My Shard Bearer System - Elias's Legacy
Chapter 101: A reset

Chapter 101: A reset

Elias landed, his legs burning from exertion. "Okay," he exhaled. "That one sucked."

Dot’s twirled beside him. "Only ten more to go!" she chirped.

Elias shot her a glare. "Not helping."

Obstacle 3: The Gravity Shift Zone

Before he could even take a full breath, the floor beneath him disappeared.

Elias’s stomach lurched.

"What the—?!"

He was falling.

Hard.

The air ripped past him, his limbs flailing as he plummeted into darkness.

A mechanical chime rang out.

Obstacle 3: The Gravity Shift Zone

Spatial orientation will be adjusted every 10 secondsMaintain awareness of shifting gravity fieldsFalling = Death

Maintain awareness?! Elias thought, panic creeping in. How the hell am I supposed to—

His body jerked sideways mid-fall.

The entire room rotated.

Gravity snapped sideways, and suddenly he was no longer falling but being launched horizontally.

"Oh, this is bullshit—!"

His shoulder slammed into a floating platform.

He barely managed to grab the edge before he flipped upside down, his legs dangling toward the ceiling.

No. Not the ceiling.

The floor.

Gravity had flipped again.

"Elias!" Dot’s shouted. "Your balance! Look down!"

He turned his head—and instantly regretted it.

Below (or above?) him, a massive pit of rotating metal blades churned with ruthless precision.

"Oh, come on!" Elias groaned.

Another chime.

The gravity reset.

His body flipped sideways, sending him rolling off the platform.

He twisted, grabbing onto a floating bar just in time.

New platforms materialized ahead—some upside-down, some sideways, some shifting every few seconds.

The entire space was unstable.

No pattern. No rhythm. Pure chaos.

He had to move before gravity reset again.

Pushing off the floating bar, he jumped to the nearest platform, but mid-air—the gravity inverted again.

Now, he was falling sideways.

"Nope, nope, nope—!"

He reached out, barely snagging another platform as his feet dangled over the void.

Dot’s hovered beside him, looking just as rattled. "You better figure this out fast—I don’t wanna know what happens if you mess up here!"

"Gee, thanks!" Elias grunted, pulling himself up.

The exit glowed far ahead—a small circular platform at the center of the shifting space.

All he had to do was get there without dying.

Easy, right?

Chime.

Gravity shifted again.

Elias jumped—and the entire course flipped.

He landed, skidding on an upside-down platform, then immediately sprang toward the next ledge before it could disappear.

His movements were split-second reactions.

Leap. Twist. Land. Jump again.

Every time he thought he understood the flow—it changed.

His brain felt scrambled.

But finally, the exit platform was within reach.

One last jump.

He launched forward, twisting mid-air as gravity snapped one last time.

His feet hit the platform—just as the entire space reoriented itself.

A final ding rang out.

Obstacle 3 Cleared.

Time: 04:12.

Elias collapsed onto his back, chest heaving.

Dot’s hovered over him, eyes wide. "I—uh. That was... something."

Elias wheezed, wiping sweat from his brow. "Yeah. Something."

The exit door slid open, revealing a long corridor leading deeper into the course.

"Three down," Elias muttered. "Nine to go."

Dot’s patted his forehead. "You got this, champ."

He groaned, sitting up. "If I survive this, I’m eating everything in the cafeteria."

With that, he stood—and stepped into the next challenge.

Elias landed hard, his breath ragged, sweat dripping from his temple. His legs burned, but he barely had time to steady himself before the next section of the course came into view.

The floor beneath him rumbled as a series of shifting platforms extended into the distance, each hovering over a dark pit that seemed to stretch endlessly below. Thin metallic beams connected the platforms, barely wide enough for a single step.

A chime rang overhead.

Obstacle 4: The Gauntlet of Precision

- Complete the course without falling.

- Platforms shift every three seconds.

- Contact with the pit results in failure.

Elias wiped his brow and exhaled. "This one’s just balance, huh?"

Dot’s floated beside him, her tiny arms crossed. "You say that now, but I bet this thing’s got a catch."

He studied the path ahead, watching as the platforms lurched unpredictably in different directions—some moving forward, others tilting suddenly, while a few snapped back to their starting positions at random.

Elias narrowed his eyes. "Great. Unstable ground and no clear pattern. Fantastic."

"Well," Dot’s quipped, "at least there aren’t spinning blades."

The moment she said it, a set of thin, high-speed rotating bars deployed from the walls—some sweeping across the beams, others spinning vertically like helicopter blades.

Elias shot her a glare. "Really? You just had to say it?"

Dot’s held up her tiny hands. "Okay, that one’s on me."

Elias took a deep breath, crouching low as he timed the shifting patterns. The first beam was short—just two steps to the nearest platform. The next was twice as long, with a rotating bar slicing through the middle every two seconds.

"No choice but forward," he muttered, springing onto the first beam.

The moment his foot touched the surface, the entire thing shifted left—fast.

He adjusted instinctively, bending his knees to stay balanced as he sprinted across. The second beam was already moving before he got there, the spinning bar cutting low.

He had to time it—too fast, and he’d trip. Too slow, and the next platform would shift out of reach.

"Go, go, go!" Dot’s urged.

Elias leapt.

The bar sliced the air inches from his ankle.

He barely landed in time to stabilize, his foot skidding against the edge of the next platform.

A chime rang.

Checkpoint Reached.

Elias let out a breath. "That was too close."

Dot’s nodded. "You think?"

He glanced ahead. The next section had narrower beams, faster movements, and now vertical bars rising and falling at unpredictable intervals.

Elias clenched his fists. This wasn’t just a balance test.

This was reaction speed. Timing. Precision.

The beams ahead flickered red for a split second before shifting again. A warning.

"Okay, got it," Elias muttered. "Gotta move fast."

He took a step—

The beam dropped.

He had no time to think—only react.

He lunged forward just as the floor beneath him disappeared, twisting his body midair to avoid a spinning vertical bar.

The next beam tilted the second he landed.

"Come on!" Elias hissed, throwing himself toward the nearest stable platform.

His fingers barely caught the edge.

For a split second, his grip slipped.

A bar swung toward his head. Too fast to dodge.

A sharp crack—

Everything went dark.

A chime rang.

(1) Death Count Recorded.