Adrian sat cross-legged on the cold floor of the temple, the Scripture of Death now silent at his side.
In front of him sat the second book — the one bound in cracked glass.
He stared at it for a while.
It looked wrong. Not dangerous in the same way as the Death Scripture. This one wasn't bleeding power or pulsing like a curse.
It just sat there.
Quiet.
Like it was waiting for someone stupid enough to open it.
Adrian let out a long breath.
"…Okay," he muttered. "Your turn."
He reached out and touched the cover.
The glass felt warm. Like it remembered a fire it hadn't been in. As soon as his fingers made contact, the book opened on its own — not fast, not slow, just deliberate. Like a decision had already been made.
The first page revealed itself in clean, sharp lettering:
The Law of ContradictionManifests truth out of nothing.Manifests lies out of things.Turns truth into lies and lies into truth.It is the embodiment of balance and unbalance.
Adrian frowned.
"…What the hell is that even supposed to mean?"
He blinked and read it again.
It made a weird kind of sense. The kind that doesn't feel right until it starts to fit. He'd seen it before — patients lying to themselves so completely it shaped their entire personality. People who rewrote their lives just to survive.
This Law wasn't unfamiliar.
That's what made it worse.
He flipped the page.
Then stopped.
He blinked hard, reading the words twice.
How to Make the Vow
• Choose a lie about yourself.Something you know is false — a fact you've denied, a truth you've avoided, or a fantasy you wish were real.
• Write this lie as if it were your absolute truth.Use your real name. Describe yourself fully based on that lie. This becomes your Fractured Identity.
• Carve out all the skin on your face and burn it.
• Live as your Fractured Identity for three days.Speak, act, and believe as if the lie is your only truth. Deny everything that contradicts it — even if it causes pain, madness, or collapse.
• On the third day, stand before a mirror and say:
"I vow to walk the fracture where thought unravels and truth devours itself.Let no name remain intact, no belief unbroken.Where I step, logic weeps, and the Lie becomes God."
Adrian just stared at the page.
"…What the fuck."
He closed the book. Then opened it again. As if it might change.
It didn't.
He rubbed his face, stood up, paced twice, then sat back down and read it again slowly.
"Carve… my face off. And burn it."
He let out a short, bitter laugh. There was no humor in it.
"Goddamn lunatics."
Another pause.
"Live as a fake version of myself for three days? While mutilated? And I'm not allowed to slip up once?"
He stared blankly at the ceiling of the temple.
"Sure. Why not. Let's just throw in a blood sacrifice and a mental breakdown while we're at it."
Then he leaned forward again, voice lower now.
"But seriously… who the hell designed this?"
There was no answer.
Just the quiet weight of the book in his hands.
He turned the page.
The text shifted. Gone were the formal rites and surreal commandments. This part felt… cleaner. More structured. Like case notes written by someone who didn't blink much.
Rank 12: PsychologistStudent of internal contradiction. Seeker of the wounded truth.
Adrian's eyes narrowed slightly, almost unconsciously.
"All right," he murmured. "Let's see what flavor of insane we're working with."
Thought ObservationThe Realizer gains an intuitive perception of emotional micro-signals — the muscle twitches beneath words, flickers of pupil dilation, tension in vocal cords. This isn't just cold reading. It's a metaphysical enhancement of what Adrian had spent years mastering through training and clinical work.
It captures unconscious patterns:
A pause when saying a name.
A glance downward during praise.
Shoulders tensing when discussing "forgiveness."
A flicker of sadness when describing "normal."
It isn't mind-reading — it's empathy refined into an instrument sharp enough to cut.
Adrian tilted his head.
"…So basically me, but on cheat codes."
He had done this before. Years of clinical training had honed him to listen beneath the words, to read the tremor under a sentence. But this felt deeper. Faster. Like intuition weaponized.
Behavioral ReadingThe Realizer can recognize emotional cycles — not just single reactions, but the full blueprint of how a person breaks down. These include:
Abandonment spirals.
Control-defense mechanisms.
Self-sabotage feedback loops.
It can forecast behavior based on accumulated emotional responses, even under stress or combat conditions. It's accurate enough to detect when a subject is seconds from breakdown — or when they're about to turn violent in denial.
It turns therapy into tactical warfare. And patient history into predictive modeling.
He gave a thoughtful nod.
"Useful. If I ever decide to open a clinic again."
Still, his voice lacked sarcasm. The alignment between the skillset and his own life was uncanny. Familiar. Almost comfortable.
Spiritual Progress – Contradiction SenseThis is the first real contact with the Law of Contradiction. It allows the Realizer to detect when someone lies — not to others, but to themselves.
It doesn't activate on falsehoods told out loud. It activates on belief itself.
If someone claims to be "over it," but the grief still scars them — it glows.
If they say "I'm a good person," while hiding a buried act of cruelty — it hums.
If they believe "I deserve love," but also believe "I am unlovable," the Realizer feels the split like a hairline fracture in their psyche.
These contradictions appear as emotional tension knots in the spirit, vibrating with potential collapse.
Adrian went still.
"…That's dangerous."
Not in theory. In practice. People needed their lies. Tear them out, and you weren't curing them — you were hollowing them.
Mutation – Reflective Tear Ducts
The Realizer's tear ducts develop a subtle, unnatural sheen — a faint luminescence like polished glass, even when dry. When activated, the Realizer can trigger a reflective state in their eyes at will.
In this state, anyone who meets their gaze may see a warped glimpse of themselves:
A buried face.
A suppressed memory.
A truth they refuse to admit.
The vision is not random. It pulls from the observer's subconscious — what they deny, repress, or have twisted into a false self-image. These reflections can shock, unsettle, or deeply confuse the viewer.
The effect only triggers when the Realizer chooses to activate it — allowing for controlled use in conversation, interrogation, or battle.
Adrian blinked.
"Well. That's horrible."
He imagined turning it on during a session and watching a patient flinch at the reflection of their abuser. Or their real face. Or the guilt they swore they'd buried.
"I'd lose patients on day one."
Hidden Benefit – Flash of Suppressed TruthWhen a target is in emotional distress, the Realizer may catch a fleeting glimpse of something deeply buried — a word, memories, or image — visible only in his reflection.
This could be:
A face they can't remember.
A location they swore didn't matter.
A word they never speak.
A sin they've convinced themselves never happened.
It flashes and fades in less than a second. Once seen, it cannot be retrieved. And it only appears when the target is near emotional breaking.
He smiled.
"Of course an invasive power, Just my style"
Combat Utility – Guilt Reflex TriggerIf the Realizer maintains eye contact or reflects light into the target's line of sight (from metal, water, glass, etc.), they can activate a psychic "flash" — not of fear or domination, but of guilt.
This guilt is the target's own. Their worst regret. Their repressed shame.
It hits like a sudden weight:
Muscles freeze.
Decisions stutter.
Breathing tightens.
For 1 to 2 seconds, they cannot act.
Enough to delay a swing. Break formation. Miss a step.
It isn't control. It's disruption — using their own soul as the weapon.
He sat back, staring at the page for a while.
"So the first step," he said aloud, "is emotionally disarming someone"
A pause. Then a small shrug.
"Yeah. Seems normal."
But a part of him — one that had stayed silent for a long time — stirred.
This wasn't a foreign power. This was his work, twisted into something colder. Clinical became clinical in the worst way. Effective.
He turned the page.
Rank 11: Cognitive ArchitectHe who builds belief with invisible bricks.
Adrian leaned forward, interested despite himself.
"Belief construction," he muttered. "Okay. That tracks. Thought loops, emotional triggers, system mapping…"
He flipped again.
Rank 10: Narrative DissectorStories are cages. He finds the hinges.
"That's therapy," he said quietly. "Cut the false structure, break the false truth. Classic narrative deconstruction."
His hands were moving without thought now, turning each page like it confirmed something he already suspected.
Rank 9: PsychotherapistOnce a healer. Now a patient who teaches others to fracture.
He smirked slightly. No real humor.
"Cute."
It felt like the book was tracing his career backwards — stripping away the certifications, the office, the couch — until only the raw technique remained.
Until all that was left was control.
And then came the last title.
Rank 8: High-Functioning SociopathEmpathy becomes a mask. Control becomes natural law.
Adrian blinked once.
Then stared.
"…Fuck."
The word left his mouth flat. Not loud. Not even angry.
Just honest.
He kept looking at the page, expecting it to change. It didn't. It just sat there, patient and quiet.
His mouth twisted.
"So this is what you think make sense?" he said softly. "Where all this leads?"
He wasn't expecting an answer — but that didn't stop the silence from feeling smug.
He rubbed the back of his neck, jaw clenched.
It fit. That was the worst part. Every step up to this point had made sense. This one made sense too.
And it shouldn't.
He closed the book a little too quickly.
It didn't fight him.
He stood slowly, eyes unfocused, fingers brushing the edge of his coat where the Scripture now rested like a second spine.
His hand hovered there a moment — not for reassurance.
Just to check if it was still him under the skin.
It was.
But it felt thinner now.