Note: This is purely a work of fiction.
ERA Calendar: 2nd Month of the Year 3115.
Southern Hemisphere.
7:25 AM.
«Akasha Online»
«Saints blessings have been received»
«Additionally, your legend has been ingrained into the world»
«The more your legend spreads, the more pronounced your existence becomes»
«Legend of flames, steel, and chains: The Misfortuned has been created»
«Legend of flames, steel, and chains: The Misfortuned, has been acknowledged»
«The legendary steel and chains, in accordance with their carver's respective legend, shall be granted»
Dimension crossing in this world wasn't as simple as crossing over worlds or dying and then appearing in another world.
No. It was far more dangerous than that.
It meant breaking the dimensional boundaries of this world, exposing it to the terrifying world beyond, the reality beyond this world.
A select few, by sheer will or authority alone, could transcend dimensions and travel wherever they pleased.
Currently, as of now, only a select few possess the ability.
However, for one of them, it was more like her authority than ability.
Awakened [lit. Limit Breaker].
Those who had broken past human limitations, either naturally or by sheer desire, gained an understanding of the world beyond normal perception.
Of course, this wasn't as simple as an athlete training beyond their limits.
More often than not, these were individuals driven by desires that border on obsessiveness.
Despite that, this is to say that this isn't true for most, as some have undergone awakening through different means.
Some have been blessed as they were born, others had been blessed during their last moments.
Even until now, the conditions for awakening remains a mystery to most.
However, for this humans who have broken their limits—
By turning their will into power, they could bring forth miracles that no other humans could do.
These abilities were called authorities, capable of feats far beyond any conventional mana-based system.
Among them, as said earlier, some wielded the authority to cross dimensions.
And currently, in this world, only about three are capable of doing such a thing.
"Hngh."
A faint groan escaped as a certain young boy groggily opened his eyes to the gentle morning light filtering through his window, carrying a fresh breeze into his room.
His gaze wandered outside as he let out a small, barely perceptible smile.
For some reason, the air around him felt different today.
His features appeared more defined, though his complexion remained eerily pale.
His crimson eyes and the right side of his hair, stitched together by a crimson thread, still stood out.
Yet, he looked… healthier than before.
No matter how much you looked at him, he definitely had changed.
He wasn't as scrawny as he looked before, and you can no doubt tell at first glance.
Or perhaps it was simply because he hadn't had a proper sleep like this in five years?
Possible.
"A... dream? No…"
Ren muttered, looking out the window; all around him was a scenery painted in the colors on the colour spectrum.
They lit his entire view in a bright rainbow colour.
"It was … real?"
Saying that, Ren rose from his bed, stepping toward the window to take in the scenery outside.
The scenery obviously hadn't changed, other than the more pronounced colors that he could now vividly see.
For example, the grasses in his garden had a certain green-like cover around them, rather, it was covering it.
And like that, it was the same for almost everything he saw.
Obviously, he was able to keep his calm and assess everything. And when he did, his thoughts landed back to yesterday.
[Limit Breaker]
[Holy Child]
"Holy Child, huh? I don't deserve such a thing."
But having said that, even the usual cloudiness was nowhere to be seen.
His head felt clearer than usual.
With his left hand, he traced a slow circle around his neck.
Nothing. No pain. No discomfort. No urges too.
"What did she do?"
Even racking his head literally for the answer, nothing, none came to him.
However, he remembered—during his last moments with that person—she had undoubtedly done something to him.
"Tsk."
With that in mind, he clicked his tongue before heading off to prepare for school.
It was unusual for him to be up this early, yet today, he did so without hesitation.
With five years' worth of mental exhaustion lifted, he felt better than ever.
But that didn't mean his attitude had changed in the slightest.
[Breaking News: Last night, two other victims were proclaimed dead by the police—]
[It has been reported that both had their faces gouged out, which has been speculated to be either by a blunt weapon or their faces were forcibly torn apart—]
[Authorities are doing their best to apprehend the criminal, and bring justice for the dead—]
After preparing breakfast, Ren sat at the dining table, eating without the usual nausea that plagued him.
However, since she wasn't used to this, a frown had crossed his face instead but soon faded.
But then, the details on the news caught his attention.
"That's the fourth victim this week."
Perhaps, now that problem number one is solved, he should try poking his nose in problem number three.
Well, the reason that was pushed to three is that he's unsure if [Nightmare] would strike today or not, though he doubts he'd be taken back to France.
Given how things ended, Ren didn't think there was any need to linger there.
However, if that weren't the case, though… he'd be more than displeased to see the Saintess again.
'Forget it…'
He thought, picking up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder.
But then as he did, rather than walking out the door, he went straight to that room.
Entering, after taking a step forward, he sat down in a proper seiza style like he'd always done; obviously however, this time it was different.
"Perhaps it's finally time to let it go… Not that I expect you to forgive me. But it looks like I won't be joining you all anytime soon."
A pause.
"No. Even if I were to die today, I'm certain I'd end up somewhere else."
Saying that, Ren rose to his feet, hoisting his bag once more over his shoulders.
"From now on, I guess I'll just do whatever I like."
Ren had said that, his back turned against them, against his regrets.
It was like him saying goodbye without actually saying it.
He felt he was still cursed with this power. But if it wouldn't go, then why not relish in it?
Like that, Ren headed out.
Along the way, he was also able to experiment on his new abilities, if one could call it that.
He could attune his vision to perceive a world made up of vibrant, shifting colors. And if he pushed further—
The world lost all color, leaving behind only blinking, floating particles of light.
If he had to compare them to something, they were akin to subatomic particles.
Or perhaps… something more than that.
Superluminal.
Tachyon-like.
Strangely, the conclusion came to him naturally, despite having no prior knowledge of such things.
On one hand, to attune his sight, he had to forfeit his perception of color entirely.
That alone made his hypothesis feel plausible.
And calling them tachyon particles was simply a naming convention—
One he had learned in class a few days ago and decided to adopt.
If they truly were tachyonic, then it would explain why the world appeared drenched in color to him.
'Well. It doesn't matter; I can only interfere with the colours in the first place, not the particles.'
If this were so, then it would make sense they were actually tachyon particles.
But he wasn't one to wrap his head around such things.
However, if he were to go along with those thoughts, then, somewhere here, people who had undergone awakening like him.
Or people who were Holy Children like Jeanne must exist here.
Though he had never perceived colors in that place, Jeanne's absurd strength alone had convinced him that others like her must exist.
And if a weird phenomenon as this existed in this world, and he felt attuned to it… then it'd make sense.
However, whether he was right or wrong, he wouldn't know for now.