"Make sure you come back safe," Grandmaster Akira called, his voice carrying as Axel and Micheal stepped away for their rift raid.
It was the first time Akira had ever said something like that before a mission.
"Guess age really does change people," Axel muttered.
Micheal burst out laughing.
"Hey, that didn't deserve laughter," Axel said, shooting him a puzzled glance.
"Sorry," Micheal replied, wiping tears from the corner of his eyes. "It just sounded funnier than you meant it to. Hey, while we're inside, why don't you pick up something good from the beast drops? Asen would like that."
"Let's see what kind of luck we get first," Axel said.
As Micheal lifted a hand and waved, the rest of their raid team came into view. Five people in total. Three men and two women. Axel and Micheal were clearly the youngest among them.
They still hadn't reached the official age required to join the Resonants Guild, but with recommendations from multiple Grandmasters, they were allowed to participate by being assigned to random raid teams.
"I'm Miranda Shaques," said one of the women, a fair-skinned lady in her early twenties with a well-balanced build.
"I'm Mira Kensa," the other added. Her physique leaned more toward athletic, her posture sharp and alert.
The men didn't bother introducing themselves. They only stared at the two boys with faintly concealed envy.
"But how are we supposed to coordinate if we don't even know each other?" Micheal complained. "That'll reduce our efficiency inside the rift."
"Shut up and move," one of the men snapped. He had a heavily muscled frame and spoke with authority as he started walking toward the guild's inner gate. The other two men followed right behind him, close enough to look like bodyguards.
Micheal leaned closer to Axel. "Why won't they introduce themselves?"
"It's fine," Axel said calmly. Around strangers, his demeanor naturally turned cold, distant. "As long as the rift gets cleared and those willing to cooperate survive, that's enough."
"We just focus on completing the raid and claiming our share of the loot."
"…Alright," Micheal said after a brief pause. "I'll trust you."
Inside the guild hall, gossip bloomed the moment Axel and Micheal passed through. As always, whispers followed them.
A guild attendant stepped forward, holding a document etched with aetheric ink. "This rift appeared the same day the pressure descended from the sky. It's been classified as Gold-rank. Are you certain your group can handle it?"
The muscular man answered immediately. "I'm a Platinum-ranked Vanguard. The two behind me are both Gold-ranked. One's a Channeler, the other a Guardian. One of the women is a Gold-ranked Mystic, the other a Gold-ranked Rogue."
His eyes briefly flicked toward Axel and Micheal. "And you already know what those two are."
Every Resonant fell under one of seven main classes.
Vanguards stood at the forefront of raid teams. They specialized in direct combat, reinforced bodies, and overwhelming aether output.
Guardians were the shield. Barrier creation, defensive formations, and area control defined their role.
Reavers were close-range specialists who wielded dual weapons with brutal efficiency. Precision, aggression, and relentless pressure were their strengths.
Rogues were the assassins of a raid team. Stealth-oriented, fast to the point of being hard to track. Axel belonged to this class.
Mystics were Resonants capable of shaping both ambient aether from their surroundings and the aether within their bodies. They specialized in ranged attacks, elemental manipulation, constructs, and healing.
Channelers were Resonants capable of transforming either part or their whole body into a beast using aether from the surroundings as fuel and the aether in their body as the power controller.
Lastly were the Forgers.
They used ambient aether to reinforce their weapons and bodies directly, turning themselves into living armaments. There was no confirmed limit to how much aether a Forger could take into their body for enhancement, and that uncertainty alone made them feared.
"Ok, let's head out," the muscular man commanded, and the other two men followed, with the two ladies trailing behind Axel and Micheal.
"Stay safe, Axel and Micheal," the guild attendant called after them.
The Ecliptic Rift the attendant had mentioned wasn't far—just a few meters into the forest. As soon as they stepped past the trees, a swirling vortex appeared, edges flickering with golden light, pulsing like a heartbeat.
"I've hardly seen a rift look like this. What about you?" Axel asked Micheal, forgetting that every rift he had entered had always been by Micheal's side.
"No. I wouldn't have seen any if you hadn't," Micheal replied.
"Stay sharp," the muscular man said, tightening his grip on his sword. Authority radiated from him, though a flicker of impatience lingered in his eyes.
Axel and Micheal exchanged a glance. Inside a rift, hesitation could be fatal.
Upon entering, the scene before them was shocking. Normal abyssal layers were usually bare land or fertile fields with beasts roaming and roaring—but this rift was cave-like, something none of them had ever imagined possible.
"What is this?" the muscular man said, eyes wide in shock.
"I haven't seen any abyssal layer take this form before," Mira added, equally stunned.
"This isn't right. We need to get out first," Axel said. Surprisingly, it was the first time the other three men had ever heeded his words—but when they turned, the exit rift was gone.
"What do you mean the rift has disappeared?" the muscular man panicked.
"This is not the time to panic. Stay focused," Axel replied, his gaze sharp.
The muscular man's eyes blazed with rage as he tilted his head. "Who are you to give me orders? Do you want to die?"
Axel didn't flinch. His eyes warned the man that he wasn't the strongest opponent he'd ever faced.
"We should all calm down," Micheal urged.
Grrr! Grrr! Grrr!
They all turned—and froze. The creatures before them had never been seen or recorded in any rift.
The creatures were small, not even reaching the waist of a 6'2" human. Some wielded wooden clubs; others held crude stone knives. There were about thirty of them, each radiating varying levels of power.
Miranda struck her staff against the ground, trying to gather aether from the surroundings—but the staff didn't respond. "I can't draw any aether here," she noted.
"I can't enhance my weapon or my body either. What's happening?" Micheal said, unease creeping into his voice.
Then the realization hit: when the exit rift vanished, they lost their link to the aether they relied on. In this strange abyssal layer, there was no energy to extract from the surroundings.