage proved its efficiency at getting them out of trouble. In no time, Bird was nowhere to be seen and they were back in the hilly plains, following wherever the skill led.
Skill leveled up: Trap Detection Lv5 -> Lv6
They were still free, they were still alive, yet they still had no idea how to leave this place.
[Is every rift that large? It doesn’t make sense. How is any expedition successful in finding the exit?]
(I would wager that this is the result of this rift reaching Evolved Rank. Rifts depend on the power level of their native population. With three Evolved Rank creatures—and at least one close to Ascended Rank—it makes sense for it to be this big.)
[So we’re just underleveled. Great.]
(Nothing new here.)
[Then, would I be right to say that the rift grew in size along with the growth of its inhabitants?]
(Sounds about right. Why?)
[Does the exit portal move when the rift grows?]
(I don’t know… But I see what you’re getting at. If entrance and exit portals don’t move, they should be in the same area. Let’s try to return to the starting point.)
Thankfully, orienting themselves wasn’t too difficult. All they had to do was scale the tallest hill in the area and locate the cliff where they had fallen off the waterfall.
Given its height and the barrenness of the landscape, it was easy to get a line of sight of the massive rock formation. Once they reached it, they would have to find a way up there and look for the mountains.
But as they were about to set off, they found themselves faced with Feline and Bird who had caught up to them.
(How are they finding us so easily? We didn’t even see Bird fly above us?)
At least, Dog wasn’t there. They had to assume the third guardian didn’t have a way to move as fast as the other two.
“Boy. Surrender yourself. Don’t make things more difficult for yourself.” Feline said.
“Dream on,” Diven answered, reaching out for Blighted Passage.
But the guardians were prepared, and before he could get away, Bird blasted them with a gust of wind magic, knocking him off balance.
Catching himself with his hands, Diven rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a swipe of Feline’s claws that had been concealed within his massive gloves. They looked a lot sharper than those worn by Basic Rank Faceless.
The guardians were stronger and faster than Diven, but they were handicapped by their need to capture him alive. Thus, Diven was able to slip away.
He was racing toward the cliff, using Blighted Passage whenever it would save him some time. However, his target remained far away. It had taken such a long time to reach the black stone, even if he was faster now it would still take considerable time.
Yet, slowly, the grassland gave way to snow and small bushes. He was getting closer.
From time to time, Bird or Feline would catch up to him. But with only two of them and the slippery nature of his skill, they couldn’t quite catch him.
While they couldn’t catch him, they could injure him. As much as they wanted him alive, they didn’t seem to mind him being hurt. A scratch here, a bruise there, his wounds were adding up.
“Diven, we meet again,” Feline shouted.
Bird was with him.
“Come on, use your skill to get away,” he taunted. “If you don’t we’ll catch you.”
As the guardians rushed toward him, Diven did just that and left the scene. He got Feline to stop following him after a few more minutes of running.
Skill leveled up: Blighted Passage Lv5 -> Lv6
(Don’t you find it weird? How have they not caught us yet?)
[I’m not too familiar with Evolved Rank, but whether it is Mother, Father, or Uncle Basil, I’m convinced they can do better than that.]
(I get it for Uncle Basil. After all, he’s been touted as the next elder of the clan since his awakening. He’s strong. But mom and dad are far from the peak of the Evolved Rank.)
[The guardians are not trying their best.]
(But why?)
[I don’t know, but we might as well take advantage of it.]
Div and En pressed on toward the cliff. After a grueling race across the difficult-to-traverse terrain of the tundra. After getting stung by and tangled in the low vegetation. After encountering Bird and Feline countless times. They finally reached the foot of the cliff.
It loomed, impossibly high.
So high that just looking at it from below gave them vertigo. It felt as if the cliff was going to come down and crash into them. Their footing was unsteady. Confronted with the cliff's immensity, they hesitated.
[I still can’t believe we survived that fall.]
(Me neither.)
[So… Do we just climb it or?]
(We can’t climb here. I don’t see a path up.)
Indeed, there were a few rocks that would let them climb halfway up the cliff, but beyond that, the cliff face looked completely smooth. Div and En were no climbers, they weren't about to throw himself at a route like that.
They picked a direction and followed the cliff, looking for a better place to climb. Since they knew the river was to their left, they elected to travel toward the right. swim across the basin, where Bird could easily attack them from above.
Also, the last time they were near the river, too many faceless were lingering there. With the guardians on their tail, they couldn't risk getting tangled with more hostiles.
(Bird is going to be an issue during our climb.)
[Feline too. If he is true to his name, I expect him to have an easier time than us while climbing.]
With no better option, they decided to deal with it when the time came. It was possible the guardians wouldn’t risk attacking them during their climb. If Diven fell to his death, Feline wouldn’t be able to claim his skills.
Div and En were betting a lot on the guardians’ unwillingness to give up on their loot.
They were up against Evolved Ranks. Not taking risks would only lead to defeat.