Thousands of kilometres away from the New Facility was the Vortex Frontier, the constantly shifting expanse of countless abominable vortexes of various types, threat levels and danger.
In one of these vortexes, a sequence II vortex, was a different world of a decayed ashen field. The field stretched out in ruin, littered with pools of crimson blood and mounds of monster flesh. The world though, was monochromatic in colour, with only red being the only third color, thus creating an eerily beautiful environment. The air shimmered faintly with heat, thin curls of steam rising from the pools of onyx blood. Overhead, a bleak sky pressed low heavy with gray clouds that looked as if they had never parted for the sun. In the distance, jagged mountains speared the heavens, their peaks lost in the haze. Everywhere else, the air was permeated with the poignant stench of monster blood.
Amidst the whole carnage was a human figure – no, two human figures. The other seemed to move at a faster pace, desperate to tear its opponent apart. The two figures were engaged in a battle of bloodshed and violence - to the death of course, because the environment gave the impression. The clangor of steel rang in the air as claws clashed against... what seemed like a metal... or sword, but too crude to be a sword or even a weapon. It was as if it was reshaped from one form to another. The human figure with claws was a Riftborn, bestial in nature, and moving with the unpredictability of a vile monster, desperate for it's opponent to die as fast and quick as possible. But, it's opponent was too swift, experienced and manipulative to take down. He was countering and clashing with calculated strikes, his graceful movements were made like they were programmed for the right attack. However, the monster seemed not to be at a disadvantage. It's vileness and bestiality was its saving grace.
Unbounds, as one may know them, fall upward along the evolution path of neural unlock, from the natural and mundane Dormant Stage(Stage 0) to the surreal Transcendence Stage(Stage 4). However, each and every Unbound across the different Stages vary in their transformation, based on the Vortex System distributions. These variations, were recognised by Prometheus as Resonance Archetypes.
There were five Resonant Archetypes, which were distributed among Unbounds and currently recognized in the New Facility. The Aether-types could manipulate perception, gravity and also compress light into physical form. They could change the pull of gravity into push, or even zero it out, thus making them levitate into the air at any height. This, however, was limited based on Stage. Though energy consuming, they could also compress light into very dense shapes of matter. The Chrono-types could influence the flow of time within limited segments of space. They could make a person move slowly in time, while another person was locked in a repeated loop, both at a time. The Psychon-types could expand consciousness into localized projections, living things or not. They could see, feel, hear or even fight through objects or humans by expanding their consciousness, as long as the physical entity was not of a higher Stage. As they progress further on evolution, their projections gets more versatile. The Eidolon-types could alter emotional fields and energy perception. At the basic level, they could change the state of perception of living beings around them. They could disrupt a person's neural emotional signals, thus making a happy man suddenly feel sad, or even fear. This could further even make them manipulate opponents into killing themselves... or eerily so, whatever they will them to. This was also limited based on the stage level of the manipulated.
Lastly, the Materion-types which were vastly useful in so many ways, could create kinetic distortions, affecting matter density. That is, they could transform a solid into a stronger solid, as hard as metal. This also applied to other states of matter. However at the higher Stages, Materion-types could change the state of matter, thus shifting atomic cohesion without heat. For instance, they could shift a paper, if that still existed, into a lethal weapon. They could even shift mercury liquid into a flawless blade, but made of mercury. They were one of the most useful archetype users coveted by many Unbounds, and they were thus preferable when it came to assigning them on missions. These archetypes were not chosen by any human of their choice, but were instead gifted to them by the Vortex System after reaching a certain Stage of neural unlock.
Back in the decayed field, an Unbound was engaged in a clash with a Riftborn. The environment around the point of impact would momentarily upturn, dim and brighten. The Unbound was a Materion-type of Stage 3 — he was a Resonant Materion-type Unbound. The material he was currently using to strike at the Riftborn was a part of the bones of one of the dead Riftborns he littering the field. He had simply shifted the bone's density into a metallic hardness and reforming it into a crude shape of a sword. That was what he had been using to counter the Riftborn for minutes, or sequences. The Riftborn's claws, however, seemed not to be stronger than the crude sword and so the duo were currently at a stalemate. The Riftborn before him though, was a stronger one, stronger than the mutilated ones littering the vast field around and of course slayed by him. This one took up a humanoid form, which strictly confirmed one thing – it was a Hazard Riftborn. Hazard Riftborns were the intelligent species of all Class Riftborns, and were thus more dangerous compared to the Vile Forms.
Being a Stage 3 Unbound, his consciousness could be naturally established with the environment, thus his perception reaching a vast area of the field, seeing and feeling everything within that area. At this Stage, his archetype served as his major identity which rewrites the rules of Stage 2 or Expanded Unbounds.
CLANG!
The two figures kept lobbying, squatting, lunging, parrying and dodging strikes as they continued in the violent clash, clangor of steel and hard matter ringing in the air.
Moments later, the Riftborn leaped backward a dozen meters... and began bulging bigger.
It was getting stronger, and revealing its trait.
Then the System activated in the Resonant's mind.