The Last Dainv

Chapter 288

Edward led them to the rift, about 50 or so metres away from the main area. Through the gate stood a clearing of about a couple of metres. At the centre of it was a triangular tear in reality. Its edges held that look of shattered glass as if reality was broken through. The portal held on to the image of a snowy clearing.

Two poles flanked the entrance, each marked with bright orange cloth.

"You see these cloths?" Edward asked.

Gale stared at them as he nodded. Erin didn't even acknowledge them.

"Follow the orange cloths to get to the resort. From there, you can stay for as long as your hearts desire. You can buy tour groups, bungee expeditions, hot spring passes, and more."

Gale clapped, unsure why such things existed in a rift.

"The rift awaits," Edward said, gesturing toward the portal. "Enjoy your stay in Crystal Winds. And please, if you have a moment, rate us five stars on AurMaps."

"AurMaps?" Gale asked.

"Aurian overlay of gmaps! It has reviews for rift sites, guilds, training facilities, Aur-only stores, and much more!" Edward pulled out her phone and showed them the location on AurMaps. "We're currently at 4.7 stars. One more five-star review and we qualify for the Path's Excellence in Rift Management Award."

"I'll give you five stars." Pulling out his phone, he located where this was and put in a 5 star immediately.

"Thank you so much!" Edward said, then spoke in a low voice, "I'll give you a free milk tea when you're back."

Gale looked at Erin, hoping she would give them a 5 star too.

"Enough, child," Erin said as she started to float towards the rift. Her blue hair trailed behind her as she winked out of existence on the other side.

Dropping his shoulders once more, Gale waved Edward goodbye. Erin probably wouldn't give them a 5 star and he wouldn't be able to get his second free milk tea from her.

Once he stepped through the portal, the scenery changed immediately. One moment, he was in a Path site for rift entry. The next, he was in a snowy meadow with the rift portal behind him.

[Aurumn's Warmth Activated]

The meadow stretched out before them, blanketed by snow. Mountain lines surrounded them on all sides, but most were on the same level plane they were on, meaning they were also on top of a mountain. Marring on the snow led towards the first pole marked with an orange cloth to the left of them.

Still, this whole place was beautiful. It reminded Gale of the favourite times he'd had with mom and dad. The snowy landscape had a different feeling from the bustle of the city, the chaos of the jungle, and the heat of the desert.

Presence Between's tendrils spread out, allowing him to see far beyond what his physical eyes could see. To the west, marked by orange clothed poles, was a large hotel-like structure with the same modular rectangular housing of at least 34 stories.

Numerous signatures clustered inside. Dozens of Awakened and Attuned, and at least several mundane. The strongest was a Late Resonant who was probably part of the security patrol, as he was stationed at a different building just a couple of metres away from the main tall building.

"This realm's true name is Kair," Erin said. "We shall head east towards Crystal Falls."

"East?" Gale pointed toward the poles. "You don't wanna at least check out the resort?"

"Child of Cev, enough of this dabbling. Leisure is for the civilians." Erin turned her back to the orange cloth and began floating eastward. "Crystal Falls lies beyond the eastern ridge. Guide us."

Gale glanced back to the west. There might've been yummy food there... but he couldn't go against his teacher. Once again, he led the way towards the ridge that she was talking about, scouted out by Presence Between.

Moving in silence for several minutes, he tried to make the snow crunch under his boots louder and louder. At times, he'd jump up into the air onto a snowbank that the wind had piled up.

Erin glided smoothly just above the snow's surface, leaving no footprint. She was the personification of a joykill.

In front of him, Gale suddenly felt movement, causing him to flinch.

A giant creature the size of a boulder was blanketed by snow, except it was breathing. Focusing more on it, he realised that it wasn't covered in snow. It was fur.

Shaking its head, it glanced back at them, revealing what it was. Long floppy ears twitched. Its mouth opened into a yawn, revealing its rabbit-like teeth. Its nose was on the pink side, wiggling as if smelling something on them.

This in front of him was a bear-sized rabbit.

Everything about it looked exactly like a normal rabbit, except for its size.

"What is that?" Gale whispered.

"A Brumd," Erin said. "Native fauna of Kair. Ignore it. They are harmless."

How could a bear-sized rabbit be harmless? As far as he knew, rabbits were one of the more aggressive creatures back on earth. Tick them off, and they'd try to annoy you to death. Now make it the size of a bear, and those thumps and bites would now be life-threatening.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

A light bulb lit up in Gale's head. "Let's catch one."

Erin turned towards him. "No."

"Come on!" Gale whined. "Think about the amount of beast jerky we would have. I bet it'll be tasty too and fatty. Andrew and Jacob and Mia and Rachel and Lily and Ollie and Kyle and Clyde will love it."

"Enough," Erin said sharply. "Make haste. We do not have time for culinary diversions. Continue your lead."

"But!"

"No."

Gale grumbled but kept walking.

The rabbit watched them go, then went back to its grooming, completely unbothered.

You're lucky, you stupid rabbit. You would've been in my stomach by now if it wasn't for her. Big fluffy delicious monster meat that was waiting to be eaten.

Continuing east, they encountered a slight, gradual incline toward the ridge. The snow grew thinner as they moved up.

"Erin," Gale said.

"Young lamb."

"If this is a leisure rift, why are there still monsters or beasts or whatever you call them?"

"Do not invoke the primitive, inaccurate classification of rifts," Erin said. "This realm, Kair, is not a 'leisure rift' in the sense that it is peaceful or empty. It is classified as such because it has achieved Origin stability."

"Origin stability?"

"This world is alive. Its Origin defense mechanisms have successfully repelled the invaders that once threatened it. The Mohrusy's corruption tried to invade, due to the valour of our brethren, the corruption was cleansed. What remains is a healed realm, populated by native entities that have evolved in the absence of hostile influence."

"Then that brumd was normal?"

"It's simply a creature that lives here. It is fauna." Erin paused. "For now, we have not encountered a hostile entity."

Gale flinched. Those were the bad words that basically say 'what could go wrong?' Now they will definitely encounter something wrong.

Cresting the edge of the incline, they began their descent towards what looked like a massive gorge that split the ground like a clean slash of a giant sword. Upon arriving at the edge, Gale looked down below, and the light couldn't penetrate the darkness below.

"Crystal Falls lies beyond this chasm," Erin said, floating beside him at the edge. "We must cross."

Based on what Presence Between could feel, it was at least 2 and a half kilometres deep and over a kilometre wide. Falling down that deep would probably hurt quite a bit. Not to mention the sharp rocks at the bottom that the tendrils gave visual information to him.

A blue outline enveloped both of them, lifting Gale off the ground. They floated across the chasm via Erin's telekinesis. Looking from above the gorge, the darkness below felt more vast than the distance his tendrils gave him.

He knew that if he fell, he would survive, and in knowing so, he was curious how much it would hurt. But unfortunately, grandma joykill wouldn't allow for that kind of detour.

They landed softly on the other side, the snow crunching beneath Gale's boots. Suddenly, Presence Between's tendrils tugged at him as Erin waited for him to lead once more.

His tendrils showed action in the north east direction. A small, weak boy that was clearly mundane ran away from a chasing brumd.

His skin was pale white along with his hair that contrasted against his deep blue eyes. He wore thick clothing made of white fur, crudely stitched together, but enough to keep him warm against the gentle breeze.

The brumd behind him gained ground with each passing second. Its huff and puff clearly signalled that it was disturbed one way or another. Its ears flopped around, trailing its head.

"Erin," Gale said. "There's a kid being chased by one of those rabbits."

Erin deadpanly looked at him. "Unfortunate for the child."

"We need to help him."

"We must hurry to Crystal Falls. Make haste, child."

"I'm going to save that boy. He's still young."

"A native of this world. Their survival is their own concern." Erin pointed east.

Gale didn't register her voice. Instead, he rushed towards the fleeing child. Snow crunched beneath his boots violently as he sprinted. Essence flooded his veins to increase his speed, and the distance closed rapidly.

The boy tripped and picked himself up. He turned back at the approaching brumd, staring at it as if resigned to his fate.

In less than a blink of an eye, Erebus materialized, sweeping into a clean arc against the brumd's head. The head and the body all dematerialized back into Gale's space storage.

Couldn't waste precious beast meat.

[Awakened Mountain Brumd Felled...]

[Extracting Origin from Prey.]

[Description: A territorial animal found in the world of Kair. Once disturbed, the Brumd will chase the perpetrator to the end of the world.]

Well, that explained it. These rabbit bear lookalikes were of the same temperament as a rabbit that would annoy anyone to death if ticked off. The boy must've done something to trigger its territorial instincts.

The boy looked up at Gale. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated with fear. Snow and frost clung to his face, brows, and eyelashes like he'd been outside for hours. His mouth spoke of something, forming words, yet it all went the way through the other ear.

The language was that of a harsh guttural sound. Lots of hard consonants with barely any vowels. The boy was trying to communicate with him. Best to say something comforting.

"It's safe," Gale said. Short words were the best words for comfort.

The boy spoke again, speaking way faster than before as he scrambled backwards away from him.

"You waste time."

Gale turned as Erin came up floating behind him, her expression as blank as ever.

"I was saving the kid," Gale said.

"The meaningless actions were observed," Erin said, looking down at the boy. "Though it is curious."

"What's curious?"

"This is a native of Kair, currently in their medieval developmental stage." Erin adjusted her floating to crouch to see the boy eye to eye on the ground.

Not the normal kind too. She literally bent herself horizontally and floated lower to meet his eye level.

She continued, "their settlements are located in the valleys below. I am curious why this one has ventured so far up the mountain."

The boy said something else.

Again, Gale understood none of it.

"Hey, hey, hey," Gale said, crouching and tilting his head at the boy. "We're not going to hurt you."

The boy's eyes watered as they darted between Gale and Erin. Slowly, he reached a ball like thing behind him, purple and round. It looked like a single grape, except the size of the boy's head. Holding it out to both of them, he closed his eyes tightly.

"Is he giving me the fruit as a reward?" Gale asked Erin. "For saving him?"

"No." Erin's voice was flat. "The boy believes you are robbing him."

"What?"

"You appeared from nowhere, killed the creature pursuing him, and now stand between him and escape. In his experience, such actions typically precede theft or violence." Erin paused. "He is offering the fruit in hopes that you will take it and leave him unharmed."

Well, that's not right. He even wore good jeans that weren't ripped to make him look less like a bandit.

Stepping forward towards the boy, Gale picked the boy under his armpits and lifted him to his feet.

The boy made a startled sound.

Gale turned him around so he was facing away, toward the distant treeline where the forest began. Then he released his grip and gave the boy a gentle push.

"Go," Gale said, waving his hand in a shooing motion. "Go home. Keep your fruit."

The boy stared at him over his shoulder, frozen.

Erin spoke. The words that came out of her mouth weren't any of the languages of Earth. It was that of the boy's language, the harsh guttural consonant-heavy sounds.

The boy nodded once, then quickly walked towards the treeline. Every now and then, he would glance back over his shoulder as if expecting them to change their minds about letting him live.

Gale waved at him each time. Go now, young boy. You're free. He wanted to say that, but he knew full well the boy wouldn't understand.

The boy reached the trees. He paused at the edge, looking back one final time. Then he disappeared into the forest, sprinting to the northeast.

"What did you say to him?" Gale asked.

"We waste time," Erin said, turning back to the eastward direction. "The boy is saved. Now lead."