C6. Beyond the Rift

After taking a moment to prepare for their job by equipping his gear, Ryan approached the massive tear in the fabric of reality alongside nineteen other Rifters of different ranks and classes.

A Rifter could only awaken to a single ability their entire lives but that didn't mean there weren't exceptions to this rule. As a Rifter awakens, either from the day they were born or at a later stage in their lives, their bodies evolve to handle that avidly.

Abilities such as super strength and super speed came with a lot of caveats and problems. One needs a stronger body to be able to use that ability to its fullest.

This was what was now known as attributes, it was similar to ones from those old RPG games. One attribute increases to match one's ability after awakening but that was not the end.

Although abilities could not change or evolve, they could be improved by increasing one's attributes and this was where attributes stones came in handy.

While one would need to gather an exuberant amount, a feat that would be impossible given the rarity and ridiculous price of a single attribute stone, it was indeed still possible for a rank F Rifter to one day become an S rank Rifter.

This was how Ben and Val had been able to get promoted to D-rank Rifters after their entire guild had pulled their three year long stockpile together. They had spent most, if not all of their builds profits on purchasing attribute stones for the pair.

All for the chance of getting their guild promoted to gain better Rift licenses and recruit higher-ranked Rifters from the so-called higher ranked guilds.

While Ryan was also a co-guild leader of the guild, there was a reason why he had not been one of the ones to make use of the guild's attribute stones in order to increase his rank.

The reason for this was relatively simple, his ability wouldn't be as vital to the team's success in a Grade 6 rift as Val's and Ben's.

Ben was classified as a tank, and his ability was called, Ark. It was an ability that made him one of the most popular Tanks in the city even though he had only been an E-Ranker from the moment he awakened.

The ability creates a divine Ark around him that increases his defense by more than 50%, as well as the defense of everyone within the ark by around 30%.

The ability also gave him a one-time 200% power boost during a counter strike, meaning, his strength received a massive increase after his first successful block. In the right situation, such an attack is capable of killing a Rift boss in a single hit. Making his ability vital in their future plans.

Val on the other hand was a very skilled archer and her ability aided her in battle, while Ryan's was, iffy at best.

While it was indeed invaluable in battle, its functions wouldn't change even if he became a D-ranked Rifter and his physical strength was not as impressive as Ben's either.

Besides, he had unfortunately awakened as an F Ranker and had only just advanced to E-Rank thanks to the efforts of his guild and planned to reward them properly after they cleared this Rift.

Anyway, that was beside the point as Ryan strapped on his leather armor and picked up his foldable rune spear from his duffel bag.

With that, his team was set to enter a Grade 6 Rift for the first time. It would be a lie to say they weren't nervous but every single one of them had looks of determination on their faces.

As Ryan was part of both the exploration and extermination teams, (just like the majority of their highest ranked members) he had brought with him two sets of equipment.

One of them was specialized for easy movement as they had no intentions of engaging with any of the monsters they encountered for the time being.

As this wasn't a game, death inside a rift was the same as the outside world so none of them could act recklessly just because they were excited.

This was uncharted territory for them and they needed to be extremely cautious. As Ben was more of a heavy infantry than anything, he didn't possess any light armor that would allow for their getaway if they were to encounter any problems so he wasn't on the exploration team with Ryan and Val.

"Let's begin."

As the sun completely illuminated the sky, it was time for them to begin their mission as exploration of a rift could take anywhere from a few hours to a few days depending on the size of the miniature dimension within the rift.

"Alright let's go!"

That excited yell came from the beautiful redhead beside Ryan as he walked straight through the massive rift and his team of 20 followed suit.

As their vision suddenly changed the weirdness of passing through dimensions washed over them. Their eyes were immediately bombarded with an intense light that forced them to close their eyes in order to adjust to their new environment.

Any normal human that had attempted to pass through a Rift has had their inside been ripped out of them by the gravitational force of the spatial tear.

This was also why modern weapons couldn't make it to the other side, and thus, every conventional protective suit created by the brightest minds in the word for ordinary humans to be able to pass through the Rifts had failed.

After a moment of adjusting to the sudden brightness, they all opened their eyes to confirm their surroundings and their eyes went wide as everyone was stunned and speechless.

"A white desert…"

That was the most accurate depiction of what they could comprehend about what they were currently seeing as a desert made up of completely white sands almost as though it was a snowfield— stretched as far as the eyes could see.

"Are you kidding me? This place is massive. How the hell are we supposed to explore the entire desert in less than a week?"

One of the two mages in the group spoke from behind Ryan as he marveled at the sight before him.

They were all used to the smaller spaces of Grade 7 Rifts that mostly led to narrow caves and smaller labyrinths. However, this place was completely different, the vastness of the white desert weighed heavily on them as it seemed as though they had bitten off more than they could chew.

"Relax, this is nothing but an optical illusion from the desert itself. This place is not that much larger than what we're used to. I doubt if it's even half the size of any of the desert back on earth."

At the rising tension of his team, Ryan immediately quenched their anxiety as his light brown pupils were dyed in a bright shade of green.

Everyone's nerves returned to normal as they all understood what his ability was and trusted his judgment. If this place was playing tricks with their minds then it might've been an effect from the monsters living here so they couldn't allow themselves to be carried away.

Even after 40 years since these rifts began to open up all around the world, not much was known about them or the true reason why technology couldn't pass through the portals.

Of course, modern guns and weapons could barely damage the monsters anyway so it wasn't like they would make any difference.

What was most intriguing was how the space within these rifts worked as it always tends to be an isolated area within a parallel dimension. Their sizes vary based on the sizes of the monsters that reside within them relative to the grade of the rifts.

"Alright guys, there's no time to waste just standing around here. If the guild leader said this place is not that large then it's not. Let's begin exploring this place already, the sun is killing me."

The one who spoke was the only healer on the team, Sarah. She was a short girl wearing a white robe and holding a wooden staff. With short black hair blue eyes, a pretty face and puffy cheeks, she was the type one could call adorably cute but no one here would dare treat her like a child.

"Sarah's right. The sooner we're done mapping out the monsters', their numbers and locations, as well as locating the source, the sooner we can get to the fun part."

With a bright smile on her face, Val addressed the entire team and immediately dashed ahead before anyone could even attempt to stop her.

"Geez, this is supposed to only be an exploration mission, so what the hell are you doing."

Ryan yelled at the recklessness of his girlfriend as they were supposed to be moving silently so as not to attract the attention of the monsters within this Rift, but she was already a considerable distance away before he had even reacted.

"Well, that's the guild leader for you. Come on, let's go, we can't afford to fall behind her."

His guild mate readily responded as they all chuckled and began to jog after Val, leaving Tyler speechless. The tension caused by their nervousness in exploring a more dangerous Rift than they are used too, had completely disappeared by her impulsive nature.

However, her attitude was one of the reasons why she was his guildmate's favourite Guild Leader, and why he loved her so much.

*Sigh... "Fine then!"

Ryan sighed as he smiled and chased after his guild members that had already left him behind despite him being the leader of this exploration mission.