Chapter 191 - (191) Rift
Chapter 191 – (191) Rift
Rift watched as Swole strode through the sea of wolves as if they were mere chihuahuas. It was amazing.
He and Blaze had long since stopped casting and just watched in awe as the hulking figure thrashed monster after monster.
He glanced toward his cousin, Sindri, who was still holding the wolves back at the bottleneck.
With the devastation that Swole was causing, the pressure on the front line had eased up tremendously.
"Rift. I feel like we should speed up this process. Why don't you go ahead and push yourself to 50?
Blaze, Filthy, be prepared to swap with him once he's done. The Tames can have a turn afterward."
Geth spoke nonchalantly and cast another Mass Restoration. The others looked at him questioningly.
After sending a few arrows into the crowd in quick succession, Filthy was the first to respond.
"I'll assume it's due to our guests? That's a shame. I know you wanted to proceed slowly to allow Hulk's group a chance to power Level."
Rift's hands danced through the air while he watched Swole's movements. He glanced at the archer curiously.
"Guests?"
"Don't worry about it. Just hit 50, and we can talk about it later. You won't get an opportunity like this very often."
Geth waved his staff and gestured to the crowd. The massive tunnel was still packed wall to wall with five to seven wolves crammed side by side.
The scene repeated itself as far back as he could see. There were over a thousand beasts just within a 100-yard area.
'He's right. He'd provided the best possible opportunity for single targets or AOE casters.'
Any single target caster, marksman, or melee fighter could stand in the bottleneck and Level up freely.
As for AOE casters or warriors, so many enemies this densely packed in a single area was nothing but an experience farm!
Rift certainly wouldn't turn down the man's kindness.
His hands began moving faster. A large cloud made its way down the long tunnel, only stopping close to 50 yards in.
He made sure that his cast was aimed far enough back that it wouldn't hit Swole. After forming the cloud, a small black tendril snaked from the tip of his staff and into the mist.
The others watched on, interested in what the kid was doing. They all showed a look of surprise when the young man just sat down.
Rift noticed the looks and grinned. He pointed to the cloud.
"Just watch."
Blaze and Filthy just awkwardly nodded while Geth curiously looked toward the darkening cloud.
Rift wondered if he could sense the Corruption that he'd merged with the spell. It was something that the two had in common.
The once white mist turned into a thick grey cumulonimbus that hovered menacingly above the heads of the Direwolves.
Rift could see that they were shifting uncomfortably as their eyes constantly glanced up toward his spell.
It didn't stop there as the cloud turned pitch black. Rift's grin widened as the spell finally built up to the pinnacle.
Rain poured heavily from the cloud. At first, it was just a regular liquid, but it soon mixed with the Corruption and turned into more of an acid rain!
"Very nice!"
Geth gave the young man a thumbs up. Rift swelled with pride, seeing that he'd finally gained some acknowledgment.
He wouldn't admit it openly, but he already looked at both Blaze and Geth as mentors.
The two were much more knowledgable than him, which he found surprising for a couple of older guys.
Rift would have thought that they would struggle to come to grips with this world, much like his old teachers did for some time.
He had been amazed at Geth's prowess in his initial fight with Jack. Then, his astonishment continually increased as he learned more details about the man.
Rift watched the black rain fall onto the Direwolves.
He could see the looks on their faces. Most of them were almost scoffing.
His smile turned almost sinister when he realized these mutts were underestimating him.
Sure, they were only taking around a hundred damage per second. What they didn't know was that the cloud would stay up there for at least a few hours.
He could just kick back and patiently wait for his experience to pour in.
'Perfect situation for an AOE spell.'
He'd only used this spell once before. There really hadn't been any other opportunities.
The targets could merely walk out before taking much damage in most situations, leaving the rain falling upon an empty field for the following hours.
"Why do you think the Direwolves haven't tried jumping out?"
Rift primarily directed the question to Geth, but he'd spoken in the air for anyone to answer.
Blaze was the one who answered him. He sat down beside the young man and cast spells to assist the girls when needed.
"You haven't noticed? Close your eyes and focus your Mana Sense on the ground below the open section of the ceiling."
Rift shifted his glasses before closing his eyes and spreading out his senses.
He didn't have quite the same range as the other mages since he was heavily invested in Intelligence and not Wisdom, but he could still sense the ground below them.
What he found surprised him. The earth below the Direwolve's legs was bubbling!
It looked similar to a pot of water that was simmering but hadn't quite reached its boiling point.
Rift followed the source of the disturbance and found Geth sending Mana down through the wall.
His eyes shot open, and he turned towards the man.
There was no strain on Geth's face whatsoever. He even continued casting Protections and Restorations to assist Swole.
"Do you have your answer now?"
Blaze started chuckling by the young man's side. Rift shifted his gaze towards the jolly mage.
"With him around, you have nothing to fear, boy. Just do your best to learn from him while you can."
Rift nodded his head vigorously. The light continued to grow brighter in his eyes.
****
Geth looked toward the cloud of Corruption once again. He couldn't help but be curious.
'What an ingenious young man. To think that he's learned to merge Skills already.'
He was already aware of Filthy's ability to do so, but that was relatively simple with arrows.
As a mage, merging spells was utterly different than combining a couple of simple Skills.
If one wanted two merge two spells, they would have to find two whose Runes didn't clash with one another.
It wasn't as easy as creating a Formation, where two mismatched markings could cause a bit of an adverse effect.
In the case of merging Runes, it was much more dangerous. Two Runes that didn't synchronize would melt down and destroy one's mind.
'To do such a thing in one's own mental sphere. He's daring.'
An external Formation was one thing, but doing something so unstable inside one's mind was beyond insane.
Albus chuckled at Geth's scurrying thoughts. He stroked his beard and looked up at the center of their shared mental sphere.
'You're one to talk. Do you know how dangerous placing those Formations could have been?'
'Yeah, yeah.'
Geth shifted his attention from Rift's spell over to Swole. He and another of his selves were studying the constant upgrades his friend was receiving.
Swole had already grown another foot, and Geth could tell his skin had changed. It was subtle, but the hair on his body was growing thicker as he killed the Direwolves.
Another thing he'd noticed was that another tattoo would appear on his body with every small sign of growth. This characteristic of Swole's abilities intrigued him.
'I've already thought of engraving Formations on the skin to empower someone, but his ability just doesn't make any sense.'
The tattoos that Swole had gained since coming to this world weren't Runes or Formations. They were depictions of the creatures he fought.
There were Goblins, Hobgoblins, Orcs, and now Direwolves.
'You should wait until you unlock the Tower to delve further. In fact, most of your curiosities should be sated once the Tower is functional.'
Albus responded to him again, but it couldn't keep his mind from being inquisitive.
Geth glanced around at his comrades. He watched as Peter and Jack opened some reward crates.
He sighed when he saw this. If he were right, equipment wouldn't be an issue in the near future. They needed to focus on Points!
It was their choice, and Geth didn't plan on saying otherwise. The choices one made guided their life, and he didn't have a right to intervene.
Rift was the one who spoke up on his behalf.
"What are you two numbnuts doing! We'll get plenty of rewards in the Dungeon. Why are you wasting your Level 50 rewards on gear?!"
Geth couldn't help but smirk. At least one of them had a brain.
His eyes moved to Sindri and Zolis. Neither were boasting new equipment, so it seemed that they had invested in Points as well.
'Good. Swole should be jumping out shortly. Rift will likely jump to Level 50 in one shot after that.'
He watched as the wolves under the massive raincloud writhed in pain. At first, they ignored it, but the rain didn't show any signs of stopping.
Most of the wolves under the massive cloud were already under half health. It would only take another minute or two for almost 200 wolves to drop dead.
'That's exceptional work.'
He nodded his head.
'Felix will have to Level from the Boss experience.. That only leaves Blaze, Filthy, and the Tames.'