Rift Keeper

"Michael Norman!" A loud voice resounded in the hall. A boy not older than eighteen stood up. He had purple hair, purple eye and delicate facial features, he was quite the looker.

He walked up to the counter where the man that called his name was.

"Michael Norman reporting for duty." Michael said in a very respectful tone.

The man looked at Michael, and shaked his head. He knew who Michael was and why he was here. On a normal day Michael would not be here, as he was the son of one of the most powerful and well known Rift Keeper. Fate was cruel, unlike his father, Michael possessed low aptitude for arcane arts.

"Michael Norman. You have been assigned to aid in stopping the Rift monster at zone 0004." The man handed Michael a file.

Michael took the file, gave a salute and then left the hall, he was heading for the teleporters. As he was on his way there, he passed by a room that had a holographic screen showing the news. The news was about his father. It seemed that his father had single handedly dealt with a class 7 Rift monster that had appeared in the capital city. Michael stopped and watched the news.

The reporter began giving some details concerning the news.

"As of yesterday, during a conference concerning the event of a broken rift that lead to the annihilation of a small planar realm by Rift monsters. A Rank seven rift monster appeared, but Vincent Norman was able to subdue and kill the monster, with little colleateral damage, and no lives Lost. He has been called along with his family, as the Council has decided to honor them. Vincent as well as he wife Margaret and his children Damien and Jade will be the guest of honor in this gathering."

There was no mention of his name in the entire news, it was as though he was never a member of the place he spent eighteen years of his life in.

Michael continued moving, he had no need to continue watching. He got to the teleportation room. He gave his destination to the operator, then he proceeded to climb the circular raised podium. The podium had intricate array patterns carved into it. When Michael stood in the middle of the podium, the operator put in the coordinates, and activated the teleporter.

The array lit up with a beautiful neon glow, enshrouding Michael. When the light died down, Michael had disappeared.

---

Hundreds of light years away. Michael appeared on a similar podium. He got down, and headed to the office of the commander of this region.

"Michael Norman reporting for duty Sir." Michael saluted as soon as he was allowed into the office.

"At ease son," the commander said in a calm and friendly manner. "I received word on your arrival, so let's not beat around the bush. You have been assigned to zone 0004. A crystal ship will be leaving for there in 1 hour, so get ready."

Michael saluted and was about to leave.

"Take care kid," the commanded said.

Michael looked at the commander for some seconds. Unlike other people, the commander was not looking at him with pity, but rather genuine concern. The concern of a father for his child. Michael had not seen this too often when growing up, so it warmed his heart and left a lasting impression of the commander.

"Thank you sir." Michael said before leaving.

---

The crystal ship was a ship powered by rune technology, the runes drew power from the core, which in turn made everything work as it should. Michael got on the ship and was ready to go.

A few minutes after he got in, an announcement came through.

"Welcome on board fairy X2, our destination will zone 0004. This journey will take approximately 2 hours. Thank you." The announcement ended.

Getting to zone 0004 was actually shorter, but rift monster activity around the path had caused dangerous space tears and waves to happen there, so it was unpassable till the matter was resolved.

Soon the crystal ship lifted up and began his journey. Michael sighed in his heart, his journey had begun, no family, no resources, just him.

---

Two hours later.

The ship docked at the landing base of the zone 004. Michael got off and headed inside the base for further instructions.

"This is your designated area. A class one Rift monster has been rumored to be within the location. Find it and get rid of it." A woman dressed in a navy blue uniform handed a file to Michael. The uniform she wore was tight fitting, as it showed her curves, a sight that would make any man's heart beat wildly. Michael kept his eyes straight, so as to not be labeled a pervert. He took the file and left.

He went inside the room provided for him and changed to his combat suit. For low ranked people like him, the suit allowed them to breathe inside the void of the rift. Powerful people on the other hand only require their arcane energy to stay alive.

Michael took a transport shuttle to the designated area. He got out and immediately casted the detection spell he knew. He worked around for miles within the structure inside the void, this structure was where they Rift monster was rumored to be seen.

Michael walked around for hours searching for the rift demon. Suddenly, his spell detected a life form behind him, he turned around, but was too late. A black tentacle hit him on the chest, sending him flying. Michael crashed on the on the ground of the structure.

"ARGH," he groaned as he struggled back on his feet. In front of him was a black rift monster.

The rift monster shot out its tentacles. Michael quickly casted a defense spell that formed a barrier. The barrier blocked the attack for some seconds, but it later shattered, and the tentacle smashed into Michael.

Michael coughed out black blood as he rolled on the ground from the impact. Michael looked up and saw the Rift monster near him. It slammed him with his tentacle. Michael coughed up another mouthful of blood. He saw another tentacle coming, so he quickly cast a spell that propelled his body with high speed. When he got out of harm's way. His eyes landed on a spacial crack, he wasted no time as he ran into it.