Dimension returns to the Great Void in 350 hours
As Zaria stepped away from Veilhaven Enclave, the comforting hum of the Guild’s energy receded like a fading memory, leaving behind an oppressive, eerie silence that heightened her awareness of every footfall. Her boots struck the ground with alternating sounds—first the soft crunch of gritty soil, then the hollow clang of metal. The transition was jarring, like stepping between two worlds. The further she walked, the more the ground beneath her seemed to blur the line between organic and mechanical.
The cracked earth was interspersed with sections of metallic panels, their surfaces lined with faintly pulsating blue veins of technomantic energy. The light throbbed irregularly, casting strange, fractured shadows across her path. Some panels bore deep gouges, scorch marks, or jagged edges, as though they had been violently ripped apart. The terrain felt like a scarred battlefield, long abandoned but still simmering with latent hostility.
Here and there, clusters of withered, skeletal trees jutted out of the ground, their twisted branches wrapped in wires and cables that dangled like forgotten nooses. The air was thick with the acrid tang of scorched metal and faint ozone, the smell clawing at her throat. Her gaze swept the desolate scene, lingering on piles of scrap that littered the area.
These weren’t just random heaps of debris. Some were eerily familiar, little mounds of parts and shards that brought back the unwelcome memory of her encounter with the Scrappings. Their jagged, rusted forms seemed to leer at her from the ground as though waiting to come to life. She quickened her pace, unwilling to linger near the potential danger.
In the distance, the terrain shifted again, giving way to a devastated neighborhood. Burned-out husks of buildings lined what might have once been streets, their walls marred by blackened scorch marks and riddled with gaping holes. Twisted beams of metal jutted out from the rubble, casting grotesque silhouettes in the fading light. Broken conduits snaked through the ruins, their flickering lights a weak echo of the Guild’s stable glow.
It felt like walking into the aftermath of a territorial war. Everything around her screamed of destruction, chaos, and abandonment. Some of the debris piles had begun to meld into the terrain, overgrown by a strange moss that glowed faintly with a sickly green hue. Zaria’s nose wrinkled at the metallic, rotting scent that wafted from them, a mix of decaying machinery and scorched earth.
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Her stomach tightened as her gaze landed on more of those familiar mounds. Scrappings. Or at least what looked like them. They were still and silent now, but the sight alone sent an involuntary shiver down her spine. The last thing she wanted was another fight, but Xyros’s words echoed in her mind: "Improve your technomancy skills, Zaria. Fight, learn, adapt.” By time she had left Veilhaven her Energy pulse was up to Level 3 and her Tech Shield was at Level 2. High enough that Xyros let her leave on her quest to find the spheres.
She clenched her fists, forcing herself forward. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t get them higher. If she wanted to make her Energy Pulse and Tech Shield more effective—if she wanted to survive—she needed to push herself. Her fear wrestled with her determination as she carefully stepped over the jagged remains of what once might have been a home, her TNC blinking faintly in her vision, guiding her toward the first sphere.
The ground shifted beneath her again, her boot landing with a soft crunch on debris before stepping onto a patch of exposed metal. She steadied herself, her eyes scanning the shadows for any sign of movement. Every noise—every creak, groan, or rustle—set her nerves on edge. This wasn’t just another trek through unfamiliar terrain. This was a trial by fire, an unforgiving gauntlet where every step forward demanded resolve, and every mistake carried the weight of survival. If she wanted to prove her worth—and maybe make it out alive—she’d have to face it head-on.
Her TNC flickered to life, its soft blue light casting a faint glow on her face as she studied the map. Four spheres blinked steadily—her objective clear. Her brow knitted tightly as her gaze caught on a fifth marker, barely visible on the map. Unlike the steady, purposeful pulses of the other four, this one flickered weakly, its light stuttering like a failing signal. It wasn’t part of her original mission—of that; she was certain.
“What the… five?” she muttered, leaning closer to the projection, her finger hovering over the strange anomaly as if prodding it might coax it into clarity. “There were supposed to be four.”
She tapped the marker with a growing urgency, her confusion mounting. “Is this a glitch, or…?” Her voice trailed off, but the map remained stubbornly unchanged, offering no explanations, only questions. The quest was for her to collect four spheres and that is what she was going to do. Maybe they included an extra one in case she screwed up the collection of one of the main four and that is why the fifth one was glowing weirdly.
“The scary System AI said four and four is what it is going to get.” She continued walking towards the first sphere on her mind map.
