Ch.243243. Rift Demon

# [Crack in the Rift]

– Rank: SSS+

– Passive Skill (Crack in the Rift)

– Creates a rift in space using mana.

– Can create and connect two or more rifts.

The Crack in the Rift skill itself seemed rather underwhelming.

No special abilities, no numerical values.

I couldn’t help thinking, “How is this an SSS+ passive skill?” But once I actually used it, those thoughts vanished completely.

Woong–!!

I stretched out my hand and made a slashing motion.

A rift appeared and opened in the space where my gaze fell.

A pitch-black rift like a black hole, where nothing could be seen.

It wasn’t large.

When I widened the rift created from a single line, it became a hole that seemed like it would suck in everything.

“Oh…”

My mana was draining rapidly, but not to an unmanageable degree.

“The purified Ice Spirit Liquor is divine.”

Even though my mana had increased after learning two magic-related abilities, giving me a bit more leeway, the fact that I could visibly see my mana draining was concerning.

I was starting to think I might need to learn another magic-related ability and some mana-related skills.

And this was just from creating a single rift.

As I thought.

To utilize rifts as I’d seen in videos, I needed to create at least two rifts.

“No choice then.”

I had originally planned to save it, but for smooth ability usage, I needed more magical power.

I used my last SSS+ ability selection ticket.

Since I already had an ability in mind, I didn’t need to deliberate over what to choose.

[Natural Magic has been upgraded to SSS+ rank.]

My stats didn’t increase from the rank boost.

When I learned two magic abilities earlier, they rose to SSS- rank, so I’d probably need to learn at least three SSS+ abilities for another increase.

Or maybe even more.

But instead, the passive ability in Natural Magic raised my magical power to SSS rank.

[Mana Amplification]

– Rank: SSS+

– Passive Skill (Natural Magic)

– Magical power increases by 1 rank.

– Mana increases by 50%.

– Skill mana consumption decreases by 20%.

“That’s it.”

I usually select abilities based on the skills they offer.

I look at the type of ability and the powers it can provide, then choose the ability before selecting the necessary skills.

But for Natural Magic, I chose it solely for this one passive skill, passing over other magic abilities.

Of course, Natural Magic can also teach attack spells.

It just doesn’t have many elemental magics like Fire Magic or Ice Magic, mostly consisting of non-elemental spells, shields, and movement magic.

And Mana Amplification is Natural Magic’s unique passive skill.

“My mana has doubled.”

My mana had visibly inflated since my magical power reached SSS- rank and then SSS rank.

Since raising each rank was extremely difficult, the base mana itself increased enormously with each rank up, making the +280% maximum mana effect even more impactful.

Total mana: 11,400.

The skill effect increase was now 110%.

Woong–!

Tearing open a Crack in the Rift became much easier.

Creating one wasn’t particularly burdensome before, but I thought it might be awkward to use freely, which is why I learned another SSS+ ability in advance. Now my mana had increased to the point where creating a single rift barely made a dent.

Plus, the 20% reduction in mana consumption was noticeably helpful.

I proceeded to create two rifts.

One on the left, one on the right.

The two rifts weren’t connected, but they could be linked.

I connected the two rifts I had created.

Then I created a spirit sword and sent it through one hole.

Swoosh-

The sword that entered one hole emerged from the opposite hole.

“Oh.”

Despite being about 10 meters apart, the sword passed through as if the rifts were connected, with no delay, making it look like teleportation.

“This could be really useful.”

My current fighting style was similar to using rifts.

Leap Strike.

A technique where I instantly close the distance and appear in front of the target to attack. The original principle relies on agility to move quickly, but it’s essentially possible to jump across distances close to teleportation.

Even if there are obstacles in the way, I can go around them or whatever to reach the desired position within range.

But this was fundamentally different from such leaps.

It simply skips through space.

Without needing to leap, I could reach the desired space just by extending my hand.

This meant that when at a distance, instead of using Leap Strike to quickly slash from my position, I could create a Crack in the Rift to close the distance and send only my attack to that location.

While using Leap Strike with my body might not seem that different, I thought this could be extremely effective when combined with my spirit swords.

“I need to train in seclusion for a while.”

My spirit swords were already impressive.

Dozens of swords flying chaotically, each capable of striking from unexpected angles through Leap Strike, but the drawback was that enemies with high agility could react.

Using Crack in the Rift, I could stab them without giving them time to react.

Since it would be nearly impossible to react to and avoid the appearance of a rift.

I began experimenting in a quiet plain near the farm to figure out how to use it.

—————

Dozens of sword-shaped rifts formed in random spaces.

The flying spirit swords all entered a single rift.

A few seconds later, they poured out like rain from another rift.

After turning the target into a honeycomb, the swords disappeared into rifts again, then emerged from dozens of different rifts.

The rifts quickly moved, disappeared, and reformed repeatedly, while the swords changed from a complex pattern of chaotically crisscrossing the sky to a simpler style of sweeping in and vanishing like locusts.

“This is really fun.”

Of course, I wasn’t sure if this was practical.

Everything could be covered by the simple question: “Couldn’t I just use Leap Strike?”

But I didn’t know how long Leap Strike would remain effective as a teleportation-like ability.

Right now, my stats were so overwhelming that Leap Strike was judged as an unavoidable attack like teleportation, making hunting easy. But as the biome levels gradually increased and monsters with abilities similar to mine began to appear, Leap Strike would no longer feel like teleportation but just a quick leap. At that point, attacking through rifts would become more effective.

And unlike Leap Strike, Crack in the Rift was a true spatial movement ability that could pass through completely blocked areas.

It would be especially useful if I were caught by a skill that restricted movement or trapped in a completely sealed space.

Above all, it was excellent for mobility in combat.

Woong-

A rift appearing beneath my feet swallowed my body and spat me out from one of many rifts.

I didn’t even need to jump in.

When I decided to move through a rift, it swallowed me in less than a second.

And I didn’t necessarily have to emerge through a connected rift.

Maximum 5 seconds.

I could stay inside the rift before coming out.

While staying inside the Crack in the Rift, I was invincible.

No damage, no harm, no physical attacks could reach me.

Since no one would know where I was, they couldn’t hit me anyway, but it served as a shelter to avoid even area-wide attacks.

Of course, there was the limitation of 5 seconds, and during that time, mana was continuously drained, meaning that even after emerging, I might find myself in a difficult situation due to mana shortage. So hiding for a long time wasn’t a good choice.

Still, having one more definite evasion skill was excellent news.

If I could endure about 80 seconds inside the Crack in the Rift, I might be able to stay inside indefinitely with natural mana recovery, but judging by the mana consumption rate, that seemed almost impossible.

“This is enough.”

After 3-4 days of practice, I wasn’t convinced about its offensive performance yet.

Maybe with more use, I’d come up with innovative ways to utilize it, but for now, I was satisfied with its utility for defense and movement.

And I didn’t necessarily need to use it as a teleportation concept for attacks.

Most importantly, style.

While I wasn’t satisfied with the practical results, I had created a few YouTube-worthy videos that even I found impressive in terms of style.

“This looks really cool.”

I quickly saved the footage and sent it to Yoon Hyun-ji, thinking it would look amazing once edited.