Preperation

"Power? What does Power mean? Is it a bonus Stat or just a combination of Strength and Agility? But wow, +2% is not really much, let's try some more." Lothar began to create more of the dark pink gemstones, he also tried with other combinations and was able to create 6 different combinations. They were:

Dark Pink = Power +2% from fire and wind

Violet = Crit +2% from fire and water

Orange = Defence +2% from fire and earth

Green = Mana Recovery +2% from water and earth

Turquoise = Wisdom +2% from water and wind

Dark Yellow = Health Recovery +2% from wind and earth

"Let's see how these affect the status parameters." Lothar then melted some gold he bought at the market and poured it into the plaster mold to create rings of it. After finishing the 6 rings he had to grind them and work on the sockets were the gemstones would be placed. After everything was done and his 6 rings were finished he equipped the first ring, the Power ring.

After he equipped it he felt a tiny bit of energy flowing into his body empowering his whole being. So he checked his status window only to discover that it did not affect any of his stats at all. It was difficult to describe but he could feel his explosiveness grow, his speed and strength were affected by it. But not it was not as simple as raizing either of these stats, the combination of them made something new, something more powerful.

He then equipped the violet ring but did not feel too much of a difference except off a short tingle in his eyes. The defense ring gave off some kind of heat that spread everywhere in his body and empowered his skin and bones. He felt Mana circulating faster through his body after putting on the green ring. The Wisdom gemstone gave him a cooling sensation to the head, it was soothing and comfortable.

When he wanted to equip the last ring, he got a warning signal.

---You can not equip more than 5 Hybrid gemstones---

"I did not even realize I was putting them on one after another. The feelings I got from them was so intense I forgot about the limit... what, wait for a minute... what was that just know?" Lothar was counting the rings on his hands. "Did I hear that right, 5 gemstones can be equipped, and they are called hybrid stones... Nice! So that means an increase of 10% if 5 are equipped, that is more like it."

He then took the Power ring off and changed it to the dark yellow ring. This time the circulation of life energy increased. So now, he had a more or less guess what these stats could enhance. The power he felt just from equipping one was nowhere near as a pure red, blue, gray, or yellow gemstone.

Now that he knew what these gemstones did he walked outside the white Rift and bought another load of Manastones. He wanted to at least create a set of 5, of any of these stones. This would also increase his proficiency in creating them. His Lvl was still too low to try and work with the high-grade stones and crystals he has. He spent another few days creating the gemstones and training inside the white Rift. He had to get used to the increase in power due to the stones, after that he would return to the Guild and prepare for the training tower.

Meanwhile, outside the yellow Rift, Rengo's group came out of it. "Finally we can enter green Rifts. Though the third level of the training tower was challenging it was not that difficult to deal with the mobs. Let us head to the Guild and get us a mission to aid clearing a green Rift." They were all happy that they managed to reach this Lvl in such a short amount of time. Those who want to make a name for themselves have to climb up the rankings. Only those who can reach the top and manage to stay there are recognized as a strong team of Rifters.

Green Rifts, like every Rift, appear randomly out of nowhere. Though green Rifts are the lowest rank, it does not mean that everyone that reached the third Lvl of the training tower can finish it. The person that discovers a Rift earns the right over it if it is a person of a Guild he will naturally hand the rights of it over to his Guild. If it is a person without any ties he can sell it to others, one is able to leave a soul stamp at the entrance so that everyone can see who owns the Rift. Through this soul stamp a person can be found from a register the Rifter Association manages. After a business is done both parties head to the Rift and the original owner erases its stamp so the buyer can now use his stamp to have the ownership of the Rifts.

In the beginning, when the Rifts appeared, no one cared about who owned a Rift, it was more important to handle the dangers that lay beyond those Rifts. But as time passed by one of humanity's biggest flaws came back into daylight. "Greed" As soon as people noticed that they could earn a lot of money with those things inside a Rift humans decided to give the Rifts in the hands of the Guilds and the Rifter Association. They could train their raiding teams inside and they would see to it that the dungeons would be excavated for the resources that are hidden within. After finishing a Rift the Guilds would than hand over the rights to the Association so they could make contact and arrangments with the world on the other side.

Human policies were to come to an arrangement without fighting. If the species behind the Rift was an enemy Humans would send in scouts to get information first and see if there was a way to strike an attack, if the race was friendly Humans would establish a trade policy and if there was no race at all they would send in excavation teams to get resources out of that world.

As Rengo's team walked on the street and was heading towards the Guild. "Since the beginning of or team til now, nearly 2 months have passed. Our teamwork is becoming better and better we should be able to finish a green Rift on our own now." Rengo said. Astrid nodded and Dogan and Shelly simultaneously said: "Yes, we are ready" Rengo than added, "We should come up with a name for or team soon, or the people who will hear about our glorious achievements will do it on their own."

"You should call your group OVERCONFIDENT or BIGGEST DREAMER." Someone said from behind them. But as they turned around no one was seen. "Who said that, are you tired of living? Where are you? Spouting nonsense and not having the guts to show up what a sorry loser must you be?" Rengo shouted angrily. They were scanning the area but could not find any clue of who would have said that. The street behind them was completely empty and no one was there. As suddenly all 4 of them were hit at their legs from behind and landed on their butts. As soon as they turned around again there was no one to be seen.

"What is going on here? Show yourself" Every time they wanted to stand up again they were hit again. They were totally helpless, every time they turned around to look for the person who did that they saw nothing. They then decided to sit back to back so they would see who was attacking them. But after a few minutes passed nothing more happened and they were trying to stand up. As soon as they all got up Rengo's veins popped out of his already red face, he was gnashing his teeth and the anger inside of him was rising. "I swear if I ever find out who that was I will kill him after publicly humiliating that person."

A few streets further away a person emerged out of the shadows of a dark corner, "That was fun, not bad. The stealth Skill really came in handy, what a perfect opportunity to test it out." The person who did that to Rengo's team was none other than Lothar. He was not feeling any hate or dissatisfaction in regards to Rengo, he did not even argue with him when he was being bullied. Those things wouldn't bother him at all, but what Lothar hated was when someone took the Rifts lightly.

People who think everything in this world is about them and that they could reach the top without giving it their all. Lothar was training day in and day out for the last 2 years he knows how hard it is to become strong, he also saw how his family was slaughtered by creatures out of the Rift. Although his parents were widely known Rifters that earned a very good reputation, all of that does not matter in front of true power. After the Rifts appeared the world changed. With power alone you can decide what is right and what is wrong, only strength matters now, there is no place for the weak.

"Since, they, want to enter a green Rift maybe I should tag along and experience it for myself." Even if Lothar has not finished the third Lvl of the training tower he could use his stealth or transformation Skill to enter it. If the guard placed in front of the Rift has a high Lvl of detection Skills they might be able to see through his stealth Skill but no one would mind a fly or bee that would fly into a Rift.

He made a few changes to his father's leather armor so it would fit him, he also equipped his mother's sword for the first time, it was finally time for him to become a Rifter. So for the next few days, Lothar kept training inside the white Rift, getting used to his equipment and his Skills. All while eavesdropping on Rengo's team in the evening, to find out when they are going to the green Rift.

After a few days, they finally found a Rift they would be able to enter. According to rumors, this is a dungeon that has been cleared multiple times already but no one was able to find the Boss room. So a lot of newcomer groups are allowed to enter and earn their first experiences. If by chance a group finds the boss room they are to inform the Guild about it before taking action. That means as long as the Boss room is not found the groups that enter the Rift are responsible for the respawned mobs.

The "mobs" or creatures that appear in a dungeon, have all the different kinds of forms, hights, substance, and abilities. The mobs are covered in a black shadow, their appearance will only reveal itself after they die. This is what makes the dungeons so dangerous. No one knows how the creature hidden by that shadow looks and what it can do. At times it could be poisonous, sometimes it could have sharp spikes to protect itself, only after killing it one is able to see it and what parts of it can be useful loot. That means it is not possible to recognize which mob is precious and which are simply not worth the risk of killing them without destroying them completely.

Once a Guild raided a dungeon for more than a few days they can recognize the respawned monsters easier by their hights and behavior. Their movement patterns and respawn areas are things that are the only way to figure out what is covered behind a shadow. The dungeon Rengo and his group will be going to, has already been mapped and the mobs have been categorized. One would get the information at the entrance from the guard.

The guard's responsibility is to see that no one who does not belong to the Guild is forbidden from entering, he will gather information about the dungeon inside the Rift and pass it to the next raiding teams. Should the other world finish the dungeon first he is responsible to inform the Guild immediately and suppress the first incoming wave of attackers or invite all the friendly races on behalf of the Guild and establish the first exchange till the Guildmaster will arrive. So the guards placed at the entrance of a Rift have a whole lot of responsibility and are no pushovers.

Lothar put on his armor and sword, he then activated his transformation Skill and waited outside the Guild in cat form, for Rengo's team to come out and head to the Rift. After a few hours of waiting, they finally showed up. They all had excitement written all over their faces. It was finally time to do what they trained for and see what the dungeons are about. Lothar as well was brimming with excitement. "Father, Mother, Sister, this is a step further, to my revenge."