Ascenders Rift

Chapter 12: Entering the Fissure, Third Level Lesser Space!

The night passed swiftly as the bright rays from dawn washed across the entire mountain range. Although the night was rather violent, saturated with the blood of fallen animals and humans, the rising sun seemed capable of cleansing all of one's sorrows.

Currently, a lone figure was traveling across the mountain range, his body battered and bruised in many areas, along with his torn-up clothes. From a glance, he would seem no different from a beggar or refugee in a concentration camp.

After traveling for a few more hundreds of meters, he came to a halt on top of a hillside. There, before him following the sight of a few slopes and trees, was a massive split in the earth. Looking at it from this angle, it would seem no different from a crevice, but if viewed from a much broader scale, it would look like a gorge formed by gigantic being's furious assault with an ax.

The traveler sighed and rested his weary bones on a tree as he spoke, "Finally here at Death's Fissure... it's a bit earlier than I'd anticipated, a little over one day."

As Evan said this, his eyes seemed tired as a few shadows were shown underneath them. He gritted his teeth and thought to himself, "That bastard, I couldn't even find the time to rest because of him. I'll definitely let him pay for this..."

After venting, Evan took a small drink that was a stamina booster and drunk it one go. He then threw away the bottle and cracked his joints before readying himself and continuing forward. Not long after, he had arrived at the fissure, as he looked around, he noticed that quite a few old luggage and packages were scattered about as if they haven't been used in a long time.

Evan shook his head and spoke, "Vestiges of late thrill-seekers... such a pity. Oh well, time to get down..."

After clearing his thoughts, he fastened his rope around a sturdy surface before he began to lower himself down the hole. As he descended, his feet would occasionally slip from loose rocks, causing the loose stones to rattle down the fissure as they fell into the unknown.

As Evan stabilized himself, he couldn't help but to speak in surprise, "Truly a dangerous place... indeed. It's no wonder that no one conquered here, causing the monsters to roam loose and ravage this part of the land. Not to mention when this Lesser Space further evolved, a person would have been crazy to come here again..."

While he spoke, Evan had continued to descend for more than a few dozens of meters. However, his rope was now unable to support his descent.

"Shit, now I'll have to risk this because I was forced to ditch the backpack. That damn bastard..." Evan complained, he then glanced down and notice that the scene was still one of pure blackness.

"Night Vision: on." He said as a sharp sound was heard only for his ears as he activated the lens once again, peering towards its depths, there he saw that far below him for a few hundred meters was a large lake at the center of a rocky terrain.

A variety of elevated stones were growing from the depths of the fissure, one reaching roughly a few dozens of meters below his position. Looking at these pillars, Evan even saw a few dried-up bones with worn-out clothes that seemed to have been run through by them.

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"Looks like it will be another risky maneuver..." As he calculated the distances, Evan took a deep breath as a firm look came into his eyes when he pressed his foot against the wall and let go of the rope.

Whoosh! Instantly, his body began to rapidly fall as it veered towards a particular location in the dark, the sharp tip of the rocky pillar quickly came into his sights, causing Evan to show a grave look.

The instant his body was about to be skewed by the pillar, Evan used his hands to counterbalance the force, pushing himself off course before flipping over and using his legs to kick himself towards a different location downward.

Soon, he repeatedly did the same thing on a few more of the pillars, eventually reaching so far down that light from the sun could no longer take any effect. Not long after, Evan had rand out of posts, he then used the final rock to push himself towards the direction of the lake.

Splash! After forming a geyser that climbed towards the heights of the stone pillars, Evan had fallen into the lake, sending ripples across its previously calm surface. Eventually, he had resurfaced, taking in a few deep breaths as he swam to the rocky terrain.

Quickly, he pushed himself out of the lake and shook the water from his wet body and clothes. He then spoke with a sigh as he wiped his sweaty forehead and gazed upwards, "Whew! That was something else... even when I raided the Lich Master's Lair, I didn't feel so nervous."

After clearing his thoughts, Evan sized up the area around him. Although it was pitch dark, he could see things clearly with his contact lens. It was a narrow space with a width of about dozens of meters as it stretched toward no end on both sides, Evan fixed his sights onto one direction noticing that a bit of light was coming from that side.

"It should be that way..." Evan pondered as he quickly started to make his way towards the source of light.

After a good while, he had arrived at an area illuminated by lights that shone from a bright light source. Evan, then turned off his night vision so he could see it clearly.

It was a massive portal that was of a dark reddish color that saturated the area as if it was trying to paint the region of the fissure with the hue of blood. As it floated in the void, a terrifying atmosphere could be felt around it as if it was the door to hell.

As Evan inspected it with his Battle Will, his current body couldn't withstand the foul energies and sinister intent, causing his face to turn pale.

"This... how can this be? To think it was actually a Level Three Lesser Space!" Evan said in shock.

As he said this, he wiped his sweat as he recalled a few memories, "If I recall correctly, the strongest of all Pre-Apocalypse Lesser Spaces were only at the Second Level. The rewards earned by those who successfully cleared them was enough to propel them ahead by miles. Going by this fact, then Alan Lawson should have, by all rights, completed a Second Level space. Since this is recorded as the most dangerous of the world's three most hazardous locations, then it should be right to assume that the other two locations are Level Three Lesser Spaces as well..."

After a short moment, Evan gripped his fists tightly. His eyes shone in excitement as he thought, "If it is like this, then the rewards will be far from common..."

As he recalled the scenes of the future, and those who had died, including the beauty Layla, and Fatty Joe, Evan couldn't help but grit his teeth hardening his determination as he spoke out loud, "I will not give up! I will certainly succeed!"

Not wasting any more time, Evan took out the strange blood-colored pendant from his collar. The moment it appeared; the necklace flashed in bright crimson light as a voice sounded in his head.

[Third Level Lesser Space Detected!]

[Assessing Details...]

[Lesser Space has been locked; entry is forbidden until the Ascenders Trials]

[The Void Code has been detected, Special Authorization Granted!]

[Initiating Transfer...]

Following a series of notifications that popped up before Evan's eyes, the crimson lights began to shine even more brightly illuminating the entire area. Soon, it had expanded, covering a majority of the fissure as it further enveloped this section of the mountainous forests.

After a short while, this light then rapidly receded before fading into the Lesser Space. The area below returned to normal as Evan had vanished from this world.

***

Outside of Death's Fissure, in a region not too far off, Ralph was currently combing through the woods, leaving no stones unturned. His expression was a savage one, carrying a look of pure and utter hatred.

"Evan, you better keep running, for when I capture you, I will let you learn there are plenty of ways to live but yearn to die..." Ralph said with a cruel expression as his eyes gleamed in the sinister red light. As he carefully inspected the forests, looking for all possible trails, he suddenly sensed something in the distance.

"Such a terrifying intent, what kind of savage being is this?" Ralph said in shock, as he wondered how such a being could be nearby.

"I need to see it for myself..." Ralph murmured as he rushed forwards like a blurry figure, whooshing through the trees and hills. Soon, he had arrived at the location of the fissure, noticing its abnormality.

"This is the Death's Fissure... if I recall, the organization only said that here was off-limits. Could this be the place that Manager Lawson was more worried about? Is this Evan's goal? Hmm..." As he was pondering, Ralph soon noticed that a rope with a hook was wrapped around a sturdy rock. The rope was even hanging loose as it trailed downwards into the fissure.

"Interesting... so this was the case, there's some type of Lesser Space in this region. It all makes sense now, but if that's the case, why would the organization not give any core details regarding it?" Ralph said in discontent; he knew that his standing was low, mainly because he was recently joined.

"Tsk! It doesn't matter, now that I'm here I will clear it and increase my strength yet again. Not to mention, I can kill that foolish boy at the same time... two birds with one stone... hahaha! Look out, Evan! I'm on my way!" As Ralph said this, his laughter echoed across the forest as he jumped down the fissure and vanished into the dark.