"Do you see something?"

  Ellyn asked as Arthian stood still for more than three minutes.

  He didn't answer, didn't blink. Just stared at an ordinary stone in front of him.

  "Arthian?" she called again.

  "I see," he finally answered. Voice flat.

  "See what?"

  "I see that...this stone isn't stone."

  Ellyn looked at the stone. It looked ordinary. Nothing special.

  "What is it?"

  Arthian raised his hand, pointing at one spot in mid-air.

  "It's an arrangement of compressive forces."

  "Relying on a single stable axis."

  "If that axis shifts..."

  He touched the air lightly.

  The stone shattered into fragments without sound.

  After anger was compressed to crystallization, what remained wasn't emotion.

  But stillness too heavy to ignore.

  The world began to respond.

  Not with sound, not with images, but with inconsistency.

  The edges of things began to tremble, like images rendered in the wrong frame.

  Arthian blinked, then stopped.

  Because he wasn't seeing "more"—he was seeing differently.

  The Eye of Veracity—the ability that emerged when the soul core broke through 10%—

  began operating at a deeper level than before.

  "It changed again," Ellyn spoke softly.

  Arthian turned to look. "What changed?"

  "Your eyes."

  "How?"

  Ellyn paused briefly.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "Before, you looked like someone searching for an exit."

  "Now, you look like someone searching for an entrance."

  Arthian didn't sleep. He just stopped trying to look the old way.

  The ground beneath his feet wasn't stone.

  It was an arrangement of compressive forces relying on a single stable axis.

  If that axis shifted, everything would collapse in an instant.

  The air around him wasn't empty.

  It was a force field borrowing stability from elsewhere, like fabric pulled taut.

  If one thread was cut, everything would come loose.

  "Do you see all the structure?" Ellyn asked.

  "Not all of it," Arthian answered.

  "But enough to know...what it stands on."

  "And if I know,"

  "I know how to destroy it."

  Ellyn said nothing. She knew the next question would make him stop talking.

  This wasn't seeing energy.

  This was seeing the structure of existence.

  Even his own body wasn't a single thing.

  But a bundle of compromises between multiple rule sets.

  The soul core relied on one set of rules, the body on another, perception on another.

  And every compromise had seams.

  What Arthian saw wasn't "weak points" like obvious cracks.

  It was positions that shouldn't have to bear that much load.

  Positions where, if disturbed, the entire system would choose to "collapse itself" to preserve other parts.

  "I want to try," Arthian said.

  "Try what?" Ellyn asked.

  "Try touching."

  He moved his hand. Didn't touch, didn't press. Just approached.

  The air in that area collapsed. *Fwoosh*—like a soap bubble bursting soundlessly.

  Arthian withdrew his hand immediately. Eyes still, not excited, not surprised.

  He just recorded.

  "Did it work?" Ellyn asked.

  "Yes," Arthian answered.

  "But it takes longer than I thought."

  "How long?"

  He looked at his own hands. The numbness increased by another finger.

  "Five fingers," he answered.

  "If I use five fingers, I can destroy one point."

  "What if you need to destroy the entire system?"

  Arthian didn't answer, because he already knew.

  It would take more than five fingers. More than two hands.

  Might take an entire lifetime.

  He turned to look at the energy remnants left from the broken contracts earlier.

  Before, it was garbage.

  Now—he saw the threads binding it to the contract writer's will.

  He saw this structure was designed to break easily, because it was meant to be disposable.

  "How filthy," Arthian murmured.

  "What's filthy?" Ellyn asked.

  "The system," he answered.

  "It's not filthy because it's cruel."

  "It's filthy because it's designed to choose victims."

  Ellyn fell silent. She'd never heard him speak like this.

  Not angry, not hateful. Just...summarizing.

  Like someone taking notes.

  He turned to look at Ellyn.

  She still sat apart. Still, not approaching.

  In his new vision, she wasn't bright, wasn't prominent.

  But...she had no seams.

  Her energy was weak, but it wasn't borrowed, wasn't bound, wasn't supported by anyone's rules.

  She was something that "could exist on its own," even if she couldn't exist long.

  Arthian looked away. Said nothing.

  Seeing didn't mean explaining.

  "Why did you look at me?" Ellyn asked.

  "Nothing," Arthian answered.

  "Liar."

  He paused briefly.

  "I'm just...envious."

  "Envious of what?"

  "Envious that you don't have to see."

  "Don't have to see how filthy this world is."

  Ellyn smiled thinly.

  "I already see."

  "Just don't see the solution."

  "But you do."

  Arthian didn't answer.

  He turned back to look at the path ahead.

  And for the first time, he didn't see "enemies" or "obstacles."

  He saw the sequence of collapse.

  Who would fall first, who would be pulled along, who would survive because they were far enough.

  And most importantly—he saw that the Domain Holder wasn't strong because of power.

  But because he stood in a position no one disturbed.

  Arthian smiled thinly, barely visible.

  "Then just..." he thought.

  "...change the position."

  The Eye of Veracity didn't make him stronger.

  But it made him more precise.

  And in structure warfare, precision was everything.

  His eyes didn't glow, didn't change color.

  But the world began to look dangerously fragile.

  Arthian didn't name this ability, didn't announce it, didn't tell anyone.

  But in consciousness, it was clearly inscribed.

  "Eye of Veracity."

  Not because it saw truth.

  But because it saw where truth was anchored.

  And if you knew where that point was, destroying it was just a matter of time.

  "Are you ready?" Ellyn asked.

  Arthian turned to look. "Ready for what?"

  "For what you're about to do."

  He didn't answer immediately.

  "Don't know," he finally said.

  "But if I wait until I'm ready,"

  "I'll never act."

  In the deep chamber of the Domain Holder,

  the Elder opened his eyes suddenly.

  "It sees now."

  The Domain Holder turned. "Sees what?"

  "Structure."

  "It sees what we stand on."

  The Domain Holder fell silent.

  "Are you sure?"

  The Elder nodded.

  "Sure."

  "Because now..."

  He paused briefly.

  "...it's no longer looking at us."

  "It's looking at what we stand on."

  The Domain Holder raised his hand. A black symbol appeared.

  "Send the order."

  "Everyone prepare."

  "Prepare for what?"

  The Domain Holder looked at the Elder. Eyes cold.

  "Prepare to kill it."

  "Before it starts touching."

  [End of Chapter 34]