Rather than fear, it was confusion that dominated Dexter, forcing him to obey the enigmatic voice. The emotion lingered in the depths of his spine, ready to take control once his mind sorted through the shattered pieces of his world view.

Bit by bit, the pieces formed as he stared at the fragmented planes of the barrier, where indistinct scenes flashed all around him. Was time accelerated?

He couldn't tell if the arrangements of the terrain outside were randomly generated, but it brought on a strange sense of déjà vu, reminding him of the map selections in video games. The stand by warning had also hinted as such by the term 'attributes.'

"Hello?"

For some reason, he expected a response. For the whisper to explain what the hell was going on. But silence was all he received in return. However, the barrier wasn't entirely silent. There were occasional sounds that entered in from the outside. Though, they were mostly muddled and indistinct.

"Hello!?" Dexter called out again. He felt a bit of claustrophobia and brought his phone out, but the cellular service was completely unresponsive.

After the first five minutes passed, Dexter's palms started to sweat. He wiped them on his shorts, sitting down in the center to control his building anxiety. Though, the act failed to help, agitating his sense of helplessness.

Standing back up, he began to pace back and forth and neared the edge of the barrier, when gut-wrenching screams erupted, only to be doused by sirens a moment later.

With his heart racing, Dexter jumped back, screaming alongside the unknown humans. The move edged him back closer to the center of the barrier, where the sounds from outside teetered off and became indistinct once again. The warning was clear. If he left the safety of the barrier now, he'd walk right into a disaster.

But apparently people had left the barrier, no doubt searching for their loved ones while the world burned. There were even courageous people, judging by the alarms he had heard. It seemed police and firefighters were deployed.

He pictured the national guard and FEMA mobilizing back home in America. Should he leave the barrier despite the danger? He had an urge to do something, and see what the hell was going on. Sitting still only added to his anxiety.

Hesitantly, Dexter returned to the edge of the barrier, and reached out. But when his hands came within an inch of the partition, the cries of terror returned with an extra force. He attempted to withstand the mental assault, but was ultimately unable to go any further.

"Dammit!"

Dexter fought with himself, held between two opposing forces. He was unwilling to walk into the storm, while at the same time he dreaded the unknown, and despised waiting like a captured animal. If only his bones weren't screaming for him to stay put.

He was about to throw all caution to the wind, when he damn near slapped himself for not asking the proper question. What if he couldn't return to the safety of the barrier? There was a certain amount of danger he would accept by leaving, but if he had to return for any reason, even if it was for a second, would that actually be possible?

Grabbing one of the fruits he bought, Dexter slowly stuck it through the shimmering barrier. A resistance made itself known, but it was incredibly slight, borderlining on non-existent. The re-entry was entirely different, however. There was a rejection that he suspected only allowed him to retrieve the fruit because he hadn't pushed the entire thing out.

The barrier rippled, popping back into place as Dexter pulled his arm back. In his hand lay a half withered apple, split between life and death. It appeared his first guess was correct. There was a fluctuation of space-time warping reality. Anyone who left the safety of the barrier would never return.

With his will to escape finally sealed, Dexter accepted that there was nothing to do but stand by as the robotic voice had said. A thought went out for his family, but the idea of helping them was simply impossible. He was already on the other side of the world before all hell broke loose. Whatever was to come, he would have to leave that task to his brothers, they were more physically capable anyway.

Alone with a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, Dexter removed his guitar and began to hum an old rhythm that soon flooded his veins. The song's title was unknown, it had died with his grandfather. But as usual, it calmed his nerves and he eventually lost himself in the bizarre reality. Until finally, with a single strum, the guitar stretched, yawning, eager to sing after years of disuse.

After applying a few adjustments to the strings, he continued to play, drawing more yawns as the cords resonated. The acoustics echoed off the barrier, building upon themselves like a burgeoning symphony. Like the purr of a cat whose tail flicked back and forth with delight. Never before had music felt so magical to Dexter, touching his soul for lack of a better word.

"I should have brought you out sooner, did you miss me?" he looked down at the old Hummingbird, rubbing at the blotch of whiskey that existed long before he was born.

The response from the acoustic guitar was loud and vibrant in the enclosed space, but it didn't come alone. It was accompanied by a blue screen that hovered directly in front of him.

[ Welcome, Dexter, to the 32nd quadrant of the Frontier. Home to souls on the path of rebirth. ]

The robotic whisper returned, reading the text through his mind. Impressions followed a second along. Images of warriors clad in their best LARPing gear fought to the death over land and resources. From ancient forests; home to sacred trees. To vast canyons where thousands bled for natural treasures birthed in a single oasis.

There were even distant realms; Dungeons, raided for Cores that promoted the growth of one's soul. Apparently his guess was correct; Earth had been co-opted into the framework of a game-like System, though it was only a small piece of a much larger whole. He was in an ancient proving ground, but what did it mean by souls on the path of rebirth?

A light flickered in front of him, and Dexter stepped back as a three-dimensional map formed where he was sitting. The image rotated, honing in on his location in the quadrant. The scale was simply impossible for him to grasp, as there were thousands of star clusters that became streams of bright light.

When the map stopped, the eight planets he was accustomed to were nowhere to be found. What stood in their place was a singular giant that held over a dozen moons in its orbit, along with a ring system that would put Saturn to shame.

[ Planet Earth has been upgraded, forged into a bastion of vital energy. ]

"Vital energy?"

Once more, understanding flowed through Dexter's mind. A scent like morning dew, and the sap of trees floated through his vision of a radiant blue energy ball. He immediately knew the energy was a form of fertilizer. A power source that resided in all life in the multiverse. This vital energy was an exact comparison to the energy known to humanity as mana. It shocked Dexter, further reshaping his world view.

The next image that flowed through his mind was a tear in space. It entered with a searing pain, and mirrored itself on the map before him. The more the tear grew, the more violent its energy became, affecting the surrounding wildlife. They developed alongside the tear, growing larger, wilder as they absorbed the radiation, until the tear snapped open and a wave of purple shadows poured out.

[ The Arashic Rifts reveal unstable paths through the Void. As a result, they are the first blight that humanity must overcome in their path towards ascension. ]

A cold breeze swept through the barrier as all the light inside winked out. Dexter found himself rubbing his arms for warmth, but it was the growls and haggard breath of creatures swimming in the dark that made him panic. The creatures, whatever they were, held a voracious hunger, and it wasn't a surprise of what they hungered for.

The sensation was entirely alien to him. It left goosebumps behind once the light returned to the barrier. Without meaning to, Dexter's anger rose—something he usually had firm control over. His fist balled, ready to strike, but there was no outlet to release his frustration.

Clamping his jaw, Dexter swallowed his emotions. He had felt like a piñata since entering the barrier, and the instability was only pissing him off more.

Just an hour ago, Earth floated through space without a care in the world. Ignorance was bliss. Now it had otherworldly creatures seeking to devour it. But he soon realized the planet wasn't the only thing in danger, and he began to feel jaws closing in around his neck as the memory of the creatures hidden in the voids' shadow returned.

A suffocating fear quickly drowned his anger, and Dexter felt naked without any protection, when something in him broke. Deep down in his DNA, a remnant before ancient hominids became apex predators, screamed. He was prey, and the creatures in the beyond were death. There was no escape, no protection from their insatiable hunger.

"Why..." he whispered. "Why bring us into this?"

Rather than answering his question, a prompt appeared.

[ Attributes finalized. 4 Attunements available, do you wish to proceed? ]