Sage of reality

Chapter 2: The Reality System

Ash filled the air like a blizzard of smoke and shadow, devouring the mountain forest with merciless hunger.

Tory stood at the center of the storm, black hair whipping in the chaotic winds, his white armor cracked and glowing faintly with radiant lines. A long blade, no longer just steel but something transcendent, hovered loosely in his hand.

His eyes had no pupils. They glowed a deep obsidian black laced with silver runes—like the stars themselves were watching through him.

Jim staggered back a step.

The Ant Empress was dead. A single stab had vaporized its skull, a beast nearing emperor rank reduced to dust.

But Tory wasn't done. The ash around him thickened, swirling faster, sucking energy from everything nearby—grass, rock, even lingering beast cores.

"Tory!" Jim shouted. "You have to stop!"

Tory didn't answer.

Instead, a strange chime echoed across the space—not through the air, but inside his mind.

> [Reality System: Initialization Complete.]

[Welcome, Host: Tory.]

[Authority Class: Alpha Construct – Threadbearer of Reality.]

[System Integration Level: 2%]

Tory's vision dimmed. He staggered. The blade in his hand cracked and disintegrated into shimmering dust.

> [Warning: Core Stability Low.]

[Activating Emergency Sync Protocol…]

[Beginning Phase One: Reality Recognition.]

His knees hit the ground. Jim sprinted toward him—but before he could reach his friend, ten figures dropped from the ridge above.

Clad in crimson and black armor, the Raging Flame Faction had arrived.

Jason stepped forward, flanked by seasoned hunters. A cruel grin twisted his face.

"Well, well," he sneered. "What do we have here? The prodigy and the orphan freak. Must be my lucky day."

Jim's eyes narrowed. "Walk away, Jason."

Jason laughed. "You think you can fight all of us? You're powerful, sure—but not ten-versus-one powerful."

He glanced behind Jim at Tory, who now knelt amid the smoldering dust, shaking.

"What happened to your little pet?" Jason said. "Looks like he bit off more than he could chew."

One of the hunters, a man with a large halberd wrapped in chains, stepped forward. "We'll take the queen's body now, kid. And your little friend? Maybe we'll leave him with half his limbs if you cooperate."

Jim didn't respond. He slowly turned his body, putting himself between Tory and the faction members.

Jason sighed. "You're seriously going to fight us for him? A powerless nothing?"

Jim raised his spear, lightning gathering along its shaft. Fire ignited at his heels. "He's not nothing."

---

The battle began in a roar of elements.

Flames burst from the ground as one of the faction mages launched a volley of fireballs. Jim dodged to the side, spinning his spear and flinging arcs of lightning that sent two attackers flying.

He leapt high, using a burst of air to twist mid-air, then slammed down with a shockwave of earth energy that cracked the mountain floor.

But they were strong. Coordinated. Veterans.

Jim could block, dodge, counter—but not forever.

They pressed in tighter, circling him like wolves. Cuts began to show. His breathing grew heavier.

Behind him, Tory remained still—eyes closed, body trembling.

Then the system's voice spoke again.

> [Initiating Reality Thread Unveiling...]

[Concepts Unlocked: Creation. Destruction.]

[Warning: Host mental structure is unstable. Cognitive flood imminent.]

[Stabilizing thought framework... Injecting Core Law: "Nothing Exists Without Cost."]

[Reality Vision granted.]

Tory gasped.

Suddenly, the world around him changed.

He saw not the physical forms of things—but truth. Lines of energy connected everything. Threads of existence. Currents of power. Flow and decay. Matter forming and unforming.

He saw Jim's body under strain—microfractures in his right rib, burning tension in his arm from overuse of lightning.

He saw Jason's elemental core pulsing erratically—he had a third element, hidden, sealed. Fire.

He saw the world as it truly was.

> [New Ability Unlocked: Reality Stitching.]

[Description: The ability to deconstruct matter and reweave it according to foundational principles.]

Tory reached out instinctively. His hands closed around nothing—and yet, the air bent.

A sword reformed, not forged of steel, but shaped from conceptual ash and recreated intent. A Reality Blade.

He stood.

The earth beneath his feet reassembled from the ruin, forming a circle of strange geometric symbols—neither runes nor glyphs, but raw ideas etched into matter.

Jason saw him and froze. "What… the hell…?"

Tory walked forward, sword in hand, cloak of ash flowing behind him like the edge of a void.

One of the hunters broke ranks and charged him.

Tory raised his hand—and reality fractured.

The man froze mid-step as if time had paused. Then he fell, unconscious, untouched—but his core had been disconnected from his body.

Another hunter swung a greatblade. Tory ducked, placed his palm on the blade—and it crumbled to dust.

Jim, bleeding from his mouth, looked over. "Tory?"

Tory didn't answer.

He turned to Jason.

"Don't," Jason hissed, backing away. "You don't even know what you are—"

Tory raised the sword. "I know enough."

Jason roared, releasing a hidden burst of flame, laced with lightning and earth—but Tory raised a single finger.

And unmade it.

The attack disappeared before it reached him.

Jason collapsed to his knees, staring at his hands. "No... What are you?"

Tory stood before him.

"I don't know yet," he said quietly. "But I'm done being nothing."

He swung the blade—not at Jason, but beside him, slicing through the air. The shockwave blew Jason away, slamming him into the trees. Unconscious.

The remaining faction members fled.

The battle was over.

---

Jim dropped to his knees. Blood coated his side. Tory rushed to him, panic breaking through his new calm.

"I've got you," he said. "You'll be fine."

Jim smiled weakly. "Guess… you finally woke up, huh?"

Tory gave a shaky laugh. "More than that. I think… I think something ancient woke up with me."

> [New Quest: Reconstruct the Broken World.]

[Objectives: Feed the orphanage. Survive. Understand your power. Prepare for those who will come.]

[Reward: System Evolution to Phase Two.]

Tory looked at his hand. The blade was gone. The ash had settled.

But inside him, the truth still pulsed.

Creation. Destruction. Reality.

He helped Jim stand. "Let's go home."