Keynes dodged the white ceramic blade aimed at his head. The slash was slow and predictable. It itched Keynes to slam the phantom attacker with [Chaos Aura] and be done with it but that would defeat the purpose of this exercise. The idea here was to master his Mind attribute and that required hard choices. So he played the game and avoided phantom-Vivena’s attacks without an offence on his own until his mind protested from strain.

  ***

  [Poison Aura] bathed Keynes and he grunted. Her poisons never worked the same. Sometimes his body would be overtaken by uncontrollable seizures, sometimes it would be paralysed. On a rare occasion damage would appear right away, either his skin would blacken and peel off or his internal organs would begin turning to mush.

  This time was different. After days of suffering an agony of [Poison Aura], Keynes was ready for the countermeasure. He didn’t have a choice in the matter. Outside of the delirious nightmare, Kora left one more mushroom alive, increasing their number to six.

  These mushrooms worked in unison, stacking the effect of [Delirium] to a dangerous level. A Level 5 ascender without proper countermeasures would perish to these monsters in a matter of seconds. It reminded Keynes about the time Lem Solaris had spoken about the difficulty milestone at Level 5 rifts. All the Level 5 rifts they had visited so far with Persephone and Kora had been only somewhat dangerous, except this one. The mind rift was a downright deathtrap…

  He groaned, losing control of his aura, which meant to counter [Poison Aura]. His musing was getting into the way of his focus. He wasn’t surprised. His thoughts had a tendency to drift, pulled around by countless details of his perfect recall.

  Keynes realigned his focus back on the right track, forcing [Poison Aura] out of his body, then kept the intensity of his spiritual aura equal to [Poison Aura]. This wouldn’t be possible in normal circumstances as his aura control was too weak to counter a spell, but inside his mind rules were different.

  ***

  The white ceramic blade became a blur. Phantom-Vivena moved with fluidity and grace, each motion charged with killing intent, the air around her permeated by [Poison Aura]. Keynes parred her attacks with his own sword lest the phantom would cut him to pieces. Dodging at this rate had become too risky as it would take a single mistake to get seriously injured. It didn’t matter if it happened in his mind, mental damage was as dangerous as physical one.

  The ceramic blade moved horizontal, aiming at decapitating him. Keynes blocked it and immediately used his spiritual aura to assault the phantom’s spiritual core. The phantom staggered, giving Keynes an opening. Keynes moved in, thrusting his blade into the phantom’s chest. She attempted to dodge it but her stance was poor, making her recovery too slow.

  Keynes’s blade pierced her torso.

  “This isn’t the end,” she gurgled as blood poured out of her mouth.

  “I know,” Keynes said, a hint of melancholy in his voice. He would be back here tomorrow, facing even a stronger mushroom-induced [Delirium].

  As the vision faded, Level 5 essence started entering his body from now dead mushrooms. Keynes considered [Delirium]. The mushrooms always created Vivena as his enemy. Her hatred was sobering. She had tried to kill him and almost succeeded if not for Lem Solaris’s intervention.

  He remembered his fight against Vivena vividly. His body stiffened and sweat broke. He felt his heartbeat picking up the rate. That fight had been too close, he realised. He had never thought about death but his mind hadn’t been right because of Wax Earl’s Talent and the Chaos debuff. Despite his perfect recall, that period felt distant. I was compelled to take these risks. To push forward and cause outbreaks, he mused, annoyed at being used. But at the same time, he asked himself, Or am I looking for someone to off load the blame for my mistakes?

  “Keynes.” Kora approached him. “Everything alright?”

  His spiritual aura was in a disarray as his emotions were in a turmoil. She sensed it without much trouble.

  But as she came closer, his body shivered and anxiety was replaced by a sudden surge of thrill. A new, stronger realisation came to him. He found risk irresistible. His initial reaction was already fading away and he knew he would one day face real Vivena again.

  “I’m good,” he replied, turning toward Kora. “Actually, more than good.”

  She stopped a metre from him, watching him closely. Her tiny frame made her look cute but she was absurdly strong. He liked that she was here, with him.

  “You sure? There was a lot of distress in your spiritual aura.”

  “I’ve just come to terms with something.”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “I like this…” He gestured at the rift. “This life on edge. The risk. Challenges. The proximity of death.”

  “I noticed.” She nodded, a smile played on her lips.

  “I’m being serious,” Keynes said, solemnly. “I want this.”

  “I want this too.”

  Keynes frowned, wondering what her words truly meant. When he met her, Kora had been a timid girl standing in the shadow of her sister. She was still quiet but this was more to do with thoughtfulness than timidity, and while she remained in a shadow, she was like a hunter in it watching its prey.

  “Hm?” she grunted and Keynes realised he was staring dumbly at her.

  “Sorry.” Keynes smiled. “I just…” His voice trailed off as Kora stepped closer and kissed him.

  “Don’t say anything,” she murmured.

  ***

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Keynes had trouble staying on his feet. Poisons from [Poison Aura] and [Poison Touch] coursed through his veins. As he swayed, he wondered why he was fighting Vivena. Why did she hate him so intensely? Something wasn’t right here. Where was he?

  Pain exploded in his left shoulder. His eyes snapped to the left, finding his shoulder impaled by a ceramic sword.

  “Die!” Vivena seethed as she took a swing with her [Poison Touch]-coated fist.

  Pain granted Keynes temporary clarity. His memories returned and without hesitation, Keynes attacked with his spiritual aura. Phantom-Vivena wasn’t easily moved but her melee attack lost its impetus and Keynes was able to dodge by jumping away.

  He pulled the sword out of his shoulder, gritting his teeth. It hurt like hell despite the pain not being real. Using the right hand, Keynes rushed Vivena. Without the sword, she was forced into defence…

  All of sudden, reality cracked and the world started to fall apart.

  “Did you do something, Kora?” Keynes asked but then a System message flashed before his eyes.

  You have mastered your Mind attribute.

  Further Mind attribute improvement for Level 4 is impossible.

  Level up to gain the improvements.

  (Remaining time: 1 year)

  Current essence absorption rate: 30%

  He mastered the last attribute. He really did it!

  “I did it!” he shouted. Kora crashed into him a second later. They fell to the ground, locked in an embrace. They lay there for a while, unbothered by anyone. The mushroom died off the moment Keynes broke out of [Delirium], Persephone was on her mission to ascend to Level 8. There were over ten Level 5 rifts left open so they had a moment for themselves.

  “I’m exhausted,” Keynes sighed. He climbed to his feet, pulling Kora up. Their eyes met and his heart skipped a beat. After their kiss, things between them were strange.

  Strange but nice. He found himself wanting to spend time with her more than before. He was no expert when it came to girls, or women in this case. This was his brother’s area of expertise. Harter had many girlfriends, endlessly teasing Keynes about the fact that his older brother had never had one.

  Did I fuck myself up by not having a girlfriend in the highschool? He wondered.

  “Shall we head back?” Kora asked.

  “Yeah, I need a good sleep.”

  They got to the exit, their spacesuits reformed automatically before they stepped out of the rift.

  “CONGRATULATIONS!”

  Keynes nearly jumped out of his skin.

  “Alice,” he grunted. “Don’t do that ever again.”

  “Stop being a party pooper,” she replied. “You have mastered all attributes! You are almost a 4th degree Perfect State ascender. We should celebrate!”

  “Keynes? What’s the matter?” Kora asked via the comms.

  “Alice decided to make her entrance,” he explained.

  “She must be over the moon,” Kora said.

  “You bet!” Alice grinned, floating between Kora and Keynes.

  “It sounds like she is, but she may be losing it,” Keynes replied, referring to her rough behaviour.

  They made their way to the Level 1 rift, chatting and teasing each other. Keynes wished that Kora could finally hear Alice as he was tired by relaying Alice’s twisted sense of humour.

  The next weeks were marked by a monotonous process of clearing rifts. Kora and Keynes joined Persephone. For their combined strength, Level 5 rifts posed no challenge. Keynes itched to ask the spaceship’s AI to find them a Level 6 or 7 rift but wasn’t sure if his Talent was up to the task. Opening a Level higher rift didn’t feel that hard but he suspected an attempt to open a Level 6 rift at his current Level might lead to an outbreak.

  A Level 6 outbreak would have been disastrous, so he refrained from scratching that itch.

  It took him 22 days to reach 100% of Level progression. Persephone had gotten Level 8 in the meanwhile and Kora was around 70% toward Level 7.

  Progression toward Level 5: 100%

  They returned to the Level 1 rift as Keynes decided to Level up there. He was pushing his patience to the utmost limits by not triggering the Level up.

  “Why am I more excited about your Level 5 than my Level 8?” Persephone asked as she dismissed the spacesuit inside the rift.

  “Was there any reward for gaining Level 8?” Keynes asked.

  “Not really,” she said. “A stronger spiritual aura and more advanced spiritual companion if I decide to reactivate it.”

  This was as much as Keynes expected. A non-Perfect State ascender received nothing special with each Level. Just more attributes and stronger spiritual aura. Generic stuff.

  On the other hand, a Perfect State ascender was showered with goodies by the System.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  They nodded. Both Kora and Persephone had strong spiritual sense. They hoped to gain an insight from observing his ascension.

  Let’s do this.

  Good luck, Keynes, Alice said.

  Keynes triggered the ascension.

  Congratulations!

  You reached Level 5.

  All attributes mastery achieved.

  Perfect State (fourth degree) unlocked!

  The surroundings vanished, replaced by void. At first, he thought he would meet the entity of Chaos again but the scenery was different. He looked down and saw a contour of his translucent body bathed in light. He moved his fingers, and they responded. Another vision?

  “Defier of Chaos,” a voice said. Keynes turned around. Somehow, he didn’t feel threatened by the otherworldly presence. “Congratulations are in order.”

  The voice belonged to a tall humanoid, standing on an invisible floor several metres from Keynes. He wore a pristine silver cape, with golden runes, that reached his scarlet red boots. Beneath, he had an elegant black attire that resembled clothes of old aristocratic families. But there, any resemblance to a human ended. His hair was a golden flame, his face was alien and darker than onyx. His silver eyes regarded him with curiosity and amusement.

  Keynes’s first urge was to ask who he was but he thought better of it and said instead, “Thank you.”

  “Such an untempered little thing. I can’t recall, despite having perfect recall like you, the last time I talked to a being so low in the power hierarchy. What a bizarre series of events that led to this moment.”

  Then why are you here? Keynes asked himself, fully expecting the being to hear his thoughts like Lem Solaris had done before.

  “That is the only question worth asking,” the being said. “Why am I here? The answer is simple and complex at the same time. You are a convergence of many exotic factors that reached a level of improbability that is beyond anything I have witnessed.

  “You are a defier. Defiers are by nature of their title, a rare breed with a short lifespan. They usually die to what they defy. To defy Chaos itself? Unheard of in the Lower Realms.

  “You possess a Talent with an Error affinity. That shouldn’t be possible as all the Systems have counter-measures in place to prevent this affinity from appearing.Yet, here you are.

  “Thirdly, you possess a soul-bound item given to you by a System entity, which sacrificed its life to create a new race; a spaceship, which is classed as an artefact; and a fungi AI, banned throughout the multiverse.

  “Lastly, a 4th degree Perfect State ascender already with a trait of shamanism and the Superior spiritual stage. All of these factors converge and exist only here, in you.”

  He pointed at Keynes.

  “Why?” Keynes asked. He didn’t feel overwhelmed but this was the only thing he wanted to know right now.

  “That is the beauty of your situation. No one knows. The more attention you receive from the Higher Realms the more unknown your future becomes,” the being replied. “Now, as an official representative of the Greater System, I am here to witness your ascension to Level 5, ensuring no unsanctioned tempering from inside or outside this universe. Proceed.”