The Abyssal Rift was not a place meant for the living. It was a festering wound in the crust of The Mortal Domain where physical laws broke down.
The sky above the massive canyon was a swirling vortex of crimson and black, completely devoid of sunlight.
Arthur Sterling stood at the edge of the precipice. The wind howled like tortured souls as it rushed up from the fathomless depths.
Before he left the Vanguard Bastion, he had checked his internal dashboard.
Caden Cross was currently deep in the academy underground catacombs, fighting for his life against ancient traps and lingering beast spirits.
Every time the kid swung a sword or dodged a spike, Arthur's system fed him a river of passive 10,000x multiplied experience.
It was a beautiful business model. The employee labored in the dirt. The CEO reaped the rewards in the clouds.
Before Arthur had departed, Sylvia had approached him in the courtyard. Her icy facade was entirely gone. She had pressed a cold silver pendant into his palm.
"My life-force is tied to this," she had told him. "The Abyss plays tricks on the mind. It preys on regret and fear. Keep this close. My mana will anchor you."
Arthur rubbed his thumb over the glowing pendant hanging around his neck. It radiated a soothing cool energy that pushed back against the oppressive migraine inducing miasma rolling off the Rift.
He didn't feel fear or regret anyway, but he appreciated the gesture. A loyal secretary was essential for a smooth operation.
"Alright, System," Arthur murmured as he looked down into the pitch black void. "Let us see what kind of hazard pay we can afford."
[Accessing System Shop...]
↳ Current Balance: 450,000 System Points.
"Give me something that lets me breathe down there without my internal organs imploding."
[Purchasing: God-Tier Isolation Veil.]
↳ Cost: 300,000 System Points.
↳ Description: A conceptual barrier that perfectly isolates the Host from environmental damage, extreme gravity, and dimensional suppression.
A shimmer of iridescent light washed over Arthur's body, clinging to his skin like a second layer of clothing before fading into invisibility.
Immediately, the foul stench of ozone and rotting flesh vanished. The heavy crushing gravity of the Rift edge neutralized.
"Perfect," Arthur said. He stepped off the edge.
He plummeted into the darkness with the wind roaring past his ears. The Ebonheart Cube materialized from his shoulder, spinning excitedly in the air beside him as they fell.
The Abyss was not inherently evil. It was a dumping ground. When the Gods of the Apex Realm conducted twisted biological experiments or had political prisoners, they threw them down here.
The resulting ambient energy was a toxic highly corrosive sludge. But to the Ebonheart Cube, it was an all you can eat buffet.
The pitch black geometric mass hummed with a hungry sentience. It expanded its form to act as a vacuum and greedily devoured the abyssal miasma as they descended.
As Arthur neared the bottom of the canyon, the sheer walls of the Rift began to crawl with movement.
Tier-9 Abyssal Crawlers!
They were horrific insectoid beasts the size of armored transport trucks. They were covered in jagged bone plating and completely blind.
They sensed the movement and detached from the walls, lunging through the air to intercept his fall with acid dripping mandibles.
Arthur didn't draw a sword. He didn't have time to waste fighting trash mobs when the real prize was at the bottom.
He focused his mind and activated the movement art he had acquired in the slums.
As the beasts lunged, the crisp sound of the system chimed in his mind.
[Practice of Void-Step Mantra detected.]
[Random multiplier activated: 8,000x!]
Arthur's body blurred and turned into a streak of intangible shadow.
"Whoosh!"
He stepped on empty air as if it were solid ground and his trajectory violently shifted. He zigzagged through the falling swarm of Crawlers with impossible agility.
The beasts slammed into each other in their blind frenzy. Their acid splashed against the canyon walls as Arthur effortlessly bypassed their entire blockade.
[System Notice: Ebonheart Cube has passively absorbed 40 Abyssal Cores from the ambient environment.]
↳ Converted to 40,000 System Points.
"Good boy," Arthur smirked as his boots finally slammed into the solid spongy ground of the Rift floor.
He stood up. The God-Tier Isolation Veil kept the absolute crushing pressure of the deep abyss at bay.
The floor of the Rift was a desolate wasteland of shattered black glass and pools of corrosive dark matter. But Arthur's eyes were drawn to the center of the cavern.
Rising from the floor were colossal glowing pillars of pure starlight. Strung between them was a web of massive divine chains. They pulsed with an arrogant holy energy that felt entirely out of place in this hellhole.
Suspended in the very center of the web and bound by thousands of glowing seals that pierced her flesh, was a woman.
She was horrifyingly beautiful. Her skin was deathly pale and marked with pulsing black tattoos that seemed to writhe like living shadows. Tattered remnants of a regal crimson gown clung to her form.
As Arthur approached, the sound of his boots crunching against the glass echoed loudly.
The woman's head snapped up.
Her eyes opened, and Arthur felt his breath hitch despite the veil. They were pools of liquid burning gold filled with eons of concentrated hatred.
She looked at his clean clothes, his upright posture, and the faint hum of his Master Tier core.
A cruel cynical sneer stretched across her pale lips, revealing elongated predatory canines.
"Another bug from the Apex Realm?" she hissed. Her voice sounded like grinding tectonic plates. "Come to gloat, little godling? Or did you just come down here to die?"
Arthur stopped a few feet from the divine chains. He didn't draw a weapon. He just tilted his head and a genuine smile broke across his face cos he was staring at how beautiful she is.
"I am here for a hostile takeover," Arthur said smoothly. "And I am just looking for a new partner."