“Hmm, I know we discussed you focusing your body modifications on Capacity and Flow initially. I think we may need to incorporate a Strength upgrade as well. If shockwave ends up being your primary offensive option you are going to need to be able to withstand the force as you increase your capacity,” Monty said as he scratched his head and helped Jack up off the floor.

  Jack dusted himself off and rubbed his shoulder; it was a little sore. He would have been fine but he had gotten used to the recoil on the normal shockwave and underestimated the enhanced one. Explaining that to Monty, however, felt like he would be compounding the loss, so he didn’t.

  “Ok back to my earlier question. I know I am a little reckless with my mana usage because it doesn't matter to me. I have no idea of its value, so try to help me out a bit. That was about 50% of my total capacity. What are people at Tier 1 normally using for a skill like that?” Jack asked.

  Monty seemed to think for a second, and asked Jack to do another normal shockwave while he stared intently at Jack's chest. Jack complied and Monty nodded to himself.

  “I would say you are using five times more mana than most people would be at Tier 1. One of these,” Monty said as he pulled out one of the smaller mana crystals he had on him. “Holds about enough mana for three or four full charges at Tier 1. So say 400%. People use mana at different rates, depending on skill and cost.” Monty waved around them.

  “Normally people will only be using skills in a rift of compatible mana for them. In which case it is one of the rare cases where the average person is more free with their mana usage. That crystal is probably the equivalent of a day's wage for a Tier 1 rift crew member,” Monty said.

  Jack’s jaw physically dropped as Monty spoke. He stared between Monty and the crystal as he did the maths quickly. Without even trying, he would be able to generate a day's wage worth of mana in 20 seconds. With his skill upgrade he didn’t even need to do anything. Talk about passive income.

  “There’s no way, Monty... why didn’t you lock me in a room and have me charging gems all day. I can’t even wrap my head around that…” Jack said out loud. Then he realised that Monty did get him to charge one of the massive crystals on his ship. And well this might have been why Turrel had reacted the way he did.

  “I should have asked about this earlier shouldn’t I?” Jack sighed as he sat down.

  “Jack, yes. You probably should have. Honestly you were very lucky with getting Turrel as your instructor. Money isn’t the driving force for everyone…”

  “Nah, but like at this scale it is right? This isn’t even like buy a house money. This is like Scrooge McDuck buy a planet money. Wait a second, can you buy a planet?” Jack said, distracting himself with the idea of owning a planet.

  “Jack, yes, look, it is a big deal; it is a dangerous deal, too. Rich people don’t like things that threaten their wealth and you could. Regardless, for myself and Turrel. It is a secondary thing, Turrel is simply obsessed with knowledge and well I told you my story.” Monty placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I will still use you for monetary gain. But I am more interested in the potential you have if I can help you grow, the potential to do things we couldn't before and to change things.” He waved all around them.

  “Like this, it might not seem like much to you. Being able to close this rift, which I think was on the verge of evolving. It is huge, one day maybe it will make sense but for now you don’t have to worry about your safety around me. I will do what I can to keep your secret and keep you safe. Also yes, you could buy a planet.”

  Monty looked over at the Rift Guardian's body, it was starting to dissolve away into a dark black mist.

  “Looks like it’s loot time. Rift Guardians will always generate something good. Chances are good it has an essence enhancement, we will see. This one is yours so let's check it out,” Monty said as he started to walk towards the mist.

  Jack followed Monty, a little apprehensive approaching the massive beast even if it was fading away. The mist curled in on itself as the body faded completely, as it did so Jack felt the air around him change. The density of mana in the area shifted as the mana that made up the creature was released, he looked around and saw the bodies of the other wolves had faded as well.

  The mist in the area was pulled towards the centre of the Rift Guardian's body, consolidating and swirling around in a twister-like shape. The death mana in the area all converged into the swirling mass and was concentrated into one spot. It whirled for a moment, the area seeming darker for a moment and the ring on Jack's finger started to heat up as fear started to creep down his spine.

  Everything paused for a second, a silence that stretched as everything was still. Then a wave of mana pulsed outward from where the Rift Guardian was laid, washing over Jack and Monty as it passed. Jack shivered.

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  He stared as in the place of the body now lay a set of boots. They were mid-calf height and covered in a thick, pitch black fur that seemed to almost absorb the light around it. A thin dark fog drifted off the boots, dripping down them and pooling at the soles, triggering thoughts of dry ice in Jack's mind.

  Jack approached almost in a daze, the ring he had looked fancy but it was within the realm of normal to his mind. These boots, they were otherworldly like they were from a fantasy world and yet here they were in front of him.

  He reached down and lightly poked them, hesitant of the mist. After nothing seemed to jump out at him or melt his finger he picked up one of the boots, feeling the tingle in the back of his head he touched on his connection to the origin.

  [Alpha Phase Hound Boots] [Capacity Essence]

  These boots embody the essence of an Alpha Phase Hound and are as tough as the hide of the beast.

  Spawned from a Rift Guardian variety these boots have an essence enhancement and will increase the relevant body modification slightly.

  When charged with mana, they grant the wearer a short burst of speed, imitating the [Dash] ability of the boots' originator. Charging the boots with their natural frequency (Death) mana significantly reduces the mana required to activate the ability.

  The description of the boots rolled into Jack’s mind and without hesitation he sat down next to the boots on the floor and started to take his current ones off. He handed the boot in his hand to Monty as he approached and started to pull on the one next to him.

  He had noticed as he picked them up that the mist seemed to be only for aesthetics, he couldn't feel anything when it touched his skin. The boot was a little large when he got it onto his foot initially but it seemed to connect to his body and the boot shrunk to fit him perfectly.

  “Hmm these are pretty good actually. The negative doesn't really impact you, which thinking about it will probably be the case with most gear. Hmmm a specialist equipment build could work for you, crafted gear often loses potency …” Monty said, mumbling to himself as his mind got the better of him.

  Jack reached over while Monty was rambling and yoinked the boot from his hand and started to pull it on as well. Monty's momentarily shocked face made Jack smile. All he wanted to do at this point was charge the boots.

  He needed to know, how fast was this dash? How long would it last? Did it need recharging time? He wanted to know, but he also wanted to zoom. Honestly, who didn’t love a childish little zoomies?

  As the second boot slid onto his foot and resized to fit, he stood up and looked down at the boots on his feet. They looked cool, the mist pooled on the ground around his feet and as he stepped away it lingered for a moment before quickly dispersing.

  Like with his skill upgrade, there seemed to be something instinctual that came with the boots' connection to him. Using that instinct he sent a wave of mana down towards his feet. As the mana flowed down his pathways and past his knees, it was sucked down and through the soles of his feet into the boots.

  He had sent about what he would use for a shockwave down towards the boots and they greedily sucked up the mana, as they did so the mist emanating from the boots accelerated and began to rapidly pool around his feet.

  Jack met Monty’s eyes and smiled, he then looked towards a tree that was about twenty metres away from him, the path to it was relatively clear of debris. He leaned down into a sprinter's pose and went to take off, as soon as he stepped forward the mist moved.

  It seemed to swirl and condense under his foot as he pushed off, propelling him forward with an explosive thrust. Jack was not expecting it and instead of dashing forward like the flash, it felt like he had been flung forwards out of a cannon headfirst.

  He rolled head over heel twice before tumbling sideways and coming to a halt just shy of the tree he had been aiming for. His knee felt like he had torn something, his shin and arms were torn up and he was pretty sure he had a concussion, but as he slowly tried to stand he had a massive grin on his face.

  That was fast! Imagine when I work out how to control that. I won't have to walk anywhere ever again! Dash, Dash, Dash!

  He could feel that if he sent more mana into the boots, they would activate again. He would have tried it but as he put weight on his knee it buckled and he shouted out in pain.

  “Wow, Jack. I can't fault your commitment to action but where mana and the origin is involved things can become dangerous very quickly. It might pay to take a second to consider the potential consequences before jumping in headfirst sometimes,” Monty said.

  Jack heard his words and at the same time felt the tickle of a healing weave being attached to his body.

  “Ahh but I did Monty, I did. I knew no harm could come to me under your watchful protective gaze.” Jack teased, he felt his body healing and heard a slight pop as his knee repaired itself.

  “Thank you, Lord Montarg,” Jack said with a flourish. “I apologise as I will likely be injuring myself as I continue to work out how to use these boots. It is a purely selfish attempt to distract myself from the realisation that I am in much more danger than I expected and am almost entirely basing my safety and freedom on the good will of people I have met just over two weeks ago. In a world where I have just acquired boots that shoot me across the ground and I can shoot shockwaves out of my hand. Where I fought for my life against crazed wolves that seemed obsessed with attacking me and I killed them only to watch them turn into mist minutes later. One of the people I am trusting to keep me safe, pulled a wolf that was the size of a house through a forest so that it could turn into said boots.” Jack took a deep breath.

  “Yeah so to avoid all of that, I am going to learn to zoom really fast with these boots and then once I work that out, or if I injure myself so much I can’t zoom any more. Then we can talk about the serious shit and get out of this rift.” Jack nodded.

  “Until then,” Jack said as he charged the boots again, this time with less mana than before, around 40% this time. He was again rocketed forward as the mist solidified under his sole and sprang him forward, he tumbled and rolled through the underbrush again.

  Monty shook his head as he sat down and watched Jack tumble over and over again.