I sneezed for some reason, feeling like someone irritating was talking or thinking about me. All I could say was the chilling feeling I had didn’t belong to Giselle. Wait, why was I thinking about her? I sighed. The fiery look in that oaf’s eyes, and whenever she didn’t open her big mouth… Well, I didn’t dislike it. I scoffed. I would never tell her that aloud.

  Something rumbled behind me, a wet grinding or a millstone turning. The ground trembled beneath me, shifting the Horn I was leaning on ever so slightly. Then, my notifications revealed a golden dot above the plus symbol. Well, alright. Five minutes of rest time was enough for me. Bring me good news, Plus Menu, or horrible news. Whatever.

  ———————————————

  +

  — RIFT BOSS DEFEATED —

  A Core has revealed itself…

  +

  ———————————————

  Good news? I think that’s excellent news. It’s over and nothing is actively trying to kill me here. Checking my Status brought me more dizzying news. 2015 status points for smooshing that Boss into a flattened tin can and clearing this Rift of the stench, now that’s quite a generous reward. However, the thought of dividing those up right now into my Plus Menu simply made me groan, so I will ignore them for now.

  I stood up and brushed myself off instead. Scanning the horn, I realized it still could be stored. It was a great little trick. I didn’t know how much the improved Movement Speed could compensate for my lack of fighting prowess, so any extra help was welcome.

  As for the fallen Lizardman himself, I turned to find that his corpse was dissolving rapidly. I stored the Minotaur Horn and found several objects resting in the crater. Little trinkets, my eyes felt like they couldn’t widen enough at the welcome sight. The first one was that damn Lizardman’s Sword. What a joke.

  ———————————————

  +

  — Stormfang Sword [Rare]. A sword gifted to one who can sit in His storms. Not compatible with any skills, but can be wielded.

  +

  ———————————————

  How strange, I picked the sword up. I went back to my theory that my Attack Power indeed helped me wield these little sticks, but given that I could only use magic through my Skills, I doubted one of these would be good in my hands. So, it sat in the panel next to the Emissary’s Horn. For some reason, I thought of that Flametongue Knight again, then chastised myself for thinking she would be a good ally. She was the one who pushed me into this mess. So what if I survived in the end, it doesn’t stop the fact that she could betray me because of that Skill affecting her. Another gift lay at my feet.

  ———————————————

  +

  — Conqueror’s Wraps [Rare]. Armour gifted to those who completed a Rift alone. Can be equipped, and provides a great amount of physical defense.

  +

  ———————————————

  Arm protection? Now, why did I not think of that? I picked them up and once again marveled at how light they were. The armour seemed like it wouldn’t last against a single strike, but they were quite shiny and ornate. How charming. I stared through the cuff and compared it to my own laughably, skinny arm. No, it simply wouldn’t fit, would it?

  Out of curiosity, I stuck my left arm through the Conqueror’s Wrap. The hunk of armour hung on my wrist for a moment, before glowing white. It shrank before my eyes, perfectly accommodating to my size. Then it just vanished. What the hell? I lifted my arm, trying to see if it disappeared without me noticing somehow. The weight from it wrapped around my wrist was still there, though it was invisible. I tapped it and only felt my uniform’s sleeve, which was gloriously intact. It was only a bit dirty. So this is what the Plus Menu tag meant, huh. I slipped the other one on, and it burst into a white light as it shrunk to fit my wrist.

  There were two trinkets left. Two shiny red rocks. I scoffed. I didn’t even need to read the tag to tell they were those Bloodstone things. Both looked similar, so I scooped the closest one up without much fuss. I held it up and inspected it. It was translucent, with something inside of it. But I couldn’t eat these things, now could I? Utterly useless.

  Come to think about it, I haven’t actually been hungry this whole time I’ve been in this world. Was it because I was constantly leveling up? Did Hunters need to eat food or drink? My throat constricted involuntarily. After that purple juice incident, I didn’t want to drink anything. A tag from my Plus Menu popped up, hovering over the shiny stone in my hand.

  ———————————————

  +

  Reveal Blood Boon? Y/N

  +

  ———————————————

  Blood this, blood that. Ugh. I selected yes mentally and the prompt got out of my way. The Blood Boon melted after the confirmation was sent, though I didn’t feel the liquid slipping over my hand through my fingers and onto the ground. Instead, I felt something hard and metallic. I was holding what appeared to a bloodstained key. It was cold and had strange runes etched along its notchless blade, surrounding it in an orange glow. My eyes widened at the tag labeling it. Well, well, well. Now, this was interesting.

  ———————————————

  +

  — A Prince’s Invitation, [Unique]. A Key that opens a private Rift that contains an Exclusive Status Upgrade. Use with caution.

  +

  ———————————————

  A Prince was inviting me to his little world, huh? How romantic. I stored the key in my Item Box. It was clearly one of these Rifts, though I imagined it had to be some kind of test. It wasn’t just going to hand over an upgrade for free. I knew this Key had the answer to the unknown conditions required for either the Item Shop or something else in my Plus Menu. If anything, it was a pointer to the next thing I should focus on in this life.

  The final trinket was actually a Bloodstone Shard [Tier 4], though it was a bit bigger than a chipped one. I stuffed it into the Item Box without much thought. The least impressive prize was saved for last after all, but I wasn’t going to be too ungrateful. I knew they had to be good for something, considering everything in this world runs on blood. After storing that, my eyes glossed over the icons of Leah’s Skull and Emily’s Corpse, which have been in that space for awhile now. A wave of guilt swept over me. If only they had a Plus Menu.

  Then maybe they would have survived.

  I looked around and noticed that the sky turned into an ugly pewter. I was so engrossed in all of these winnings that I didn’t realize time was still flowing here in its weird and twisted way. I needed to get out of here, and that’s when I saw that the disk where the Boss had escaped from had risen.

  Black soil curled around its edges, a stark contrast to the vibrant green that still clashed with the grey sky. A large faceted bright white geode had materialized above its perfect smooth stone, suspended like a lantern. Indigo and crimson lights pulsed through small sullen veins inside of it in an arterial rhythm.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  So, that had to be the Rift’s Core, I mused. However, I found out that it wasn’t like the Shrine Crystals at all. Segments, as if someone sliced it perfectly horizontally, twisted, independent from the rest of its body. Each time it did, a low harmonic sung, but it felt like a punch to my ribs rather than my ears. The veins were forming a strange swirl inside of it, and before I knew it— I was already climbing up the Boss’s altar.

  Once I stood beneath it, the Core’s middle section twisted once again, revealing symbols I couldn’t read etched on its surface. I gasped, my hand flying to my chest as I fell to my knees. Something in my chest felt wrong. The humming wasn’t just a cute noise; it was a probe making its way through my blood like tattoo needle piercing the skin.

  The pain flowed inside my veins as an unwanted intruder. I frantically checked my Plus Menu.

  ———————————————

  +

  — RIFT P|E|O|D|N0429FB’s Core has detected the Host’s presence, but its magical energy cannot be passed to the Host’s Bearer.

  — The Bearer calls for Host Kathleen Ravenclast’s name…

  +

  ———————————————

  Magic? I laughed, feeling the burn searing my teeth as I opened my mouth. Fine. That’s what this is about? I didn’t ask for no Bearer to take the credit of all the work I barely did here, now did I? If it wants magic, I, Kathleen, will definitely give it that!

  I got up on my knee, looking into my own magic core. My chest burned and my vision blurred as I took in the chaotic battle raging inside of the white inner space. The sphere of mana had transformed once again, from an ocean to an entire blue planet. The dark storms that raged within it had now surfaced, flowing in the distance. The white surroundings had the same indigo and crimson tendrils of the Rift Core’s own magic, invading and attempting to “pollute” the blue world within me.

  Well, I was about to let it get even bigger.

  I didn’t hesitate, pouring every status point I had into my Magical Power. When in doubt of your puny magic, add more to it. Or something. Perhaps, I really was a Ravenclast in some way, simply putting muscle into everything. The notifications flowed in, as storms and lightning swelled into the four directions linked to my limbs. My bones felt like they were snapping from the electrocutions, and maybe they were, but my head was spinning from the flood of information more than the pain.

  ———————————————

  +

  Notifications

  > A narrow dodge from a deadly attack! Host has gained 5 status points! [Total: 5 status points]

  > Bone crushed! Dealt a heavy blow to the Rift Boss! Host has gained 10 status points! [Total: 15 status points]

  > Rift Boss Slain! Host has gained 1000 status points! Host has leveled up! [Level 20] [Total: 1015 status points]

  > Database has been unlocked.

  > RIFT P|E|O|D|N0429FB Conquered! Host has gained 1000 status points! Host has leveled up! [Level 22] [Total: 2015 status points]

  > You have added 2015 points to Magic Power. You now have 2809 Magical Power (D).

  +

  ———————————————

  I cut off the flow of Notifications, feeling the Core inside of me burst with renewed vigor. The sudden withdrawal from my magical inner world and the panels sent my system into a shock, my mouth gasping greedily for air. The Core’s Rift was pulsing its piercing melodies into my own, my boots and knees scraping the smooth stone as I struggled against its invisible force. I unleashed more magic out of my limbs, watching the corrupt magic flow from my fingertips and toes. Its expelled currents dissipated into black mist like the dead monsters. I won’t become one, no, not today, you wretched thing!

  With an outstretched feeling, I let out my blue magic through whatever channel allowed it to flow. I couldn’t tell if it was working, or if the alien feeling stirring my insides into a blender was beneficial or not, but I could feel more in control of myself despite the chaos I was unraveling into. The Menu was changing right before my eyes again. Right now, it was telling me to offer up Emily Ravenclast to it.

  A memory struck me then. Her last words were something similar to a situation like this, right? I could hear her voice clear in my mind, cold and detached even when she was dying.

  “When the Bearer calls, offer me.”

  Fine. As the Rift Core’s components spun more violently, I scrolled to the Item Box and slammed the slot containing Emily’s corpse. The white panel expanded to a rectangular shape flat on the ground where I was looking— directly under the Rift’s Core. She emerged unceremoniously out of it in a slightly bent savasana, but it wasn’t her rotting body or something foul. No, her corpse had been reduced to a skeleton.

  “The fuck?” I muttered as I closed the Plus Menu, kicking myself for not upgrading literally any other Attribute.

  Her skeleton burst into a golden light, no, the entire stone disk I was standing on exploded into a firework show of starry sparks, causing the Core to crack, then twist completely out of reality, leaving a black hole. The malevolent gemstone of doom was gone in just a few seconds. The world went silent and sure as hell wasn’t going to explain shit to me. I watched, completely stunned, as a dark red ichor dripped from the black hole in reality onto the skeleton.

  The liquid didn’t pool into a nasty puddle of goo underneath Emily. Rather, it twisted into vines, weaving and pulling her bones in a strange stretch. Every joint and part of her skeleton besides her skull became fused, melted and turned into a black woody substance. It wasn’t until the soft scrape of continent grinding against stone coming from everywhere all around me when my brain finally recovered from crashing.

  The smell of copper and dirt flooded my nostrils. Then my vision doubled, blurred, and everything became distant. The pressure built up in my skull. I gasped and doubled over, stone rushing up to beat my knees in as they failed. I didn’t feel pain anymore. Only coldness. I knew this feeling… I was dying! Not again. And again!

  To make things even worse, I was feeling utterly foolish over the possibility that I had wasted 2000 stats on Magical Power only to realize a damn skeleton was the key to the puzzle. I couldn’t stand up and all of my bones were definitely broken. My pulse beat against my temples in a final desperate race for time. The bag! Giselle threw me it before she threw me in here!

  I scrolled down to the Item Box and pulled it out, my limbs screaming in protest as I grabbed a red potion like it was a torch in the dark. That Core’s magic must have ripped me apart from the inside, because everything was fracturing to halos. The small glass bottle clinked on the stone, but my hands pried the cork off of it and I downed it, my jaw screaming in protest.

  The swig turned into lightning, tasting like ash.

  The coldness, once white and absolute, vanished and was instantly replaced by heat and a breathtaking amount of pain. I sank onto all fours, arching my back, as the “whole body getting rearranged from the inside” thing started all over again. Giselle’s potion did its work, though. Through the choking and gasping, sensation was coming back with a vengeance. The potion was literally sealing and refitting my bones and pulling everything together with a barely audible knitting sound.

  My heartbeat settled. One thump. Two thumps. Three thumps. Then I breathed in again. Another bottle rolled out of the bag, bumping into my hand which had clawed five visible scratch lines into the smooth stone. I wriggled my arms, testing the waters. No pain. Now what the hell was I doing again? It felt like for just a moment during all that dying, my body was on its own and I was there for the ride, utterly impressed at my own situation.

  God. Dying was an absolutely dreadful experience and to think, I was on the verge of doing it a second time. A dry laugh escaped me as I tucked the precious thing back into the bag, then hit [Store] on its tag for the Item Box as I stood up.

  I patted myself off, but immediately regretted doing so. My clothes were now dirty again, damp from today’s festivities. My eyes once again turned back to the main thing that happened. Emily’s skeleton was gone. In the place where I left her, a twisted black rod lay, complete with a skull fused to the top of it. My brain knew what I was looking at, but marveled at how incredibly macabre the process of how it came to be was. I looked at the tag hovering over it.

  ———————————————

  +

  — Oblivion Staff, [Unique]. Capable of all spells the Host is able to use. Use to seal Rift Cores.

  — IN ALL WAYS THIS REALM SHALL BE FORGOTTEN —

  +

  ———————————————

  My hands trembled as I picked the staff up. The twisted vines were rough like wood and as I lifted it, the eyes of Emily’s skull fixed on top of it lit up with an evil blue light matching my magic’s colors. This thing was cursed beyond belief! It was evil and had messed up origins. And it was— absolutely awesome! More importantly, it appeared to be mine.

  I lifted it. It was heavy and quite the hell of an upgrade from the poor Healer’s Warped Staff. As I was marveling at my new gear, a surge of energy made my hair raise, followed by the roaring wind of something forcing itself into reality. It was the Rift’s exit portal, floating right in front of me as a blue, buzzing beacon. There were so many notifications left for me to gloss over and some slight changes to my Plus Menu, on top of new Spells. But I shook my head. I was falling into a slippery slope, so I’d be better off escaping this strange place for good before a minotaur shows up.

  I tossed the Oblivion Staff into the Item Box like a hot potato. I didn’t give the strange world a second glance— I marched into the Rift’s exit portal.