"First field test," I muttered, feeling the unfamiliar weight of the REALITY MATRIX trait—not physically visible, but present as a constant subtle pressure beneath my skin.
HP 100/100, MANA 100/100, EXHAUSTION 0/100
FRACTURE CHARGES: 0/7
I stepped through.
Heat slammed into me like a physical wall. Each breath drew scorching air into my lungs as I materialized atop a massive sand dune overlooking an endless expanse of desert. The dunes moved like ocean waves in slow motion, their crests shifting in hypnotic patterns.
[E-TIER RIFT: DUNE OCEAN
BASE REQUIREMENT: REACH THE EYE OF THE STORM
ALTERNATIVE PATH: NONE]
My Matrix Vision highlighted dimensional energy pathways connecting local hazards to their sources—glowing threads pulsing with otherworldly light. Hazard Sense expanded outward, mapping dangers within a hundred-meter radius:
Sand whirlpools—vortices that pulled everything downward with relentless force
Heat mirages—pockets where air temperature exceeded human survivability
Dehydration zones—areas that extracted moisture from living tissue
Static discharge fields—where sand friction generated massive electrical potential
Dune slides—sections of unstable sand that could collapse without warning
Crystalline formations—patches where sand had been compressed into razor-sharp structures
Dimensional thin-spots—where barriers between dimensions weakened temporarily
Movement caught my attention—Sand Skimmers, serpentine creatures moving beneath the surface, creating V-shaped ripples. A pack of twelve approached from multiple directions. Behind them, something much larger disturbed the sand—a Dune Burrower, its massive form displacing enough sand to create a moving hill.
I spotted a crystalline formation thirty meters ahead—jagged spires of compressed sand that glittered dangerously.
"Bend," I commanded, moving the hazard directly into the path of the approaching Sand Skimmers.
MANA: 100 → 90
FRACTURE CHARGES: 0 → 1
The crystalline structure shifted instantaneously. Three Sand Skimmers collided with it before they could change course, their bodies impaling on razor-sharp edges. Dark fluid sprayed across the sand.
The remaining Skimmers altered course, circling to approach from different angles. The Dune Burrower continued its advance, seemingly undeterred.
A heat mirage pulsed fifteen meters to my right—a pocket of superheated air that shimmered visibly.
"Amplify," I called out, targeting the heat mirage. The hazard tripled in intensity, expanding from a small pocket to a roiling dome of air hot enough to sear flesh from bone.
HP: 100 → 90
FRACTURE CHARGES: 1 → 2
The combination of Amplify (Modify Impact) followed by Bend triggered the Compound Hazard combination effect. The heat mirage not only intensified but gained additional properties—increased radius, longer duration, and concentrated thermal gradient that created visible distortion waves.
Two more Skimmers crossed into the amplified heat zone and immediately began thrashing wildly as their outer membranes blistered and cracked. The display attracted the Dune Burrower's attention—the massive creature changed direction, heading directly toward the commotion.
"Emerge," I called out, teleporting directly to the dehydration zone.
Red veins pulsed briefly beneath my skin as the second Fracture Charge circulated through my system. A dehydration zone pulsed thirty meters ahead, directly blocking the most efficient path toward the Eye of the Storm.
HP: 90 → 80
FRACTURE CHARGES: 2 → 3
"Shift," I commanded, moving one meter to the side while gaining 0.5 seconds of invulnerability.
MANA: 90 → 80
FRACTURE CHARGES: 3 → 4
The combination of Emerge (Movement Impact) followed by Shift triggered the Hazard Escape combination effect. I instantly returned to my position from 3 seconds ago, before I had used Shift, yet I still gained the teleportation benefit of entering the hazard with Emerge and triggering my Dimensional Feed passive restoring my HP before Hazard Escape took effect.
HP: 80 → 100
My skin developed fracture-like cracks as the fourth charge activated, enhancing my Hazard Sense range to 500 meters and my Speed by 50%. The world slowed as I accelerated, allowing me to perceive the Skimmers' movements as if they were moving through syrup.
I surveyed the expanded detection range, noting dozens of new hazards now visible: whirling sand tornados, gravitational anomalies, and temporal distortion fields.
Seven Sand Skimmers changed tactics, converging simultaneously from different directions. Their approach kicked up clouds of sand that obscured my vision. The Dune Burrower was closing in from the opposite direction.
"Infusion," I commanded, infusing the properties of a nearby static discharge field into my next physical attack.
HP: 100 → 90
FRACTURE CHARGES: 4 → 5
"Rend," I called out, creating a sand whirlpool in the path of the approaching Burrower.
MANA: 80 → 70
FRACTURE CHARGES: 5 → 6
The combination of Infusion (Creation Impact) followed by Rend triggered the Hazard Cascade combination effect. The original sand whirlpool I created suddenly amplified, while simultaneously two other nearby hazards automatically reacted—a heat mirage negated completely and a crystalline formation inverted its properties, becoming a soft, dampening field.
Crimson energy crackled around my form as the sixth charge pushed the Matrix closer to its threshold. My hands sparked with stored static discharge from the Infusion effect as I charged toward the approaching Sand Skimmers.
I struck the first Skimmer with my electrically-infused fist. The creature convulsed violently as thousands of volts coursed through its system. The discharge didn't stop there—it chained to two nearby Skimmers, their bodies contorting as the current found the path of least resistance.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"Fuse," I commanded, consuming a nearby dehydration zone. The hazard dissolved as its energy flowed into my body, healing damage and reducing accumulated fatigue.
MANA: 70 → 60
FRACTURE CHARGES: 6 → 7
HP: 90 → 100
Reality fractured as the Matrix Implosion triggered, consuming all seven Fracture Charges. Through the dimensional tear poured something utterly incongruous with the desert environment—absolute zero cold.
FRACTURE CHARGES: 7 → 0
Temperature plummeted catastrophically within a thirty-meter radius. Sand flash-froze into glass-like structures. Air itself condensed into liquid, then solid phases in seconds. The normal physics of matter gave way as atoms lost nearly all kinetic energy.
Even with 90% reduction from Hazard Resilience, the cold hit like a physical impact. My lungs seized as I inhaled air rapidly approaching -273.15 degrees Celsius. Frost formed across my skin, blood vessels constricting painfully.
HP: 100 → 85
EXHAUSTION: 0 → 25
The pursuing Sand Skimmers froze solid in mid-movement, their bodies becoming brittle sculptures. The partially visible Dune Burrower suffered worse—different cooling rates between its outer shell and internal organs caused catastrophic fracturing, its massive body cracking into thousands of fragments.
The absolute zero bubble persisted for only seconds before collapsing, but the damage was done. The local environment had transformed entirely—a perfect circle of frozen desert surrounded me, crystalline and beautiful in its deadly stillness.
Heat began returning at the edges, creating a fog bank as temperature differentials collided. I needed to press forward before the predators regrouped.
"Shape," I commanded, transforming a nearby dimensional thin-spot into a personal weapon.
HP: 85 → 75
FRACTURE CHARGES: 0 → 1
The dimensional thin-spot condensed into a blade of pure dimensional energy in my hand, reality warping around its edge.
"Bend," I called out, relocating a gravity well directly in my path.
MANA: 60 → 50
FRACTURE CHARGES: 1 → 2
The combination of Shape (Integration Impact) followed by Bend triggered the Reality Anchor combination effect. A five-meter radius stabilized space formed around me where hazards and dimensional manipulation had no effect, yet the weapon I created remained. Within this bubble, physics operated normally, providing temporary respite from the rift's dangers.
New threats emerged from beyond the fog bank—Dust Wraiths, humanoid figures composed of swirling sand that moved with unnatural coordination. A dozen materialized along my projected path, their featureless faces turning in perfect unison to track my approach.
"Phase," I called out, becoming temporarily invisible as I charged toward the Dust Wraiths.
"Shift," I commanded, moving one meter to the side while gaining 0.5 seconds of invulnerability.
MANA: 50 → 40
FRACTURE CHARGES: 2 → 3
HP: 75 → 65
FRACTURE CHARGES: 3 → 4
The combination of Phase (Movement Impact) followed by Shift triggered the Reality Tunnel combination effect. My perception expanded, allowing me to see one second into the future—enough to witness the Wraiths' next movements before they made them.
My skin developed fracture-like cracks as the fourth charge activated, enhancing my Hazard Sense range to 500 meters and increasing my speed by 50%. Armed with my dimensional blade and future-sight, I swept through the Dust Wraiths. Perceiving their attacks a second before they occurred gave me perfect countering position.
I sliced through three Wraiths in quick succession, my dimensional blade separating their sandy forms into different phase states, preventing reformation. The remaining Wraiths shifted tactics, merging into a unified wave of animated sand.
"Rend," I commanded, creating another sand whirlpool to disrupt the merging Wraiths.
MANA: 40 → 30
FRACTURE CHARGES: 4 → 5
"Amplify," I called out, targeting a dimensional thin-spot near the approaching sand wave.
HP: 65 → 55
FRACTURE CHARGES: 5 → 6
The combination of Amplify (Modify Impact) followed by Rend triggered the Split Hazard combination effect. The dimensional thin-spot I targeted separated into its constituent components—a tear connecting to three different dimensions simultaneously opened, exposing the Dust Wraiths to conflicting physical laws from multiple realities. My Hazard Sense was boosted to 1000 meters and my Speed buff increased to an unreal 100%. It felt amazing.
Half of the merged sand wave collapsed immediately, unable to maintain cohesion while exposed to contradictory dimensional forces. The remainder struggled forward, losing mass with each meter gained.
Crimson energy haze surrounded me as the sixth charge pushed the Matrix closer to its threshold. The Eye of the Storm loomed ahead—a massive cyclone with a perfectly calm center, visible through the swirling wall of sand.
"Negate," I commanded, collapsing a large static discharge field that blocked my approach to the Eye.
HP: 55 → 45
FRACTURE CHARGES: 6 → 7
Reality fractured once more as the Matrix Implosion triggered, consuming all seven Fracture Charges. This time, the dimensional tear pulled through quantum decoherence—the fundamental quantum properties of matter within a thirty-meter radius began to unravel.
FRACTURE CHARGES: 7 → 0
Particles stopped behaving as discrete entities, instead existing as probability waves without fixed position or momentum. Solid objects became translucent, their atomic structure visible as clouds of potential rather than defined matter. The remaining Dust Wraiths lost cohesion completely, their constituent particles forgetting they were supposed to be unified entities.
Even with 90% hazard reduction, the decoherence effect hit me hard. My body partially phased between states, organs simultaneously existing in slightly different positions. The sensation was indescribable—not painful but profoundly wrong, as if reality itself had forgotten how to properly construct a human being.
HP: 45 → 30
EXHAUSTION: 25 → 50
The quantum decoherence bubble collapsed after several seconds, normal physics reasserting itself. My body snapped back into proper alignment, though the experience left me disoriented.
I staggered forward, the Eye of the Storm now just fifty meters distant. The dimensional blade in my hand flickered, its connection to its source weakening after the quantum disturbance.
"Infusion," I called out, infusing the properties of a nearby time dilation pocket into my next physical attack.
HP: 60 → 50
FRACTURE CHARGES: 0 → 1
"Fuse," I commanded, dissipating my dimensional weapon. The hazard dissolved as its energy flowed into my body, healing damage and restoring vitality.
MANA: 30 → 20
FRACTURE CHARGES: 1 → 2
HP: 30 → 60
The combination of Infusion (Creation Impact) followed by Fuse triggered the Compress Hazard combination effect. The time dilation properties I'd just infused compressed into a swirling orb of energy that hovered at my fingertips, ready to be launched.
I threw the compressed hazard at the swirling wall of the approaching Eye. Where it struck, the cyclone's rotation slowed dramatically, creating a temporary opening. I rushed forward, driving through the gap before it could close.
Inside, perfect stillness reigned—not a single grain of sand moved in the circular chamber at the storm's heart. At the center floated a crystalline orb that pulsed with dimensional energy, rotating slowly in defiance of gravity.
I reached out, my fingers brushing against the crystalline surface. It felt unnaturally smooth, somehow solid and liquid simultaneously. As contact was made, the orb pulsed once, then began to rotate more rapidly.
The entire Storm responded, its rotation reversing direction. The sand wall that had been spinning clockwise now turned counterclockwise, gradually slowing until it hung suspended in mid-air.
[RIFT CLEARED: DUNE OCEAN
SURVIVAL RATE: 100% (SOLO)
CONTRIBUTION: VOLT (100%)]
[LEVEL 1 → 2]
The extraction point materialized beside the orb, pulsing with welcoming energy. I stepped toward it, satisfied with the first field test of the REALITY MATRIX trait. More calibration would be needed, but the fundamentals were solid.
As reality shifted around me, returning me to the barren wasteland outside Lighthouse City, the rift dropped its rewards:
E-tier core × 1 = 999cr
Sand Crystal: 42 × 125cr = 5,250cr
Decoherence Fragment: 5 × 450cr = 2,250cr
Absolute Zero Sample: 3 × 500cr = 1,500cr
Dimensional Thin-Spot Extract: 7 × 200cr = 1,400cr
BASE TOTAL: 11,399cr
SOLO BONUS (×10): 113,990cr
I examined the readout on my wrist display:
Name: Volt F-tier, Level 2, REALITY MATRIX
Total Credits: 113,990cr
I was so back.
