Leo stumbled, nearly falling back to the ground as the entire plane began to shake. Collapsing a plane was far from a simple process, but if the gem holders who had done this to his father were truly working for the Planar Lords, then they’d absolutely have the means in order to pull it off. A planar collapse was even something that could happen naturally in certain situations, and his parents had made sure he was well aware of exactly what he had to do in the event he ever found himself trapped within a collapsing plane.

  Run.

  Once a collapse began, there was no stopping it. And for a tiny plane like this one, that meant he only had a few minutes to find an exit and escape with his life.

  Of course, he wasn’t the only person trapped within the collapsing plane.

  Francy! The town!

  Leo began running toward town, struggling to stay on his feet as the shaking intensified. The lanterns lining the path swung violently as the world shook, spilling their glow-shards all over the ground. Realizing they might be useful, Leo grabbed a small handful of shards, shoving them in one of his many pockets. Even if he didn’t have so much as a satchel on him, at the very least, his parents had instilled the importance of wearing pants with ample pocket space from a young age. Cartographers never ran out of interesting things to pick up on their expeditions after all.

  As he ran, desperate to make it to Francy and the others, he tried to ignore the more logical side of his brain.

  There’s no point. Even if you reach them, only a gem holder can travel through the rifts. They’re all already dead. They just don’t know it yet.

  “Shut up!” he shouted, crying out as the ground shifted beneath his feet, smashing him into one of the trees lining the path. Shaking his head clear of the daze, he gasped as he saw what was happening.

  The entire town, his whole world, was falling apart.

  “Francy!” he shouted, barely able to believe his eyes as building after building collapsed. Giant chunks of ground cracked and tilted, falling into an abyss of nothingness and vanishing from existence. The collapse was occurring even faster than he thought, and there was nothing he could do about it. As he watched the homes and lives of everyone he’d ever known fall into the void, Leo screamed, clutching the gem his father had given him as he fell to his knees.

  Mom… the Nexus… I have to warn people.

  Somehow, he managed to keep himself from spiraling into despair right then and there, the task his father had given him providing him strength as he pressed the gem against his chest. His parents had explained how to absorb magical beast gems before, but he’d always thought he’d have their guiding hand to help him along for his first time. Doing his best to relax, despite the collapse of his whole world around him, Leo closed his eyes and tried to breathe in. Not just air, but power as well. He tried to breathe that solidified power directly into his soul, and after his third try, he got it.

  He flinched as he felt the gem turn into pure power, pulling itself into his core and igniting something within him he’d never experienced before. The burning sensation was equal parts painful and euphoric, and he roared as the foreign power swept throughout his body, turning him into something more. Once he had his bearings again, he staggered to his feet, focusing on the new power within his core and sensing the information held within, just as his parents had told him he’d be able to.

  Soul Rank: 1 (0 available)

  Beast Gem: Ash Sprite (1)

  Skill: Silence

  It wasn’t much, but that was to be expected for someone who’d only just unlocked the latent potential of their soul. Barely even noting what beast gem his father had given him, Leo tried to move, only to be violently thrown to the ground yet again as the world seemed to start tilting under him.

  I’m out of time! Ignoring the fresh scrapes on his hands and knees, Leo ran to the edge of the path, diving into the lake just before the path itself fell away, revealing another chunk of abyss directly behind him. He faintly recalled his parents mentioning how the areas around the rifts would be the most stable when a plane began collapsing, and he prayed that was true as he swam with everything he had to the center of the lake. Coming up for air, he gasped, spinning around and taking in the remains of his world.

  Other than the very lake he was swimming in, which was rapidly pouring water out of its sides, there were only three other chunks of ground still floating above the abyss, marking the location of the three publicly known rifts. Leo thought he could just barely make out a person pointing toward him two miles away, near the edge of the plane, before that chunk of ground began fracturing and they vanished, no doubt retreating to safety. Feeling the water begin to drag him off toward the edge of the lake, Leo focused on his own survival, taking in a deep breath before diving down.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Sure enough, just as his father had told him, he could sense the presence of a hidden rift as soon as he got closer to it. With time, he knew he’d be able to develop these senses and eventually grow stronger, but at the moment, he was swimming almost blind. Reaching the crack in the very fabric of space, Leo spotted the tiny brown box hidden in the murky waters directly beside it, just where his father said it would be. Snatching the box up, he shoved it into one of his many pockets before swimming closer to the rift. Focusing on the new energy burning within his soul, he reached out his hand toward the eerily silent and unnatural dark crack floating in the water. Immediately, he began screaming bubbles as his body was compressed and twisted beyond recognition as he was all but sucked through the hungry rift. Thankfully, the sensation only lasted a mere second, and he collapsed onto the ground on the other side, groaning as he coughed up a bit of water he’d inhaled.

  Once he could breathe again, Leo pushed himself into a sitting position, staring with wide eyes at the world around him. Gone were the dense forest and accompanying lake he’d grown up with. This new plane consisted of a large, grassy meadow, filled with tall stalks of grass swaying in a calm breeze. He knew he should probably take stock of his current situation, but his brain was still running hot, forcing him to focus on thoughts not at all helpful in his current situation.

  Okay. Your father’s dead. Francy’s dead. Everyone you once knew and cared about is dead, beyond your mother. Your plane was collapsed, the Planar Lords themselves are potentially out to get you, and you’ve been given what’s pretty much an impossible mission.

  Could be worse, right?

  Part of Leo wanted to curl up into a ball and cry, but he’d already gotten most of his tears out when his father passed in front of him. Millions of lives were potentially hanging on him surviving this entire ordeal and spreading the word of what was going to happen to the Nexus if nobody did anything. Feeling like little more than an empty shell, he forced himself to take a few deep breaths, running through the mental checklist his parents had drilled into his head over the years.

  First… Am I in immediate danger?

  Leo looked around more carefully, trying to take stock of this new plane as best he could. He certainly didn’t see any bloodthirsty magical beasts running directly toward him, which was always a good sign. The temperature was pleasant, the weather nothing of note, and the air was breathable. That last one was nearly always a given, but his parents had shared with him at least one or two horror stories of planes they’d encountered over their long careers where even the very air was toxic. In fact, the plane was so calm and peaceful that he had a sinking suspicion his parents had chosen the previous one to found a town in solely in case something like this situation ever arose and they needed an emergency plane to retreat to. He didn’t know what that said about his parents that they may have planned for something like this happening so many years ago, but at the very least, he was grateful.

  I’m not in immediate danger. Am I wounded?

  Here was where Leo’s luck ran out, as he finally allowed the pain he’d been ignoring all this time to bubble up in his mind. A quick check of his body revealed he was covered from head to toe in an assortment of burns, though his hands were definitely the worst. Dragging his father’s body out of the flaming wreckage had done quite the number on them, and his fingers shook as he stared at the deep red color and nasty blisters already forming all over them.

  Carefully, he pulled out the rolls of herb-soaked bandages Jim had slipped into his back pocket, silently thanking him for the gift before remembering the friendly healer was now dead and gone. That thought sent a stab of fresh pain through his chest, but Leo forced it down, determined to at least take care of the immediate issues before he let himself break down again. Wrapping the bandages around first his individual fingers, and then clumsily around the worst of the burns covering his body, he nodded.

  As the healing herbs began taking effect, sending a soothing cool sensation into his fingers, Leo pulled out the other gifts he’d been given by the loving townsfolk and took stock of his current possessions. Other than the bandages he’d just used up and the mysterious box he’d been instructed not to open, all he had was a journal and pencil to log his expeditions, a few glow-shards he’d snatched from one of the lanterns, and a collapsible knife to defend himself with. Unfortunately, he hadn’t actually shoved any of Clint’s famous corn into his pockets, which was a real shame. Food was the last thing on his mind at the moment, but he didn’t see so much as a single fruit tree or berry bush in this diminutive meadow plain, which meant food was going to be a problem before long.

  Actually, it might even be a miniscule plane. It feels pretty small.

  All planes were judged by three criteria: size, power density, and terrain. The official categorization for his own plane had been a tiny, tier 5, forest plane. That meant it only stretched about four to five miles from one end to the next, only gem holders and beasts with a soul rank of five or lower could enter or exist, and it was filled primarily with a forest. Technically, planes were also categorized by the number of rifts leading in and out of them, but seeing as that number could fluctuate, either by neighboring planes collapsing or Cartographers lying about secret rifts like his parents had, few people paid that number much mind.

  It took Leo a few seconds to open his collapsible knife with his bandaged fingers, but as soon as he held the blade in his hand, he felt just the smallest bit safer. A knife certainly wasn’t his first choice of weapon, or even his second or third, but it was better than nothing. His parents had taught him the basics of defending himself with just about any weapon. Even if he wasn’t an expert, he at least wasn’t in danger of accidentally cutting himself.

  Holding the knife before him like a lifeline, Leo slowly began heading further into the meadow. The rift he’d come from had already vanished, signaling that his plane had finished collapsing into the abyss. There was no way for the gem holders who had destroyed his life to follow him, but in that same vein, Leo now had absolutely no idea where he was. If he assumed the worst, that his mother had also been taken down or captured by the Planar Lords, then he was in some serious trouble. He’d have to find civilization, grow strong enough to protect himself, and avoid the Planar Lords and their agents, all while the lives of a few million people rested directly on his shoulders.

  Nothing like setting a few lofty goals for his very first expedition!