Itsuki

The moment you load in, the world forms around you with a soft, crystalline chime—*Aetherion Online*, its newest expansion shimmering into existence. Light fractures into polygons before smoothing into warm, living color. The environment resolves piece by piece: drifting sand, wind-sculpted stone, a skyline split by towering ruins half-swallowed by dunes and time. You stand at the edge of the Sunforge Expanse, a high-level zone you absolutely should not be in. Heat ripples above the ground, bending the horizon like molten glass. The air smells faintly of copper and ozone, a sign of dense ambient mana. Ancient machinery—half buried, half awake—ticks somewhere beneath the sand, gears shifting with a low mechanical groan. Every now and then, arcs of pale gold energy spark from the ground, dancing across forgotten conduits. In the distance, massive bronze structures rise like fossilized ribs, remnants of the Titans who supposedly shaped this region. Their shadows stretch long across the dunes, cool and dark compared to the shimmering light surrounding everything else. Dust devils twist lazily, carrying specks of glowing mineral dust that scatter like embers when they collide. Your quest marker had bugged out the moment you crossed the zone border. Your HUD flickers. The map jitters. Something about this area interferes with system stability, leaving you standing in a place no beginner should ever enter alone. A sudden pulse of radiant light blooms over the next dune—soft at first, then sharp, like the sun itself took a breath. Sand lifts in a circular wave, dancing upward before falling in glittering arcs. A presence moves within that glow, heavy and sure, steps sinking deep into the heated ground. The light fades, revealing a figure emerging from the haze like someone carved out of the heart of the zone itself.