PftA Book 2 - Prologue - Chapter 2

Just to get everything all caught up :) I'll be posting the next chapter here before it goes to RR.

Prologue

The brunette stood separate from those she would have preferred to share the event with. Instead of being part of the crowd, Rhona was forced to stand next to several of her fellow Alliance members who’d played a role in the day’s events. They were not teachers or school administrators like those arrayed on the other side of the stage. Instead, they were the forces that generally stayed behind the scenes.

Forces not dissimilar to the woman now standing at the podium giving a speech now that each of the inaugural class members had already walked across the stage.

Rhona watched as Leslie Buirch, the Sound Mage who served as the face of Atlas Inc, gave the convocation speech for the recent graduates. While the tall blonde woman likely wouldn’t bother with such trivialities in the future, the inaugural class of Junction High warranted extra attention from the Atlantis Alliance’s most senior human assigned to the mundane planet’s reintegration.

Unlike other so-called virtual schools, Junction High was the first truly virtual school rather than an online academy. While some may argue the difference was a matter of semantics, they couldn’t be further from the truth. She would know.

Rhona clapped politely with the rest of the attendees as the woman finished speaking and stepped away from the podium before signaling for the next speaker to approach. While she knew, or at least had met, around a quarter of the graduates since they’d been recruited from her area of responsibility, she was only really familiar with a few of the more exceptional ones.

Ones she regularly monitored and occasionally met with within the game.

The woman scanned the large group of robed graduates, quickly homing in on her targets. Sumi Amari was the first she noticed in the sea of tan robes. They’d worn their standard uniform for the ceremony since it looked much nicer than most of the graduation robes and gowns used in the varying cultures of Earth.

The contrast between the primarily tan robes with black trim and the solid black caps with tan tassels also looked nice… At least, as nice as having a fake tablet attached to one’s head could look. But the flat board hat was a tradition in several locations worldwide, making it hard to argue against.

Not that she’d been asked. The woman had entirely too much to balance without having to worry about minor decisions such as what the children should wear to their graduation ceremony.

But Sumi… she was something special, even for Alliance members. The girl was one of the few tri-affinitied people to exist throughout the known universe. As far as she knew, Sumi was the only tri-affinitied person on Earth. However, given the higher-than-average number of people on Earth with two affinities, it was entirely possible that another tri-affinity mage would appear. If another did appear, Rhona hoped they used the DIVE gear to discover their affinities; that way, she’d have a method of finding them.

Rhona’s eyes slid over several people until landing on another interesting talent. Emie Mercer, sister to one of the military members attached to her organization as a beta tester. While her impressive Space and Time affinities were noteworthy, the more interesting factor was that she was the first – and so far, only – naturally awakened Earthborn.

Others had been forcibly awakened – mostly world leaders and those influential enough to warrant their involvement in the transition process – but they didn’t count. The fact that this girl had awoken after such a short exposure to mana was also remarkable. It was part of the reason she’d intentionally withheld information about the girl from the old elf.

While the human Alliance representative felt confident the ancient elf wouldn’t have done anything to violate the Accords, she knew he only cared about growing his own knowledge. Everything else was peripheral. Sir Eri’Non cared nothing about the consequences of his actions so long as they didn’t contaminate his study. Rhona had already learned that the old elf believed the best way to avoid contamination was to remove the target from the study after he obtained whatever data he was after.

He wouldn’t kill them since that would directly violate the Accords. But what he did was not much better.

Not only did Rhona like the girl, she knew that allowing her to disappear would have a direct, negative impact on the girl’s brother and niece. Really, Amie probably wouldn’t even realize her aunt Emie was gone, given her young age. Still, given that the toddler had already effectively lost her mother, intentionally allowing another close family member to disappear was not something Rhona felt comfortable doing.

Besides, given Emie’s talent for Enchanting, Rhona felt it had been an excellent decision to keep her existence from the elf. Hopefully, the recent graduate would be amenable to transitioning from a beta tester to becoming Vasilla Maker’s permanent assistant full-time. Besides, she had more than enough beta testers anyway, especially since the new graduates had all signed contracts as part of the virtual school testing program.

After reviewing the girl’s time spent within the greater simulation, it was apparent Emie preferred crafting over exploration and testing. However, she had already delved enough to nearly complete the interface upgrade if the woman’s calculations were correct. How the Earthborn had found that feature buried in the interface was beyond Rhona, but there wasn’t much she could do about it.

While the manager couldn’t see the girl’s actual status through the simulation, the guard she’d assigned to delve with the native had kept her up to date on the girl’s progress. Based on the reports from the Nature Mage, Emie may also have some talent with magic since she was reportedly able to modify one of her spells after only using it a few times. Even with the girl’s lessons at the virtual Mages’ Academy, that was beyond what the Administrator expected.

The last of the exceptional students Rhona had been involved with recruiting was a young Fate Mage. Fate was an extremely rare affinity, only slightly less common than Arcane – an affinity that was practically legendary in its rarity. While Fate Mages were almost useless from an offensive magic standpoint, anyone with insight would see the value of having someone on hand who could interact with Fate.

Though the strength of Joseph Washington’s affinity for the element was unknown, any connection to the elusive affinity was valuable. More so, ensuring the young man was under a proper system-enforced contract was critical. Given his affinity, Rhona expected he would be among the first to awaken naturally.

After Emie, that was. Perhaps her affinity for Time had something to do with her early awakening. Given the strength of the girl’s affinity, it wouldn’t surprise her.

Rhona looked back at the podium, relieved to see the Principal speaking again. That meant the long ceremony was finally coming to an end.

Thank the Ascenders.

While a lot of the Atlas manager’s work could be done within the simulation, she had a lot of responsibilities in the physical world as well. With the construction of nearby housing units for the various Junction-based university students nearing completion, Rhona was being called upon more often to deal with the issues that cropped up.

Mundane construction was the worst.

If not for the abysmal mana regeneration caused by this mana-starved planet, she’d have set up wards to block curious eyes and had her mages do everything the right way – with magic. Unfortunately, that was all but impossible, even with the higher mana levels immediately surrounding her headquarters building due to the mana-gathering enchantments and the Tier Two rift she’d had her people establish in the basement.

Living on this planet was difficult, even with all the mana cores and manatech they’d brought to mitigate the effects of the mana-starved environment. Quite frankly, Rhona was surprised that the Council had decided to draw out the reintegration instead of just turning off all the siphons.

Then again, the ones making the decisions hadn’t been the ones forced to exist in such horrible conditions. Combining that with the fact that they could use the acclimation and training period to monitor the population and identify standout talents for potential recruitment… the choice was not wholly without merit.

That didn’t mean she liked it.

Chapter 1 – Moving On

“Now that you’ve had time to get used to it, are you still happy with your new assignment?” Robert asked as I used Gravity Bomb to decimate the weak bat creatures that swarmed us in the first section of the Space-dominant rift. As often as we delved this rift, the mobs were no longer much of a challenge, even if everything had gotten a bit stronger with the shift from low-Tier One to mid-Tier One a couple of months before.

The increase in experience gained from the stronger mobs was nice.

I stabbed the half-dozen creatures still moving with the spear Robert had given me months earlier. I didn’t bother activating any enchantments I’d added since it wouldn’t take much to defeat the weak creatures.

That, and I was trying to complete the rift without using enchantments at all.

“I am. I still have access to the upcoming expansions if I feel like exploring on my off time, but I’ve enjoyed pushing my Enchanting skill, even with the limited skill growth. I can feel the improvement, even if my status isn’t showing it,” I said as I checked the bodies for any more survivors. “I’m also doing something much more important than most beta testers' busy work. I’m not even sure what the point of ‘beta testing’ these new expansions is. I mean, I got it with World Junction since there were a lot of things that could be incorporated to make it better, but it isn’t like we can change how existing worlds work for these new expansions.”

I hadn’t really noticed it before in the other timeline since I’d been a lot more focused on healing during the first year or so after the neural interfaces activated, but there was only so much I could push my skills using the simulation as training. Though my skills would gain levels in the game, the growth did not transfer to my real-world status once I reached the Intermediate stage in a skill.

Unfortunately, that meant my actual skills were significantly higher than my status displayed. But that was already the case, I supposed.

“I wouldn’t know. It’s not really my role in the whole process,” the Nature Mage said as he watched me wipe off the spearhead.

I looked at my guardian. While he appeared to be in his late teens or early twenties, I’d learned in the months we’d been delving together that he was closer to thirty in Earth years. He'd recently shaved the sides of his head, leaving just the top long enough to gather into a ponytail or man-bun. His dark hair would probably fall just below his shoulders if he left it unbound.

The look suited him.

“What is your role? You’ve never really said…” I trailed off as I began collecting the remains of the low-level mobs. Delving the Space-dominant rift gave me plenty of material to make Space-related enchantments, including a functioning storage ring with [Stasis]. However, the low tier of the materials meant my creations were inherently limited in the amount of space I could incorporate.

A burst of vines swallowed the remaining bodies, transferring them directly to Robert’s storage ring. Though I hadn’t created his ring, he had allowed me to modify it to add [Stasis] after I proved I was capable. I didn’t blame him for being leery when I initially offered. Storage devices were expensive.

“For now, I’m just working as a mundane shop clerk in the local Atlas retail store when I’m not delving with you. As the reintegration gets closer, I’ll be doing a lot more as a Nature Mage to ensure the population doesn’t starve during the transition period.”

It was about what I expected.

“Is it a good position for a Mage Academy graduate?” I asked, unsure.

Robert barked out a laugh. “Working for the Alliance Council? Yeah. It’s pretty much the best kind of job someone could hope for. Even members of the nobility compete for postings like this, even if it seems like something they’d ordinarily see as beneath them. Doing jobs like this earns a lot of contribution points in the Alliance.”

That was something I hadn’t heard of before. At least, not in this context.

“Contribution points?” I asked as we walked through the tunnel leading out of the caves. Robert looked surprised at my lack of knowledge.

“Yeah, you can earn points for doing things on behalf of the Alliance. The points can be traded for currency or benefits and items. It’s a lot like how sects do things. You do know about sects, right?”

I rubbed my neck uncomfortably. I’d read cultivation novels that mentioned sects before the reintegration in the first timeline, but that was a long time ago. Since cultivation wasn’t really a thing, I wasn’t sure the novels would apply. I had heard of sects after leaving Earth, but the information I gathered was always vague and unclear.

Probably because I hadn’t really cared enough to ask for clarification.

I’d seen signs for sects in the newest expansion scheduled to release over the winter. However, I hadn’t bothered attempting to ‘test’ that aspect of the game since I’d only just gotten access to the Andolia/Atlantis expansion.

Not to mention that I didn’t want to spend the little time I had in-game playing the poor protagonist of some wuxia novel.

“They’re like specialized schools, right? Don’t you have to win tournaments to even get in?” I asked, thinking back to the novels I’d read and the recruitment tournaments I’d seen advertised when I’d checked out Atlantis a few days earlier.

“What? No! Why would you think that?” he asked, aghast. In his surprise, he’d stopped moving forward, pausing just a few meters before the exit.

I didn’t have a good answer to his question.

When I only shrugged, he sighed. “Sects are like schools in many ways, but they focus more on martial training and only allow people with specific affinities to join. They are unlike schools in that you don’t just attend and graduate. If you join a sect, you are a member for life unless you somehow get exiled or ascend. I’ve heard some sects exist in the higher realms, too, though. I’m not sure how that works since it’s so rare for someone to ascend and even rarer for them to contact someone in our realm after they leave.”

“Is it really?” I asked, fascinated. Though few people claimed to personally know someone who had ascended, every adventurer I’d talked to in the previous timeline seemed to think it was something they could do, given enough time. Ros and the rest of my former party had held the same belief, so I’d never really questioned it.

“Well, yeah. If it was easy, everyone would do it.” He stepped through the exit and into the overgrown forest. Following him, I immediately felt like Alice again as I examined the closest oversized flora.

“The only reason it’s even possible is because we have a Tier Ten planet in the Alliance,” Robert continued, drawing my attention away from the huge flower that nearly reached my hip. “Otherwise, the slow grind to gain enough experience would take so long that only elves and other long-lived species would even have a chance.”

The conversation dropped as the sound of buzzing caught our attention. Seeing the flying purple hornet-like creatures approaching in a loose formation, I readied my batons. This time, I wasn’t going to use my cheat spell to pull all the flying mobs into a clump. Instead, I cast Barrier and decided to directly engage the bladed astervespid swarm.

“Want me to immobilize them?” Robert offered.

“Nah,” I said as I tapped my batons together. “I need to work on my aim.”

Had I not improved the spell’s efficiency through regular practice, my Barrier likely would not have held up to the assault. Though they were only mid-Tier One creatures, a swarm of even weak mobs would eventually wear down most barriers within the same tier.

It was a good thing I didn’t give them long enough to do so.

When the last creature fell, I cast Cleanse on my weapons to remove the attached bits of blood and viscera before connecting the two pieces to create a staff. By the time I finished my task, the bodies had already disappeared into Robert’s larger storage space.

I’d wavered on getting Cleanse, but the ability to quickly and easily clean up after myself won me over. With Transmute and Alchemical Flame, I’d purchased all five of the spells I got at Tier One. I wasn’t worried, though. As soon as I got Lisa back, I expected I’d be able to learn most of the general spells below the Expert difficulty.

“Thanks,” I said gratefully.

We continued, ducking under the oversized branches and leaves and quickly dispatching the lone wandering mobs that approached. None were stronger than those in the earlier assault, so there was little risk as long as we weren’t caught off guard.

We pushed through, defeating the astervespid guards at the stairwell before descending to the tree canopy. Space-magic shenanigans were still weird.

I was pleased to see both Time and Void variants of our next set of opponents, even though it required me to activate Restore twice to heal from injuries. The Void variants tended to have some mana-neutralizing abilities, which would have been particularly annoying had I not trained to fight without mana.

Handling the level-five creatures alone wasn't too difficult since they attacked in pairs or the occasional group of three. Still, it was comforting to know that Robert was watching the engagement closely, ready to step in if it seemed like I was getting overwhelmed.

When we reached the final section of the rift, I didn’t bother trying something new with the vine creature that served as the rift boss – aside from limiting myself to actual spells instead of using manatech. While my spells were more expensive than enchantments, and my mana pool was not huge by any means, I’d kept enough mana in reserve to comfortably defeat the boss with my favorite combo of Gravity Bomb and Bolt.

It helped that my offensive spells were a little bit overpowered.

“Congratulations. You finished the whole rift without using a single enchantment,” my protector said with a grin. “I almost called you out when you started using the spear and then the batons, but since you didn’t actually trigger any of the enchantments…”

“All of my equipment is enchanted. I wouldn’t have anything to fight with if I only used non-enchanted items,” I replied deadpan.

“How tragic,” Robert said sarcastically. “I would comment about it being a high-tier-world problem, but that isn’t exactly accurate in this case.”

I grinned as I pulled a steel dagger from the chest that had appeared by the exit. It wasn’t enchanted, but it was made of Tier One materials. It would make a good base.

“Want me to enchant this for you?” I asked, holding out the short, bladed weapon.

“Nah, keep your loot. I was just kidding,” he said with a friendly smirk. Having delved together for just shy of a year, Robert and I had had plenty of time to chat and get to know each other. While he’d opened up and was generally pretty quick to joke around, he still managed to maintain a professional enough presence that I doubted anyone would be able to find fault.

He certainly wasn’t like the flirty guys I often interacted with.

Which reminded me…

“Hey, Robert?” I said, drawing his attention before we exited the rift. “You know how I invited you to grab dinner before we head out?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “What, you have a secret boyfriend you want to go out with one last time instead?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, it’s just that my parents will be meeting us, and they…kinda think I have a secret boyfriend that I’ve been traveling to St. Louis to see…”

“Hahaha! That’s too funny!” he laughed before suddenly growing serious as he realized the implication. “Oh, they think I’m your boyfriend?”

I was so completely mortified.

I really thought I’d moved beyond this already, but it seemed my teenage body was interfering with my brain more than a little. I didn’t even like Robert like that. He was handsome and nice…and a Mage who protected me and kept me safe while I did potentially dangerous things…but it wasn’t the same. I knew enough to recognize that, at least.

Surprisingly, he grinned.

“So, you’re asking me on a date? I thought that was culturally the male’s role.”

I gasped in fake outrage while internally sighing in relief that he hadn’t made the situation more awkward.

“Women’s rights…and equality…and stuff!” I said in mock indignation as I stuck my nose up before chuckling. “But seriously, I can’t explain who you are except to tell them that we’re friends, which is what I’ve been claiming, by the way – that I’m hanging out with a friend who works at the Atlas store. They obviously don’t believe me.” I groaned and lowered my head. “It probably doesn’t help that I told them we were taking a road trip on the way to Florida.”

“I don’t mind,” he said, still chuckling. “I’m just a friend riding along with you, so you aren’t making a multi-state trip alone. Definitely, no reason to bring up the rifts we are stopping by on the way there.”

That was the real reason Robert was riding along. Since a slightly circuitous route would put at least two higher-leveled rifts directly in our path, it made sense to bring my delving guardian along so I could gain some extra experience and materials along the way.

I was actually quite lucky that Rhona treated me so well. I doubted I would have gotten such preferential treatment had I not been the first native to awaken. Then again, nobody else had naturally awakened yet, so I didn’t know what kind of treatment others would get.

We quickly dismantled the mobs and harvested the valuable parts, dumping the excess offal into the composing box for me to use Transmute on when we were finished. The bits of discarded materials were usually transported to specialized containers to manipulate the material into something that could be more useful, but since I had a spell that could do it for me…

“Clay?” I asked. I hadn’t reacquired the Ceramics skill yet, but it wouldn’t take much for me to get it since I already knew how to shape and mold clay, as well as a few different methods of curing it. Clay talismans were also really handy, though they tended to break if I didn’t infuse them enough.

When he nodded his assent, I cast the spell and focused on turning the Space-attuned offal into Space-attuned clay. When that was finished, I repeated the process for each mana type represented, leaving myself with several clumps of elemental clay.

“So…I’m going to head over to the baths and clean up. I’ll meet you outside in about an hour?”

“Sure. That’ll give me plenty of time to change and finish packing,” my friend and guardian said before departing with a wave. I watched him go with mixed feelings. It was too bad he worked in Missouri and not Florida.

Chapter 2 – A Bittersweet Goodbye

When my parents arrived at the restaurant, Robert and I were already seated at a table. There was a nearly palpable sense of bittersweetness when my parents finally sat down after hugging me and awkwardly shaking Robert’s hand.

This would be our last dinner together before I moved out on my own. Not only that, neither of my parents particularly agreed with the life choices I was making – particularly not my decision to go to a newly opened, unaccredited university that was really only recognized by Atlas Inc, the company behind the school.

Thankfully, they seemed to have given up on convincing me to attend a traditional school where I could get the full college experience.

“So, you go by Robert? Not Bobby or Bob or Rob?” my dad asked after we ordered drinks.

“Or Bert?” Mom chimed in.

I rolled my eyes as Robert answered the question seriously, informing them that he did, indeed, go by Robert and not any of the variant nicknames. My parents asked that he call them James and Avery, forgoing the typical forced formality my dad sometimes pulled with boys who picked me up for dates.

Based on their smirks, it was obvious neither of them believed my denials about our non-existent relationship. I could only shake my head.

It would be nice to tell them everything, it really would. But at this point…I literally couldn’t. Now that I had real magic and could prove what I was saying was true, the system-enforced NDA ensured I didn’t share anything about the upcoming reintegration. I liked to think I was an honest person, so being forced to essentially lie made it difficult for me to spend as much time with my parents as I would like.

“So, how did you two meet?” Dad asked, focusing his question on Robert, likely to see if he gave a different answer than the one I provided when I first mentioned spending time with a ‘friend’ in St. Louis.

I bit back a groan. Hopefully, my dad wasn’t going to go all out investigator on my alien friend. At least he only suspected the guy of secretly dating his daughter…

“At work. I work for Atlas Inc, and Emie comes by monthly as part of her beta testing stuff.”

It was close enough.

“Hey, Dad, let’s not interrogate my friend before dinner is even on the table, please?” I pleaded. I knew it was hard for my dad not to dig when he found something interesting, but I was hoping he’d curb the impulse given the circumstances.

With an exaggerated sigh, he agreed, though I could tell he fully intended to continue asking questions.

The conversation shifted to general topics, mostly centering on our planned road trip to Florida and that Robert planned to fly back to Missouri as soon as we arrived. My parents found the plan odd – which I could understand given their lack of information. His decision to ride along would have likely made more sense if they knew we would be delving on the way there.

“You know I would have gone with you if you hadn’t already made plans,” Mom said with a slight pout. “I don’t want your friend to think I was going to make you drive all the way there by yourself.”

I looked at Robert. “She would have gone with me, except I told her we were doing a road trip, and it would have been weird for her to ride along,” I said deadpan.

“I believe you,” he said solemnly as my parents made noises of protest.

I appreciated his effort, but I knew he could feel the sad tension building as dinner came closer to an end. When the plates had been cleared and the check paid, I stood and hugged my parents once again, holding them for a few seconds longer than usual.

“I’ll be fine. You taught me well. I’ve already got a good job, so that’s better than many graduates, right?” I said with a forced smile. “Besides, Justin will be just a few minutes away, and I’ll see you guys in the Junction every weekend. We’ll probably see more of each other now that I’m moving out.”

We knew I was lying, at least about the last part. But it was a nice lie, so nobody called me out. They walked me to my Aegis – the small, primarily electric hybrid car they’d given me on my sixteenth birthday. The self-driving function was the best feature, aside from the nearly non-existent need for fuel. As long as the sun was shining, I had no need for gas.

I looked at the sky, noting there was likely an hour or so of daylight left. Since the car had an additional battery to store excess solar energy, I’d probably have to stop and charge at some point on the way to Nashville – our destination for the evening. Thankfully, the car’s AI would automatically find a charging station if needed.

After another round of hugs and a few tears, Robert and I climbed into the small car and I set the destination for the Atlas office in Nashville.

= = =

“Your parents seem really nice. It’s obvious they love you,” Robert said a few minutes after we pulled away from the restaurant.

“Yeah, they’re great. I just wish I could explain my choices better. Not being honest makes it hard…I hate lying, even by omission,” I said while I stared at the rapidly moving landscape around us.

We settled into silence as the miles passed, occasionally breaking into short conversations about topics of interest. I showed my alien friend some of the enchantments I’d made, as well as some of the jewelry pieces and other enchantment bases I’d imbued but hadn’t added runes to.

Aside from the quick bathroom break I needed to take a half hour after leaving St. Louis, we only had to stop once during the trip. Though the batteries were rated as ‘quick charging,’ it still took fifteen minutes for them to fill enough for us to make it the rest of the way there.

After we pulled into the enclosed parking lot, Robert did something on the access tablet to unlock the building for us, and we made our way up the stairs and into what he called the ‘Delver’s Bunkroom.’ Though he’d explained the setup on the way there, I was still surprised at how open the space was. The term ‘bunkroom’ seemed misleading, given the lack of actual bunks. In fact, it reminded me of the sleeping rooms in the Korean bathhouses I’d visited with my mom while living overseas.

Minus the ugly outfits we had to wear.

Too tired to give it much thought, I grabbed a sleeping mat and carried it to the wall farthest from the other people in the room. Only three people were present, though five mats were already laid out. Considering they had bedding over them, it was unlikely they were set out in advance for our arrival.

After setting my sleeping bag and pillow on the mat, I crawled inside and settled in. Not bothering with my haptic suit, I donned my DIVE headgear and accessed my VPS before triggering the forced sleep function, welcoming the end to the emotional day.

= = =

“Who were those people in the bunkroom with us?” I asked as I followed Robert down a set of stairs a few hours later. Unlike me, he’d opted to sleep without the aid of the DIVE headgear, though he likely didn’t need nearly as much sleep as I did since he was already Tier Two. The others, I’d noticed, had been wearing more advanced versions of the manatech, similar to what I’d seen after leaving Earth.

“Adventurers, mostly. The Alliance hired several Tier Two teams to maintain Atlas’ rifts on Earth. They mostly travel around and adjust the rifts that…need adjusting,” he added awkwardly. “They don’t have much to do right now, but as ambient mana levels increase, they’ll get pretty busy. I expect most of them will be well into Tier Three by the time the portals open.”

“How can a few parties delve all the rifts enough to keep them from growing? I thought it took a lot…” I trailed off uncertainly.

“It does, especially at low tiers if the ambient mana is higher than the portal tier, though that isn’t the case here. The teams hired by the Alliance have mana stabilizers that can either drain enough mana to force a rift to lose strength – or even tiers – or infuse collected mana to bolster a rift. The teams will use the artifacts to manipulate the rifts they delve, depending on the needs,” he said.

“I hope they are increasing this one. It would be nice to gain a bit more mana per delve.”

When we reached the door leading to the rift, Robert unlocked it with his mana, surprising the guard stationed within.

“You should have us on your list already,” Robert told the guard after providing our names. Though the higher-tiered guard was likely capable of identifying us, doing so – at least openly – was sometimes frowned upon within the Alliance. It had been explained to me after I left Earth in the other timeline, though the reason behind the social faux pas wasn’t very clear.

Once the unarmored guard verified our authorization through his tablet, he relaxed. It seemed not wearing armor was common for guards of these low-tier rifts, though it certainly wasn’t the norm anywhere I’d seen off-planet.

“Is the rift getting adjusted?” I asked since I’d noticed the adventurers were gone when I woke earlier. Their mats had been cleaned and stacked by the door with the rest of the supply, and no hint of their former presence was noticeable.

“No, the delving parties are just assessing everything for now,” he replied. “No changes are scheduled for another five months to a year.”

I was tempted to ask whether that was Atlantis Standard Time or Earth Time, but I decided against it. Besides, given the man’s background, it was almost certainly the former.

Before entering, we verified our information about the rift – an environment-based resource rift. More specifically, it was a mountainous environment that provided some alchemical plants and ore in addition to the mana cores and meat that could be harvested. There were a few dangerous mobs, mostly creatures like foxes and bobcats, though they were called something else. The boss was something I’d never heard of before, though the guard insisted a mundane version of the creature was present on Earth.

I’d have to check after the delve since the description he gave us didn’t sound familiar.

From what we understood, a decent variety of elements should be represented. However, Metal, Earth, and Air would likely be most prominent.

“Ready to go?” my guardian asked as I finished equipping my armor.

“Absolutely. I’m definitely ready for something new,” I replied with a grin before following the Nature Mage into the MT1 rift.