Right from the moment humans first walked the path of evolution through the Vortex System — the silent architect of transformation — and began falling upward through the otherworldly ascent of neural unlock and unbounding, they had been remade, and empowered to resist the unnatural dominion of the vortexes by conquering each vortex and closing them. Unfortunately, not all humans who entered the vortexes and unbound were able to return to the real world. Only a few did. Humanity's rising hope crumbled once more when those first few survivors emerged from the vortexes, each claiming to have been transported into a different world, with no contact between them. Once again, fear and paranoia consumed the rest of humankind, as they realized that the new powers gained through the Vortex System might still be insufficient to confront the vortexes, or even to keep the human race safe and enduring.
After cycles of intensive research conducted by the Sanctuary of Eve in collaboration with their subordinate, the Prometheus Division, it was discovered that those who had reportedly 'vanished' within the vortexes were not truly dead. They were later found to be trapped within the vortexes. However, they were not human any longer. Their minds and bodies had been corrupted by the vortex energies during their first synchronization with the Vortex System in an attempt to initiate their first unbounding process.
According to Prometheus, genetic qualification played a crucial role in the first stage of unbounding, Stage 1. Certain individuals experienced neural evolution that fractured midway. Some were trapped between states of flesh, energy, and space-time distortion. Some were totally rebuilt and restructured into monsters and beasts, while some retained their humanoid shapes, but bestial in nature. These altered beings, later known as Riftborns, underwent an evolution similar to unbounding, which was similarly termed "falling downwards".
The System classified the Riftborns into hierarchical Classes, ranging from Class I to Class X, each Class possessing two distinct Forms — Vile and Hazard. They were incapable of ascending beyond their assigned Class, forever bound within the vortex realms as anomalies of existence. Those who were totally transformed and more bestial and frenzied were termed Vile Riftborns. Those of the humanoid shapes were termed Hazard Riftborns. They seemed to be of more ordered forms, though their bestiality were no different from the Vile Forms. Unlike Viles, they could control resonances. Those of the flesh, energy and space-time distortions were simply theorized and never reportedly encountered by any Unbound. This made them an addition to one of mysterious entities from the vortexes. They were theorized to be extremely dangerous and found in higher sequence vortexes, perhaps they were retained for Class X Hazard Riftborns. Vile Riftborns were often encountered in groups, typically led by either a higher-Class Vile Riftborn or a Hazard of the same Class.
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CLANG!
The Resonant Materion dodged toward a black jagged cliff wall as the world howled like a living wound. Fragments of distorted white light clashed around him, reflecting off the grey metallic veins crawling beneath his skin. Claws and swirls rang in the air, as if singing its praise. It was a daunting battle, and yet a chillingly beautiful sight to behold this carnage amidst a monochromatic world with patches of red from pools of crimson blood.
'What a nice place to call home...'
Suddenly, the Riftborn before him leaped back a little... and began to bulge its body into bigger form. Its claws began to turn crystalline, the crystal spreading across the rest of its body like a new layer of crystal skin or armor. It was getting stronger. Its desperateness to tear its opponent apart was getting stronger, too. He could feel the aura build up around it.
But then, the System triggered.
At once, the world seemed to still, and then a cold, mechanical hum echoed through the hollowness of his skull. In his consciousness. Hanging in his consciousness before him, symbols cascaded as rows of radiant comprehensive text unfurled before his perception, each line branded into the neural horizon of his mind.
The Vortex System spoke indifferently:
[Riftborn Analysis:
Class: III
Form: Hazard
Efficiency: 47%
Threat Index: Moderate
VP Gain: 21 to 23 VP(×1.5 ×1.2). ]
The System had automatically triggered its interface.
Generally, Class III Riftborns had a neural efficiency between 31 and 50%. Viles ranged from 31 to 40%, while Hazards ranged from 41 to 50%. The higher their efficiency became, the higher their Class, which meant the stronger, more intelligent, difficult and dangerous they were. Additionally, Viles could not evolve beyond their Form, because they were originally restructured to what they currently were, and so the System subjected them to the irreversible profane state of falling downwards.
However without hesitation, the transformed Hazard lunged forward, its movement this time faster and more composed. It was as if the atmosphere around was paving way as it glided gracefully through the air.