Chapter 15: The Stream of Perception
When Rayan opened his eyes after crossing the portal, he wasn't falling this time… he was drifting.
He floated within a stream of liquid light, made of shifting colors that danced like living entities. Time itself seemed to flow with him—slowing when he closed his eyes, and accelerating when he focused.
He wasn't moving with his body, but with his consciousness.
"Where… am I?" he asked silently, but the echo of his thought reverberated around him thousands of times.
"You are in the Stream of Perception… the dimension that doesn't test your strength, nor your will, but your awareness of what is real—and what is illusion."
The voice wasn't human. It felt more like a mental wave formed directly within his mind—no need for words to understand.
Before him, a massive screen of light appeared, filled with millions of images—memories from his life.
But then he noticed something unsettling:
Some of those memories weren't real.
He saw a memory of a night he never lived, hugging a father who never returned.
He saw himself as a child, playing in a garden made of glowing trees.
Then he saw unfamiliar faces, places he'd never been, moments he couldn't recognize.
"What are these? Dreams? Lies?"
The mental voice answered:
"These are the constructs your mind used to survive, to continue, to protect itself. Some are real… others are created."
⸻
The stream came to a sudden halt, and Rayan found himself inside a circular glass room.
In the center—stood a mirror.
He approached and looked.
But what he saw… wasn't him.
It was the child he once was, the boy who had lost his father.
The child was crying, exposed and vulnerable, looking at him with eyes full of sorrow.
The child said:
"I just wanted to feel safe… so I made up all these lies."
Rayan knelt down before him, eyes glistening with tears:
"I know… but we're stronger now. We need to see clearly."
As he said those words, the mirror dissolved, and the room vanished.
⸻
Now, Rayan stood on a bridge of thoughts—each step a concept, an idea. If he lost focus, the bridge would collapse beneath him.
He had to cross to the other side, where a gray silhouette stood—watching.
With every step, a realization came:
"I am not just what I've lived… but what I've understood from what I lived."
When he reached the end, the silhouette asked:
"Are you certain what you see is truth?"
Rayan replied:
"Truth doesn't lie in what I see… but in my ability to question, to doubt, to understand."
The shadow smiled… and transformed into light.
⸻
A massive ring of glowing energy appeared—it was the next portal.
But before he could cross, the mental voice returned:
"Your perception is expanding. But in the next dimension… it won't be just your mind that's tested, but your heart."
Rayan asked:
"And what's its name?"
The voice pulsed like a heartbeat:
"The Dimension of Beautiful Fracture."
Rayan stepped forward—his eyes burning with purpose.
⸻
End of Chapter 15