Blade of the Goddess
Chapter 79 - Inside the Fracture Part 1

Chapter 79: Chapter 79 - Inside the Fracture Part 1

Zion, Luna, Lars, Kaitlin, and Eliza all waited in front of the giant crack in space that was the Fracture. Fractures are ranked the same way monsters and mana beasts are, going from Rank 1 to 11. The way you know what rank a fracture is, is by seeing the color it gives off.

White is rank 1. Light Blue is rank 2. Dark Blue is rank 3. Light Green is rank 4. Dark Green is rank 5. Yellow is rank 6. Orange is rank 7. Red is Rank 8. Purple is Rank 9. Black is rank 10. And as for rank 11, the fracture itself won’t have a color, but it will rip apart space to the point where it resembles a portal. It would be clear if it were to have a ’color’.

The fracture in front of them was a Yellow Fracture, so rank 6. This also matched their strength since they were Master Stage Cultivators. But even though they meet the rank requirements, that doesn’t mean they would have the ability to destroy the fracture, since they would be up against hundreds or even thousands of monsters.

The inside of a fracture also varied in size. It could be as small as a village or as large as a planet. The size, however, didn’t determine how dangerous the fracture would be. A white fracture could be the size of a continent, while a black fracture could be the size of a town. The black fracture would still be more dangerous. The only difference the size made was the time dilation. The larger, the more time dilation compared to the regular world.

Negan cleared his throat and started talking. "Great. Now that everyone is here, we can begin. Your goal here is to work together and kill any Wyrm or monster that crosses your path. Time passes a lot slower in the Fracture, so take your time and work together, and build teamwork. We need all of you to be on the same page while participating in the tournament, and this is a good place to build that trust and experience."

"Don’t wander off on your own and stick together. We’ll be watching from afar, but we will not interfere unless your life is in unavoidable mortal danger. Do your best, work together, and let’s bring home that first place at the tournament." Sarah Maloth smiled.

The five students nodded and stepped into the Fracture.

It was a weird feeling, stepping across space and time into another realm, the monster realm. The space around them warped, twisted, and turned as they finally stepped foot onto land.

The very first thing that everyone noticed was the intense heat.

"We’re in some volcanic area, it seems," Lars announced.

"Really? I could have sworn we were in an ice tundra." Kaitlin sarcastically said as she rolled her eyes.

’Tessa, scan this entire area and see how it’s connected to the regular world. It will also be nice to have a map for traveling.’

[Scanning such a large area would require me to reach a certain elevation.]

’Send a drone.’

[Understood.]

A small piece of Zion’s armor detached and flew into the air without anyone noticing.

[Scanning will be complete in approximately 5 hours.]

’Nice. We’ll be here longer than that, so this is perfect.’

"I’m the strongest here, so everyone follow me," Kaitlin demanded as she marched forward.

"Who made you the boss of us?" Eliza asked, not liking the tone Kaitlin gave off.

"Going by that logic, Zion should be the leader since he got first place," Lars said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I would rather die than follow Zion," Eliza growled

Kaitlin disagreed with Lars. "He’s a third-year, we’re fourth-years. It’s obvious that the older and more experienced combatants should lead. Having good skills doesn’t make you a leader."

"Zion is the strongest," Luna announced. "He’s stronger than all of you here. You guys are weak."

"I’ll just follow Kaitlin. I don’t give a damn about who’s the leader and who isn’t. Our task is to work together, not to argue with one another."

Luna just went along with what Zion said, Lars didn’t care, Eliza snorted, and Kaitlin turned around and walked forward as everyone else followed.

"Damn, it’s hot as fuck!" Lars complained

"If you can’t handle this heat, then what will you do when the dragons blow their hot breath at you?" Kaitlin asked

"I’m pretty sure their breath isn’t a volcanic environment."

"And I’m sure you being weak isn’t needed."

"Are you seriously calling me weak right now, dude? Is everything about strength to you?" Lars asked, visibly annoyed at Kaitlin’s comments.

"We are fighting against dragons! They have won the tournament for a thousand years! Strength is law, without it, there is nothing you can do. If you’re weak, then you’re the problem."

"If that’s the case, then what are YOU going to do against the dragons, huh? They’re more powerful than us. You talk big but would get swatted away by a dragon like a fly."

Kaitlin turned around and grabbed Lar’s shirt with a firm grip. "Take that back right now!"

Annoyed, Zion chimmed in. "Yeah, how about you both shut the fuck up and pay attention to what’s in front of you."

"I don’t want to hear shit from you-"

"Kaitlin, we’re here to work with each other, not against each other, get that through your thick skull because if you don’t, I don’t mind killing you right now and not have to deal with your annoying attitude." Zion didn’t even sugar coat his words and said exactly what he felt.

Luna nodded, agreeing with Zion. Lars was taken aback by his threat, but didn’t take his side. Although Eliza didn’t care for Kaitlin to be their leader, she didn’t like the way Zion threatened Kaitlin.

"Zion, do you really think you can do something like that, given her status? Especially with me here?" She was referring to her noble status as the daughter of a Marquise and Kaitlin’s status as a noble as well.

"If you truly believe that something as trivial as your status would stop me from killing you, just ask how Curtis Larson and his Father are doing."

Everyone’s eyes lit up once he mentioned the Larson family. As nobles, they knew what happened, but since they weren’t the heads of their household, they weren’t given all the information. However, it was easy for them to piece together the missing parts of the story once Zion said those words.

Now that they knew he not only killed Curtis and his father but also destroyed the entire Larson estate, they calmed down a bit.

"Hmph, whatever." Kaitlin snorted.

After the bickering ceased, they all continued to explore the fracture, avoiding lava rivers, exploding volcanoes, and having their mana work overtime to prevent the heat from killing them.

After one hour of finding no monsters, the ground cracked beneath them, almost swallowing everyone there.

"JUMP NOW!" Kaitlin shouted as she leaped onto solid ground.

Zion simply started hovering in the air, and Luna did the same. Lars and Eliza, however, were too late, and they slipped into the crack.

"Ahhhhh!!!" Eliza screamed, panicking to cast magic.

"Hold on!" Lars pulled out his sword, stabbing it into the canyon wall, and caught Eliza’s hand, holding her and himself in place as they dangled above the lava.

Kaitlin looked below, trying to see how far the two had dropped, but her eyes landed on something else. "Look! Something is coming out of the lava!"

Thousands of large Komodo dragons engulfed in flames and magma sprang from the lava, climbing up the canyon walls at high speeds.

"Oh shit! We need to get out fast!" Lars shouted as he started climbing. Suddenly, his and Eliza’s bodies started floating, and they shot out of the canyon and landed back on solid ground.

"You’re welcome," Zion said as he lifted them out using his Aura Force.

Kaitlin took a battle stance, drawing her sword as she waited for the komodo dragons to climb out of the canyon. "Everyone, get ready!"

Luna pulled out her staff, Lars readied his sword, and Eliza took out her wand.

After a few moments of silence, a massive wave of Komodo dragons bombarded the five of them, spewing fire and lava as they burned everything in their path.