Spell Weaver-Chapter 87: Closure

Alex crouched behind a natural crystal formation on the ground, using it as cover. Peering around the side, he watched the last floating crystal in the distance. The aurora above had intensified over the past two days, casting brighter lights and stranger shadows across the snow. Small, clear crystal growths had begun to spread across the ground, making the terrain a bit more hazardous.

More than the terrain, the wolves had changed and evolved. It hadn’t occurred to them at first, but the monsters and world within the Rift slowly changed with each crystal pylon that was broken. Where the Rift had started as a serene winter landscape with weak monsters and pretty lights, it now seemed to be a jagged and hard winter scape. The Crystal Wolves, which had once been the size of foxes, had grown in level and size with each of the twelve objectives.

Maya moved closer, her red tipped staff making soft indents in the snow as she used it as a walking stick. “Jason says there is some movement on the left,” she whispered. “Two packs are circling.”

“How many?” Alex asked, scanning the area through his Heavenly Eye. He was reminded once again of the difference of natural mana in the environment within the Rifts compared to Earth. It had increased with each broken crystal, but now that they were down to the last one, the world was awash in colors.

“Seven total. He said they were levels ten to twelve.” Maya gestured to the groups left at the nearest pack. A wolf emerged from behind a snowbank, its head low. The size difference was still shocking to Alex, as the wolf’s shoulder easily reached up to his waist in its altered form.

He scanned the wolf out of reflex and saw that it was level 12. They had jumped up another level after shattering the previous crystal.

Glancing over his shoulder, Alex saw Mark standing ready. His shield was on his arm and half raised toward the wolf with his hammer gripped in the off-hand. Sarah had an arrow already knocked, and Alex noted the difference in her stance and demeanor compared to how it had looked on Monday when they first entered. Sam stayed behind Mark and close to Alex.

“We’ll draw most of them since Tim is a higher level than your tank,” Maya said. “Your team can make for the crystal while we keep them busy.” She looked at her own group, spread out in defensive positions. “Think you can handle any that break through? They’re going to try to close on you when you make your way to the crystal.”

“We can manage a few,” Alex replied. He’d seen how well Maya’s team worked together after running into each other the day before.

They should be able to hold.

Maya tapped her staff twice in the snow. “Ready when you are.”

Alex nodded and turned to his group as Maya walked away to her own team. “Alright, Maya’s team will start the fight. We move as soon as they draw the wolves’ attention.” He met their eyes. “We’re almost done here. You guys have been doing great. Same formation as before. I’ll help as needed, so don’t worry about the numbers; just focus on catching what you can and practicing like we have been. Mark, you’re on point. Sarah, watch our backs. Sam-”

“Stay centered,” Sam finished with a smile. “I know.”

Alex smiled and shook his head. “You’ve been doing much better with that. I was going to ask if you can throw a [Rejuvenation] on their tank as we head out, the heal over time will likely help them a lot since they don’t have a healer.”

Sam nodded with a serious face. “Got it.”

“Olivia, stick to the shadows, but stay close. We don’t know how many might circle around, and we’ll need you to crack the crystal if we’re tied down with too many wolves.”

“Right on.”

Everyone nodded and gathered their courage for a final push. Alex watched his friends, pleased at the progress that had been made in just three days. The sound of Maya’s staff striking crystal rang out across the area, signaling her team to begin their push. They moved forward, spreading out to draw the wolves’ attention.

Alex watched the pack turn toward them.

“Now,” he whispered to his friends.

The group moved quickly through the snow, keeping low and using the scattered crystal formations for cover. Sam pointed his staff toward Maya’s team, and Alex could see it glow a brilliant green as his mana traveled through it as he cast his nature affinity healing spell.

Two wolves broke away from Maya’s team almost immediately. They charged toward Mark with crystal-covered claws and shoulders.

Mark called out with his normal voice as they approached, moving between Alex and the second wolf as well.

His positioning is getting better. He didn’t use his new skill, though.

The first wolf met Mark’s shield with a thunk and the sound of crystal scraping metal. The second wolf slowed its charge and circled to his right, but Sarah’s arrows forced it to keep its distance. The wolf’s crystalline hide deflected her first two shots, but the third found purchase in its shoulder.

Alex began weaving a ritual while keeping his eye on the fight.

Sam kept his position and sent a preemptive heal toward Mark, ensuring that any scrapes and cuts were healed as he took them. The healing kept Mark stable, but Alex could see his friend’s arm trembling slightly after blocking a few blows.

The level difference is still just too large. He gained two levels, but these monsters were still double his own.

Alex did his best to hold back from helping his friends. They had asked him to help less and less as the previous two days had gone by, and he had to trust that they’d ask him for help when they wanted it. Olivia stepped from a shadow and slashed at the front wolf’s hind leg, preventing its continued assault on Mark.

A third wolf emerged from behind a jagged crystal formation, moving to flank the group. Sam called it out, and Olivia moved fluidly, shifting her weight and vanishing again as she stepped through the shadows. It took Alex a moment to see her, as she’d gained elevation by stepping into the shadows of one of the trees above the wolf.

She dropped from the tree with two daggers in her hands and landed on its back, striking a vital point at the back of the head.

“Push forward!” Alex called out, seeing a good opening. The floating crystal loomed closer, but he heard Maya call out in alarm as the largest wolf they’d seen yet burst through their defensive line. Its head was nearly as tall as Mark, and Alex’s scan showed it as two levels higher than the other beasts.

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It charged them as it noticed they were making a B-Line toward the crystal pylon, letting out a roar that reverberated off nearby formations. It began to run toward the group, looking like it would hit their side, either aiming for Sam or Sarah; however, at the last second, Mark appeared and let out a shout.

Through his eye, Alex could see the mana explode outward in a thin wave that covered about ten meters in any direction. As the mana washed over the large wolf, it turned its charge toward Mark and ran into him at full speed.

Alex nodded, knowing that by defending the team, Mark had likely activated his trait and gained a small blanket increase to his stats.

I guess it’s a good thing he saved his [Taunt] after all.

The wolf collided with Mark’s shield and there was a moment of resistance as Mark held and his feet slid on the snow before he went flying and rolling several feet across the ground.

Sarah’s arrows bounced harmlessly off the wolf’s crystal-covered hide, finding almost no flesh on its entire body. Olivia appeared to help Sarah as another wolf tried to circle behind her, leaving Mark alone on the ground with the larger beast.

Alex saw his team being pressed and made a quick decision. He split his mind with [Parallel Mind], activating the ritual that he’d already formed, that floated in front of him, while allowing his second mind to use mana threads to prepare another, different ritual.

He pursed his lips as he activated the first and blew into the back of the mana formation, activating the wind ritual. Releasing several wind-enhanced bolts from his wand, he sent the first into the side of the large wolf that loomed over Mark. It struck its body with a blunt impact, and the sudden pressure pushed it off balance long enough for Mark to get back to his feet. The other three shots of high pressured wind crashed into the floating crystal.

The shots cracked the crystal’s surface, and Alex lowered his wand as he finished preparing the second ritual. With his wand holstered at his side, he reached into the spatial pouch at his side and pulled out a small bag of prepared ritual materials.

“Olivia, help Mark! I’ve got the Crystal!”

The dark-haired woman nodded, changing her direction from the crystal to aid their tank. Alex jogged forward to get closer to the pylon before tossing the ritual materials into the vertically floating Concentrated-Heating Ritual. Pulsing his mana, he felt a large amount of it drain from him as it activated.

The ritual lit up, and a small pillar of concentrated, heated air burst from the ritual circle. While it was pointed away from him and his group, the area began to heat up, and the snow on the ground around the crystal began to melt rapidly.

As Alex watched the large pink crystal heat up from the center, the cracks that he’d made in it began to glow more red than pink before it completely shattered. The sound was loud enough to make Alex flinch and cover his face from the small shards that broke off from the main body as the pilon fractured and fell to the ground.

The remaining wolves harassing Maya's group fled. Alex watched as his team finished off the large beast, with Olivia and Sarah coordinating their attacks while Sam kept its attention.

“Well,” Mark said while panting. “That was a bit easier than I expected.”

“Don’t jinx it,” Sarah muttered.

“Seriously! Who says that!” Olivia said as she wiped off her dagger.

Alex laughed. “I’m not sure things would have turned out well if it was much harder than that. These things were already double your level, Mark.”

Mark shrugged in response as he looked at the scratches on the front of his shield. “Dang, that last one was really strong. My arm is going to be numb for a while.”

“Sam!” Maya called out from a short distance away.

Their group turned to see Maya kneeling over her team’s tank.

Shit.

Their group rushed over just as a System window appeared in front of their faces. Alex dismissed it and focused on the situation.

“He took a bad slash as the large one broke through, you’re a healer. Please help- please help him. Oh god,” Maya said fervently.

The scene looked bad, with Tim’s red blood spread and smeared across the snow as he’d tried to move and his team had surrounded him to protect him from the last few wolves before the crystal was shattered.

Alex was impressed as he watched Sam switch into a serious healing mode. He knelt down next to Tim and looked at his leg.

“Hi Tim, do you remember me?”

The grown man nodded and gritted his teeth.

“Good, I need to look at your leg, but I promise you I’ll be able to heal it. Okay? It’s going to hurt for only a few more seconds. Then you’ll be back to walking around. No problem.” Sam’s voice was calm, and Alex saw Sarah step up as well.

“Do what you need to, Sam. Tim, can you look at me?” Sarah knelt down next to his head and held out her hand to touch his shoulder.

Maya looked uncomfortable by the number of people beginning to surround the man, but as soon as Sarah made contact with him, Tim grew calm. His tense face and muscles relaxed, and he looked at Sarah with wide eyes.

“What- what is that?”

“Just one of my skills, don’t worry. It is just helping you calm down, and Sam will have you patched up in no time.” Her smile was genuine, and Alex felt his heart swell to see his friends work so well to help a group of fellow Guild members.

Sam checked the man’s leg before nodding and grabbing his staff. He held the head of the staff over the leg and put his free hand behind the one that gripped the staff. His open palm, flat against his hand, began to glow as he sent mana through his body and into the staff, it changed to a deep and beautiful green as he sent the [Healing Touch] skill through the staff and into Tim’s leg.

In real time, the leg healed, stitching itself together under Sam’s magic. Tim let out a breath, and his muscles relaxed further. “Holy shit, that’s crazy, kid. Thanks so much.”

Sam smiled at the man and stood. Alex could see him waver as he stood to his feet.

Saying nothing, Alex stepped forward to support the teenager and used his [Mana Infusion] skill to give him a bit of his own mana. He pulled up his own status window to monitor his mana and make sure that he wouldn’t drop too low, but just to be certain, he kept his mind split and began to use [Mana Siphon] at the same time.

Status

Name: Alex Moore - Level 26

Class: Ritualist (Novice)

HP: 562/570

MP: 200/540

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Maya collapsed onto Tim with tears of relief and thanked Sam over and over. The young man looked nervous and scratched his head while leaning on Alex. “It’s alright. I’m happy to help.”

They talked, and most of them were surprised as several blue portals appeared next to them. Even though Alex knew it was part of what happened when Rift Quest was complete, he was still surprised to see it for the first time.

It’s crazy that an exit just appears next to you whenever it’s finished. No matter where you are in the Rift.

He pulled up the previously dismissed System windows.

Congratulations, Awakened! You have completed the Rift Quest: Shatter the Resonating Crystals

You have one Rift Quest Reward available.

Rift Quest Complete: All Resonating Crystals have been destroyed! Warning: Rift collapse imminent. Exit through provided portal to return to planetary integration.

The feeling in the air was ominous after reading the second half of the System prompt. He knew from the articles that he’d read to prepare for the event that the Rift would take an hour or more to close completely.

The aurora above began to twist, and the light dimmed almost immediately, reminding Alex of household lights on a dimmer.

“Time to go!” Maya called out, helping Tim to his feet and wiping her tears from her face.

Mark looked up at the sky. “Woah, check that out.”

“Less watching, more moving,” Olivia said, pushing him toward the nearest portal.

Alex made sure his team entered the nearest portal, walking through last. They stepped through and emerged together, back in the parking lot of the supermarket.

News crews had already begun to gather, but Guild representatives kept them at a reasonable distance.

“Alright, wait until we’re somewhere a bit more private to accept the quest rewards,” Alex said. He felt things were moving rapidly, and Peacekeepers stepped up from the groups exiting the portals to congratulate everyone.

Maya’s team gathered their gear while Alex’s group celebrated their first Rift completion. Olivia was the only one of their group who had seen a closure happen before, so they chatted excitedly about the phenomenon. Sam was practically bouncing as he described the final fight from his perspective, talking about how cool Mark had looked when standing his ground against the last wolf.

“Good work in there,” Maya said, offering her hand to Alex. “Your team did really well. When they catch up in levels, you’ll be a powerful group for sure.”

Alex shook her hand while watching his friends celebrate. “Thanks for the help. We couldn’t have done that last one without you guys.”

Maya’s team came over and thanked them all, several exchanging contacts and AG usernames before splitting off.