Ethan's heart slammed against his ribs as the Iron Dominion drone's red lens bored into him, its mechanical hum cutting through the ash-choked air like a death knell. The words Eclipse Forger detected echoed in his skull, each syllable laced with menace. The system's prompt—[Run]—wasn't exactly inspiring confidence, but standing still felt like signing his own obituary.
"Move!" Lira hissed, grabbing his arm and yanking him toward the camp's tunnel. The scavengers scrambled, snatching weapons and crates, their faces taut with panic. Kael, the grizzled man with the mechanical arm, barked orders, his voice a gravelly roar. "Pack it up! Dominion's here!"
Ethan stumbled after Lira, the drone's hum growing louder. A glance back showed it hovering higher, its lens pulsing as if scanning. Then, with a shrill whine, it fired—a beam of searing white energy that blasted the ground where he'd stood, sending up a geyser of ash and molten rock.
"Holy shit!" Ethan yelped, ducking as debris rained down. The system pinged, unhelpfully.
[Warning: Iron Dominion Scout Drone – Threat Level: Moderate. Armament: Plasma Beam. Recommendation: Evade.]
"Evade?" Ethan muttered, sprinting behind Lira. "No kidding!"
The tunnel swallowed them, its walls jagged and damp, lit by flickering essence shards embedded in the stone. Lira's crossbow bounced on her back as she ran, her scarf trailing like a battle flag. Kael and three other scavengers followed, their boots pounding the earth. The drone's whine faded, but Ethan's gut told him they weren't out of the woods. Not by a long shot.
"Keep up, newbie!" Lira called over her shoulder. "Unless you want to be Dominion scrap!"
Ethan gritted his teeth, his lungs burning. His essence was at 30/100 after crafting the Pulse Grenade, and his artifacts—Voidfang Dagger and Blast Gauntlet—felt woefully inadequate against a drone that shot frickin' lasers. The system's interface hovered in his peripheral vision, taunting him with its minimalist stats.
[Eclipse Forge System: Status]
Forger: Ethan Cole
Essence: 30/100
Skills: Void Forge (Tier 1), Essence Sense (10m)
Artifacts: Voidfang Dagger (Durability: 80/100), Blast Gauntlet (Durability: 90/100)
Corruption: 0%
[Objective: Escape the Iron Dominion scout.]
"Escape," Ethan panted. "Easier said than done."
The tunnel widened into a cavern, its ceiling studded with glowing stalactites that cast eerie shadows. Crates and bedrolls lined the walls—clearly the scavengers' main camp. Kael shoved a crate aside, revealing a hidden passage. "This way," he growled. "Leads to the canyon. We lose the drone there."
Ethan's Essence Sense pinged, faint but persistent, from a pile of rubble nearby. A shard, maybe. He hesitated, glancing at Lira. "Any chance we can grab essence on the way? I could craft something to fight back."
Lira arched a brow, half-impressed, half-annoyed. "You're crazy, but I like it. Make it quick."
He darted to the rubble, prying free a fist-sized essence shard that pulsed with chaotic energy. The system chimed.
[Essence gained: +8. Current Essence: 38/100]
"Not enough for a laser-proof vest," Ethan muttered, rejoining the group as they funneled into the passage. The drone's hum returned, distant but closing, like a hunter sniffing blood. Ethan's programmer brain spun, cycling through the crafting menu. The Pulse Grenade had worked against the Skullcrusher, but a drone needed something precise. A new blueprint flickered—Disruptor Bolt, 30 essence, "Disables mechanical targets for 10 seconds." Perfect, if he could scrounge more essence.
The passage sloped downward, twisting through the earth. Ethan's sneakers skidded on loose gravel, and he caught himself on the wall, pain flaring in his shoulder where the voidborn had grazed him. The wound still burned, a reminder this world didn't mess around. Lira glanced back, her scar catching the dim light. "You good?"
"Peachy," Ethan said, forcing a grin. "Just not used to being hunted by killer Roomba."
She snorted, a flicker of amusement breaking her hard exterior. "Stick with us, you'll see worse."
Kael led them into a narrow canyon, its walls towering hundreds of feet, streaked with veins of glowing crystal. The purple sky was a thin slit above, the air thick with dust. The scavengers spread out, weapons ready—spears, a rusty rifle, Lira's crossbow. Ethan's Essence Sense pinged again, stronger, from a crevice in the canyon wall. A bigger shard, maybe 10 essence. He nudged Lira. "Cover me."
"You're pushing your luck," she said, but raised her crossbow, scanning the sky.
Ethan scrambled to the crevice, heart pounding as the drone's hum grew louder. He dug out a shard the size of a baseball, its energy thrumming through his fingers.
[Essence gained: +12. Current Essence: 50/100]
"Jackpot," he whispered, sprinting back. The crafting menu glowed, the Disruptor Bolt blueprint now affordable. He focused, willing 30 essence into it. The shard in his hand dissolved, his reserves dropping to 20, and a sleek, arrow-like bolt formed, its tip crackling with violet sparks.
[Crafting Success: Disruptor Bolt (Tier 1). Durability: 100/100. Effect: Disables mechanical targets for 10 seconds.]
"Hope this works," Ethan said, handing the bolt to Lira. "Your crossbow, your shot."
She smirked, loading the bolt. "Not bad, newbie."
The drone burst into view, its lens sweeping the canyon. Kael cursed, raising his rifle, but Lira was faster. She fired, the Disruptor Bolt streaking like a comet. It struck the drone's hull, and a pulse of chaos energy erupted, frying its circuits. The drone wobbled, then crashed into the canyon wall, sparking and smoking.
[Iron Dominion Scout Drone disabled. Essence gained: +15. Current Essence: 35/100]
The scavengers cheered, but Ethan's relief was short-lived. A new sound echoed—deeper, mechanical, like a swarm of drones. Lira's smirk vanished. "That was a scout. The real hunters are coming."
Kael spat into the dust. "We move. Now. Head for the Rift Spire—it's our only shot."
"Rift Spire?" Ethan asked, jogging to keep up as the group fled deeper into the canyon.
"Old forger outpost," Lira said. "Has a realm rift—portal to another world. If we reach it, we can jump realms, lose the Dominion."
"And if we don't?" Ethan pressed.
Kael glanced back, his mechanical arm whirring. "Then you learn why they call this the Ashen Wastes."
The canyon narrowed, forcing them single-file. Ethan's mind raced, piecing together the scraps of info. The Iron Dominion hunted forgers—people like him, with systems. The Eclipse Forge was rare, maybe forbidden, given the drone's Eclipse Forger detected warning. And the Shattered Realms? A multiverse of broken worlds, if Lira's talk of realm rifts was true. His programmer instincts itched to debug the whole mess, but survival came first.
The system pinged, a new prompt appearing.
[Skill Upgrade Available: Essence Sense – Increase range to 20 meters. Cost: 20 essence. Accept? Y/N]
Ethan hesitated. Upgrading Essence Sense could help him find more shards, but crafting was his edge. He needed weapons, not scouting tools. Still, the canyon was crawling with essence—he'd sensed multiple shards already. "Y," he thought, and the system hummed, his essence dropping to 15.
[Essence Sense upgraded. Range: 20 meters.]
Immediately, his senses sharpened, picking up three essence sources: two small, one massive, deeper in the canyon. The big one felt… wrong, like a glitch in the system's code. He nudged Lira. "Something's up ahead. Big essence source, but it's off."
She frowned, adjusting her crossbow. "Voidborn?"
"Maybe," Ethan said. "Or something worse."
Kael halted, raising a fist. The group froze, weapons drawn. The canyon opened into a clearing, littered with bones and rusted machinery. At its center stood a jagged obelisk, its surface etched with runes that pulsed faintly. The Rift Spire. But Ethan's attention locked onto the massive essence source—coiled around the spire like a living shadow.
A voidborn, bigger than the Skullcrusher, its body a writhing mass of tentacles and eyes, each pupil glowing with malevolent light. The system flashed.
[Voidborn Riftstalker detected. Threat Level: Extreme. Recommendation: Avoid engagement.]
"Shit," Ethan whispered. The scavengers tensed, Kael's rifle trembling slightly. Lira's scar twitched, her crossbow steady but her eyes wide.
"We can't fight that," she said. "We need to sneak past, activate the rift."
Ethan's Essence Sense pinged the smaller shards—5 essence each, maybe, hidden in the bones. Enough for another grenade or bolt. But the Riftstalker's eyes swept the clearing, and the drone swarm's hum was closing in. They were trapped between a monster and a mechanized death squad.
"Got a plan, forger?" Kael growled, his mechanical arm whirring as he aimed his rifle.
Ethan's mind spun, his programmer logic kicking in. The Rift Spire was the goal, but the Riftstalker blocked the path, and the drones would pin them down. He needed a distraction—something big. The crafting menu offered a new blueprint: Chaos Beacon, 40 essence, "Draws voidborn aggression for 30 seconds." Risky, but it could pull the Riftstalker away, giving them a shot at the spire.
"I need 10 more essence," Ethan said, scanning the bones. "Cover me."
"You're insane," Lira said, but she nodded, signaling the others to form a defensive line.
Ethan darted into the clearing, staying low. The Riftstalker's eyes twitched, but it didn't move—yet. He grabbed the first shard, then the second, his essence climbing to 25. The drone swarm's hum grew deafening, and a red beam lanced through the canyon, blasting a boulder to slag. The scavengers fired back, Kael's rifle barking.
[Essence gained: +10. Current Essence: 25/100]
"Fifteen short," Ethan cursed, spotting a third shard near the spire—too close to the Riftstalker. A tentacle lashed out, grazing his leg, and pain seared through him. He dove behind a bone pile, clutching the dagger. The system pinged.
[Minor injury sustained. Corruption: +1%. Warning: Corruption increases with voidborn contact.]
"Corruption?" Ethan hissed, his vision blurring briefly. The system didn't elaborate, but the word felt like a noose tightening. No time to dwell—he needed that shard. He sprinted, dodging another tentacle, and snatched it.
[Essence gained: +15. Current Essence: 40/100]
"Now or never," Ethan thought, crafting the Chaos Beacon. His essence drained, and a glowing orb formed, pulsing like a heartbeat. He hurled it across the clearing, and it detonated in a flare of violet light. The Riftstalker roared, its tentacles surging toward the beacon, leaving the spire unguarded.
"Go!" Ethan shouted, sprinting for the spire. Lira and the scavengers followed, Kael laying down covering fire. The drones swarmed into the clearing, their beams carving through bone and stone. Ethan reached the spire, its runes flaring as he touched them. The system chimed.
[Rift Spire activated. Destination: Crystal Jungle. Open rift? Y/N]
"Y!" Ethan thought, and the runes blazed, a portal of swirling light tearing open. Lira dove through, followed by the scavengers. Kael hesitated, firing one last shot, then leaped in. Ethan glanced back—the Riftstalker was turning, its eyes locking onto him as the drones closed in.
A new presence prickled his Essence Sense, human but wrong, like a corrupted file. A figure stood atop the canyon, cloaked in red, a blood-red gauntlet glowing on his hand. Another forger. The man's voice echoed, cold and amused.
"Eclipse Forger," he said. "You're mine."
The Riftstalker lunged, and Ethan dove through the portal, the world dissolving into light.