The school day progressed like any other would, at least for most of the time. In an attempt to keep Scorch away from the eyes of his professors and avoid annoying questions, Jethro hid his lizard inside his shirt.

It wasn't the most comfortable experience for Scorch— or Jethro —but at least it kept his master out of trouble, and allowed the day to move smoothly.

The class of Rifts and Rift Clearing Studies, led by a younger male professor, Sared Einstorm, was an interesting one. Professor Sared finally explained to the students all the separate zones inside Darcworld which differently Ranked Rifts tether into.

Most of what the professor said mirrored Jethro's Rift training escort's exact words. Darcworld wasn't an open realm, but an abyss with layers of evil and danger. This meant it was composed of zones ranked by corruption level, threat, aether poisoning, and proximity to the Conqueror himself.

This was why Rifts were ranked. The ranks corresponded to a specific zone in Darcworld which the Rift had created a tether into. This was why it was impossible for a differently ranked Rift to lead into a zone with a higher rank, except of course, in the case of a Divergent Rift— an extremely rare occurrence.

It was at this moment that everyone turned to look at Jethro.

The lesson however went on and Jethro learnt the different zones, the environment, and the kind of mechbeasts that roamed in that environment.

Gray Rank Rifts led to the Outer Mire— as Jethro already knew. The habitat was made of moss and fog-choked ruins. It was a sunken terrain, and a place of habitat for Gray Rank Darcbeasts like Moss Skitters, Gloom Moths and Stone Frogs.

Bronze Rank Rifts led to the Blight Hollows. This zone was slightly more dangerous as it consisted of decayed forests, corrupted rivers and aether rain. The darcbeasts in this region were more coordinated, and had poison abilities. Like the Lucid Lobster and the Deadcell Alligator.

Silver Rank Rifts created tethers into the zone called the Barren Fields. They were wastelands of obsidian, with deadly winds and energy storms. It was the place of habitat for aggressive darcbeasts such as the Desert Hyena, Nightmare Hawk and Stormfield Bear.

Golds led to the Thorn Lands which consisted of deadly sharp spires jutting from the ground, evil prisons and gothic towers. The aether poisoning reaches dangerous point at this zone as more powerful darcbeasts like the Venom Starsnake, the Witch Wolf and the Jagged Turtle arose, having their deadly mind-affecting abilities.

Platinum Rifts led to the Veins of the Dying Crown. The most poetically named of all the zones because of the large bleeding crown that stood in its center. The blood was actually liquid aether, which was the most poisonous, condensed and powerful form of aether. This aether gave the landscapes semi-sentience, and also empowered dangerous darcbeasts like the Devil Mammoth and Sentry Titan.

And finally, Black Rank Rifts led to the Darc Throne Depths. Everyone glanced at Jethro once again when the professor mentioned this. The Darc Throne Depths was a land made of cathedral-like walls and pillars, covered with darkness and a chilling cold. It was the residing zone of the Conqueror, and the habitat of the most dangerous of darcbeasts— Black Ranks.

Professor Sared ended the class by explaining the dimensional locking, which was what locked a rift onto a specific zone; the time dilation, the Riftkeeper, aether saturation and local zone behavior.

When asked, he moved on to explain that his job was to only teach them the mechanics and magic behind Rifts and the dimension known as Darcworld, as for Rift Clearing itself, they would learn that under Professor Loren, the famous Riftwalker who was bonded to a Sentinel Dragon.

Now, because of the free period as professors had been summoned for an emergency meeting, Jethro had some time on his hand. Though he or any of the students weren't allowed to use this time to wander about the Academy city or anything else.

They were ushered into the libraries or training facilities to study and train until the professors returned.

Like one would expect in medieval fantasy, the Academy library wasn't a place of dusty tomes, wooden shelves and squeaking leather shoes. It was more of a vault. Although vaults didn't have chairs and tables, this one did.

The library was built like a cathedral to accumulated knowledge rendered in the cutting-edge glyphic technology.

The metallic shelves held together by neon energy pillars were filled with the small, round, metal discs of information— glyphs —each arranged under an alcove that denoted its subject: Aether Forms and Refining, Beast Combat Theory, The Art of Riftwalking, and so on.

Holographic catalogues flickered in the air at the aisle ends, and silent servitor drones glided between the stacks, retrieving requested glyphs with delicate manipulator arms.

Depending on the quality of information in these glyphs, some of them had to be paid for, others required a special license, others had no price or requirements of any kind.

The latter were the ones Jethro could afford to read.

With no money to buy lunch, he couldn't bother looking at the direction of the glyphs with more juicer information. There was no point. This Riftwalker life was catered to the wealthy, but he had to start from somewhere, he figured.

In the midst of the thrumming air, at a long obsidian study table amongst other long obsidian study tables, Jethro was sitting with someone under the massive sun simulator overhead, bathing them in glorious yellow light. His table partner was Padva.

Ostensibly, they were partners working on the cultivation project Professor Uriel had given them. But in reality, they were studying two different things.

Jethro was engrossed in the glyph he had taken, reading through screenpages that showcased various zones inside Darcworld, including Riftwalker protocols, strategies, formations and roles.

Scorch had poked his obsidian-scaled head out from the collar of Jethro's jacket, his bright eyes fixed on the swirling display of zone structures and Riftwalkers advancing, showing different formations of how they attacked a Passenger Moose.

Padva looked more like she was actually invested in what she was studying. Before her on the table was a glyph that projected a screenpage of an ability pathway and crystalline lattice structures. It was a deep dive into a cultivation module, the next one she had planned for her Doomsday Panther.

Shadow was curled on the table beside the glyph, its purple eyes watching the screenpages with animalistic curiosity. Padva rubbed its neck gently, her brows furrowed in concentration as she studied the content of the glyph.

She had tried to ignore Scorch poking out of Jethro's shirt but it was becoming more impossible as time trickled by.

"You know you can't keep hiding him forever, right?" she asked him. Her voice was more direct than she had planned.

Jethro startled, looked up from his screenpage and then turned to her. "Huh? Who?"

Padva finally lifted her gaze. Her eyes, a cool, intelligent grey, went straight to Scorch's protruding head. "Your lizard. Who else?"

Jethro looked down at Scorch, then back at Padva. "What makes you think I'm hiding him?"

She gave him a knowing look before drifting her nervous gaze away.

Jethro frowned defeatedly. "Okay, you're right," he conceded. "I am hiding him. But I just can't stand another question about… this." He gestured to the black metal skin covering Scorch's head.

Padva's gaze remained on her glyph. "Many of the professors have noticed it already. Professor Saggitaru's office has already requested a mandatory beast assessment by end of week." Her tone wasn't accusatory, merely factual. "You need an explanation ready. 'I don't know what happened' won't suffice beyond curious whispers."

Jethro forced a casual shrug, scratching Scorch's head. "Hey, I don't know what you want me to say y'know. I'm trying to figure this out myself," he lied smoothly, gesturing vaguely at the glyph he had been reading. "That's what I'm doing right now. Maybe it's something in its biometric functions."

Padva looked at him once again, and then at the glyph. When she met his eyes again, her gaze held a quiet, unnerving perceptiveness. "You were reading a glyph on Darcworld zones and Riftwalker deployment protocols. Nothing really about changes of form in mechlizards."

Padva didn't sound judgmental when she said it. It was just a simple statement of fact. She saw everything.

'Damn her observational skills.' Jethro grew flustered, wondering if he could hide secrets around this girl. He quickly swiped the Rift glyph aside, its light winking out. "Right. Got distracted. Ancient history is fascinating. But… shouldn't we be working on the project anyway!" He leaned forward, eager to steer the conversation.

Padva looked at him, clearly noticing how he now wanted to talk about the same project he had been ignoring.

"Professor Uriel's assignment," Jethro leaned towards her. "Partners present each other's cultivation progress. So…" He gestured towards her Panther. "What's Shadow working on?"

Padva hesitated for a second, then nodded in agreement, accepting the subject change. She swiped her hand through the air above her Beastlinker. A complex data-schematic shimmered into existence between them, projected from her device to his.

[Cultivation Module: Veil of Umbral Shards]

[Installed Mechbeast: Doomsday Panther [Platinum Rank]]]

[Pathway: Shadowmeld → Phase Displacement → Umbral Lance]

Jethro's eyes widened slightly as he scanned the information. The screen instantly flared to life, comprehending the elegant, dangerous pathway far deeper than Padva could suspect.

For Padva, her Panther could only unlock 3 skills once this cultivation program was completed. But Jethro saw that it could unlock 3 more!

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