“Did I build this?” Albert asked out loud, examining the cube. He was nothing short of mesmerized, despite the situation he was in.

He laughed weakly. If his theory was correct there was no need to speculate, he could ask Jeff himself.

“Jeff, did I build you?”

The cube did not answer. It simply bobbed up and down, spinning.

Judging by how it had mentally communicated before, Albert knew that the cube could send information to him. The fact that it hadn’t done so now meant that perhaps it wasn’t built for conversation. Still, Albert marveled at the cube for a minute or two, studying the small thing. It was truly bizarre and hypnotizing, with its many lights and countless pathways.

“Are you my system? Can you show me the status again?”

Reality Bending Power: 1

“What about the quests? Are they gone?”

Quest: Find the Kirkesis Core.

Albert’s eyes narrowed.

“Not reach Sitea?”

Quest: Find the Kirkesis Core.

There was no proper text to focus on, unlike with the system, but the mental image of the words themselves. At least this answered a question. The quests were mostly gone, but he was not completely left without directions.

“Where’s the rest of the system?”

Reality Bending Power: 1

“Alright.” Albert nodded. “And you can’t talk, can you? Do you have my memories?”

Despite everything, the memories of what happened in the black space were few and far between, more like flashes rather than memories. The cube did not answer yet again, however this time Albert noticed a small flash of light radiating outwards from the core. Then the core dimmed.

“You can understand me, though.”

This time Albert looked very close at what happened to the cube. He was so close that sometimes the edges of the cube disappeared inside his face, and he watched the insides of the strange construct. It was headache inducing, but he wanted to confirm something.

“You change when I speak to you. Are you adaptive?”

The cube, unexpectedly, glowed.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Albert said. He shivered. “It’s quite cold here.”

The cube glowed. Albert thought for a moment that the cube was being sarcastic, of course it was cold! But then he thought about it some more.

“You can link to my senses, can’t you?” Albert asked. The cube did glow, and a smile appeared on Albert’s face for a small fraction of a second before he forced himself back on the pressing issue.

“Can you help me?”

The cube dimmed. Some new connections formed inside of its structure, like before. It felt, at least to Albert, that the cube – Jeff – was gaining intelligence the more he spoke to it.

“You can’t help me. You do understand that I am about to die here, Jeff, right?”

Albert was struggling to speak. His teeth chattered so hard it was almost impossible to speak out loud. However, a part of his mind was so excited about the cube that it could not think about anything else. Had he always been this distracted?

Can you hear my thoughts?

Jeff brightened. A new connection ran from its center to the outer edges of the cube, almost insignificant among the sea of lines yet brighter than the others. But then others appeared, and Albert felt a small pressure build up inside his mind, like a gentle finger running across the pages of a book. Many connections sprung to life one after the other.

That’s good. You can answer yes or no for now. We need to brainstorm or I die here, understand? Also, please help me keep my thoughts focused.

Jeff glowed bright. Twice. Yes to both, then. Albert wondered how Jeff could even manage to help him not get distracted, but a strange sensation cut the thought in half. Halted it, before it could fully manifest. It did not quite kill it, but it paused it to be resumed later. Wonderful, Albert thought, but even this second thought was paused.

Good. Amazing. You can’t help directly, can you? But how about me? Can I help myself?

Jeff glowed bright again.

Okay. Is it connected to Reality Bending?

Jeff nodded. It didn’t actually not. It glowed, but Albert took it as a nod.

Albert paced around in a circle in the small space of the cavern, lit by the eerie azure light of the ice. He did it partly to keep himself warm, and partly to relieve the tension and stress of the situation. However, the spasms in his muscles were making it difficult to do. Albert wondered if the cold was doing this, or if it was the Alignment Energy that had ruined his body. The thought was paused by Jeff.

Thanks Jeff. Back on topic. Can I bend reality?

Albert had spent months daydreaming about the ultimate power. To be able to do everything, not limited to rigid skills and traditional magic like what Kainen and the rest of the world had. Somehow. This was Earth and it had magic. How? Jeff paused yet another thought.

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YES.

Albert stopped in his tracks and examined Jeff. Another line had sprouted in its form, and now it seemed able to communicate his answers directly. Albert nodded.

Good improvement.

No answer. It seemed Jeff still couldn’t hold a complex conversation. At least, not without help and pointed questions. Another thought was paused.

Albert stumbled, and realized his limbs were not working well anymore. He cursed himself for getting sidetracked again, and wondered why he was having such concentration problems. He felt like he was back to his old self, before magic.

Ah. I lost my mental buffs.

YES.

Thank you. Before I get sidetracked again, how do I bend reality?

No answer.

Right. Yes-no questions.

Albert paced, holding himself up against the ice that made up the walls of the cave. He didn’t know what to ask. He didn’t know what to think.

Do you have my missing memories?

NO.

Could they have helped me?

YES.

Then why—

The thought was paused. Alongside the action, Jeff also sent a sort of message, like an emotion. A raw, primal emotion: danger. The memories were dangerous. But how?

The thought was paused.

Albert shivered. His stomach felt heavy, like he had eaten something rotten. Then his muscles spasmed. He propped himself against the ice, feeling the cold against his forehead. The sweat that littered his face rolled onto the ice and froze.

Albert felt feverish, and he was almost delirious, because he thought he saw something beneath the ice. He wondered how he could crack the ice and reach there. For no reason, or perhaps on instinct, he decided to flex his mental muscle and will the ice to part.

A crack formed on the ice sheet.

Albert reeled back from the wall, where a single crack had split the ice. He winced in pain when the cracked ice cut his finger, pushing himself back only to stumble and fall. This time, his mind was quicker than before, despite his fever, and he willed himself to slow down enough not to hurt when he fell.

Surprisingly, it happened.

His hands felt scalding against the cold ground. He wiped his sweat away, rolling onto his back and heaving a harsh lungful of hair. It felt like he had just run a marathon.

A thought blazed in his mind.

Did I just reality-bend?

YES.

Holy shit. Is that why I feel like puking now?

YES. NO.

Blood dripped down the tip of his finger. With a mental effort that felt like lifting a whole mountain, the bleeding stopped.

It got worse. Albert thought, massaging his temples. Does Bending make me sick?

YES. EFFORT.

Can I heal?

YES. NO.

Let me guess, I would kill myself trying.

YES.

Can I heal a bit at least?

YES.

How much?

15%

Albert slumped against the wall and winced in pain. 15% was better than nothing, he guessed.

How do I tell?

No tell. Feel.

Feel? Albert frowned. How does one feel a percentage?

Feel 15%

Like holding the number in my mind?

Yes.

You do the calculations or what?

Yes. Fast! Death.

A small icon, like a notification, appeared in his mind. It was small at first, not detailed, but the more he focused on it the larger and brighter it became. It felt, for a moment when he looked at it, like an alarm siren ringing in his mind, reminding him of the imminent danger. He mentally clicked it, and while it took a lot less effort to Bend reality this time, he almost fell to the floor due to the backlash.

The pain lessened. The physical pain at least, but it was replaced by an even more unbearable mental sort of pain. Albert’s eyes felt heavy, and he thought it wouldn’t hurt to rest for a moment. Jeff was watching over him, he thought with a wry smile that took more effort than was worth, and the small AI would surely wake him up if it heard something or felt danger.

Albert woke up with a start. His foggy mind was still reeling in pain, and his body felt hot. He clicked another notification, this time a small tooltip appearing when he focused on it.

>Emergency COPY: Heal. Power capped at 20%

Relief washed over him as the heal took effect. With more clarity than before, Albert was now able to feel that the heal felt very similar to his old healing skill he had when he still had access to the system.

What does copy mean?

Use old skill as blueprint, easier to cast.

Show me the status again, please?

Reality Bending Power: 1 -> 3

Why did the number increase?

Practice generates increase to. Power.

How does it work?

Estimate. Translate into number. If you scan people, you will see a number for them too.

Albert frowned. Estimate? Of what?

Of power. Influenced by mastery, creativity, mental fatigue resistance.

It makes sense, I guess?

Makes sense. Of course. You decided it. Efficient.

Efficient… I’m feeling cold again, can I heal?

Yes. 10% now.

Okay. Much better. So, you said efficient. And that I did this… why would I do this? Wait, is this because of the system?

Yes.

Is reality bending inside or outside the system’s scope?

Both. It can do anything. Copy magic. Create new magic. Copy old skills is the easiest. Copy magic you see is also easy. Creating new magic is hard.

Kainen did mention that some people have classes. Are there many kinds of magic?

Yes. You did postulate when creating me. That magic takes many forms on its own. Like an intelligence. That is how you made me. Reality bending is different. Higher. Better. Or so you said.

Albert noticed Jeff’s better use of vocabulary and sentence structure. You’re getting pretty smart here.

Thanks. It won’t take long to finalize integration.

Is reality bending a branch of magic?

It’s different but similar. When you copy magic, reality-bending energy transforms into magic, so it’s easier. When you don’t, it’s your raw will against the universe and against magic itself, if it’s present, which is harder.

So many questions.

I am afraid I don’t have all the answers.

What is reality-bending energy?

I don’t know.

What do you mean the will of the universe?

Again, I don’t know. I am sorry.

Does magic have a will?

It seems like it. But it’s just your assumptions when you created me, nothing more. However, it seems from initial observations that magic does indeed have a sort of will, which will make free Bending harder when there is an abundance of magic.

Albert healed himself again, steadying his steps. As he had already guessed, the fatigue that came with Bending was independent of the body. Like a muscle, he needed to train his mind if he wanted to be able to Bend more and with more power.

But first he needed actual rest, because at the current pace he barely managed to heal himself enough to counteract the cold. He was still weak, frail and vulnerable, but with the new power he wielded, he was sure it was not going to be the same for long. As will all incremental things, the first steps are the hardest, but they are worth it.

His Power increased every time he healed himself, and slowly Albert managed to get ahead of the creeping cold and slowly repaired his body. He also spent every ounce of his mental capacity to fortify his mind, although his attempts were crude. For now, they simply consisted in his willing his mind to be stronger, Bending reality in the most brute-force way he knew. Later, he planned to use his knowledge of skills from when he still had system to come up with a better way.

Thinking about his old skill: Mental Fortress, Albert went to work. It was time to regain what he had lost.

And Kainen… Kainen was going to pay for what he did to him.

A faint echo of a thought told Albert that perhaps Kainen was right to act the way he did. Albert did not listen.