Ethan took a moment to pay the cost of the new spell and add it to his permanent inventory. It was a modifier, as he expected from its name, and he assumed it'd work on, well, stream-like spells. So [Gout of Flames], [Water Jet], and the likes.

Ethan added the modifier to the [Water Jet] combination and grinned.

[Electrified][Pressurized][Enlarged][Water Jet]

"That's a lot of modifiers," he said as he floated above one of the Slavugs, and aiming with an arm, he let it rip.

A fist-sized jet shot out and carved right through the slug's body and continued past it, geysering violently against the tough rock and sending chunks of cooled lava flying before he cut it off and chuckled.

It was good. Not as punchy as the thinner stream, but way less straining to produce. And it packed a powerful punch. Plus, at this point he was confident he could push the tier-1 [Water Jet] to tier-2, but it had already been a couple of hours of him being here, so he wanted to get moving. With things being still dicey in the world outside, he didn't want to be out of reach for too long.

Over the next hour or so, he mopped up the rest of the slugs. None had been tier-2, so it frankly hadn't taken too much effort and when the counter hit 30, he finally pulled up all of his notifications and rolled his shoulder.

Rift challenge: Cull the Slavug population (30/30) completed

Challenge reward: Two mid-grade primagem, 10,000 fragments

Two small boxes appeared in front of him, levitating at eye level along with a cloud of familiar golden dust. Reaching forward with a hand, the rune of the Shardpurse lit up and the fragments were sucked in. Popping the lids of the two boxes, Ethan grinned as he saw the fiery mid-grade primagem in the first one. Somehow, the heat emanating out of it felt more stifling than the literal volcanic cauldron he was currently in. As for the second, it was a dark, brown stone that immediately gave him the impression he was looking up at a looming mountain.

"I should have some use for you two," he said with a smile, popping both primagems in his Soul Storage before he turned his attention to the remaining notifications.

You have reached Level 78. 1 stat point awarded.

Shardpurse: 11364 fragments collected.

New Dawn: 22728 fragments withheld to be delivered when within range.

A single level wasn't amazing, but it also was understandable. Frankly, Ethan hadn't been that challenged. The environment had been more of a challenge than the monsters themselves and thankfully, he had been equipped well enough to handle them from afar.

Thank god I actually considered diversifying a little and not put all my chips on fire spells. I might have been screwed otherwise, he thought. His experience would have been much more different if he'd been forced into melee with the lava slugs.

The riftcore can be claimed.

"Now, what do I do with this place," he wondered as he glanced at the red and brown gems that adorned his body. Not all seemed to be full, in fact, only one in three had absorbed enough to start detaching from his scales.

This place was amazing to potentially farm fire primagems, but could he afford to leave the rift open? First, that could make this area dangerous if too many of the slugs crawled out and began spreading. Second, if that didn't become an issue, then what if someone else came in and took the riftcore? They didn't have the manpower to watch over the rift.

I just gotta hope we can do something with the riftcores with those rift-related modules, he thought after a second. With a nod, he collected the red and black riftcore, and stepped back out into the world as the rift crumbled behind him.

The light of the late morning sun shone on his scales as Ethan took in a deep breath of fresh air. Storing the riftcore in his soul, he glanced around and found the duo he'd seen earlier gone so without wasting any time, he hopped in the air and flew back toward New Dawn to make sure nothing was on fire before he scouted his next rift.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

I'm gonna need to stop at some and go deal with our neighbors, though, he thought as the abandoned cities flitted below him, the calls and roars of the local empowered fauna floating up to his ears from below. He still had unfinished business with the Union, from exploiting children and trying to push their way around, and Brotherhood was going to make themselves known soon.

He'd enjoyed not having to deal with people for a few hours, but now he was ready and willing to get those matters over with, and as he flew within the range of New Dawn's pylon, he considered shooting Amanda a message but when he saw hers, he opted to clear one or two more rifts instead.

Personal Messages (2 new messages)

Gerald Richardson (1 new message): 9:27 - Hey Ethan. There's a rift north-east of Wyldrock that's letting out some pretty dangerous fliers. They're fast and they're using lightning. We're holding the exit but we don't have a lot of fliers ourselves and we don't know what kind of environment would be within. We'd appreciate the help as soon as possible.

Amanda Daniels (1 new message): 10:09 - Hi Ethan. Negotiations are ongoing. We're on high-alert from the Brotherhood and we have a meeting with the Union around noon. No emergencies so far so keep doing what you're doing, but do try to keep your rift delves short. There's a settlement south that had agreed to join, we'll be sending a group to take care of it. See you soon.

"Oh Gerald?"

Ethan read through the messages and frowned. That one might be a pain in the ass as far as rifts went. But as Gerald said, they didn't have that many good fliers yet.

"Alright then," Ethan said with a nod. "I'll deal with that one, then go see Amanda."

He quickly typed her a message to let her know and emphasized her prioritizing the location of the Union, then pulled the last notification before he hopped back up in the air.

22728 fragments transferred to New Dawn

22 Contribution points have been earned.

"I wonder what I'm going to do with those points," Ethan mused as he eyed the Contribution points. "I'll look into it in my next break, I guess. For now… one more rift."

***

As expected, the rift in question did end up being a pain in the ass.

The gateway spat him out right out of a monstrous cliffside so high and so wide Ethan couldn't even see the edges. And even if they'd been close, the fog, rain, and crackling clouds around would have made that even harder.

Not that he had time to explore.

An eardrum-piercing shriek came from above and Ethan barely had the time to raise his arm and brace before a pair of clawed, rough talons slammed him into the rock. Ethan grit his teeth as the rocks exploded around him and grunt escaped his throat when the snarling, beaked humanoid screeched uncomprehendingly in his face before lightning scoured him out of its talons.

"FFFFfuck," he shouted, punching the rage-eyed creature away, but it refused to let him go and instead just upped the voltage coming out of its talons before trying to peck his eyes out. There was no reason in its yellow, bloodshot eyes, just pure savagery and hatred.

[Stormtalon Harpy - Level 72 (II)]

Ethan's scales and arms ignited and he immediately flared the flames out, and the harpy screeched, kicking away from him, but it wasn't down. Its wing crackled, and its screeched, a bolt of lightning shooting out of its beak before Ethan could push himself out of the hole it had shoved him in.

His wings surrounded him and the lightning danced along his scales, making his muscles twitch wildly as a pained laugh escaped his throat.

He did want a challenge. It seemed like he'd just gotten it.

Before the harpy could continue its onslaught, Ethan jumped out, while three fireballs began forming atop of his horns while more rage-filled screeched rang all around them. The harpy zipped up, and it was already coming back down at him as it gained speed. Pointing up at it, he shot up a gout of fire so concentrated in nearly looked like a solid bar, but the harpy easily dodged away with a twirl before he found himself face to face with its sharp claws once more.

If it hadn't been for his scales and Toughness, he'd have been a bleeding mess already. But the claws could only skid against the bronze-colored scales.

"My turn," he said with a grin. He couldn't even hear himself with the howling wind around him. But he certainly heard the detonation as all the heat he'd accumulated in the volcano exploded out of him in a blinding deflagration of flames and energy.

You have defeated [Stormtalon Harpy - Level 72 (II)]

The harpy died instantly and when his eyes recovered from the blinding flare, all that he could see was floating nimbus of golden light, along with a fifty-foot wide crater in the cliff near him.

Cracking his neck, Ethan looked up at the flitting forms converging on him and let out a slow breath. If anything, he was about to get really better at flying.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.