The weight of his memories settled on Axton like a cloak, heavy and unshakable. His mind wandered back, not just to the battle, but to the quieter moments before everything fell apart. Before he became something… different.
---
The Young Soldier
Axton had been a child of the Rift long before he had understood what that truly meant. Born with an innate connection to the dimensional rifts that began to plague his world, he had been marked by destiny from the start. His mother, a brilliant scientist, had noticed it first. While other children were drawn to the chaos of the world around them, Axton had always been drawn to the mysterious energy that flowed through the rifts, a force that was both terrifying and alluring.
The first time he'd seen the rift's power up close had been when he was just ten years old. He'd been playing in the fields near his home when the ground trembled and cracked, and before his eyes, the air itself seemed to tear open. From the tear emerged strange, twisting creatures—beings from a world unknown, their forms flickering in and out of existence. The creatures had attacked without mercy, their eyes burning with malice.
His mother had been the one to save him that day, rushing out from their home with strange, arcane technology, a weapon capable of closing small rifts. He remembered the calm way she worked, the urgency in her voice as she directed him to run, to get to safety. But Axton hadn't run. Instead, he stayed and watched, fascinated by the way his mother wielded the power of the Rift as if it were a tool, a part of her very soul.
That day, the creatures had been driven back, but a part of Axton had always known: This wasn't the end. It was only the beginning. The rifts were spreading, and no one knew how to stop them. Not even the scholars, not even his mother.
---
The Aether Guard and the Burden of Power
By the time Axton was sixteen, he had joined the Aether Guard, following in his father's footsteps. His father, Commander Kael, was a war-hardened leader, and he had recognized the potential in Axton from the start. But it was never about pride. It was about survival. The rifts had started to tear apart Ivoris piece by piece, and the Aether Guard was all that stood between the remnants of humanity and total destruction.
Axton rose quickly through the ranks, not just because of his skills, but because of the strange, powerful connection he had with the Rift. Unlike his fellow soldiers, he could feel the rifts—he could sense them, understand them on an almost instinctual level. This made him invaluable to the Guard, but it also set him apart, made him a mystery.
His training wasn't just about combat. It was about understanding the forces of the Rift and learning to control them. They taught him to harness the power within him, to shape it, to use it to seal rifts or destroy Riftborn creatures. But no one could fully explain where this power came from or why it was in him. Axton never asked too many questions. The answers didn't matter. What mattered was that the world was falling apart, and he was one of the few who could stop it.
But as he rose through the ranks, something else began to gnaw at him: his own sense of self. He wasn't like the others. The power inside him wasn't something that could be easily controlled, and every time he used it, it felt like he was drifting further from who he had been. The connection to the Rift was becoming a part of him, and yet he feared what that would mean for his future.
---
The Final Battle
The fall of Ivoris had been inevitable. No matter how hard Axton fought, no matter how much he gave of himself, the rifts continued to spread. His father had known this. There were whispers among the commanders that the Rift wasn't just a natural phenomenon—it was a deliberate act, a force sent to destroy everything. But no one had been able to stop it.
Then, the Tear-Wing appeared.
The Tear-Wing was a creature like no other, a massive, winged entity born from the heart of the Rift itself. When it descended upon Ivoris, the city's defenses crumbled in an instant. The creatures of the Rift poured into the city, and for the first time, Axton realized that the Aether Guard's efforts had been in vain. The war against the Riftborn wasn't something that could be won by strength alone.
In the final hours, his mother had come to him, her face pale and drawn. "Axton," she had said, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and resolve. "You have the power to stop this. You can go into the Rift, find the source of the disturbance, and seal it. You're the only one who can do this. But you must leave the city. If you don't, it will consume us all."
Axton had hesitated. He didn't want to leave. He didn't want to abandon his people. But his mother's words weighed heavily on him, and in the end, he knew that the Rift was beyond anyone's control. It was something else. Something that had no place in their world.
And so, with a heavy heart, he'd gone.
He ventured into the heart of the Rift, using every ounce of his power to tear through the fabric of reality itself. His world, his people, had given him a chance. He wasn't going to let them down.
---
The Moment of Transformation
When Axton had entered the Rift, the world as he knew it had ceased to exist. He had been consumed by the rift's energy, his body twisted and remade by the strange forces at play. He had fought the Tear-Wing to the bitter end, channeling the Rift's own power against it, but the victory had come at a cost. The Rift had taken him, pulled him into a new world—a world where the Rift was not yet known, but where its echoes would soon be felt.
---
Axton took a deep breath, feeling the cold night air stir around him. The memories of Ivoris, of his parents, of the world he had lost, still haunted him. But in that moment, he realized something profound: the world he had fought to save might be gone, but his fight was not over.
He wasn't just fighting for himself anymore. He was fighting for everyone who had ever lived in a world on the brink of destruction. For all the worlds yet to be consumed by the Rift.
As he looked toward the swirling maelstrom above, he made a vow.
I will stop it. No matter the cost.
---
[Quest Update: Heart of the Rift – Confront the Dimensional Sovereign]
Objective: Destroy the Dimensional Sovereign and End the Rift Crisis
Time Limit: 24 Hours
Reward: Dimensional Sovereign's Essence | New Class Evolution Opportunity
---
The past was behind him now, but its echoes would always shape his future. With renewed purpose, Axton turned to face the heart of the Rift, his team at his side, ready for the battle that would decide not just the fate of this world, but every world touched by the Rift.