There comes a time where everyone would be hit by a ‘Who am I?’ question. Except, when studying what is beyond magic, this question just amplifies so hard, one could stop existing. Beyond understanding magic, the very fact that one exists truly gets shattered into many pieces that one could lose their mind.

When one crosses the line of what shouldn’t be crossed, they realize that their life may not be theirs alone. They would come to realize that there could be multiple instances of them within a single second. Fate wasn’t linear – They would realize.

Magic bends reality, but if reality could be bent, is reality just an object?

In one second, they could be dead. In another timeline, they could be alive. Once one realizes this…What’s the point of it all?

Why study magic when another one of you would just do it in another timeline? Do consequences even exist?

“Am I truly…me?”

Slowly, the mind loses itself and reality breaks apart. To many, they would sooner kill themselves than accept this. Usually, they would rampage, murdering and burn everything before being inevitably killed. To others…

They stop existing.

The most obvious evidence is those damned mana. What are they? Who are they? So far, the only conclusion I got was that they were the bookbinders of the universe.

For example, if one was to cast a fireball, the mana would all look for every instance where a fire was at the exact location of where it was supposed to be, steal it from that dimension and bring to the caster’s dimension.

It’s like they take pages from another book and bind it to another book. It doesn’t need to make sense, as long as the context is aligned to what was needed.

If tomorrow, I was to have steak for dinner and for whatever reason someone else from another timeline invented a spell to summon steak, the mana would steal the steak from the future me, thus I would no longer be having steak for tomorrow.

I should invent steak summoning magic…

Anyways, the idea of timeline manipulation could bring the essence that everything is real and not real at the same time.

‘I am who I am not and I am.’

However, like I always say, every rule has an exception.

There are some people that either just plug their ears and just scream constantly instead of listening that they’re not real. These people had the balls to say “Huh? What are you talking about? I’m the only one who is real, then!”

They believe that because they exist, that means the dimensions just revolve around them. The idea that ‘I am the only one who is real here, the others are just figments of imaginations to serve me’ comes so strong, that the dimensions actually line up and merge.

To these people, the ‘Constants’, no matter what timeline or dimension, they would only go down one path.

If I was to have steak for dinner tomorrow, no matter the circumstances, I will have steak for tomorrow. Nothing can ever change that. I will, inevitably, have steak.

The presence of mana increases so much just to cater to these special snowflakes, that they eventually start to interact actively with these special snowflakes. These ‘Constants’ shape the world around them as they see fit, knowing that they are the architects of their own dream. After all, this is their dream.

The problem comes when two Constants meet each other. Both of them believe that only they are real and that the other doesn’t exist. Even I would feel that my world would collapse when a fragment of my own dream tells me that I am just a fragment of their dream.

The fairy stuck to Sayitsi, Satel, believed that only she exists. Her trauma was telling her she was real.

‘I suffered so much pain. Surely, if I feel this much pain, I am not dreaming, am I?’

That idea resonated so hard within me. I felt…contempt.

Thus, I must release her from this nightmare and to bring back the light into her life. After all, I am not just any narcissist that think only I exist…

*

*

*

My shields activated and faced the bolts of magic raining down on me, shattering all that dared to enter my dominion. As I invoked my first name, the nameless nickname given to me a long time ago, the scenery around me changed again.

A smoky, red battlefield merged with the burning forest, ghostly mounted knights charged forth with their lance ready, seemingly passing through me.

Arrows flew in every direction, but all of them passed through Satel and me harmlessly. Of course, that was until I changed how this memory went.

I pointed at Satel, blending her into my memory. The knights riding down the battlefield all turned to face her in unison.

“Destroy the enemy of King Sarjay!” Someone echoed in the back and soon all the knights charged at the half-tree half-fairy.

Tree roots grew in every direction, surrounding Satel as knights attempted to destroy her. Countless knights were crushed, choked and skewered by the ancient roots that flew out from the hazy ground, creating chaos among the knights.

“You are hiding in a façade, show me who you truly are. ‘Dreaded One’? That isn’t even a name! This is truly funny, watching a creation of my own will mock me,” Satel shouted at me while I sat down on the ground, watching her.

My memory slowly shifted and changed in order to counter Satel, who was trying to remove my existence by overwriting my memories.

“You do not understand how long have I been here! I’ve been here for countless cycles! I’ve finally understood the reality, the truth and the facet of life!” Satel continued to shout relentlessly.

Unfortunately, I had never met her before nor do I care to know her more.

“You were the one that teleported that orc army into Sayitsi? Didn’t you think it was risky since it might let me know of your presence?”

“It worked, didn’t it?”

“The elves. Why didn’t you just use the elves to free you?”

“You fool. Didn’t the anti-magic crystals give you the hint already? They’re trying to keep me within! None of that matters now, once I remove you, I shall be free to live out my own dream!”

Despite our understanding of the world, we ‘Constants’ aren’t omniscient divine beings. We couldn’t just change reality to fit our needs. After all, if we bend reality ourselves, wouldn’t that shatter our immersion?

I strengthened my resolve, forcing the mana in our presence to my side. Using magic, I shook the ground, breaking it and remolding it. The entire battlefield was reshaped to my need – By hardening the entire surface.

Satel tried to counter but since I hardened the ground, the roots couldn’t break out. Desperate, she extended her branches and lashed out at me and my knights.

“Protect King Sarjay!” The knights shouted as they surrounded me, trying to take the hits for me. Countless knights fell trying to attack or defend, all slowly turning into a mist which drifted off into the distance.

The fairy raised her arms and shook it in every direction, scrambling the mana in the area. The chaotic nature of her magic caused waves and waves of swarming dead leaves and roots to flood the battlefield.

In response, I raised my hand and waved it as if I was orchestrating a performance, opposite of Satel’s disorganized chanting. The roots were set alight, making the whole place blinding to look at.

My fire and her roots fought for dominance over one another. While my fire seared through the wood, Satel’s roots overwhelmed and choked the air off the fire. It was a dance performance, one that I was directing.

The fire scorched the earth, engulfing the knights. They screamed in agony as their flesh and armor turned black, but their strength was invigorated – The memory of the birth of the Phollician Legion, the Burning Army.

As I sat down, a ghostly figured stood next to me. Wearing his golden armor and sporting a majestic beard, Sarjay…King Sarjay raised his sword.

“Hear me! I am King Sarjay, chosen by Him to rule over this entire land! Now, be conquered with impunity!”

Ah, yes. I always had fond memories of this moment. It was so thrilling to watch someone like Sarjay command. It felt so vicious and authoritarian, like a true king.

A beam of white flame burst out from Sarjay’s sword and towards Satel. She attempted to block it with her roots but they were useless against Phollician fire. I felt my bones cackle with sadism as I watched the fear in Satel’s eyes.

“I invoke my second name, Satallia, Prisoner of the Mother Tree!” Satel shouted and the area changed into an extremely dense forest, almost like a jungle.

Hands made from earth were everywhere, trying to claw themselves off the ground. The hands swarmed Satel, now Satallia, and I, holding both of us in place.

Sarjay’s Phollician fire was disrupted by trees which spurted from the ground. I looked up as I watched the trees grow and melded together, forming a face. The face looked like a sleeping elf, giving it a motherly aura.

“Satallia, murderer of my children…” A voice belonging to neither Satallia nor me resounded.

Satel’s face was stricken with tears as she looked at me with anger. Anger for what? For losing? For not being able to beat me?

…

For forcing her to return to this memory?

“…Foster my children eternally. This shall be your punishment.”

The hands covered both our bodies, leaving only the face open. The suit made from hands slowly tightened, creating an earthly restraining jacket. I was unable to move my body no matter how much I struggled or used magic.

“Now, ‘Dreaded One’. Your violent memory is incompatible with this. What will you do now?”

I looked around as the burning knights were overwhelmed by the ground, unable to fight back. Satallia was right, this part of her memory was overpowering the destructive aspects of my memory. Unable to fight back through force, I could only reveal a new set of memory which reflects Satallia's memories…

…A memory about accepting a great burden caused by one’s own failure. A memory where one fake themselves, create a new persona to meet the ends, a face to which to hide to.

“I invoke my second name, the Path’s God of Death Bahas…and my right hand, the Goddess of Light.”