C5. Rifters

After instructing Cam on what to do next, Ryan followed Ben's lead to a private corner of the partly constructed apartment complex, away from any prying eyes, where no one would be able to overhear their conversation.

"So what's up?"

Although he had an inkling of what his best friend was thinking right now. He still waited patiently for him to voice his thoughts without any interruptions.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?"

Ben spoke with a serious expression as his eyes solely focused on Ryan's reaction and Ryan could help but let out a short breath before responding.

"—Sigh… Really man, we've been over this several times already, so why do you keep bringing it up? Don't tell me, have you decided to change your mind?"

"It's not that simple. This rift will be nothing like the ones we've closed before. Even if everyone here volunteered for this, there's still a chance a lot of them might die you know. It's not too late to reconsider Falcon's Claws offer you know."

Ryan tilted his head in slight irritation as he reciprocated Ben's gaze and stared keenly into his eyes.

"I am fully aware of that, and I'm sure everyone that showed up today is aware of that as well. We're not just doing this just for the fun of it you know, everyone here came for a reason. We're all trying to change both ourselves and the way the world looks at us."

A slight grunt escaped from Ben's mouth as his feet tapped the ground at an increased pace. Causing the hard concrete to develop spider web-like cracks from the point of impact.

"Listen, I'm aware of that. Believe me, I am. After all, I was also an E-ranker not too long ago. But even you know that without any D ranks, we wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to do so, have you—"

Ryan was so stunned by Ben's words for a moment that he couldn't help but cut him off.

"You've got to be kidding me! Are you being serious right now!? Don't tell me you've forgotten what these guilds do to people like us. Do you really think they care about our Guild, they're only threatened by what we stand for and nothing else. The moment that ceases to be the case, they'll cut us off!"

Ryan wasn't sure when he had begun to raise his voice but for some reason, he had been getting more irritated by Ben's disposition the more he spoke.

"I'm aware of that, but they don't just offer protection and security. There's a ton of financial aid and bonuses. Besides, accepting the offer will grant us more attribute stones to rank up considerably. With those, we wouldn't have to struggle over the scraps of the large guilds anymore, we can easily climb our way straight to the top in only a few years."

Ryan paused as he heard Ben ramble on with enthusiasm as he narrated the benefits of selling their guild over to one of the top 5 guilds in the city. His eyes remained narrowed as his mouth trembled.

"And what will happen to everyone else."

His words had dragged Ben out of his delusions as he found the words to answer Ryan's question.

"They'll be fine. The guild isn't going to disband and only comes under Raven Claw's control. If anything they would be safer as higher ranked Rifters would be protecting them on future trips."

"What the hell do you mean by they'll be fine? Isn't that just the same thing we've been fighting against? They'll just be forced to toll away at the bottom with no regard for their lives. After all, their families will receive large bonuses if they die right?"

"So what! Isn't risking their life here the same thing, hell This is even worse as the only benefits their families will receive would be what the government thinks maggots like us are worth."

Ryan fell silent yet again. He couldn't believe what his best friend was spewing out of his mouth. It was as though he had never met this man before.

"This is not the same. They aren't risking their lives for anyone else but themselves. They are only fighting for their futures. They also get paid based on their contributions. Listen Ben, if you want to leave and join Raven's Claw then I won't stop you. However, this guild will not become a property of those bastards."

For the first time since their talks began, Ben finally calmed down as his feet no longer cracked the ground.

"Sigh… Damn man, when you say it like that how can I leave just like that. You're my best friend after all. If you say this is what we need to do then that's what we'll do."

The somber expression on Ryan's face finally faded away as he sighed in relief. Ben was one of the two members of his guild to have received the attribute stones collected by the guild and been promoted to D Rank. It would be extremely dangerous for them if he were to leave.

Not to mention, he would be losing his best friend since elementary school in the process, but Ryan didn't want to hold anyone back from chasing their dreams. Hence he was glad to see the friend he knew and trusted sticking by his side.

"I'm glad you still feel that way, Now don't worry, I've got everything figured out. Let's go in there and secure our future."

"Right..."

With that, their conversation came to an end as they walked back to meet up with everyone who had already geared up and were wielding their weapons in anticipation of the Grade 6 Rift.

"You guys are finally back babe. What took you so long?"

Sporting Ryan and Ben approaching them after what felt like hours to Val, she excitedly walked over to them, having already worn her Rifting gear. Which was a skin-fitting black and red leather armor made from a monster's hide.

A well-crafted letter belt stylishly hooked a black quiver, containing less than 10 arrows to her waist.

The armor provided a decent amount of defense and high mobility. While it was a bit on the expensive side, it was one of the best equipment for an archer class of her new rank.

"Oh, nothing much, just some last-minute planning."

"Oh okay. Well everyone is ready, you guys get changed, and let's begin the run."

She boldly gave them orders as she leaned in to give Ryan a perk on the lips before walking away Ryan chuckled and responded.

"Roger that."

Saying that Ryan moved over to grab his duffel bag so he could prepare himself for the first exploration.

While there were over a hundred people here, not all of them were Rifters as it took more than slaying the monsters to clear a rift.

Of course, this could also be done as all one needed was to find the source of the spatial Rift and destroy it. Something like that could be guarded by a powerful monster that was attracted to it by its immersive energy fluctuation, but it could also be found inside a boss-level monster.

As long as they don't destroy that source, the rift will not close. Long ago, the first Rifters all just focused their energy to close every single rift as fast as possible. Afraid of a Rift collapse that would unleash the monsters contained within the Rift into the world as it did over 40 years ago.

However, this resulted in the loss of valuable resources that would've been useful in their attempt at the restoration of humanity and the rebuilding of civilization.

However, after years of study and experimentation with lower Ranked rifts, they developed the most efficient system for completely plundering the resources of a rift.

The first run would be an exploration run where the Rifters entered the rift to investigate the monsters and the location and situation of the Rifts core, trying to avoid engaging with the monsters as much as possible as they did not want to stumble on a swarm of them.

After all the investigations were complete, the Rifters exited the rift to rest and restock their supplies before entering the next phase of clearing the rift. Extermination.

They hunted down every monster except the one that held or guarded the source of the rift and exterminated them. For other guilds with higher-ranked Rifters, the exploration and extermination portion was done together as they could afford to take the risk.

However, for Azral Org. A 1-Star guild with mostly F and G Ranked Rifters, they could not afford to take the risk and Ryan had decided to separate their task into three portions in order to minimize the risks so even without the protection of higher ranked Rifters, they would still be able to clear the lowest grade rifts.

After the extermination of the monsters was completed, they would then exit the rift once again without destroying the Rifts core, and then, a member of the exploration team guides the plundering team that compromises mostly of ordinary civilians and G rankers to plunder all the resources from the Rift completely.

They would retrieve the monster's core, skin and bones, energy stones, and occasionally, the rare attribute stones that rarely appear in Grade 6 and 7 rifts, and many more.

Once that's done, the extermination team goes in again and finishes the job. Killing the boss monster and destroying the source before racing back out of the rift before it closes forever.

This was the job of Rifters.