"Iris what did I just see?!"
Adam finally stopped shaking long enough to squeak out a few words of choice to Iris.
"What you just saw was the rift above Oak city. There are five city islands floating throughout the world and each one has an Angel and the rift it descended from."
"So.. so it's all real."
Adam had calmed down enough to hold a conversation. He had not taken his eyes off the ground yet for fear of catching a glimpse of the gruesome tear running along the sky.
"Yes it's all real, very, very real, so real infact, that we're heading to Oak stadium to listen to the Corpse Clan make a speech about it."
Seeing that Adam had mostly stopped shaking, Iris stood up and pulled Adam along with her, resuming their walk towards Oak Stadium.
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Walking down a scant sidewalk, Adam realizing that he had come within a few moments of witnessing the divine before being shoved to the ground by Iris, decided that he desperately needed to know more about the world he lived in.
Turning to Iris's feet, still not brave enough yet to look up, Adam decided to ask some questions.
"Okay, so these beings?"
"Angels" Iris said correctingly.
"Okay, so these Angels decended from heaven and in doing so tore huge rifts in the sky."
"Correct, or at least that's the story from 300 years ago."
"….and now these Angels roam the world?"
"No. They just float above each island."
"They float?"
"Yes they float. Well floating is not really the right word. They seem to be frozen above each island."
"Uh huh…."
Adam was contemplating all this new information, not realizing they had finished their journey to the Oak stadium.
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Walking into the stadium, Adam could not help but be shocked at the sheer size of it.
"Woah…"
Looking at the interior of the Stadium it was held together by marble pillars and steel beams. Adam thought the architecture was quite odd but taking in the surrounding hall he found that he quite like the strange design.
Seeing the look of wonder on his face, Iris smiled slightly.
"I'm guessing you don't really remember the stadium, but it's the largest venue in the world."
Iris continued, stating facts about the stadium as if she was Adam's personal tour guide.
"It was built when the Angels decended and has a maximum capacity of 250,000… it was inspired by… the first game ever played here was…."
Iris continued this up until they had reached their seats.
Sitting down, Adam finally mustered up the courage to look away from the ground. First he looked at Iris, smiling once she noticed him looking her way, then he looked out into the field. What he saw was a vibrant green field, white lines marking its surface indicating the boundaries of some game he had most likely forgotten.
Looking around some more, Adam realized that the stadium was filled to the brim. There was no seat that was not filled.
'The corpse clan must be big deal'
As if reading his thoughts, Iris responded.
"The Corpse Clan is one of the oldest clans to exist since the descent of the Angels. Their founder was the first person to return alive from one of the rifts."
"Return alive from the rift? People actually go in those things?"
"Oh absolutely, do you remember when I said that the Angels brought great power with them? Well, the way to obtain that power is to challenge a rift!"
Iris seemed to enjoy teaching Adam all these things.
"You're telling me that people actually fly into the giant hole in the sky and can come back with mystical powers?"
It sounded insane coming from the young woman's mouth, but Iris had told him something equally as insane before and Adam had learned the hard way that it was indeed the truth.
Iris, hearing his retort, stuck her nose up and looked away, asking, "Oh, we can test it out again if you'd like?"
Looking at his girlfriend who had a sinister smile stretching across her face, Adam remembered gazing into the rift and shivered.
"NO, I mean no….. I believe you."
Iris turned away smiling with satisfaction.
Looking at the platform in the center of the field she said, "To answer your question, yes and no."
"People do indeed willingly go into these rifts in search of power, but it's not the rift in the sky. They go into smaller rifts that are birthed from the Angel's rifts, and if you survive, you awaken your Seed."
Dumbfounded, Adam responded, "Your Seed? What's a Seed?"
Iris, sighing loudly began to explain.
"A Seed is something you're blessed with for surviving the trial of a rift. It's the foundation of your power. It's called a Seed because it's the very first thing you need to grow your power."
"It also gives you your foundational ability. Depending on how you water your Seed determines how it and your power will grow."
Adam rubbing his temples, trying to ease his mind began to look at Iris, hoping she would share more.
Iris seeing her lover stare at her with a confused look at his face threw her head back and sighed again this time even louder than the last.
Adam seeing this began to feel sorry for Iris.
"Sorry…."
"It's okay, just most of this is knowledge that his been around for 300 years now so having to explain it all to someone who is not aware is quite taxing."
"Alright, so challenging a rift after you have awakened your seed will make it grow stronger until eventually it begins to grow and evolve. Depending on how your trial went your seed will follow that path as well."
"Okay I think I understand now…"
While Adam was going over this new information, a middle aged man with pale white skin, dressed head to toe in full plate armor exited a service tunnel on the field and began making his way towards the stage.