Reality crashed like a broken mirror, but I didn't.Everything else stopped existing. The house. The garden. Even Seraphina. But somehow, I stayed aware.My percentage felt wrong. Not higher or lower. Just... sideways. *64.θ%*In the nothing between realities, I wasn't alone.The beast floated there too. Not hunting anymore. Just... watching.It didn't look like geometry now. More like a thought having another thought."You're not what I expected," I said, though I didn't have a mouth to speak with.The beast's consciousness brushed against mine. Like static electricity, but made of memories.*Hunt/Protect/Test/Choose*The concepts hit me all at once. Images flooded my mind.I saw reality through its eyes. Not solid. Not fixed. A living thing, growing, changing, breaking, healing."You're not trying to kill me?"*Fix/Balance/Guard/Choose*More images. System beasts rising from reality's depths. Hunting broken things. Healing wounded spaces."Then why chase me?"*Different/Change/Evolv

The morning air bit at Jared's face as his feet pounded against the pavement. Six kilometers down, one to go. His breath came out in small clouds, dispersing into the crisp Brno morning. Every stride felt heavier than usual. Running used to clear his head, but lately his thoughts kept circling back to how quiet things had gotten. No Orion to push around. No real satisfaction in watching other kids scatter when he walked down the halls.Thump. Thump. Thump.His running shoes hit the ground in a steady rhythm that felt wrong somehow. Like the sound wasn't quite matching up with his steps."Getting soft," he muttered to himself, rounding the corner where Old Man Filip's hot dog cart should've been waiting. The empty spot made him stumble to a halt.Filip's cart had been there every morning for the past two years. Rain or shine, the old man would wave as Jared ran past, sometimes calling out "Looking strong today!" in his thick Czech accent. Jared always pretended not to care, but that s

The strange sparks had faded by the time the final bell rang, but Jared's hands still tingled like they'd fallen asleep."Hey," Tomáš called out across the parking lot. "We're heading to the mall. Some middle schoolers have been acting tough lately. Want to help put them in their place?"A month ago, Jared would have been right there with them. Now the idea made his stomach turn. "Pass. Got stuff to do.""Since when do you have stuff to do?" Martin chimed in. "Come on, man.""I said no."Jared turned away before he could see their reactions. The walk home took him past the park, where fallen leaves skittered across the path like they were trying to spell something.That's when he saw it.A letter, hovering at eye level, completely still despite the autumn breeze. Its envelope was a deep purple that seemed to swallow light, marked with a seal he'd never seen before but somehow recognized: a twisted tree wrapped around a sword.He reached for it, half expecting his hand to pass through