"I cannot feel your soul."
Silias repeated the words like it was a mantra.
He stared at the golden screen, expression darkening.
"…You're saying I don't have a soul?"
No answer. Just wind rustling the treetops around him.
He let out a short breath and frowned.
"That's… impossible," he muttered. "It doesn't make any sense."
He scoffed and looked away from the screen, eyes scanning the stars like they owed him a better explanation.
"If I didn't have a soul, I wouldn't exist. Everyone knows that. You don't need a scholar or a priest or a Senar freak to tell you that. It's just… common sense."
Still no reply.
"I might not know a lot about how this world really works," he said, voice low, "but I know that much. Soul's the anchor. No soul, no life."
Silence stretched.
Then—
[ I didn't say you don't have a soul. ]The World Will's voice returned, calm as ever.[ I said I can't feel it. That's the weird part. ]
Silias snorted.
"Right. Like that makes it better."
[ It doesn't. Just more accurate. ]A pause.[ And more confusing. ]
He leaned back against the tree trunk again, staring upward.
"So I'm weird. Broken. Off. Soul-hidden. Whatever. But I doubt that's why you're talking to me."
[ … ]
She didn't deny it.
Silias glanced at the screen again, then let it fade.
"I figured. You said I was weird, yeah, but this—" he waved vaguely at the space around him, at the night and the stars and the ridiculousness of all this, "—this isn't a casual curiosity kind of weird. This is 'break the rules of reality' weird."
Still no reply.
"…It's something bigger, isn't it?"
[ If I told you… ] Her voice dropped slightly. [ I'd go quiet. I wouldn't speak to you again. ]
That stopped him.
"What?"
[ That's the trade. One truth for silence. You want to know the reason now — the real reason — or wait until the right time? ]
Silias stared out over the canopy. The forest was quiet. Alive, but not noisy. Breathing, like him.
He didn't like being kept in the dark.
Never had.
"…I want to know now," he said finally. "But give me a minute first."
[ A minute for what? ]
"I've got questions about the stats," he said, smirking slightly. "I mean, I finally get a system and half the stuff on it makes no sense. Might as well understand what I'm working with before I potentially lose my guide."
[ …Fair. Ask. ]
Silias tapped his fingers lightly against the branch.
"Alright, first question," he said. "Physicality. What's it mean?"
[ Just focus on it. The stat will explain itself. ]
He raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
[ Try it. ]
Silias narrowed his eyes, locking onto the word on his mental screen.
Physicality: 156
The number pulsed faintly — then expanded.
---
[ Physicality ]
Current Value: 156
Category: Composite
Description: Physicality represents the user's overall bodily fitness. It is a composite stat derived from multiple core sub-factors: strength, endurance, stamina, vitality, reflex speed, muscular control, durability, and recovery rate.
While it governs physical performance, it does not equate to raw strength alone.
Two individuals with identical Physicality scores may differ widely in which sub-factors are most developed (e.g., one faster, the other stronger). However, when facing each other under otherwise equal conditions, the end result will, on average, be a stalemate — either both collapse from exhaustion, or neither can overpower the other's resilience.
Note:Stat fluctuations may occur under stress, training, or breakthrough conditions. Permanent increases reflect growth of the body's base potential, not temporary boosts or enhancements.
[ Tap to view sub-stats ]
---
Silias blinked.
"Huh. So it's not just 'hit harder, run faster.'"
[ Nope. Think of it as your body's operating system. How efficient it is. How much punishment it can take. How long it can go. ]
He nodded slowly. "So someone with 156 Physicality might not be the strongest, but they'd still give a monster a run for their money."
[ And outlast them, if they don't get hit too much. ]
"Right." He leaned back again. "So if two fighters had the same Physicality, one might hit harder, the other might tank better, but they'd probably both be crawling after round ten."
[ More or less. ]
Silias grinned. "Alright. I like this system already."
[ Then let's keep going. You've got more confusing numbers to stare at. ]
"Alright," Silias muttered, "next up—Agility."
He focused on the stat.
Sync: 190
The number shimmered. Then unfolded.
[ Sync ]
Current Value: 190
Category: Conscious-Body Sync
Description: Sync reflects the synchronization between a user's consciousness and their physical body. It governs reflex speed, movement fluidity, flexibility, spatial balance, and the precision with which the body can follow thought.
Note: This stat is not simply "speed of response." It is the efficiency of command execution — how fast and well your body reacts to perception.
Typically, Sync ranks below Physicality due to the inherent delay between mind and muscle. Exceptions are rare.
User anomaly detected: Sync > Physicality— Cause: Unparalleled Combat Instinct (SSS)— Effect: Reaction speed approaches instant translation from thought to action. Instinct and reflex boundaries are nearly nonexistent.
Silias raised an eyebrow.
"Wait. So my body reacts to my thoughts that fast?"
[ Faster than it should. You blur the line between instinct and intention. Most people's brains are always a half-step ahead of their limbs. Yours? Practically one-to-one. ]
He whistled.
"So I think it… and it just happens."
[ As long as your body can keep up, yes. ]
"Damn." He cracked his knuckles, eyes flicking through the numbers again. "No wonder I never get hit in sparring."
[ Or why no one wants to spar you. ]
He grinned.
"Okay, next — Intelligence. I already know that's my weakest stat."
Mental: 50
He stared at it, unimpressed. "Figures."
[ You're wrong. That's your strongest stat. ]
Silias blinked. "Excuse me?"
[ It's not just strong — it's absurd. ]
He squinted at the number.
"Fifty doesn't sound absurd."
[ For reference: the average Normie has 2 Mental. Most Initiates start around 3 or 4. ]
Silias sat up straighter.
"…What?"
[ You heard me. That fifty is over ten times what your average trained soldier gets. ]
"That's—" He paused. "No. That can't be right. I don't feel that smart."
[ Because you're equating the Mental stat with book smarts. That's only part of it. ]
She continued, calm but firm.
[ Mental capability includes comprehension speed, pattern recognition, combat analysis, adaptive learning. You don't think fast — you absorb. You've been doing it instinctively your whole life. ]
Silias didn't answer right away.
He was thinking back — to training duels, to how he learned weapon forms by watching once, to how he always knew when a punch was coming before it left the opponent's hip.
"…Still feels like a stretch."
[ You're only at 50 because your other mental substats are lagging. If I scored you just on comprehension, you'd break the meter. ]
He leaned back again, the wind ruffling his hair.
"So what you're saying is…" A smirk twitched at the corner of his mouth. "I'm a genius in denial."
[ I didn't say it. You did. ]
Silias leaned against the tree trunk with a smirk.
"So… I'm a genius of the highest order. Just say it. Go on. I won't hold it against you."
[ …You're a genius of the highest order. ]
He laughed.
"Damn right I am."
But something in her voice gave him pause.
There was a sigh.
Not mechanical. Not digital.
Just… soft. Real. Almost human.
[ And… you're also the strongest Normie to ever live. ]
The words were muttered, barely above a whisper.
Then, quietly — almost as if to herself:
[ …It's just sad that you'll die so soon. ]
Silias sat up straight.
"…What?"
His voice cracked louder than he intended, nearly throwing him off balance on the branch.
"What did you just say?!"
No reply.
"Hey!" he shouted, scanning the darkness around him. "World Will? Oi! Talk to me!"
Silence.
He clenched his fists.
"Don't screw with me now. What do you mean 'lose my life soon'? Is that why you contacted me?"
Nothing.
The wind was back to whispering through the trees.But her voice was gone.
Gone.
"…Shit."
A chill crawled down his spine, slow and cold like spilled water soaking through fabric.
She knew something.
That was the reason she reached out. Not because of his stats. Not because of his weird soul. Not even the glitchy Agility.
She knew he was going to die.
Soon.
Silias bit down on a curse, mind racing. He didn't like mysteries — not when he was the one inside them.
Just then—
He felt something approach.
His senses — always sharp, sharper than they should be — spiked.
Something's here.
His head snapped to the side.
Down below.
At the base of the tree, maybe thirty feet out, in the undergrowth.
He couldn't see clearly in the dark, but he didn't need to.
Two glowing eyes stared back at him.
Low. Unblinking. Watching.
A beast.
Silias went still.
The air tensed, like the forest itself was holding its breath.
It was hunting.
And it had picked him.
A bad idea.
Very bad idea — hunting Silias Raverant when he was pissed.