Thal, Grand Cathedral
Four days passed in the blink of an eye. Neil was making a rapid recovery, which surprised everyone. His injuries were supposed to keep him in intensive care for at least a few weeks, but within just four days, he was already out of bed.
He was not fully recovered—he still had bandages wrapped around his body and was using a walking stick. The old man had dropped by to check on him and made fun of his situation, stating that now there was no difference between the two of them.
Since he was still recovering, Neil had a lot of free time, which he spent missing his younger brother. He also replayed his battle in Isak in his mind. He had heard from Marcellus that the Conspiracy that left him in this condition had escaped. But in Marcellus's words, "it left, taking the rest of the Conspiracy with it."
The Conspirer that made the Framework shout [RUN!!!] had simply bailed out of the fight and left. What was the Conspiracy's goal in attacking Isak? This city was not even an important place in Thal, yet they attacked and murdered at least 500 people. The rest of the citizens survived, though many were injured.
Knowing Thal's leader, Neil was quite sure the old man would keep the incident under wraps. As for his plan going forward, he still had doubts. He might have agreed to the old man's proposal, but that did not mean he was loyal to his course. What drove him now was revenge, and the old man had promised to give him that.
He also had the Framework, which remained a great mystery. He was determined to solve it. Even now, his accelerated healing was because of the Framework.
[Minor Stitch:
Temporarily binds simple concepts—e.g., seal a bleeding wound, link a flame to a touch. Duration: 7 hours. The duration has been changed as a reward to host for slaying unnamed entity.]
[Would the host like to name the entity, Y/N?]
"Yes," he whispered, catching Sister Elowen's attention.
Neil stared at the text and contemplated deeply.
[The Cocooned One.] Neil responded.
[Name registered.]
[Would the host like to proceed with Minor stitching? Here is a suggestion: Stitch the concept of healing to host.]
The Framework suggested it. He pondered for a moment before agreeing. He was curious about the abilities the Framework would unlock within him.
[Command recognized.]
[Commencing stitching.]
The words rippled through the air like chimes struck underwater. The faint blue glow of the Framework's glyphs dimmed for a moment, then the world fractured.
Neil blinked, but his eyelids no longer obeyed him. The room dissolved into a thousand mirrored shards, each reflecting a different version of reality. He watched in horror as the air hummed with an invisible rhythm and threads, fine as hair and luminous as starlight, began to descend from the vehicle's ceiling, the walls, even from his own shadow.
[Stitching initiated.]
The mechanical voice of the Framework was calm, but beneath its monotone, Neil heard whispers—distant, fragmented, like echoes of dying souls.
The world around him slowed. Time itself seemed to hesitate. Every sound, every motion, hung suspended in a thin veil of silence.
And then he saw them—Threads.
Thousands of them.
Some glowed with faint gold, others shimmered red, blue, and black. They stretched infinitely in every direction, weaving through the vehicle walls, through the stretcher, through his own body, and even through Sister Elowen. They connected to everything.
The longer he looked, the more he realized they weren't just floating—they were alive. They pulsed with intent, breathing, shifting, rearranging themselves according to an unseen will.
Then—movement.
A ripple through the tapestry. The Threads converged toward him, spiraling, twining together into patterns too complex for his mind to process. Every loop and knot carried meaning. Every flicker was a word in a divine language that mortals were never meant to see. He began bleeding from his eyes.
The Framework spoke again.
[Concept recognized: "Healing."]
[Binding existential anchor to host Thread.]
Neil gasped as searing pain lanced through his chest. He looked down—his sternum was glowing. His veins illuminated beneath the skin, silver-white. He could see his soul thread—a single line of shimmering crimson that twisted through his heart and vanished upward into the endless weave.
From the darkness beyond, a thread of soft green light descended. It brushed against his own—and stitched.
The sensation was unbearable. His entire being felt like fabric pierced by a thousand needles. His vision blurred, but the pain was not physical. It was deeper—existential—as though something was rewriting his very existence at the level of truth.
Every heartbeat echoed like thunder in a void. His wounds began to slowly knit themselves at an accelerated pace, but he barely noticed. He was watching something far greater.
He saw how each thread represented not merely flesh, but meaning. The thread of "blood" twined beside the thread of "pulse." The thread of "life" wove around the thread of "will." The thread of "Neil Thorne" bound itself within that chaos—a single, fragile strand flickering in the storm.
Then the green thread completed its stitch.
Light flooded him.
His vision snapped back. The vehicle's ceiling reassembled above him in a thousand pieces before reforming as one. His breath came ragged, and his body convulsed.
The Framework's voice was now inside his mind, quiet, almost reverent.
[Stitch complete.]
[Concept of Healing successfully bound.]
[Note: Conceptual healing consumes existential strain. Adding another minor stitch will unravel host thread integrity.]
Neil remained frozen, drenched in cold sweat. His hand trembled as he stared at the ceiling. A cool hand caressed his head while wiping the blood with a handkerchief.
"Do not overly strain yourself," she whispered, not knowing he had fallen unconscious again.
His mind still failed to believe what he had witnessed. At that moment, he realized the potential the Framework granted him was limitless.
And these were the beginner perks. What about the future? What type of power would he acquire? Could it contend with that of the members of the great houses, or would it be more?
"Framework, status update," he whispered in the comfort of his compartment. The air was stifled; an unsettling chill ran down his spine. Summoning the Framework in a non-aggressive setting was eerie, as if a veil had lifted and things that should not be allowed into the mortal world suddenly crossed over. He could feel the air trembling just before the mechanical voice spoke in his ear, his hair standing on end.
[Command recognized.]
[Framework initializing...]
User: Neil Thorne
REGISTERED PATH—ACTIVE NODE
Reality Stitcher..... Status: ACTIVE
MODULES ONLINE: STITCH | ANCHOR | THREAD TRACE
[Integrity: 90%]
ESSENCE BALANCE: RED 60 : BLUE 40
His reflection appeared in one of the panels—normal, calm. His sclera was cracked like glass, yet it appeared eerily normal. Other panels flickered.
[Revelation Log.]
[Tools - Locked]
[Memory Archive]
He could not yet make out what was written on the other panels. He stared at them for a while before asking the Framework a question:
"How do I level up?"
That was the most important question he could ask. From what he had gathered, the Framework was vastly different from the Systems of the Blessed.
How Systems Work
Awakening Age: At 7 years old, a child's System stirs, revealing a unique path of power.
Shared Roots, Divergent Paths: While multiple individuals may inherit the same element or concept (e.g., fire, water, shadow), each System manifests differently.
Limited Growth: The System eventually hits a ceiling, blocking its bearer from reaching past a certain threshold.
From his current deductions, the Framework granted him a fixed path without branches, yet the path itself had limitless potential.
Although his interactions with the Framework left him deeply unsettled, the strange sensations made him shudder just thinking about them.
Neil preferred being alone most of the time. As a rookie in the underworld, he had no friends, and honestly, that was the way he preferred it. But Sister Elowen dropped by every single day—three times a day—and even Marcellus came to see him while he was still heavily sedated.
What the doctors did not know was that the Framework suppressed drug intake. It appeared to recognize drugs as poison, while Healing was still bound to him.
He tried hard not to think about the scene in the vehicle back to Thal. After almost frying his brain and eyes, Neil swore to himself he would only glimpse into the world beyond when he became strong enough.
While waiting for the system response, he checked his watch. Neil almost jumped up—it was around the same time the sister usually popped up. He would pretend to be asleep to avoid talking to her.
But the woman was relentless. She kept coming back every single day.
Knock knock!
He sighed and went to open the door. Sister Elowen stood there with a tray of food. Though they had many servants who could bring him meals, she had taken the duty upon herself. She came in, placed the tray down, and sat on Neil's sleeping bag. She took her plate from the tray, and he noticed she had brought her plate as well.
He sat beside her and took his plate. They ate in silence, the only sound being the forks against the plates.
"Our trip to Eberrune has been canceled, but the person we were going to meet will be coming here," the sister finally spoke, breaking the silence.
"Who is this person?" he asked after a moment.
"A dear friend of mine, Edmund Hawthorne."