Oliver stood on the rooftop of Cascara’s central citadel, staring at the horizon as warning sirens blared across the Traveler capital and every connected city. The sky above him looked different. It shimmered with streaks of bright red and pale blue, like torn ribbons of light dancing through the clouds. The wind carried a strange pressure, as if the air itself held its breath.Behind him, the citadel’s communication tower flickered repeatedly. Screens that once showed clear signals now glitched between static and distorted symbols.Iris climbed up the stairs and joined him. Sweat dampened her hair from hours of fighting and running between districts. “Oliver,” she said softly, “the Guild needs you downstairs. New portals are opening everywhere.”Oliver kept staring at the sky. He felt something deep in his bones, a vibration that matched the pulses in his System interface. “It is happening,” he whispered. “The next wave.”A loud crack echoed through the clouds, like ice breaking on

Night fell over the Arcanum Desert like a curtain of ink. The dunes glimmered faintly under a silver moon, but the sky above them churned with something unnatural. Small Rifts flickered across the horizon. They twisted open and shut like blinking eyes, releasing bursts of pale fire that died before touching the sand.Travelers across the desert halted their transports and stared upward. Something in the air tasted wrong. Even the wind moved strangely, carrying a low hum that rattled bones.Oliver stood at the front of his strike unit, boots sinking slightly into the glassy sand. The heat still radiated from earlier Rift surges, making the ground shimmer. Iris stood beside him, staff in hand, sweat dripping down her forehead. Billy checked the charge on his gauntlets, trying to hide the tremor in his fingers.Behind them, dozens of Traveler squads formed a wide arc facing the largest Rift. The portal spun like a black sun surrounded by blue lightning. Every second, it grew wider. T

Morning arrived weakly over the ruined plaza of Meridian. The once bright city that had stood proud against the Rift for decades now felt like it had been hollowed out. Cracked tiles covered the ground. Barrier pylons lay shattered, their crystals flickering with dying light. Smoke drifted into the sky like thin black strings being pulled by invisible hands.Oliver stood in the plaza with his unit. Their armor was patched with cloth. Their faces carried exhaustion that no amount of sleep could erase. The world felt quieter than it should have been. Even the survivors walking through the streets moved with slow, careful steps as if afraid the ground might open beneath them at any moment.The Traveler Guild had called for a public announcement at sunrise. For now, a few hundred people gathered in the damaged plaza, while thousands more watched through projection screens across the city. The air buzzed softly with the drones broadcasting the scene.Iris leaned against a broken pillar,

The earthquake struck just before sunrise. It started as a faint vibration under Oliver’s bed, like someone tapping the floor from beneath the world. Then it grew, rising into a violent tremor that shook the academy tower from its top floor to its deepest vaults. Windows rattled. Bedframes groaned. Books fell in heavy thumps across the dorm halls.Oliver shot upright, breathing hard. Another tremor rolled through the room, stronger than the first. The air hummed with static. His System flashed into view without being summoned. The text glowed blood-red.[Global Alert: Spatial equilibrium breach detected][Source: North Meridian Faultline][Rifts emerging across all regions]Oliver’s eyes widened. “Iris,” he whispered.He grabbed his coat, hooked on his boots, and ran out the door. Down the hall, Iris burst from her room at the same moment. Her hair was tangled, her breath shaky, but her eyes were sharp. “The ground won’t stop shaking,” she said. “What’s happening?”“The System thi

The sun hung low over Meridian’s ruins, casting long shadows across the broken plaza. Smoke drifted from shattered towers, and the wind carried the faint metallic scent of Rift energy. Oliver stood at the edge of the crater left by the Envoy’s last attack, his eyes fixed on the swirling air above it. Somewhere beneath this place, hidden in layers of collapsed stone and charred earth, a Rift fragment still pulsed. The Traveler Guild wanted it.The Guild believed the fragment might reveal something about the Envoy’s weakness. It was Oliver’s task to retrieve it.His team assembled at dawn. Iris stood by his side, adjusting her gauntlets. Billy arrived last with a tired grin, though his eyes carried their usual shadows.Commander Rhoen briefed them quickly. “We will extract the fragment using a specialized containment seal,” he said. “Expect distortions and unpredictable terrain. Rift fragments tend to reshape their surroundings.”Oliver nodded, already sensing the faint hum of instabi