Adrian had heard the Association President had plans to seek help with the International Hunter Association to clear the continuously unstable rift, Mahapadma. That’s why Lucas wanted to meet her and see if he could join in the raid. However, their plans changed the moment Johan pulled out the Ice resistance potion.

  Still, he didn’t expect to run into Ares, a Hunter ranked 90th in the world. This was the worst match-up against Lucas, ranked 89th. The two got along as well as cats and dogs.

  So, the moment he stepped into the rift, Adrian expected to see the two in a fist fight. However, Lucas stood at the forefront, and Ares observed from the back. Distasteful his gaze was, but they weren’t making things worse.

  One less thing to worry about, Adrian thought.

  Sae met his eyes from under the hood, manipulating a steel contraption of his creation. Brima had sat down on the steaming, cracked land, eyes closed in concentration.

  Fire field, Lucas’s first skill, they stood in that semicircle. Beyond it was a wasteland as white as bone, jagged spines rising on the horizon where blizzards swept through more often than sunlight. In truth, this rift had no sun, just a dark, cloudless sky above. The only bit of light came from distant stars that shone irregularly.

  In ten minutes, the snow had almost covered Lucas’s 3-meter-tall barrier, but with a swipe of his finger, it all melted like fresh snow under the sun.

  “How much longer, Brima?” Every minute here was a dent in Lucas’s magik reserves, but he stayed calm.

  “Five minutes, I remember his Magik pattern, but the magik here is a mess.” Brima, who had been their scout in the last run too, growled.

  “Sounds like a skill issue to me,” Lucas said.

  “I am so gonna kill you after this.” Brima snapped, magik flaring.

  “Don’t miss~.”

  “Shouldn’t we stop them?” Sae came to Adrian, pulling his hood deeper.

  “Be my guest.” Adrian gestured towards the bickering duo with his chin.

  “So… about the landscape…” Sae changed the subject, and he welcomed it, “We are at a different entry point from before, or so I believe.”

  “That’s tricky, this place is too vast…” Adrian’s brow crinkled. They had suffered because of that large area last time, too, not to mention that they had to navigate to the entry point once again.

  “Laughable, I’ve been to a rift that randomized every Hunter’s entry point, and we still faced no casualties.” Ares butted in from behind.

  “No one asked, peacock,” Lucas said without turning back.

  But before the sparks could fly, Brima stood up.

  “1,800 miles down south.” She said, stretching her arms.

  “Much closer than before,” Sae whispered, his voice barely audible against the never-ending hail beating down the barrier.

  “The bastard’s gunning for us,” Brima smirked.

  “The Boss Monster is leaving his zone?” Ares raised a brow.

  “It’s a warden, dumbass. A warden’s job is to keep the prisoners from escaping.” Lucas added. “This rift is a prison, and we are the prisoners.”

  “So, the entire rift is his zone,” Ares muttered. “Just like the Crete Labyrinth.”

  “You can monologue in the back. We are about to pick up the pace.” Lucas cracked his stiff neck. “Try and keep up.”

  “Who do you think you’re talking to?” Ares smirked, his golden greaves glimmering.

  So, the chase began. Brima led the way to the Warden, followed by Ares and Lucas. Sae and Adrian kept pace in the back as the fire field ploughed through the thick, piled-up snow like a bulldozer. Leaving behind a river that froze over the moment they passed.

  The Warden wasn’t the only beast in the rift. Mahapadma had another beast, an A-Rank Ice ogre taller and wider than mining trucks. Their cerulean skin cracked and peeled back, blooming into a dozen red lotuses all over them.

  Normally, they’d rush into swarms of hundreds, stopping their advance. But not today.

  “Kirek—!!!”

  The beasts turned into balls of blue flames the moment they came into contact with the fire field. Leaving behind hundreds of these beasts as path lighters, they pushed onwards.

  “So extravagant.” Ares gaffed.

  “I have the luxury to be wasteful this time.” Lucas smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

  Adrian, Sae, and Brima stayed silent. They couldn’t say a word, not when they could see his magik flaring under that calmness. It carried anger, untamed fury, but not for others.

  In an hour, they passed the jagged ice mountains that dwarfed Everest and looked at flat ice sheets before them. If a hurricane-like blizzard raged through the entire rift, this area was the eye.

  Under the clear night sky, which sparkled with a million stars, the warden floated above a frozen ocean as sparkling snow, akin to crushed diamonds, fell down.

  The warden wasn’t a magik beast, but a creature they didn’t know how to classify. A cubic crystal body wider than a mountain, with a cobalt tip the size of the pyramid in the middle. Its seven bone wings unfurled, feathers made of deep blue ice as sharp as knives. The eighth wing lay below the warden, its joint scorched black.

  “Yo, uggo.” Lucas smirked, glaring at the warden. “You haven’t changed at all.”

  Adrian, Sae, and Brima drank the ice resistance potions. Lucas’s fire field shrank down to cover his body alone, leaving the rest to brave the blistering cold.

  It’s working. Adrian looked at his skin; there were no signs of cracking, no blood. Only a slight frost he could expel with his magik, but only for ten minutes. The closer they got to the warden, the stronger the ice magik’s effect. But things went as planned, and they could finish things after the second potion. The current resistance was enough for them to survive.

  “This is a nice change of weather.” Ares whistled, but everyone could see his magik working hard to counter the frost that wanted to freeze them to the bone.

  “You’re right about that one.” Only Lucas looked unbothered, facing the icy magik like standing before an air conditioner. That was his power; that’s what made Lucas different.

  Wrrrrr—

  The Warden finally moved; its wings fluttered once. Sending millions of ice feathers at the group. Brima and Sae ran to the left and right, concealing their presence as best they could. But the warden ignored them, gunning for Lucas and Ares.

  Lucas raised both his hands and erected a flame wall.

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  “Warm the fella up for a bit.” He closed his eyes, his breath visible.

  The ice feathers turned to steam against the blue flame, but that’s when Adrian moved. Deep blue icicles the size of skyscrapers flew through the curtain of flames, their surface emitting steam that crystallized in an instant.

  Facing the first icicle, Adrian clenched his hand. The metal gauntlet clanking under his grip. Rousing his magik from the core of his stomach to the tip of his fist, he twisted his hip and threw a punch. Sweltering metal connected with the reinforced ice. The latter shattering into bits. Then came the second. The tenth. The fiftieth. They all met the same fate.

  As a bruiser, punching was the only thing Adrian knew. Punching was the only thing he could do best. It was the only reason he survived this long. So, he did just that. He did it till his gauntlet slipped off his broken hands, taking the crushed fingers with it. With his cracked palms, Adrian drank the healing potion and got ready to punch again. For once, he drank the potion with a smile. The warm energy gathered at every cut, every cracked bone. Like an experienced masseuse.

  “Don’t push yourself too much, unc.” With Brima’s voice came a curtain of shadow.

  The shadow draped over the warden like a velvet cloth. Thick and heavy, anchored to the ground with steel spikes.

  “You’ve gotten too pudgy, go home to your loving wife.” Sae’s metal chains jangled, and a silver cage rattled over the beast.

  “Look at yourselves, you brats.” Adrian saw the blood spluttering from their noses, yet they smiled. A smile that mirrored his own.

  Even after exhausting their magik to the limit, even after hurting their internal organs. They only backed off after fulfilling their roles.

  They were never the main characters of this fight. That cheeky bastard had quietly built up his magik over the past ten minutes. Now, he finally opened his mouth.

  “Seven tongues, three-faced flame, one verdict.” Lucas’s words echoed.

  “A full chant, huh.” Ares jumped back as the frozen ocean beneath them started to melt. “You are getting serious.”

  “Ash and dawn, oath and ember.” Lucas’s towering magik retreated into his body, his fire field expanded in a hazy sphere as he hovered over a steamy well, inhaling all the heat there was.

  A class-exclusive skill to Lucas’s Unique Class, Agni. A skill he had only used once since his awakening. A skill that had created the base of this frozen ocean, he flew over.

  “Judge of the Living Flame, receive this sacrifice.” Lucas ended his chant as his magik exploded outward before rushing inwards, collapsing at a point. The blizzard around them wavered as heat seeped into the frosted air.

  The warden tried to break through the cage; however, it held him back. Only for three seconds. One and a half seconds longer than last time.

  But that was enough.

  Lucas reached out, his hand miles away from the warden. Even then, the prints of thick, calloused fingers appeared on the creature’s crystalline body. A hand made of haze, a heat so strong that it could only be felt, squeezed the warden.

  The melting warden tried its best, but couldn’t break free of the hand. In the end, only a cracked cobalt crystal remained to show its existence. A magik stone worth billions.

  However, Lucas walked past it like it was a roadside pebble. Brima, now healed with the potion, led the way for them. It took them three hours to reach the distant mountain, or at least that’s what the ice structure looked like from afar.

  It was a frozen beam the size of a city. The final attack the warden threw at them last time. And under it was a human, a robust man as built as a grizzly, holding up a battered silver shield. The old man with grey sideburns looked as lively as he had two years ago.

  However, he stood encased in ice. No warmth, no magik, no beating heart, not even the wide smile he had. Just trunk-like arms shielding his daughter from the attack that claimed their lives.

  Sae, with his metal contraption, dug out Selena, his fiancée. His hood too low for them to see his face. Meanwhile, Lucas faced the old man Ivan, the founder and first clan head of the Agni clan.

  “I am here, old man.” Lucas touched the ice beam, turning it into a cloud of steam. A steam that condensed into a warm shower over the two.

  With that warmth rushing down his face, he faced the still-standing man. The man who was a father figure to them. The man who raised them all from the slums.

  “I am sorry it took me so long,” Lucas whispered.

  [Rift Mahapadma has been cleared. Countdown until disappearance: 22:01:67.]

  ***

  After Eugene left for his afternoon classes, Johan lay flat in his bed. Scratching his hair, he rested. Eyes on the grey ceiling. However, every few minutes, he refreshed the top thread on Hunter Net. Trying to get the latest information about Lucas’s dive into Mahapadma.

  He had been at it for hours, biting all his nails clean. Mostly because he didn’t expect Lucas to run into the rift this quickly. The man had done so trusting his potion, so Johan felt responsible. Actually, he just wished the raid ended in a success, or Johan might get burned at the stake. Maybe not, since both Lucas and Adrian entered the rift.

  Cara is still out, isn’t she? He shuddered at the thought; people loved a good witch hunt, no matter the time. Won’t she sell me out?

  It wasn’t until another hour passed that news spread through Hunter Net, articles poured out, and even Hunter news channels ran special segments.

  To summarize, the Agni Clan had cleared Mahapadma. The SS-Rank rift that had been on the verge of breaking in the near future. The biggest threat to the country. The best part, Ares admitted that he only observed the raid and had no part in it. Agni clan and their affiliates’ stocks rose.

  Johan regretted not buying some in advance.

  Discussions exploded, praise poured in. Hunters and citizens cheered, but they also mourned. Cause along with Lucas came two bodies, casualties from the previous attempt. The S-Rank Ivan Kuznetsov, The Mountain. And his A-Rank daughter, Selena, the Enchantress.

  Their deaths were the reason Mahapadma gained the SS ranking; no one at the time had thought that the Agni clan would fail. However, the end wasn’t a good one.

  Johan now wondered how Lucas felt after clearing the rift.

  Was it satisfaction? Emptiness after revenge? Grief?

  Johan wouldn’t know. He had no power to kill the magik beasts that trampled his hometown. Even if he did, it would make no difference; those beasts were long dead. That SSS-rank rift? Long closed by a legendary Hunter.

  So, what would he do even if he had power? Wasn’t his current class pretty good? He could sit back and earn money through potions, more money than most Hunters. Yes, it was a little hard work involved. Yes, he could never blow away a building with a breath, but so what?

  Wasn’t I doing ok till today? Didn’t I get over it? Johan felt the void in his chest growing. His eyes went to the lone poster in the grey room, the poster of Yuna Lee. The cold black eyes stared into his lilac ones.

  Yuna also lost her hometown with him; she lost her home, her pet, her school, her favourite candy stop, and her family. Same as him.

  But she was an S-Rank; she could slaughter magik beasts the size of buildings with a swing of her sword, a Hunter at the top. A Hunter born once a century.

  “What does it feel like, Yuna?” Johan waited for the answer that would never come.

  In the end, he got to his feet because he would never know. He wouldn’t understand even if she told him. Because Johan wasn’t a Hunter.

  “That’s enough moping for the month.” Johan stretched till his eyes teared up. With a final sigh, he activated Translocation and entered Phantasia. “Work Work! I am the busiest person in the world!” He sang.

  In the lush forest, he looked through the two odd tents. The first one had his brewing setup, beakers, flasks, tubes, the works. The second one he used for potion storage. After seven hours of back-breaking work, he finished brewing and bottling the potions for the next day.

  Name: Johan Askr

  Age: 25

  Class: Tower Farmer

  Skills: General Knowledge Lv. MAX, Translocation Lv. 3, Accelerate Growth Lv. 5, Seed Sense Lv. 3, Water Channeling Lv. 5, Basic Brewing Lv. 7, Farmer Storage Lv. 4

  Magik: 27

  The blue screen stung his eyes; the skills had levelled up a lot from repeated use. It was the current skill level times 100. The Hunter Net didn’t lie to him.

  Even his magik reserves grew from draining his magik and chugging recovering potions to the point that his stomach almost burst. Another thing he learned from mages on the Hunter Net.

  Most mages disliked doing this because the recovering potions tasted like a more bitter version of matcha, but that wasn’t a problem for Johan. A bit of dehydrated winter apple pulp, and it became as sweet as nectar.

  Just as Johan lamented over the fact that everything indeed had a lethal dose, the bushes near the tent rustled. He jumped back and looked at the bush, the one under a blackened tree, sweat running down his brow.

  The bush, a relatively normal ruby berry bush, continued to move like never before. And, in a few moments, came the culprit.

  A rabbit as white as fresh snow, its beady black eyes stared at Johan. The little creature tilted its head, scratching its long ears with its paws. Even the tiny horn on the forehead did nothing but add to the charm.

  However, if a certain anime had taught him anything about cutesy rabbits with horns.

  It was to run away from them.

  “Translocation!” So, Johan did just that.

  It was only after he returned to the store that he remembered he hadn’t brought the bottled potions with him. Sweat rushed down his brow.

  With three hours left till the Mart’s opening, Johan wondered if he could take a short vacation. But the line outside said otherwise. Eager Hunters stood in line, coffees and lattes in hand. Some were even doing their morning exercises out there.

  “They won’t stab me, would they?” Johan gulped, caught between a rock and a hard place.

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