Ch. 3 Rifts Are Terrifying

After talking with Will, I took a good look at the Rift and something in me shuddered. Whether it was fear, excitement or something else I couldn't say. Will saw this and turned to me "I'm guessing this is your first Rift?" I nodded to him. He grinned at that "Don't worry, this Rift is only a level 5. Perfect for newbies."

He continued with his explanation then. "Rifts up to level 10 will only have Goblins or Kobolds in them, with the boss being a Goblin or Kobold Lord. After level ten up to twenty is when you start seeing Orcs and stuff. I myself haven't gone into anything higher than ten yet. My level being only 6. Just stay in back with me and you'll do fine."

I nodded and gulped, Bella was nuzzling her snout against my leg affectionately, trying to calm me down. "How dangerous is it gonna be for Bella?" I asked and he shrugged, "Since she's still level 1 she can probably take on a Goblin solo. However if there's more than one you'll wanna help her out. Just remember to keep an eye on your MP and don't use it all at once. It'll usually regenerate at one MP per ten seconds, but the higher you have your meditate skill, the higher your regeneration."

I looked up at him questioningly "Meditate skill?" he grinned and sat on the ground, motioning me to join him. "For us who use a lot of MP Meditate is a must have. Close your eyes and concentrate. Feel the Mana within and without, it'll come across as a colored energy, the color is determined by you."

I nodded and adopted the same pose. Closing my eyes I concentrated. I could feel something in me, but couldn't visualize it for a few minutes. Then a thought occurred and I thought about my Spell Force Bolt. As I felt the energy for the spell materializing I could see a blue glow around my fingers. I grasped it with invisible hands and saw the energy around me turn blue as a result.

It was then I heard a 'Ding' in my head. Opening my eyes I saw a notification on my character sheet.

*New Skill learned. Meditate LVL 1.

Meditate allows the user to regenerate HP and MP at a rate of 1 per ten seconds, per level of the skill. Higher rankings in the skill allow regeneration at a higher rate.*

I had to grin at that. I had already gotten a new skill before with Animal Handling. Now I had one to help me recuperate HP and MP as well. Today was definitely worth it.

As I read my new skill I realized I didn't really know anything about my stats. So I started concentrating on each of them on my Character Sheet.

Level: Amount of ambient Mana residing within your body. Determines your personal mana density level.

HP: Strength + Constitution multiplied by 10. Determines your overall health. Once it reaches 0 you will die. 'Holy crap, alright' I thought as I read that one.

MP: Intelligence + Wisdom multiplied by 10. Determines your Mana reserve and allows you to cast spells.

STA: Constitution multiplied by 10. Stamina determines your ability to physically exert yourself. The more stamina you use the more tired you will become.

STR: Strength is your overall physical power. Determines damage dealt with all weapon types that use strength.

DEX: Dexterity determines your ability to aim as well as to dodge attacks coming your way.

CON: Constitution determines your overall fortitude and stamina as well as your ability to resist poisons and diseases.

INT: Intelligence determines base damage with all attack type spells as well as contributing to your overall MP.

WIS: Wisdom determines base power when using defensive spells as well as contributing to your overall MP.

CHA: Charisma determines your overall force of personality as well as contributing to all skills requiring interactions with other sentient beings.

"Looks like we still have about ten minutes before we start the raid. Since the Rift has only been open for a day we should be able to clear it well before it breaks." Will said and I nodded.

Everyone knew that Rifts broke within seven days of opening. The first Rift that broke was in Tokyo, Japan. The Goblins from that Rift break two years ago had destroyed three city blocks before they were finally put down two hours later. It was a horrifying experience, but we learned from it.

Will then turned to me and added "So with our group Tyrone is usually the leader. None of us are strong enough yet to be recruited by a guild. Once you reach level 10 then guilds will usually be more receptive to you. Since this is your first time, just follow me and do what I do." I nodded again "Thanks bud. This is really nerve wracking." he chuckled at that and patted me on the shoulder.

I stood back up and Will stood next to me as a few more people showed up decked out in different types of armor and weapons. They aligned themselves in three rows. The first row was the Tanks, Tyrone and three others were equipped in what looked like suits of armor from some medieval era show I remembered called 'A Knights Tale'. They had shields that covered half their bodies and were either long rectangles or circular. They were also equipped with large weapons like spears or long swords.

The second row had those that were lighter equipped with things like kevlar vests or some kind of chain mail and smaller weapons like shortswords or one handed maces and hammers. There were three of them.

The last row had Will, another guy I hadn't met yet who was wearing a jogging suit and a funny looking hat that looked like something from Harry Potter and a staff with a crystal on top, and myself.

There were ten of us in total when Tyrone called out "Alright Rift Breakers, it's time to break a Rift." Everyone nodded and got ready. I had to psyche myself up before Will put a hand on my shoulder "Remember to pace yourself and breathe, you'll be fine bud." I nodded and followed him in.

Once I got inside I had to stop for a moment. It was like a whole other world. We were in the entrance to a cave, this cave was glowing a reddish purple. As I looked around and spotted the glowing substance it looked almost like moss. Will stopped me "Don't touch that stuff. It's poisonous to humans with less than a 25 CON score."

I nodded and stepped away, "What is it?" he explained "We call it glowing moss, it absorbs ambient Mana energy and emits a soft glow. Blue moss isn't dangerous and can be used in healing potions. Yellow moss isn't poisonous either and its used for Mana potions. The red and purple moss is poisonous and its used in special arrows and blades to inject the poison."

I nodded again and was about to say something when we heard off in the distance a noise sounding like a horn blowing. I could hear Tyrone call out "Get ready guys, they're coming."

Now I'd like to say that I was brave, that I was standing there ready to take on anything. That wouldn't be the truth. The first line of Goblins I saw rushing at us was almost 20 strong and they were moving fast. I was about to wet myself when Bella ran out in front of me and growled.

I could hear her intent to kill through her growl and it was then I felt her emotions. She would protect her master. I will say it put me at ease to feel that emotion from her.

Tyrone and the other three Tanks all bellowed out loud roars that I assume was some kind of taunt skill because the Goblins focused on them and slammed into their shields, spears and swords. Bella ran up with the rest of the second line and began tearing into the Goblins.

Will grinned and raised his Glock "Let's give them a taste of magic." and as he said this he fired multiple bullets per shot. I turned towards the Goblins again and fired off all 22 of my Force Missiles.

The headache that followed was bad, it was on the level of a migraine. My missiles hit three different targets, finishing each of them off. All I saw before falling to my knees from pain was Bella jumping off of a dead Goblin and onto another one as she tore into them.

It was about 2 minutes later when I could finally see straight and I looked up. Everyone was sitting around me with a makeshift campfire going. Will was the first one to come up. "I told you to watch your mana bud. The headaches from draining all your Mana suck."

I nodded and felt Bella nuzzle my leg and sighed. When I checked my stats I saw my MP was back up to 12. I scratched Bella's head and looked around. All the Goblins were dead and piled in a corner. I noticed quite a few of them had chunks of them torn off.

Bella was licking her chops and still had some green blood on her face and I cringed as she looked up at me. Will laughed "Your little beast there is a heck of a fighter. She took out five all by herself. Your missiles finished off three, so we had a much easier time."

I nodded as he said this. I sat down and meditated for a little while to bring my mana up even more and sat there for a good little while as my Meditation skill slowly climbed levels as well. It got to ten before I stopped concentrating and got up.

Everyone else was already up and dividing up the loot. We each got two Mana stones. My Mana stones were both Stat boosting. "How can you tell what stats they boost?" I asked Will. He looked over and said "Red is Strength, Green is Dexterity, Orange is Constitution, Blue is Intelligence, Yellow is Wisdom and Silver is Charisma. Then you have skill and spell stones that are either black or white. Black means its an attack skill or spell, white means its a defensive skill or spell."

I had one blue and one yellow stone. "Is there a way to tell how much it increases?" he nodded "You have to use a special machine. Usually though you can usually tell by the size. Those should increase by about 3 or 4 each."

I nodded again. I put both of the stones in my pocket and got ready to go. Bella was right by my side. I was tense, slightly shaken up and the smell was horrible, but I was excited now.

Bella looked like she was excited too, her fur was bristling as we continued on. I passed by the bodies of the Goblins and reached down to pick up a crude looking mace from one of their corpses. It felt good in my hand and I gave it a few test swings. I noticed Will grinning out of the corner of my eye.

We continued on and more and more Goblins poured out of the cave. Groups of 5 and 10 attacked us and every time Bella would jump in after the Tanks taunted the Goblins. I shot off 3 Force Missiles at a time, watching my MP closely as I did. I definitely didn't want a repeat of earlier.

Three hours later we finally got to the boss chamber. I was sitting on 12 Mana Stones now. It was going to be an amazing haul. Those three hours were horrible though. The cries of pain from not only the Goblins but from my teammates as well. I remember a crossbow bolt slamming into my shoulder and not feeling it until the fight was over and the adrenaline left me. Thankfully the guy with the funny hat and staff was a healer.

The boss chamber was a huge round hollowed out mining looking tunnel. There were 30 Goblins in total including the biggest Goblin I'd ever seen. It was standing about 6 feet tall, whereas the others were only 3 feet tall.

"That's a Hobgoblin. We have to be really careful around it. The swords it's wielding can cut a head or limb off no problem." I gulped upon hearing that and resolved to stay in the back. Tyrone turned to me and said "So we're going to draw their attention. When we do that, you and Will unleash hell on the boss. Have your raccoon charge him as well. His health is close to 500, so we need him taken down quickly." I nodded and readied myself.

The Tanks rushed forward and taunted all the Goblins except the boss, Bella and the other DPS rushed in right after them. The battle was intense and bloody. Will shot off around 100 bullets or so, I continuously shot off my Force Missiles at whatever target presented itself and tried to help out the Tanks and Bella.

The Hobgoblin Boss let out a loud and powerful yell as he charged forward. I called out "Bella, go after the boss." she turned and charged straight for it. I used all but 10 of my Mana as I shot everything I had at the boss. Will started shooting at the Boss as well and within minutes the Boss and all the Goblins lay dead on the ground.

My mind was reeling, we had just killed 30 Goblins, we survived. "Well, this went better than I thought. Hey newbie, you really did a good job. Getting your raccoon to attack the boss kept us alive." I had to grin as Tyrone said that and Bella ran up to me with a Blue and Black fist sized stone held in her mouth.

Tyrone chuckled "Normally I'd say that we all would draw lots for the boss stone, but your pet has claimed it and I think you deserve it. What do you guys think?" he asked looking around and the other tanks nodded. Will grinned "Thats a magic attack skill stone. Those sell for a lot, or you can use it yourself."

Once we took all the Mana stones from the rest of the goblins I chuckled to myself. 'I might as well use it and a few of the other stones.' so I began pulling out the INT and WIS stones. I had 15 total stones including the boss stone. There were 3 INT stones and 2 WIS stones.