5
Author: James
last update2026-10-20 13:29:06

"...Did either of you see that?" Ray asked.

"...See what?" Lucian answered

"Don't worry its nothing!" Ray replied.

The forest had finally grown completely quiet at this time, only tye occasional rustling of leaves could be heard here and there.

Ray dragged himself up leaning heavily against a tree trunk, with his chest rising and falling with every exhausted breath.

Dried blood had now clung to the shallow wound across his cheek, while sweat soaked through his shirt.

"....I almost died." He said as a bitter laugh escaped his lips.

"... Congratulations!" Lucian said after a while of silence.

"... Congratulations?" Ray blinked... "For surviving. Is that worth congratulating?"

But before Lucian could reply, he was interrupted by Kael.

"Hardly.." he added. "If someone dies to four dire wolves on their first day, they were never meant to survive this world to even begin with."

"Most people awaken their authority after years of training," Lucian added ignoring the remark from Kael and continued speaking to Ray. " But you awakened yours in the middle of your first battle. That topped with the fact you had no training or experience whatsoever."

Ray lowered his eyes towards his trembling hand. Even now still, he couldn't fully understand what had happened. All he remembered was touching the alpha, feeling the direction of its momentum and then changing it completely.

"... What exactly is an Authority?" Ray asked. " I mean, it does sound a bit weird.

"An Authority is more like a physical manifestation of your soul." Lucian replied almost immediately.

"Wrong!" Kael clicked his tongue.

Lucian sighed. "Well well, here we go again..."

"It is not your soul," Kael continued. " It is desire. Around here, the world bends itself around what your seek most."

Lucian shook his head. "If that were true, Authorities would constantly change.."

"But they do evolve, they do not replace themselves but they absolutely changed," kael argued. "A coward becomes brave, a king becomes a tyrant, and a hero becomes a monster, so why shouldn't an Authority?!"

"Do either of you ever agree on anything?" Ray asked rubbing his temples.

"...No!" They both answered simultaneously. "Never!".

Ray couldn't help laughing, it was absolutely ridiculous. He had somehow unwilling became the mediator between the two greatest legends of another world, a world they both failed to save.

"What a mess..." Ray murmured

Just then a system vibrated in his head interrupting his thoughts..

Ding!

And the familiar interface unfolded before him.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

NAME: Ray Salvatore

RACE: Human

REALM: Awakened I

TITLE : • The Wrong Successor

PRIMARY AUTHORITY: Vector

"The Authority to perceive and redirect force."

GLITCH RATE: 0.80%

DOMAIN: Dormant

.........

Attributes

Strength : 5

Agility : 5

Vitality : 5

Mana : 5

Perception : 6

Will : 9

Hero Sync : 50%

Villain Sync : 50%

Legacy Points : 3

System Fragments : 0

ERROR.exe : Locked

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"..."

"So my Perception increased..." He said as he stared at the screen. "And my Will."

Lucian nodded. "The System reflects your growth. You relied on observation and lastly You trusted yourself."

Kael crossed his arms. "And you survived, the System rewards results."

Ray continued reading and his eyes stopped at one line.

GLITCH RATE: 0.80%

"...Wait! What's this?" He asked but was faced with complete silence from the other two

He frowned. "...Lucain?"

"..."

"...Kael?"

"Your both know something you aren't telling me."

"We do not know enough." Lucian answered first.

"The Glitch..." Kael spoke moments later. " It didn't exist during our time."

"What?" Ray asked.

"We had systems!" Lucian continued. "They functioned differently, there were no contradictions, no merged quests and definitely no glitch Rate."

"Whatever happened when we died..." Kael's tone grew unusually serious as he added. "It changed everything."

Before Ray could ask another question.

Ding!

Another information appeared and unlike before, this one followed a brilliant golden light..

----------------

[Emergency Quest]

Objective:

A frightened child is hiding east of your current location. Hostile forces are closing in.

Protect the child and escort them to safety.

Time Remaining: 17 Minutes

Rewards: Hero Sync +2%

Legacy Points: ×3

Minor Reputation Increase

----------

And the screen faded screen faded.

"...A child?" Ray asked.

"We don't have much time left." Lucian immediately answered. "Go!"

"Alright then," Ray replied as he pushed himself to his feet.

Just then a second notification appeared. This one burned crimson and the letters seemed sharper.

Ding!

------------

[Villain.exe]

Opportunity Detected: A bandit squad transporting stolen resources has entered your vicinity.

Estimated enemies:Six.

Objective: Eliminate every bandit.

Claim all supplies.

Resources strengthen future survival.

Rewards:

Villain Sync: +2%

Legacy Points: ×3

Bandit Cache

---------

"..."

"...Excuse me?" Ray exclaimed as he stared at the two window flaoting side by side. Golden and Crimson.

Two completely different objectives.

Two completely different directions.

"...You've got to be kidding." Ge said under he's breathe.

"The child Comes first," Lucian said pointing east.

"The bandits. If they die, the child survives" kael immediately countered.

"You don't know that." Lucian said

"I calculated it." Kael replied

"No, no you didn't calculate shit, you assumed."

"I predicted."

"They're different."

"They're not "

"They are ."

"They aren't."

"They ....."

"STOP!!!" Ray shouted and they both fell silent.

He took a slow breath before pointing accusingly at the floating windows.. "Do you two even realize that these quests completely contradict each other?"

"Yes!" Lucian nodded.

"They do," kael nodded as well.

"And you're both okay with that?" Ray asked again.

"Naturally."

"... Of Course."

Ray blinked. "What kind of broken system is this?" He asked. Immediately those words left his mouth, the interface tend to vibrated.

The golden window flickered and so did the crimson window. Thin black cracks suddenly spread across both notifications like shattered glass

".... That's new!" Kael said.

Continue to read this book for free
Scan the code to download the app

Latest Chapter

  • 11

    Ray just simply stood there for a moment. He had expected to see a guild but instead he found a city within a city.The headquarters stretched across several acres, its gleaming white towers connected by elevated walkways of enchanted crystal. Massive training arenas echoed with the clang of swords and the thunder of spells. Hunters in every imaginable armor hurried across the grounds, while robed scholars copied glowing runes onto floating parchments.Everything moved with purpose every single thing felt alive."...How many people work here?" Ray asked quietly.Aria continued walking without looking back."Within this branch?" She thought for a moment. "Close to eight thousand.""...Eight thousand?" He repeated as he stopped walking."And this is only one Sector." Kael chuckled."The Union has branches across every major city." Lucian added. "It existed long before either of us arrived.""This world just keeps getting bigger..." Ray said looking around again.Lily, who had spent mos

  • 10

    The crystal pulsed slowly, rhythmically even like the heartbeat of something alive."This is the crystal of Orgins?" Ray asked.Mira nodded. "It predates the Adventurer Union. The oldest records claim it was recovered shortly after the fracture." She added. "No one truly understands who created it, but it has never once given a false reading.""If you possess an authority, it will identify it," Aria added crossing her hands. "If you've awakened mana, it will measure your realm.""And if your soul carries a legacy." She paused. "It will know ."".... I don't like this," Lucian spoke quietly."....Neither do u," kael agreed.Ray frowned. "I thought you'd both be curious.""We are," Lucian answered. "But curiosity and caution often walk together."An elderly man in deep blue robes suddenly stepped forward from beside the crystal.His long silver beard reached nearly to his waist, and a monocle rested over his left eye. Despite his age, his back remained perfectly straight."Captain Valen

  • 9

    "Alright I think we all should just camp here tonight, it's already to late," Aria added. "first thing tomorrow morning we get on our way."Yeah great idea, I'm already too exhausted to walk anymore." Ray replied........Morning arrived quietly. The clearing looked different in daylight, broken branches deep claw marks and bandits bound together with strips of torn cloth.The little girl slept peacefully against a fallen log, exhausted after everything she'd endured.Nearby, Ray sat staring at the coin-sized black fragment that had dissolved into his body hours earlier.He still couldn't understand it, neither could Lucian nor Kael."...Any idea what happened?" he asked."...None," Lucian admitted."If that truly was a System Fragment..." Kael said, he's voice unusually thoughtful "...It shouldn't have reacted to you."Footsteps approached before anyone could continue. It was Aria, she spent most of the night questioning the surviving bandits one by one.She was now holding a worn l

  • 8

    " I think there's been some sort of a misunderstanding here," Ray said as he slowly raised both hands."There has!" Aria replied calmly. "My mistake was assuming you would surrender peacefully.""... That's... That's not what I meant." Ray replied.The little girl suddenly stepped forward from behind him."No..no," she said spreading her tiny arms. "He saved me!"Aria's blue eyes shifted toward the child and her expression softened, slightly."...Come here child." Aria said."N-No!" The child replied, shaking her head violently. "He isn't bad!"Aria frowned. "Stockholm conditioning?"".... Seriously?!" Ray blinked Kael laughed so hard Ray almost lost his focus. "I like her, I really do like this one.""Ooh my! Please don't," Lucian sighed.Aria's gaze returned to Ray. "Six armed men," she said pointing toward the unconscious bandits.. th n towards the broken trees. " You, destroyed terrain."Then her eyes settled on the strange mana still drifting around his body. Gold, crimson, blac

  • 7

    Ray slowly stood up, his hands instinctively tightened into a fist.The little girl trembled behind him, her tiny finger clutching the back of his torn out shirt so tightly that they almost hurt."P.... Please...." She cried out, her voice barely audible. "Don't let them take me back please I beg of you..."Ray narrowed his eyes. "They're not soldiers." He said.."No!" Lucian answered quietly."But theyre organized," kael spoke next. "Watch their formation.Ray looked carefully. The crossbowmen had already spread apart, the spearman stood slightly behind the leader and the swordsmen slowly circled outward.."... They're surrounding us." Lucian pointed out."They killed Mama..." The little girl manage to voice as she hid further behind him. "And they.... They laughed..." Those words spiked something inside Ray "Enough now," the leader sighed dramatically as he pointed his axe towards the child. "Hand over the brat, and we might just make your death quick.""...No." Ray replied calmly

  • 6

    "...Lucian!" Has this happen before, Ray whispered. "Has this happened before?""No..!" Lucian replied without hesitation. "Never.""My system would never reject a command." Kael added with his voice usually low."Neither would mine."Just then, another crack spread across both interface.--------------[WARNING...]Conflicting Primary Quests Detected...Resolving Priority...Golden text flashed.Protect the child.Immediately, crimson letters slashed across it.Eliminate the bandits.The two commands collided and the interface glitched violently........Priority Conflict:Hero.exe refuses override.Villain.exe refuses override.Attempting forced resolution.........FAILED-----------------"...Failed?" Lucian murmured."That's impossible," Kael added."So... Now what?" Ray asked as he looked from one window to the other His eyes narrowed. "Wait..." He said as he reopened both quests. His gaze lingered on the tiny map currently displaying in each notification The Hero quest marke

More Chapter
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on MegaNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
Scan code to read on App