The air outside thickened with every step toward the rift, and the equipment rattled in the bag in an uneven rhythm as Eron followed.
The rift was a massive scar in the wall, its edges writhing and folding in on themselves, bleeding a warped green light. An unsettling hum echoed around it, making Eron's heart beat even faster.
There were four different types of rifts, distinguishable by their color, green signified level one, blue indicated level two, red marked level three, black represented level four, each level significantly more dangerous than the last, green and blue rifts were the most common ones, requiring fewer high level hunters to clear, red rifts were rarer, necessitating at least two S ranked hunters to clear, black rifts were almost mythical, with only one sighting recorded in history.
When rifts were left open for too long, rift breaks occurred. These beasts that resided in these tears would emerge and lay waste to the populace. This was the sole purpose of the Apex: to keep these rifts in order and ensure they were regularly cleared. A single rift could be cleared multiple times.
Most hunters venture into these low-level rifts to farm crystals and raise their stats, as for the red ones; They were cleared occasionally to avoid rift breaks that would be very difficult to manage.
They were already at the threshold when Ior spoke up, "I believe we're all aware of the current situation. This is a Level One rift; it should be a piece of cake."
He walked through the entrance, the space between the two edges distorted as he disappeared into the rift. The other hunters followed immediately. Eron took a deep breath and went in after them.
The space inside was dark; it was as though the world had been hollowed out and then stitched together carelessly, with cracked floors and ceilings, veins of green light pulsing beneath the stone, the air dense and metallic.
Ahead of them were two paths, and Ior instinctively turned to the one on the right, the party following suit.
The first beasts appeared without warning, the ground shook as something, no, some things clawed their way out of the shadows with wet snapping snarls, eyes igniting one after the other as the rift filled with screeches and the unquestionable smell of blood.
"SPINE RATS!!" One Hunter yelled, forcing a somewhat disorganized formation from the party. These creatures were as big as wolves; their thick fur covered their grotesque bodies, and their teeth were as long as daggers.
Eron stood in shock, with his mouth open as he watched the hunters send attack after attack against these monsters, his face pale, for he had never seen such things before.
One of the hunters stretched his arm out, hurling fireballs as big as a basketball towards the rats. Ior was already dancing through them with his sword as though they were mere target practice. His eyes were unable to follow Ior's movements as his blade phased through their thick fur as easily as chopping vegetables. All he could see was rat heads and parts dropping at random in a jagged rhythm.
'So this is what a top-class hunter looks like.' Eron mused, his eyes wide open in awe.
In less than an hour, all the creatures were dead, leaving behind a few green crystals. They moved further into the rift, successfully eradicating every spine rat that came their way. Ior did most of the work, which earned him most of the loot.
It was finally time for the boss room. From the conversations that ensued among the hunters, Eron learned it was called the Red-Eyed Ravager.
A large dark cave loomed at the end. From this cave emerged a giant rodent, ferociously tall; it looked like a grizzly bear, but was about two times its size. Its eyes were glowing red with hunger, and its teeth were as sharp as sharpened blades.
ROARRRRR!!!
A sound that left him frozen as the hunters proceeded to attack the beast, this time everybody at once, not giving it any room to rest, balls of fire hitting it from random directions, Ior's sword slicing through its thick hide, easily, arrows piercing through its skin until eventually it let out a guttural noise and fell to the floor, disintegrating and leaving a bigger green crystal in its wake.
The hunters had cleared the rift.
"Phew, all in a day's work," Ior said, wiping off the beads of sweat from his forehead. "Let's get those crystals."
The whole team moved into the cave, which was filled with crystals; they gathered most of them. In the distance, Eron could see a blue crystal that shone brighter than its green counterpart.
Eron clutched the sack of equipment and practically lunged towards it, grabbing it with one hand and closing his eyes. For a minute, he could feel it, the energy swirling around him; he was finally going to gain a class!
He opened his eyes… Nothing, he switched the crystal to his other hand, nothing still, he didn't have to hear the laughter that erupted behind him to feel it, utter embarrassment.
"You really thought you could become like us, classless idiot," one of the Hunters sneered. Ior just stood there, smiling disdainfully at him. He had been a fool to think one could just gain a class out of nothing, so easily.
He turned his back to them, his head hung in shame, 'Damnit, there's no way I fell for such a petty trick." He was almost moved to tears as he thought to himself.
He was so deep in thought that he hadn't even noticed the huge dark portal that appeared in front of him. Out of it stepped a wolf that made the Ravager look like a puppy; it was enormous. The moment Eron looked up, a huge glob of saliva fell onto his face, and he could barely react before the first attack landed. With a wave of its paw, Eron was thrust against the wall with immeasurable force.
GAHHH!!
He screamed as his body slammed into the stone wall, breath ripping from his lungs before he slid onto the floor. He coughed up blood onto his hands, his vision blurred, fading. He looked up, and the wolf was slowly moving towards him.
"What is that??" A Hunter asked.
"I don't know, but there's no way that's a level one beast."
"He's gonna die in there."
He heard another voice now, it was Ior's, he knew it all too well, "There's no way we can take that thing right now, not with our energy levels, let's just take our crystals and go, what's one less classless person?"
Good old betrayal.
He lay there bleeding on the floor, the wolf approaching him, eyes fixed intently, with a low growl that made his spine chill. He was dying again.
"Fuckk, I barely even lasted." He said as he struggled to sit upright, the pain traveling from his brain to his limbs was unbearable.
With that, his eyes shut.