Echoes in the Rift

Rain still clung to every surface when Wei Lingxu finally stopped running. He had darted through back alleys and climbed half-collapsed scaffolding, guided only by the glow of neon and the lingering warmth of the Void Core in his palm. Now, perched atop a rusted water tower, he let out a single, shuddering breath. Below him, Jiangbei's underbelly pulsed with life: street vendors pulling tarps over steaming woks, data-runners darting between hovering cruisers, and ragged urchins scavenging discarded tech.

Wei pressed his hand to the fractured orb, recalling the surge of void-ember energy that saved his life. His shoulder throbbed where the shrapnel had embedded—and then vanished—yet a deeper ache lingered in his bones. The Matrix had healed him, but at what cost? He forced that question aside. Right now, survival came first.

A soft chime sounded in his mind:

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[OMNI PROVIDENCE MATRIX]

Tier 1: Fractured Ember [Unlocked]

Tier 2: Echoing Rift [Available]

[Experience: 3,450 / 5,000]

[ Press continue to Activate Echoing Rift ]

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Fractured Ember had let him channel void-fire, but the Matrix hinted at deeper powers-ways to slip through matter, bend sound, perhaps even rewrite small truths. He glanced over the city lights, weighed his options. If he activated Echoing Rift now, he'd gain mobility and a fighting chance against triads or corporate hunters. Yet every unlocked tier demanded vitality and willpower. He couldn't afford recklessness.

With a steadying breath, Wei pressed the phantom "Enter" key floating before him. A cascade of cyan glyphs danced across his vision, then vanished in a burst of silent thunder. His senses sharpened. The distant hum of refrigeration units, the drip of water from broken pipes, even the muffled heartbeat of a stray cat in the alley below all rang clear in his ears.

Tentative at first, Wei reached out with his senses, focusing on the steel railing beside him. Soundwaves pulsed beneath his fingertips, and in a blink, he stepped through the metal as if it were air. On the other side, he landed barefoot on a wooden ledge, heart pounding not from exertion, but exhilaration.

A grin cracked across his rain-streaked face. "Echoing Rift… you're real." He tested again, this time phasing through a half-submerged rooftop vent and reappearing behind a flickering holographic sign. The cityscape twisted around him in kaleidoscopic shifts, and Wei felt a thrill of godlike power.

He'd need this. Already, word of his void-ember attack would spread through Jiangbei's criminal networks. Triads and cyber-mercs would scour every hideout. With Echoing Rift, he could dodge surveillance drones and ambushes… but only if he mastered the cooldowns, and only if the Matrix allowed.

Beneath his boots, the water tower groaned. Wei climbed down the ladder faster than any trained climber could. By the time he touched the wet pavement, the city had transformed into a labyrinth of threats and opportunities. He ducked into a shuttered teahouse, slipped behind crates of overturned porcelain teapots, and let his newly heightened hearing guide him past a pair of corporate agents. Their footsteps echoed like thunderclaps, loud, deliberate, deadly. Using his Rift ability, he phased out of sight just as they passed, conversations muted but clear: "He killed Lee Kang… moving to grid-block 7 next."

Grid-block 7 housed the Shattered Lotus Sect, a minor cultivation sect known for ruthless soul-snatchers. Wei glared at the stone tile imprint on the teahouse floor a lotus in mid-bloom. That sect had ties to the Devourers themselves, or so rumor said. If they believed he possessed the Void Core, they'd send assassins armed with sect-forged soul blades.

He needed allies, or at least sanctuary. His thoughts drifted to Old Gu, the scavenger who had once shown him how to jury-rig broken cyberlimbs for credits. Gu's underground workshop lay in Grid-block 3 a warren of flickering holoscreens and half-assembled exoskeletons. If anyone could keep secrets and rebuild bodies, it was him.

Wei slipped into the subterranean passage that connected teahouses to markets, skirting under neon-lit stairwells. With every step, the Matrix's voice whispered in his mind, patient and precise:

"Echoing Rift will rest for 60 seconds after each use. Fractured Ember recharge time: 30 seconds. Vitality at 80% capacity. Willpower at 70%. Continue cultivation or seek augmentation?"

Cultivation or augmentation. Wei frowned at the choice. Side quests—hunting tech to boost his physical stats—would slow his climb up the Path of Void. But without extra vitality, the next tier could kill him. He diverted into a back alley lined with rusted chrome containers; one sported Gu's faded red insignia. He pounded on the hatch.

The door creaked open to reveal Old Gu's one-eyed stare. "Wei? By the stars… what happened to you?" The scavenger's eyes darted to the glowing orb at Wei's hip. "Mind telling an old man what that is?"

Wei hesitated. Trust was scarce these days. But he needed Gu and perhaps Gu needed him. "No time for details. I need supplies and a safe room. Tonight."

Gu studied him, then stepped aside. "Follow me. And kid, try not to blow the place up."

Inside, the workshop was chaos incarnate: power conduits, broken servos, and electronic guts strewn like confetti. Yet in the center, a makeshift shrine to robotics stood scrap metal arranged into a praying figure. Wei recognized the haunting parallel between technology and his own burgeoning powers.

As Gu set to work scavenging medical bio gel and custom battery arrays, Wei closed his eyes and let the Matrix's soft voice soothe his frayed nerves. Tomorrow, he would venture beyond Jiangbei's limits-seek the legendary whisperers who could teach him to bind his soul to deeper void energies. But for now, he would rest, learn, and prepare. He had unlocked Echoing Rift, but the Path of Void stretched on, each tier more dangerous than the last.

In that cramped workshop, with the scent of solder and rain in the air, Wei Lingxu felt something he hadn't in years: cautious hope. The void had chosen him, and he would repay that choice with every ounce of blood and will he possessed. Because the Devourers were coming and when they arrived, the Infinite Void would bow to no one but its sovereign.