CHAPTER 14 — Gravity Lv. 3

  The deeper Aiden moved into the Rift interior, the stranger everything became.

  The floating platforms grew larger, more twisted, as if pieces of the city had been ripped apart and reassembled by a blind god. Chunks of buildings hovered at impossible angles. Cars drifted lazily through the void like debris in a slow?motion explosion. The sky above him pulsed with violet lightning that spiraled inward toward a distant point he couldn’t see.

  The pull inside his chest grew stronger with every step.

  Gravity throbbed behind his ribs—steady, heavy, insistent.

  Pressure pulsed beside it—sharp, volatile.

  Heat simmered beneath his skin—alive, restless.

  Aiden wiped sweat from his brow and stepped onto another floating slab. It drifted slightly under his weight, but he stabilized himself with a quick shift—10% heavier.

  He scanned the void.

  Forceborn crawled across the platforms ahead—dozens of them. Some were small and twisted. Others were larger, more developed. All of them were drawn toward the same point deeper in the Rift.

  Aiden tightened his grip on the rebar.

  “Alright,” he muttered. “Round two.”

  He sprinted forward—lighter—leaping across a gap to the next platform. A Primal lunged from behind a chunk of concrete. Aiden ducked under its swipe, slammed the rebar into its ribs, and finished it with a downward strike.

  A Core rose.

  He absorbed it.

  [ENDURANCE FORCE — Level 4]

  Warmth spread through his limbs, steadying his breathing.

  Another Forceborn screeched from above. Aiden dodged its dive, countered with a Pressure burst, and cracked its skull with a Gravity?boosted strike.

  Another Core.

  [VITALITY FORCE — Level 4]

  Aiden exhaled.

  His body felt stronger now—denser, tougher, more resilient. But the Rift wasn’t slowing down. The pull inside him intensified, dragging him forward like a tide.

  He stepped onto a larger platform—an entire section of street suspended in the void. Streetlights flickered weakly. A crushed sedan floated a few feet above the ground, spinning slowly.

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  Aiden froze.

  Dozens of Forceborn crawled across the platform.

  Not Primals.

  Not Hybrids.

  Something in between.

  Their bodies were larger, their movements sharper, their eyes glowing with unstable energy. They turned toward him in unison, snarling.

  Aiden swallowed.

  “…okay. That’s new.”

  The first creature lunged.

  Aiden dodged left—lighter—and slammed the rebar into its jaw. The blow staggered it, but didn’t kill it. Another creature leapt from behind. Aiden dropped his weight—heavier—and braced, letting the creature’s momentum slam into him harmlessly.

  He countered with a Pressure burst to its chest.

  The shockwave knocked it backward.

  But more were coming.

  Five.

  Ten.

  Fifteen.

  Aiden backed up slowly, heart pounding.

  He couldn’t fight them one by one.

  He couldn’t dodge them all.

  He couldn’t tank their hits forever.

  He needed something bigger.

  He needed Gravity.

  Aiden planted his feet.

  He reached inward—toward the weight behind his ribs. It pulsed in response, heavy and dense, like a star collapsing inward. He pushed it outward—slowly, carefully—imagining the weight spreading beyond his body.

  The air around him warped.

  Debris trembled.

  The floating sedan dipped slightly.

  Aiden’s breath caught.

  “…I can push it out.”

  He focused harder.

  The weight expanded—five feet, ten feet, twenty—like an invisible sphere growing around him. The Forceborn slowed as they entered the field, their movements sluggish, their limbs heavy.

  Aiden clenched his jaw.

  “More.”

  He pushed again.

  The weight surged outward—thirty feet, forty—warping the air, bending the floating debris, dragging everything downward.

  A notification flickered at the edge of his vision.

  [GRAVITY FORCE — Proficiency Increased]

  Aiden didn’t stop.

  He pushed harder.

  The weight expanded again—fifty feet, sixty—crushing the air, bending the platform, dragging the Forceborn to their knees.

  Another notification flickered.

  [GRAVITY FORCE — Level Up]

  [Gravity — Level 3]

  Aiden gasped.

  The weight inside him changed—sharper, denser, more precise. He could feel it in his fingertips, in his breath, in the way the ground responded to him.

  He raised his hand.

  The air warped around his palm.

  He pointed at the nearest cluster of Forceborn.

  “Fall.”

  He pushed.

  Gravity surged outward in a focused pulse—like a collapsing star exploding in reverse. The Forceborn screamed as they were slammed into the platform, their bodies crushed under the sudden weight.

  Bones cracked.

  Stone skin shattered.

  The platform itself buckled.

  Aiden staggered, nearly collapsing.

  The pulse had taken more out of him than he expected.

  But it worked.

  The entire cluster of Forceborn lay motionless, crushed into the stone.

  Cores rose—dozens of them—floating upward like glowing embers.

  Aiden stared, chest heaving.

  “…holy shit.”

  He absorbed them all.

  [STRENGTH FORCE — Level 6]

  [AGILITY FORCE — Level 4]

  [ENDURANCE FORCE — Level 5]

  [VITALITY FORCE — Level 5]

  Warmth surged through his body, reinforcing his muscles, sharpening his reflexes, strengthening his bones. His entire body felt like it had been reforged.

  But the Rift wasn’t done.

  A deep rumble echoed through the void.

  Aiden looked up.

  The sky twisted violently, arcs of lightning spiraling inward toward a single point deeper in the Rift. The pull inside his chest intensified—so strong it felt like his ribs were being dragged forward.

  Aiden swallowed hard.

  “…you’re close.”

  He tightened his grip on the rebar.

  He wasn’t done grinding.

  He wasn’t done growing.

  He wasn’t done fighting.

  He stepped toward the swirling center of the Rift interior.

  “Show me what’s next.”