Deep into the nothingness... Universe 5757
Inside one of the galaxies, on the planet Sandala.
A cave residence.
A humanoid creature with a lizard-shaped face and camel-brown, rough skin stared at the shining sand mound before him. His name was Xylos, and his existence on Sandala, grinding struggle against a ruthless world.
"Let's see how old this otherworldly sand is." He spoke with a thoughtful tone, his voice a dry rasp, raising his clawed hand toward it.
Instantly, the sand particles lifted into the air, swirling before condensing into the shape of a block in his palm. The raw power of his talent, a gift from the Higher Dimensional Being, was both a blessing and a curse.
The next moment, his expression shifted. A faint, pale yellow layer of strange energy flickered above the block. "This is… yellow grade? But why? Just a while ago the system announced it as white grade... the most common." He muttered in disbelief, recalling the notification shown when he traded it. His gaze deepened, thoughts flashing.
"The system doesn't lie. Which means… there's a high concentration of crystals in this sand. Most likely, the environment it came from had no magicules in its atmosphere. After I released them, the crystals began absorbing magicules frantically, and in just a while the sand's grade improved." His analysis was firm. He nodded convincingly, and then his pupils brightened.
'If that's the case, this sand is a true treasure. An upgradeable resource compared to the worthless common sand in my world. If I consume it, my strength and magic capacity will soar at an alarming rate.' A desperate hope ignited within him, a flicker of light in the endless struggle.
Just as he thought, his brow furrowed, and conflicting thoughts started stirring his mind. "I can only use half of the one ton I just received. But that's only a few meals for me. I'll have to show sincerity if I want to keep trading. At the same time… I can't let him know that the sand he treats as mere resources is a treasure for me." The deception weighed on him, a necessary evil in this brutal game of survival.
He decided, eyes flicking back toward the sand dump. "Who would have thought… One moment I was celebrating the news of becoming a father, and the next I woke up as a heterogeneous race... the lowest among them at that. A sand dweller from the lizard lineage."
The memory slammed into his mind without warning. His wife's face appeared in front of his vision; she is very exhausted yet glowing with happiness. The faint tremble of her lips as she whispered, "He's beautiful."
"Owaaa!"
The newborn's cry, raw and fragile, clung to his soul like a knife digging deeper with every echo.
His claw trembled for a breath, then stilled. "I wonder… How are they now? My wife… my child… Are they even alive?" The words left him like a stone falling into a pit, heavy, dead, and impossible to lift again. His scaled face betrayed nothing, but inside, the human soul buried in this cold flesh screamed.
'One day. No matter the time, no matter the worlds or universe. I'll cross it, and I'll find you. And when I do, we'll live the life that was stolen from us. That is my vow; just wait for me.'
Suppressing that fragile hope, he raised his claw toward the mound and activated his unique ability. The sand lifted again... yet this time, instead of flowing into him, it bypassed his body entirely. Countless grains separated midair, streaming into neat piles behind him, forming irregular material blocks.
One by one, the components appeared: small blocks of pure gold particles, iron, bronze, copper, brown tin, white silica quartz, gray monazite, and traces of other metals. As time passed, slowly the sand dampness reduced.
When the last grain was processed, he turned and surveyed the collection of raw material blocks. Stepping forward, he stirred the gold dust with his claw and merged it into the solid block.
"Except for this gold and the crystals, I don't recognize the rest of these. But I can control and separate every fine grain in this sand. That much… is my talent."
He muttered as his eyes lingered on each extracted element. A moment later, he pulled up his status panel and clicked the trade option.
Immediately, the material piles vanished. He typed a short message to Keon: task completed.
…
On the other hand, Universe 8888888888.
Keon received the half ton of extracted and processed materials. Irregular blocks of metals and minerals sat before him as he calculated their ratios.
'Silicon, titanium, iron, tin, magnetite, glass, monazite, and gold… I didn't expect the surrounding sand to be this resource-rich.'
As he thought, his mind accelerated, already dissecting their uses.
'Eighty-five percent silica quartz... perfect for glass and semiconductors. Four percent ilmenite, one percent rutile... both for titanium or white pigments. Two percent gold, useful in induction and electric circuits. The remaining eight percent... iron, copper, tin, and monazite... is ideal for delicate parts and magnet production.'
He assessed everything in detail, then began redesigning his external skeleton around the available materials. The vision of his escape, now tangible, fueled his relentless focus.
Hours of deep processing later, a notification appeared on the panel in front of him, along with the projection of the new blueprint.
[Exoskeleton One (Enhanced)]
Core Design:
Host Size: 1-foot spider exoskeleton
Pilot Size: 1-inch mechanical spider
Materials & Roles:
Silica Quartz: outer shell, optics, insulators
Titanium: leg bones, armor joints
Iron: motor cores, gears
Copper: coils, wiring, induction loops
Tin: solder, bearings
Gold: contact pads, induction plates
Monazite: magnets, sensors
Blueprint Layout:
Thorax Chamber: cockpit for 1-inch spider frame
Legs (8): titanium frame + silica cover, 3 joints each
Feet: titanium tips + silica grip pads
Motors: BLDCs in each joint (brushless DC motors)
Battery: Abdomen Pack
Induction Pad: gold/copper ring on underbelly
Armor: fused quartz plates with titanium ribbing
Sensors: monazite detectors, silica optics
…
'Good, now this is a proper exoskeleton. Next, I just need to assimilate these materials and fuse them with this mechanical exoshell and upgrade it according to the blueprint. But before that… I'll need a blueprint for the battery.'
Keon's mind branched in several directions, observing the new exoskeleton design while simultaneously drafting the energy core. Blueprints were vital. Without them, assimilation would spiral into chaos.
As a mechanical species, his every function obeyed strict logic. Without a blueprint, he would only create a hodgepodge of elements, wasted and unstable.
'Maybe I can enlarge this carbon cell which is used in my original frame… Although this is just a non-rechargeable single-use cell that needs to be replaced, my assimilation talent just needs to energize it and recharge it again.'
Keon thought as he appeared and stood above a small glass he created and tapped the lower front section of his body; the next moment the plate opened, revealing a tiny round cell inside.
At the same time, details of the cell appeared in his vision.
[CC-1 (Carbon Cell): A cell that uses active and hard carbon as nodes while hydrogen is the solution. It needs to be replaced after a single use.]
'Well, following the blueprint of this carbon cell, I will create another single-use cell based on carbon, hydrogen, and titanium… This is the best option; as for the non-rechargeable issue, it's not a big problem for me. I can recharge it easily through assimilation.'
Keon thought, and he started designing the new battery based on multiple carbon cells.
Time passed, after a while, another notification blinked in his core.
[CHC-1 (CarboHydride Cells)]
Core Design:
A compact, single-use power core forged from carbon, hydrocarbon gel, and titanium-oxide beads, sealed in a quartz-ceramic shell.
Material & Roles:
It cracks hydrogen from carbon fuel, shuttles charge through a carbon lattice, and separates oxide from the titanium itself. Maximum power capacity is 500Wh.
Blueprint:
Anode: compressed carbon scaffold
Fuel: hydrocarbon gel (coal source)
Cathode: titanium-oxide layer
Separator: quartz-ceramic sheet
Contacts: tin leads, gold induction pad
Form: 5 cm sealed cylinder, single-use burst pack
…