Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord-Chapter 68: How is is I

Rift seeds were how a rift could dominate territories. Monsters from the main rift would carry the seed and plant it into a ruin, thereby creating a mini version where monsters would continue to sprawl, and the ruins around it would be greatly strengthened.

The monsters from this core, an area where the rift seed ruin and strong ruins are concentrated, would also try to plant more rift seeds into other ruins. The reason being, the rift seed ruins were where monsters could freely come out and attack people.

I got the main gist then. The Ten stayed in the core as the strongest team and tried to destroy this rift seed ruin, but they hadn’t yet... because the Ten were from different Flags, and each was subtly trying to keep the others in check to prevent them from reaping the reward from this ruin.

But mainly because even without the seed, the core was a place where strong ruins continued to sprawl every time.

"But destroying the seed ruin would make the ruin lose a lot of power. In fact, it will reduce the power of monsters from the second layer and make it possible for small teams to handle the monsters here.

"And seriously, except for the rift break, the rest of the dangers after destroying the seed ruin would be basically nothing... Oh... you don’t know about rift breaks too? The main reason why a borderland is called a borderland is because of the rift break. I mean, apart from the rift, of course!" Xan said.

Slowly, the ground around us began to change. It got harder, more rocky, and soon we began to walk around tall mountains and narrow footpaths.

"Rift break is when a small opening occurs, and monsters pour out in waves. It’s been theorized that the seed ruins mark the territories where the rift break can happen. See the first layer? There’s nothing like rift breaks! And that’s why I want to go there, but then I see you, and I have to help you out, and..."

We all gave him a look, and he got quiet. For only a second. "Alright, what else do you want to know?"

My head hurt from all the new information I had to learn just now, and I knew this was only the beginning. Just then, my stomach grumbled. "How do we find food?"

Slya and Tiber eagerly nodded along with me.

Xan grinned. "Well then. Maybe it’s time to search?"

He gave us little bits of geography as we went looking for some monsters to kill. Edible monsters. To the north, where we currently were, was the Pike Peaks. To the west was the Veilwood Forest, where the teams below the Ten had their bases.

Deeper into the Veilwood were the outlaws that spread through to the east, where the Riftscar Canyon was located, a land of deep fissures and canyon networks. The south was the typical borderland, all barren, with dry soil and sinkholes.

Apart from the Pike Peaks, which were relatively low in ruins, the rest were rich with them and filled with frequent rift breaks.

With little time to waste and with the sun lowering in the sky, we hunted monsters that Xan promised were edible. I and the others were skeptical when we saw the big worm covered in a white chitin shell.

But after roasting it with the shell and all, we scooped the now pink meat out. It wasn’t bad. To me, it tasted like fish. We ate until we were full and then looked for an abandoned, cleared ruin.

It was in the form of a crumbled door set into the mountain tunnel, and after we confirmed that it wasn’t a monster’s territory, we settled down for the night.

There wasn’t much talking that night. Even Xan, who tried to speak, was shut down by Slya’s sword. We took turns for night watch and then slept. The next day was spent in the same way. The difference was that we looked for water and avoided the Knight we saw.

The mountain was big enough to avoid anyone, and we did just that as we made our way over, crossing to the central core. To be honest, I was amazed by what I learned. I didn’t think the second layer would be this big and impressive, and I knew I’d not even seen half of it.

Three days later, we finally crossed from the north and descended the slope toward the center. I couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath when I saw the view from the top of the mountain. "Wow."

Maybe it was because the sun was just shining through, but everything spread in front of us with a tint of the morning light. The green-yellow grasses were broken by the majestic buildings of the ruins, and at the middle of it all was a wall that formed a perfect circle. Even from here, I could see how impressive it was. It looked as if mountains had been bent to make it.

"It’s impressive, right? That’s the core. The wall was made by the Flagbearer of the Forsaken Tribes," Xan said.

I nodded, but my mind wasn’t on that. I was trying to see if I could catch anything inside the wall, but I saw nothing. I shook my head. "Come on, let’s go."

We began to climb down, and by midmorning, we were already inside the outskirts. The first ruin we saw up close was being demolished by a group of people wearing white scarves around their necks, workers. They were loading the wood from the building into carts pulled by horses.

Surrounding them was a group of Knights in leather armor. The piece on their chests was colored bright white, and on the left corner of their chests was the number 30.

They gave me and my companions withering looks, their hands going to their weapons. They looked ready to unleash their powers at any time.

Xan hastened for us to give the ruin space, and I saw no reason not to listen to him. "Every team is always cranky about their ruins. And more so since we look like outlaws without any Flag colors or team rank."

Indeed, if the materials for the ruins were made of quality wood or metal, then it wasn’t abnormal for them to be broken down and used for other things.

"That’s the rank 30 team of the Crimson Hood." Suddenly, Xan stopped and looked at me. "Wait, what team are you hoping will accept you?"