Sage of reality

---



Three Days Later - The Hunt Begins



"This area looks abandoned," Rohn muttered, sweeping his eyes across the dense treeline.



They had been dispatched to a Tier-4 wild zone near the coastal Riftwood expanse, just outside Emberlight's defense barrier. B-Rank teams were often sent here to clear beast populations that had grown too close to the city.



Jim squinted at the mission tablet. "Coordinates match. There should be a breach cave entrance nearby."



Keira pulled her blade free. "Something's off. No bird calls. No wind."



Tory moved silently through the brush, checking his readings. The System highlighted faint distortions nearby—spatial flickers, like something was tampering with the natural order.



> [System Alert: Reality Distortion Detected] [Warning: Time Ripple Field -



They entered in formation—Jim up front, Keira and Rohn flanking, and Tory bringing up the rear.



They never saw what triggered it.





---



The Collapse



It started with a pulse.



The cave walls shimmered.



Then cracked.



Reality twisted. Space folded. And suddenly, the ground gave way beneath Tory's feet.



"TORY!"



Jim reached, but too late. Tory fell through a ripple in the air, his body vanishing mid-scream. The others were thrown back as the tunnel sealed behind a burst of gravitational energy.



> [System Alert: Spatial Separation Triggered] [Timeline Dislocation: Active] [Estimated Displacement: Unknown Duration]







Tory slammed into darkness.





---



Somewhere Else



He woke on cracked stone beneath a blood-red sky. Mountains floated in the air. Rivers flowed upward. Time bent in unnatural curves.



> [Welcome to: Forgotten Echo Zone] [This dimension was severed from the world 130 years ago during a failed Genesis experiment.] [System Initialization Adjusted: Temporal Anchors Rebinding]







Tory groaned, slowly pushing himself to his feet.



Alone.



His armor was cracked. Weapons scattered. But the necklace—the ash-threaded core that had chosen him—was pulsing softly.



He had been separated from the others.



Lost.



But not powerless.



> [System Directive: Survive. Evolve. Reclaim Yourself.] [New Passive Trait: Time Resonance - Tier 1] [Element Acquired: Time (Hidden)]







His eyes widened slightly.



Time?



The thread within him twisted, absorbing the chaotic flow of the broken world. Time and space coiled around his Reality core, feeding it, accelerating its greatly.